THURSDAY, 20TH FEBRUARY 2014
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Four-time Walkley Award winning political commentator and Churchill Fellow, recently returned to the fray over concern that news sources are being threatened by the Gillard Government.
AFP SENDS A MESSAGE TO CORBY
According to Indonesian officials, their Parole Board had no choice but to release Schapelle Corby. “It’s not my decision, it’s the law”, said the Minister for Justice. But if it was “his decision”, Corby would still be in jail where Australian Federal Police would also prefer her to be. Channel 7 executives want Corby to talk but AFP and Indonesian officials want her gagged. Why is that?
As Pickering Post said before Corby was released on parole, “… it will be years yet before Corby has the chance to give her side. Strict parole conditions prevent her publicly defending herself. A slip of the tongue and she’s back inside.”
But Channel 7’s concern is for ratings, not for Corby’s welfare.
The AFP were not looking for cheque butts, they knew no money had changed hands, unless of course Channel 7 was misleading Federal law enforcement. That’s a criminal offence of obstructing justice and highly unlikely.
But the AFP were sending a clear message to Corby: “Keep your mouth shut if you want to stay on the outside!” At the same time a clear message was being sent to Channel 7, “Don’t do it!”
The only payment Channel 7 has given Corby so far is a free night in the luxury Sentosa Seminyak resort in Bali, where Willesee has also been seen, lurking in the shadows, awaiting her signature and his share of the ‘proceeds of crime’.
Seven Network’s Commercial Director, Bruce Mr McWilliam said, “The raid will not stop the network from pursuing an interview.” Like all current affairs programs, consideration for their target runs a distant second to ratings.
Most readers on this site believe in Corby’s guilt (and she may well be guilty) but the AFP and DFAT have some serious questions to answer regarding evidence that convicted her and the AFP operates on the ground in Indonesia with close connections to the most corrupt judicial system in Asia.
[DFAT is no stranger to international criminality. Under Bob Carr it aided and abetted the kidnapping of four girls from Italy, a nasty situation Australian courts have reversed, but DFAT personnel have never been held to account.]
There is nothing that Corby can say of interest to Willesee that won’t put her back in jail, but Willesee is a wily interviewer and Channel 7 will run with it regardless.
If Corby reads this (and she will) I hope she takes this advice: “Stay away from the silver-tongued Willesee and do not accept any money from Channel 7. You can tell your story in three years’ time.
“Meanwhile, enjoy what you can of that corrupt country
3 HOURS AGO/167 COMMENTS
Frankly I can tell you here & now, that more Australians believe in the AFP, it’s integrity & LACK of corruption than feel any sympathy for Corby. Do u NOT realise that AFP agents MUST under various circumstances, NEED to b seen by a ‘corrupt police force’ in a country spilling over with kickbacks, payoffs, bribes & bungs as being similar in the lack of moral principles as they are themselves?? A good FPO has to be convincing which entails acting out a role, their very lives can be in in peril otherwise. Some have paid WITH their lives but the public (including yourself) rarely hears about this result of those dangerous undertakings. DRUG traffickers (large & small) are without any respect for human life & are probably the most pernicious of criminals. This can also apply to actual junkies to whom nothing/no one means anything to them other than obtaining, by whatever means the ‘substance’ of addiction. I personally could not care less about Corby or her fate, applicable also to the other Australians caught by & judged by the Indonesians. Nor do I question the AFP’s judgement. To quote “the AFP operates on the ground in Indonesia with close connections to the most corrupt judicial system in Asia.”, & refer YOU to what I said earlier, ‘close connections’ are often necessary, vital in fact. If traffickers are apprehended before leaving Australia what do they get? A limp slap on the wrist, community service or 6 months in goal maybe followed by a taxpayer funded stint in a rehabilitation program. If you believe these are sufficient deterrents to like-minded criminals you sir are indeed an example of paracosm.
Corby’s ‘asset’ (assets??) that made her ‘prominent’ in the media & perhaps gullible males was a passably attractive face, her ability to role-play & youth. But then how many people in anyway connected with illicit drugs live long enough to maturate? As for the young male Scott Rush ( then 19 in 2005) whose father claimed he contacted the AFP to ‘inform’ on his son i.e.to stop him flying to Bali with 1.3 kg of HEROIN strapped to him underneath his clothing. One has to wonder. After he had a history of drug taking in Australia, expelled from 2 schools in his senior years, In court admitting to using cannabis, ecstasy & prescription medication .16 offences, including drug possession, fraud, theft and drink-driving. A warrant for his arrest in Australia was outstanding at the time of his trip to Bali, relating to A$4,796.95 stolen from an Australian bank. IF Rush had been ‘warned’ by the AFP & NOT boarded the plane thus condemning himself to Indonesian LAW & a life sentence WOULD he be alive today? No one knows of course, but taking in his criminal history & drug taking would it be feasible to even theorise that the AFP saved his life? Maybe, just maybe !!!
Despite his family & supporters (INCLUDING all ‘yellow journalism’ outlets) ranting’s at the AFP, appeals against his fate, accusations & counter-accusations, Rush’s announcement that he was converting to Islam, in short more of the same old same old tactics used by Corby.
BOTTOM LINE : KNOWING and FLAUNTING the law in Australia or ANY other country is
NOT acceptable.
This quote, even though simplistic says it all—-
“There is one all-important law of human conduct. If we obey that law, we shall almost never get into trouble. In fact, that law, if obeyed, will bring us countless friends and constant happiness. But the very instant we break the law, we shall get into endless trouble.”
Dale Carnegie
great insight. Really enjoyed looking over this blog. Keep up the good work
and to everyone keep on learning!