FM Payne awaiting a report by Qatari authorities concerning the thirteen Australian women

26/10/2020

(See Translation in Arabic section)

M E Times Int'l: When a premature baby was found in a toilet cubicle at Doha Airport early in October, the response from airport officials was startling.

Female passengers were detained, shepherded individually into an awaiting ambulance, asked to strip naked and then assessed for whether they had given birth to the abandoned baby.

Thirteen Australian women were among the cohort, but were not made aware of why they were being asked to undergo the invasive examination.

The Australian Government has registered “serious concerns” with Qatari officials and Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne described the treatment as “grossly inappropriate”.

“The Australian Government is deeply concerned at the unacceptable treatment of some female passengers on a recent Qatar Airways flight at Doha Airport,” she said.

“The advice that has been provided indicates that the treatment of the women concerned was offensive, grossly inappropriate, and beyond circumstances in which the women could give free and informed consent.”

Ms Payne said she was awaiting a report by Qatari authorities into what had occurred at the airport.

“Once I have seen that, we will determine next steps,” she said.

Shadow Resources Minister Joel Fitzgibbons told media on Monday that Australia should “await confirmation about the accuracy of the report”.

“If true, this effectively amounts to state-sanctioned sexual assault and we should all be very, very concerned,” he said.

“And the government here in Australia should be most robust in its responses.”

Returning home after the incident, the women were forced to quarantine without receiving professional support, confirmed by NSW Police.

“Those women completed mandatory quarantine in NSW, during which time they were provided with medical and psychological support by NSW Health,” it said in a statement, adding that “NSW Police referred it to the relevant Commonwealth authority.”

Women from several other countries are understood to have been subjected to the same treatment, but the extent of the incident is not yet known.

 A statement from Hamad Airport confirmed the baby was well and safe but that the mother had not been located.

“At this time, the newborn infant remains unidentified, but is safe under the professional care of medical and social workers,” the statement read.

“Medical professionals expressed concern to officials about the health and welfare of a mother who had just given birth and requested she be located prior to departing [the airport].”

Gladys Berejiklian the preferred choice as NSW Premier, says poll

Sydney: SOME 58% of people in NSW say Gladys Berejiklian remains their preferred choice as State Premier while 19% would prefer Opposition Leader Jodi McKay, according to The Sydney Morning Herald Nine News Ipsos Poll.

The preference for Berejiklian as State Premier divides along party lines; support increases to 86% among Coalition voters and drops to 40% among Labor voters.

Almost two-thirds (64%) of those polled approved of the way in which Berejiklian is performing her role as State Premier; 29% strongly approve and 35% tend to approve. 

When asked whether they would prefer Gladys Berejiklian or Jodi McKay as NSW State Premier, 58% prefer Berejiklian and only one in five (19%) mention McKay. 

There is strong support (74% satisfied) for how the State Government has handled the coronavirus pandemic in NSW, with 34% very satisfied and 40% fairly satisfied.

When asked about the NSW Premier’s secret, long-standing relationship with ex-MP Daryl Maguire 25% believed Berejiklian should resign while 63% do not think she should resign.  Support for the Premier to stay in office is significantly higher among women (70%), older people aged over 40 (70%), and Coalition voters (81%).

Aust needs anti-corruption watchdog now: Labor MP Tony Burke

Canberra: THE Federal Government’s argument that it has other priorities then to set up a national independent corruption watchdog doesn’t stack up, says Shadow Industrial Relations and Arts Minister Tony Burke.

“I don't think anyone can accept that as an excuse. Let's face it, the government found time to bring in new laws and new legislation to deal with students acting corruptly at universities, if they cheat on their exams,” he said

“There’s a new corruption body there. They've been willing to act on providing big advertising campaigns. This draft legislation, which is all about exposing corruption, was given to the government in December last year and they’ve kept it secret.

“It's about exposing what's going on and their response to it is to keep it secret. All they have to do is print it off on their own computer, walk into parliament, table it and the public conversation can start. It's a deliberate decision from Scott Morrison to try to go on a go-slow when it comes to dealing with corruption.”

On such a federal anti-corruption commission, Mr Burke said it has “to be powerful and it needs to be independent”.

“… the starting point is for the draft legislation to not be kept secret. That's the starting point on all of this. We've had different attempts in parliament to start the debate on this. What we didn't know until Senate estimates was that they had the legislation and now we're keeping it secret.”

On the Australia Post and Badgery’s Creek land scandals, Mr Burke said they were examples that would have been dealt with by a federal anti-corruption commission.

“You think (about) the enormity of all of these issues that Scott Morrison is wanting to sweep under the carpet. “

More covid vaccine deals needed urgently

Sydney: Australia remains at the back of the queue for leading COVID-19 vaccine candidates and must urgently strike more supply agreements.

Under questioning, Department of Health officials confirmed Australia has secured no additional advanced supply deals beyond AstraZeneca (Oxford University) and CSL (University of Queensland).

Equivalent health systems like Canada, UK, European Union and the US all have six deals each.

Health officials also confirmed that the agreement with the COVAX facility would only cover half of Australia’s population.

Labor pushed for and welcomed the advanced supply deals with AstraZeneca (Oxford University) and CSL (University of Queensland) just last month.

But Australia was late to the party and we haven’t caught up.

Supply chains are also unprepared for many vaccines.

Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration has recognised the promise of a Pfizer vaccine but the Pfizer vaccine and the many other mRNA vaccines require complex ‘cold chain’ sub-zero supply chains for distribution and supply.

Australia has no capacity to deliver this.

NSW Labor condemned the attack on the Auburn Gallipoli Mosque in Sydney

Sydney: The Gallipoli Mosque is an important part of Sydney’s religious and cultural landscape. Its community regularly welcomes people of all faiths and backgrounds and is well known for its outreach in Western Sydney,” NSW Opposition Leader Jodi MacKay said.

She was joined by Jihad Dib, the Member for Lakemba and Shadow Minister Assisting on Multiculturalism, and Lynda Voltz, the Member for Auburn.

“Our Labor MPs are regular visitors to the mosque, particularly during the holy month of Ramadan. The attack, on Sunday afternoon, should offend all Australians.”

“NSW Labor has always supported people of faith to practise their religion in their respective places of worship,”” the three MPs said.

Australia will have to carry the economic cost of Victoria 'for years to come'

Canberra: The Australian’s Dennis Shanahan says the economic cost from Victoria during the state’s lockdown has been huge and the rest of Australia “will have to carry that for years to come”.

Treasury data says the total direct support for Victoria from the Commonwealth is on track to reach a total of $75 billion dollars.

Mr Shanahan said Treasurer Josh Frydenberg on Monday in parliament made it clear there were almost 2,00 job losses in Victoria every day.

 “The opening can’t come too early,” Mr Shanahan said.

“I think there have been terrible problems in Victoria from the health side and I think the contact tracing has been a problem from the beginning.

“It’s appalling compared to the other states.

 “That meant Daniel Andrews had to keep everything locked down because he can’t handle it outside lockdown.

 “The economic cost from Victoria has been huge and the rest of Australia will have to carry that for years to come.”

Huge clue about who will win the US election in these betting markets

The US election is fast approaching – and as November 3 draws nearer, millions of eyes have turned to betting agencies for clues as to who will win.

While bookmakers are always at the centre of attention in the lead up to elections and major sporting matches, speculation has reached a fever pitch this time after the polls sensationally tipped a landslide Hillary Clinton victory in 2016 – only for Donald Trump to ultimate claim the top job.

In 2020, many are seeking an alternative way of predicting the possible outcome – so here’s everything you need to know about betting on the 2020 US election.

At the moment, Democratic hopeful Joe Biden is the clear favourite across the major betting sites.

While his edge is narrowing, many believe betting odds offer a more accurate election prediction than polls, as people have invested their own hard-earned cash in the outcome.