I have grown to see my little girl in a different light with her performances in the Schools Spectacular at Sydney Entertainment Centre.  Yesterday I watched a confident, mature and responsible professional performer walking from our car to the stage door - it's quite moving to see that when I thought I was making sure my baby was safe.

Caro's in the combined choir, she was the only girl from her school chosen and one of just a handful from her region.   I've seen Caroline grow right in front of me as a direct result of the commitment to excellence, to try her best and to excel at something with a tangible reward as the result.

The Schools Spectacular makes enormous demands of the children in it.  Caro was at the Entertainment Centre at 7.30 one morning this week - last night she wasn't in bed until midnight and the performances are so physically and mentally demanding!   Today's matinee performance call took 4 hours at the Centre - a quick dinner now then Caro's back onstage for tonight's show at 7.30.

The people who put the show together have made such a difference in Caroline's life and so for our family.   Thank you.

Here's a little of the opener to last year's show.   I will now go and join the ranks of the inexplicably blubbering parents who watch a very different show from the casual observer!

Mid-afternoon on Saturday and our story "When Aunty turned a blind eye" is currently number 4 on The Australian's most read stories list.

I think it's an important story - so could I please ask for your help to pass it on to people you know via Twitter, email, Facebook or your own website.

Here is a link to the story in The Australian

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/media/when-aunty-turned-a-blind-eye/story-e6frg996-1226771725147

Andrew Bolt has done a much better job than me in summarising my story with links to the full article on The Australian's website.

Here is a link to Andrew Bolt's report.

With thanks to Andrew whose blog is here - this is the Andrew Bolt Blog summary:

The AWU scandal - one story the ABC didn’t rush to report

Michael Smith on the ABC, which happily published material damaging to the national interest: 

 

“WHEN important and difficult stories break, you will hear about them on your ABC. We will not succumb to pressure to suppress or ignore legitimate stories to protect those in power.” 

- Kate Torney, ABC director of news, on the Indonesian phone-tapping story.

THIS year, the ABC has studiously ignored every major development in the Victoria Police major fraud squad investigation into the Australian Workers Union scandal. Even the proceedings of Victoria’s courts on the matter - the bread and butter of local journalism - have eluded the national broadcaster’s local reporters.

Jonathan Holmes spoke at length on the ABC’s Media Watch about legitimate reporting of the story back in August last year. The Australian’s Hedley Thomas had just broken the news that one of Julia Gillard’s former law firm partners claimed that Gillard had lost her job at Slater & Gordon as a direct result of legal advice she gave to help establish a slush fund for her then boyfriend and client, AWU state secretary Bruce Wilson. There were numerous revelations in leaked documents, including a transcript of her exit interview from the firm, and the subsequent disclosure by the firm’s then head partner, Peter Gordon, that it was a very serious matter involving an alleged fraud.

Jon Faine, of 774 ABC Melbourne, said: “The conspiracy theorists are having a ball, the blogosphere’s running amok, it’s all completely out of control ... why is it on the front page of the paper?”

To his great credit, Holmes said of the Faine view: “Well, I think that’s nonsense."…

There was a flurry of reporting in November last year from the ABC. It carried all of Gillard’s press conferences and a lengthy interview with Wilson and, separately, his union colleague Ralph Blewitt. Then nothing.

Since the parliament rose last year, it’s as if the AWU scandal had ceased to be for the ABC. Yet substantial developments have taken place…

In January, Thomas reported that Victoria police had travelled to Queensland and taken a lengthy statement from a former para-legal executive at Slater & Gordon, Olivia Palmer (nee Brosnahan). That interview marked a turning point in the police investigation, with a significant increase in the number of detectives assigned to the matter as a result of her evidence.

The ABC reported nothing.

Read on. Smith goes on to detail other developments the ABC did not cover and how ABC executives explained that failure.

For instance, here’s part of one ABC letter to a viewer: 

Reporting that the prime minister of the nation is under police investigation is an enormously significant call to make. It cannot be made on supposition, on rumour, or on hearsay…

According to The Australian they’ve been collecting files but you would expect any police investigation to gather up this sort of primary documentation. That does not mean Ms Gillard is under investigation. For all we know, the investigation could be into Ralph Blewitt, or Bruce Wilson or Slater & Gordon or any number of other individuals and entities.

Here’s another: 

The ABC is aware of these statements but we do not at this stage believe it warrants the attention of our news coverage.

To the extent that it may touch tangentially on a former role of the Prime Minister, we know The Australian newspaper maintains an abiding interest in events 17 years ago at the law firm Slater & Gordon, but the ABC is unaware of any allegation in the public domain which goes to the Prime Minister’s integrity.

The ABC tells us it was pleased with the extra financial support that the Rudd and Gillard governments gifted to it.  On the other hand, the ABC had contingency plans to deal with widely expected funding cuts should the coalition win government.

The ABC should have been aware of the potential conflict of interest it could be accused of in any perceived reporting that favoured Labor.   Where actual complaints of bias were made to the ABC you'd hope the ABC would act swiftly to correct the perception.   And where newsworthy events that reflected poorly on Labor happened,you'd hope the ABC would be assiduous in covering them.

In the context of an extra $190M in ABC funding that the Gillard Government decided on in June this year - smack bang in the middle of the search warrant reports in other media - the absence of any reporting at all on the issue takes on potentially sinister overtones.

ABC Managing Director Mark Scott was equipped with 102 pages of "priority briefing notes" prepared by ABC staffers when he fronted the October 2012 Senate Estimates hearings.

His briefing notes were released under FOI in May this year.

Page One of 102 pages recorded how well the ABC had done out of the Rudd years.

The ABC wanted an extra TV network - ABC3 - and it got its way with $67M.

The ABC wanted more money for its local drama producing mates - they're very expensive if you want to see them happy and smiling.   $70 million extra for that.

$15.3 was found for ABC Open - along with an extra $13.6 for some capital spending.   All in all the ABC was very happy.

In 2013 under Ms Gillard the ABC was hit with the lucky stick again!  Here's the official statement reporting that the Gillard goverment found an extra $190M for its ABC - this was first published by then Minister Steven Conroy's office in June 2013 - right in the middle of the ABC's non-reporting of the Victoria Police search warrant proceedings.

Funding

The ABC is primarily financed by the federal government through triennial funding arrangements. In the 2013-14 Budget, the government is providing the ABC with an additional $30 million over three years to meet the growing demand for its digital services. The ABC will also receive $69.4 million over four years from 2012-13 to expand its news and current affairs services. In addition, the government will provide a loan of $90 million over three years to the ABC to assist with the construction of a purpose-built ABC facility at Southbank, Melbourne.

In 2013-14, government funding to the ABC will total $1.05 billion.

You can add the Australia Network contract worth $233M over the next decade - gifted to the ABC in perpetuity after Julia Gillard's intervention.

Mark Scott and the team were thrilled with Labor.   How about the coalition, what impact did the ABC plan for - what did the ABC itself think of the prospect of having the coalition in charge.

Mark Scott carried these public statements from his Chairman Justice Jim Spiegelman in his pack of Senate Estimates papers.

So - Labor financially good for the ABC.  The Coalition would probably mean cuts to its funding.

Pretty strong motivation to look after their 190M dollar girl.

I've written a 2,000 word piece published in The Australian today.   Here's a little of it - but there's nothing like getting your own copy!

When Aunty turned a blind eye

WHEN important and difficult stories break, you will hear about them on your ABC. We will not succumb to pressure to suppress or ignore legitimate stories to protect those in power. - Kate Torney,ABC director of news, on the Indonesian phone-tapping story.

THIS year, the ABC has studiously ignored every major development in the Victoria Police major fraud squad investigation into the Australian Workers Union scandal. Even the proceedings of Victoria's courts on the matter - the bread and butter of local journalism - have eluded the national broadcaster's local reporters.

Jonathan Holmes spoke at length on the ABC's Media Watch about legitimate reporting of the story back in August last year. The Australian's Hedley Thomas had just broken the news that one of Julia Gillard's former law firm partners claimed that Gillard had lost her job at Slater & Gordon as a direct result of legal advice she gave to help establish a slush fund for her then boyfriend and client, AWU state secretary Bruce Wilson. There were numerous revelations in leaked documents, including a transcript of her exit interview from the firm, and the subsequent disclosure by the firm's then head partner, Peter Gordon, that it was a very serious matter involving an alleged fraud.

Jon Faine, of 774 ABC Melbourne, said: "The conspiracy theorists are having a ball, the blogosphere's running amok, it's all completely out of control ... why is it on the front page of the paper?"

To his great credit, Holmes said of the Faine view: "Well, I think that's nonsense." He went on to say the story was news, and had been presented in a sober and meticulous fashion by The Australian and elsewhere online.

There was a flurry of reporting in November last year from the ABC. It carried all of Gillard's press conferences and a lengthy interview with Wilson and, separately, his union colleague Ralph Blewitt. Then nothing.

Since the parliament rose last year, it's as if the AWU scandal had ceased to be for the ABC. Yet substantial developments have taken place - although not the sort of developments that would sit well in an Anne Summers, ABC live, Gillard extravaganza.

In January, Thomas reported that Victoria police had travelled to Queensland and taken a lengthy statement from a former para-legal executive at Slater & Gordon, Olivia Palmer (nee Brosnahan). That interview marked a turning point in the police investigation, with a significant increase in the number of detectives assigned to the matter as a result of her evidence.

The ABC reported nothing.

On May 15 this year, Gillard was closing in on her third anniversary as prime minister. By 11am, she had introduced the National Disability Insurance Scheme legislation into the House of Representatives.

That same day, detectives from the major fraud squad visited the Melbourne Magistrates Court to give sworn evidence in an application for a warrant to search and seize documents from Slater & Gordon. Magistrate Lance Martin heard their evidence and duly issued the warrant.

The law does not provide for search warrants to seize documents for background information, or to provide leads for further investigation. Before Martin could issue the warrant, he - not police - had to believe on reasonable grounds that a serious crime had occurred and that the things he specified in the warrant would afford evidence of that crime.

There's much more at The Australian!   1400 words more.

Canberra is now under the expert care of consultants who are managing a metamorphosis.  When the process is complete, Canberra will be a daggy city no more - it will have been transformed into a brand.

BrandCanberra.com.au is the website that explains where the money went.   

The process of transformation from city to "brand" requires everyone to sit in darkened theatrette to watch the new corporate video.

Hope you've got the dimmer switch moving at home - here is BrandCanberra - Confident, Bold, Ready.  Get it?   C-B-R, oh never mind, just hit play.

Michael,

Regarding the matter of the alleged rape currently being investigated by Victoria Police (a matter involving a Federal Labor politician), I am of two minds here.

On the one hand I recognise the merit in your cautious and prudent approach.  You will not name the politician because you do not have the means of evaluating the evidence supporting the rape allegations.

But on the other hand, I am having difficulty seeing the difference between the rape allegations being investigated by Victoria Police and the AWU matters being investigated by the same police force.  Of course you (and I) will say that you have strong grounds for believing the evidence in the AWU matter is credible and that as a result you have no problem publishing details of the police investigation.

But in arguing this way, I believe you might be providing a perfect justification for the mainstream media's continual refusal to report the Victoria Police investigation into Julia Gillard and the AWU matter.  For example, the ABC could equally claim that it is not (yet) convinced and that (at the moment) it is not sufficiently confident to publish details of the investigation by Victoria Police into the AWU matter.

How would you counter such an argument?  In your view, what is the essential difference between the AWU matter and the allegations of rape against the Federal Labor politician?  It seems to me that the two matters are in many ways similar and that either both matters should be reported on, or both matters should not be reported on.  I recognise the very strong possibility that it is I who am missing the essential point here somewhere, and I invite you to put me straight.  :-)

ENDS

John - it really boils down to the weight of evidence.   In The AWU Scandal it's overwhelming - you can see every source document and statement/journal transaction showing where money came from and where it went.   To believe there was no crime you have to believe that all parties intended for several hundred thousands of dollars to be placed in Wilson's hands.   Further, that he was acting in good faith in the asbestos consultancy.

What I know about the other matter is so flimsy as to categorise it, for me, as a 4th hand rumour.   I'll watch and wait.

I found this ad for The Australian newspaper circa 1980s.   Which reminds me to remind you - make sure you get a copy tomorrow!

And on a more serious note I've just recorded a few thoughts about the threshold I have for material published on this website - the more serious the allegation against a person, the higher the standard of proof to meet the "truth" test.  I know that Victoria Police have received a complaint from a lady alleging that many years ago she was raped by a now Federal Labor politician.   Police are investigating that complaint but have not named the suspect.   Because I know absolutely nothing about the lady making the allegation or the evidence to support it I am not comfortable in naming the suspect either.

Phil B dropped me a note this morning with this really  useful graphic showing our maritime search and rescue zone.  Makes you wonder how it ever came to be taken for granted that we'd just look after open waters south of Java.

Here's Phil:

We hear almost daily about Indonesian's Search and Rescue Zone - but few would understand just where it is - This map is from the AMSA web site and shows Australia's Search and Rescue Zone in the dark shades - it extends south to Antarctica. It appears from media reports that all Operation Sovereign Borders vessels are now operating within the Australian Search and Rescue Zone.