The part of Sarah Hanson Young is being played by an actor or stunt double because it's whale watching season and you have to book the kids in sick weeks in advance to get the charter plane tickets.
Ralph's travelled from his home in Malaysia to Australia voluntarily to face trumped up charges in The AWU Scandal. He's paying out of his own pocket, his and his wife Ruby's only income, his TPI veterans pension. It's the 10th time he's travelled to meet with authorities in this matter.
Ralph opens up about Ruby and her family, her mum and dad army officers, sister a policewoman and uncle former minister in the Malaysian Government.
He also speaks of his contempt for Gillard who was his lawyer in a 1993 defamation case in the Perth Supreme Court and another in the Industrial Relations Court, defending him against what she said were false and defamatory claims he was an imbecile etc. In 2012 when Ralph announced he was going straight and would speak to police about the AWU Scandal, Gillard used the statements made by people she'd once sued against Ralph, accusing him of being the very things using the very words she'd argued were false.
Ralph has a Go Fund Me account which you can find on his Facebook here
Former union official Ralph Blewitt has made a brief appearance in the Perth Magistrates Court after flying in from his home in Malaysia to face 31 fraud charges over an Australian Workers Union “slush fund”.
Mr Blewitt, 71, arrived at court with his wife, Ruby, today and was not required to enter a plea. He is scheduled to return to court in September for a committal mention.
Outside court, he said he intended to plead not guilty to all charges and questioned why others had not been targeted by police over the AWU Workplace Reform Association established in the 1990s.
“There is ample evidence to support my case for acquittal because I committed no fraud — I was purely and simply the bagman,” he told The Australian.
“Several people … say that I’m an imbecile, I’m a fool, I’m a sexist pig, and yet here I am accused of masterminding a fraud. Come on, you can’t have it both ways.”
Mr Blewitt has previously described what he says was his role in using the AWU Reform Association fund established by then AWU boss Bruce Wilson, who at the time was in a relationship with Julia Gillard.
Royal commissioner Dyson Heydon recommended more than two years ago that Mr Blewitt and Mr Wilson face prosecution for fraud-related offences connected to the fund.
The AWU affair dogged Ms Gillard during her time as prime minister. Ms Gillard, who has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, provided legal advice to help Mr Wilson establish the association she later described to her bosses at law firm Slater & Gordon as a “slush fund”.
Mr Heydon found Ms Gillard was duped by her then boyfriend and did not commit any crime.
Today Mr Blewitt said he lived on a returned serviceman’s pension after he was categorised as totally and permanently incapacitated as a result of his time served in Vietnam. He said he did not have Legal Aid for his defence but there had been a change.org petition that raised about $7000 towards his legal fees.
“The union is not going to help me, I’m the enemy of the union, I’m the whistleblower,” he said.
Mr Blewitt said he was interviewed by detectives in Perth in March after he contacted them. He had been warned to expect charges, most likely in WA, where the slush fund was incorporated. Victoria Police referred the case to their WA counterparts last year, four years after opening the file.
Earlier this year WA Police said it would be alleged that the offences occurred between April 1992 and December 1994.
Mr Blewitt’s bail was renewed today. He is free to return home to Malaysia until his next court appearance on September 29.
Ralph Blewitt fronted up today to face the music - 31 charges he caused the poor unwitting victims at Thiess to suffer dearly.
Ralph's right - why wan't Thiess in court today.
Nikki Savva has filed her regular body of copy about Tony Abbott, only the order of the word changes week to week.
In Decenber 2015 I was sent a video of Islamic State Islamists dragging Yazidi women away from their families.
Their fathers, brothers, sons and the unmarketable sex slaves were taken away and shot.
I published the video to YouTube where it's been ever since.
Until yesterday when YouTube sent me this email.
|
Hi Michael Smith, As you may know, our Community Guidelines describe which content we allow – and don’t allow – on YouTube. Your video "Yazidi women being taken by Islamic State" was flagged for review. Upon review, we’ve determined that it violates our guidelines. We’ve removed it from YouTube and assigned a Community Guidelines strike, or temporary penalty, to your account. The impact of strikesThis is the first strike applied to your account. We understand that users seldom intend to violate our policies. That’s why strikes don’t last forever – this strike will expire in three months. However, it’s important to remember that additional strikes could prevent you from posting content to YouTube or even lead to your account being terminated.How you can respondIf you believe this was a mistake, we’d like to hear from you. Please follow both of these steps as simply deleting the video won’t resolve the strike on your account.
- The YouTube Team |
It's not the Islamists who've violated community standards. I have by publishing what they did.
Just as well it's been published on other servers isn't it?
Here's my story from the time - the UN Statement defies belief.
The men and boys now Rest in Peace, the girls and women face a fate worse than death but there are no words to describe what should happen to the Islamists who did this to them.
A short time ago a Yazidi woman Nadia Murad Basee Taha spoke at the UN of her time as an Islamic State sex slave.
UPDATE - Don't think for a minute that the UN doesn't have its collective mind right, they're taking action as we speak by putting out press releases like this one.
Companies that made corrupt payments to Bruce Wilson's slush funds got peace - Woodside (post 91), Thiess, Leightons etc.
The tough as nails Sir Arvi Parvo, Chairman of Western Mining Corporation wouldn't pay.
So Wilson turned up one night with 20 kilograms of gelignite and instructions for the locals to blow up WMC's Kambalda Nickel Mine's ore silo.
Characteristically, the police have not been to see witnesses, let alone pull in the man who led the conspiracy.
Compare and contrast the protected Ludwig mate with a former digger.
Former soldier and celebrity bodyguard Wayne Schmarr will be sentenced later this week.
ABC GOLDFIELDS-ESPERANCE: SAM TOMLINThe lawyer for a former soldier, celebrity bodyguard and security expert says a bizarre run of bad luck led to his client facing an explosives charge in Western Australia.
Wayne Schmarr served with the Australian Defence Force in Bosnia and Somalia, and has served as a bodyguard to celebrities such as Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Usher over the course of his career.
But the 47-year-old found himself charged with unlicensed possession of dangerous goods after being caught up in a drug raid in the Goldfields in mid-2016.
He pleaded guilty to the single charge earlier this year.
During an appearance in the Kalgoorlie Magistrates Court on Monday regarding sentencing, the court heard Schmarr had just moved into a friend's home in the Kalgoorlie suburb of Lamington on June 1 last year, when he discovered nearly 2 kilograms of explosives sitting in bags at the front of the property.
Police prosecutor Thomas Banyard said Schmarr had looked in the bag and identified the explosives, before moving them into a shed at the rear of the property.
Schmarr then found himself at the centre of a police investigation when police raided the property a short time later.
Senior Constable Banyard told the court detectives had been executing a drug-related search warrant targeting another resident of the property when the explosives were located.
He said police seized three power gel "sausages", two glass containers of ammonium nitrate, fusing and non-electric detonators.
Defence lawyer Brendon Slattery said his client had fully co-operated with police, informing detectives about the explosives as soon as they arrived at the property.
Asked by magistrate Adam Hills-Wright why Schmarr had not immediately reported the explosives to police when he found them, Mr Slattery said the 47-year-old did not have time.
"He had been at the property for one hour when police executed the search warrant," Mr Slattery said.
"He did not have time to make those inquiries … he was only moving in to the house that day."
Mr Slattery said once Schmarr had identified the explosives, he thought putting them in a locked shed was a reasonable step to take.
While conceding a minimal fine was appropriate, Mr Slattery said a spent conviction, meaning no criminal record, was critical for Schmarr's future.
He said a conviction would impede the 47-year-old's ability to regain his security licence, which he lost after a confrontation with a drunk patron at Kalgoorlie's Gold Bar Nightclub.
"This is someone who is highly skilled," Mr Slattery told the court.
He said his client had played a key role in reducing alcohol-related violence at the venue in his five years on staff.
"So highly does the Gold Bar rate him, they've put him [back] on as a licensed manager," Mr Slattery said.
"It's fair to say there are police officers and prosecutors quite grateful for Mr Schmarr's presence."
While Mr Slattery said a conviction would unfairly impact Schmarr's ability to provide for his family, Senior Constable Banyard said the presence of such a large amount of explosives could not be played down.
"We don't believe this is a trivial offence," the prosecutor said.
"These explosives should have been in the hands of police or a mine site."
Schmarr will be sentenced on July 7.
The UN's UNESCO body is meeting right now in the Polish city Krakow.
From Krakow it's a short bus ride to Auschwitz.
The smell of the Nazi crematoria wafted through the site where UNESCO is meeting.
Watch Israel's delegate explain why he's asked UNESCO to stand for a minutes silence for the 6 million person throughput of the Nazi industrial extermination centres.
You won't believe what happens next.
If you've not been to Auschwitz you might think about doing it. It's useful to understand the boundaries of humanity.
The Westminster System served Australia well.
It withstood Rudd, weathered Gillard and was getting its breath back as Tony Abbott turned the switch from vaudeville to boring.
Then The Chairman and Sideshow Julie delivered the coup de grace.
Ever since it's been out with the old and in with the new.
Conservative rectitude replaced by innovation and an expensive ideas boom.
There's only one word to describe our new Parliamentary System.
Parlous.
The Parlous Parliamentary System of Government.
The most highly valued parlous parliamentary product is "The Zinger".
It's a Turnbull and Twitter-friendly snappy line with a high Dastyari score.
Better than good legislation. Inestimably superior to outcomes. And likely to draw a crowd of onlookers when found.
Nick Xenophon polished one up today and has just sent it viral.
"Tony Abbott is a pain in the arse".
It'll be all over the news tonight and tomorrow.
Shame about the state of the country.
Within minutes it was dominating Google etc.
Just over a year ago we reported on the ADF members who went to a transgender chin-wag in Washington DC - courtesy of Australian taxpayers.
The conference was being held because back then in the Obama era it was full steam ahead to full gender versatility in the US forces.
The Department of Defense has put all its staff through the training programs. All the policies and procedures have been written, tested, approved and ready for action.
Everything was on track for the implementation date of 31 July this year.
Until last week. And Mad Dog Mattis taking an interest.
He's put it all on hold for at least six months. And asked his service chiefs to show him how US Defense Forces will improve their lethality as a result of the accession.
I'd be tipping that if Jim isn't convinced the US Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines will be deadlier with the inclusion of transgender people - there'll be no inclusion of transgender people forthcoming.
All the bullshit in the world about the essential goal of diversity without which the forces will never achieve their potential has been turned on its head by a war weary general asking the right questions. Prove it. Prove it makes us a more lethal killing machine.
Good on you General.
Meet Canada's newest multi-millionaire.
Omar Khadr.
Khadr murdered US Army medic Christopher Speer with a grenade.
At 15 he was apprenticed into the family's bomb-making business to kill infidels.
He's on video building improvised explosive devices - the same gutless bombs that have killed and maimed Australian troops.
After he was captured on the battlefield, he went to the same enemy combatant prison as every other Al Qaida killer - Guantanamo Bay.
Now Justin Trudeau is reportedly giving this convicted terrorist a $10 million compensation package – and apologising to him.
Omar Khadr took the life of a husband and a father, and now Trudeau's Leftist government wants to reward him.
Khadr is only alive today because of the medical treatment he received from US forces after killing one of their comrades, and now, thanks to Justin Trudeau, he will be one of the wealthiest men in Canada.
This is wrong.
Admitting to working with the same terrorist organisation that killed Canadians on September 11th doesn’t deserve an official apology from the Government of Canada.
Killing Canada's allies doesn’t deserve a $10 million pay day courtesy of the taxpayers of Canada.
Tell Justin Trudeau - no multi-million dollar payouts to terrorists!
(Much of the text above came courtesy of Canada's Conservative party which is running a petition seeking the decision be reversed here)