Kevin Rudd and Mark Dreyfus touring the new ASIO HQ in 2014
by Mary W Maxwell
I thought the hearings for the Inquest were finished, but apparently there was a directions hearing and smartie media knew about and attended (or got the report of it). So here is the bad news. I am quoting Jessica Kidd writing on September 7, 2016 at mobile.abc.net.au. The title of her article was the neutral sounding “ASIO’s role may never be publicly revealed”:
“It is expected the findings in relation to ASIO will be available to a select few. The findings arising from the coronial inquest into the Sydney siege will not be handed down until next year, New South Wales state coroner Michael Barnes has confirmed, but ASIO’s involvement will likely remain confidential.
“Mr Barnes said the inquest into the Lindt Cafe siege was one of the most complex in the state’s history, hearing evidence from 119 witnesses, during 23 weeks.
“A directions hearing heard the role that Australia’s spy agency ASIO played during the siege may never be publicly known. ASIO officers gave evidence about what contact they had with gunman Man Haron Monis prior to the siege in lengthy closed court hearings last year.
The agency also tendered documents and evidence explaining what, if any, surveillance the former Iranian refugee had been under.”
I don’t know exactly which documents were tendered recently but we did already know of ASIO’s involvement with Monis as the Inquest’s website has posted documents on that for quite a while.
There is also a report from a joint effort by the NSW premier and cabinet and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. I will quote (and abbreviate) only the bits about the year 2014 – the year of the December siege:
“Monis was the subject of many law enforcement and security investigations and assessments over the period of his residence in Australia. None provided any indication he had the intention to commit an act such as the Martin Place siege.”
“The NSW Chief Psychiatrist has reviewed the medical documentation and concluded that at no time in his multiple encounters with mental health professionals was Monis assessed to represent a potential risk to others or to himself, and at no time was it necessary to admit him to hospital for treatment of mental illness, or for him to receive coercive or more restrictive care.”
So either those psychiatrists should declare themselves incompetent, or they are competent and made the correct assessment that Monis was no madman.
Again quoting Kidd’s ABC article:
Counsel assisting the inquest Jeremy Gormly SC told Wednesday’s hearing it was important that the ASIO segment of the inquest be conducted outside “the public eye.”
“‘That came at the cost of public exposure, even to other parties,” he said. ‘It was, however, sensibly endorsed by all parties.’ Mr Gormly told the inquest it was his expectation that the coroner would deliver a restricted report of his findings and recommendations relating to ASIO.
Some of the other items from that “Report on Man Haron Monis” prepared jointly by NSW and Commonwealth are:
March 2014: On 31 March 2014, INTERPOL Tehran advises that Monis does not have a criminal record in Iran, but was wanted for ‘defrauding Iranian citizens’.
(Quel surprise that the contact from Iran was so recent. Or was it “Iran’? Interpol is sort of a private thing.)
14-15 April: NSW Police Force charge Monis with three sexual assault charges dating back to 2002. He is remanded in custody.
(Just wondering: How did the charges come up 12 years after the event?)
16 April: Requests that the Parramatta Local Court investigate his allegation that NSW Police Force and ASIO are involved in the murder of his former partner. The request is denied.
Ahem.
26 May, 2014: Monis is granted conditional bail for the sex offence charges and released the following day.
9-13 December: NSH receives 18 calls and emails drawing attention to Monis’ Facebook page. It is decided they do not indicate a desire or intent to engage in terrorism. Nor are the postings assessed to meet the threshold for prosecution under new ‘advocacy of terrorism’ legislation.
12 December — Monis appears in the High Court (in Sydney) seeking to appeal his conviction for postal offences.
The ABC’s report on the Inquest’s directions hearings ends by saying that the Inquest’s findings:
“would only be made available to federal Attorney-General George Brandis, the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, Margaret Stone, and ASIO.”
Personally, I can’t think of any reason (except one) why ASIO would be unwilling to make known its dealings with Monis.
Can you?
— Mary W Maxwell is preparing a book on the Sydney siege Inquest.
Photo credit–abc.net.au
Incompetence is the hall mark of double-dealing.
“A double minded man is unstable in all his ways”.
JAMES 1:8
The important political aspect of Monis is his importance to being a pawn in the political arena to liberate these type individuals is to allow free range to commit criminal acts to promote a police state and how politicians are looking after your the public’s safety to benefit authority and create fear.
With regard to psychiatry largely a suspect science often based on Freudian ideology who also is as symbol head of Tavistock, London, would often cooperate with state ideology and support Manis in down playing his potential role as a menace to society, most so called terrorists as identified as are all part of the pop star culture, this quirk comes from the feeling of being insignificant in society as the all part of the broader plan of western culture to disempower the individual such as programs as ABC, Who Do You Think You Are? having individuals who are the famous and excluding non significant individuals, the desire to become a pop star is open to those who are prepared to do time or become a victim as hero status, even those who rule us such as Turnbull not only dissatisfied with 200 million dollars of possible ill gotten wealth desires pop star status.
It is unfortunate the two innocent having been murdered by state execution were part of the drama that our society required as a sacrifice in the Manis saga, this is whereby so many innocent become victims within the controlling elites doctrine of maintaining power with our consent to remain dormant or to remain asleep within the confines and boundaries of our cultural processing and becoming a mature and well regulated citizen.
Dear Don, Not clear as to your theory. Do you believe Monis got rooked into doing a hosage-taking, at someone’s behest, for the personal benefit of feeling important?
I agree with you that it is absolutely fierce today how kids are not being taught self-esteem. I see a sign at the cinema “Coming soon: Ms Pregrini’s School for Peculiar Children.” Would someone please tell me what was wrong with normal children?
And have the makers of the Perigrini novel got something to offer to the kids who will buy tickets to that movie? Geez.
When a government agency such as ASIO is allowed to act outside the law and then have the knowledge of that event hidden from the public by the so called judicial system is something that we should all be worried about.
It was years after the Hilton Bombing event, before it became known to the public, that that event was set up by ASIO.
It is still not acknowledged by officialdom, what part ASIO played in the Port Arthur Massacre. They played a BIG part, believe me.
Can we afford to allow these types of agencies to be able to hold out the judiciary functions, using the excuse of “national security” when it is these agencies that are a danger to our national security.
Remember we in Australia had no fears of attacks by terrorists or other elements, until these agencies such as ASIO, SOG, SAC-PAV and other alphabet agencies were legislated into being. Since then, we are told, we are under attack, regularly. Something to think about.
Hey Aussiemal, why mince words?
“ASIO played a big part in the PA massacre.”
Might as well just say “ASIO killed 35 Aussies “if that’s what you mean. How’s that for shocking. Methinks we had better indict them.
Did they do the Sydney siege? If they did NOT do it, why aren’t they discussing everything openly? Are ciizens unworthy of learning the facts of the December 15, 2013 siege?
I hear that an ex-SOG man in Tassie, Michael Dyson, feels that some of the Port Arthur researchers libelled him. Well, he could get a payout for that if he sues the offending libelers.
Come on, Dyson, let’s see a bit of court action from you. Wazza matta, cat got your tongue?
Why do I suspect that our alleged democracy is a charade and that our politicians and mass media are frauds?