Donald Trump under pressure over Moscow, WikiLeaks links, The New Daily, 15 December, 2016.

http://thenewdaily.com.au/news/world/2016/12/15/donald-trump-russia-wikileaks/

Donald Trump under pressure over Moscow, WikiLeaks links


Donald Trump face a possible congressional probe into Russia's role in his election. Photo: TND composite
John Stapleton
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Donald Trump’s presidency could be derailed by a possible prolonged congressional committee investigation into whether or not Russian hackers aided him in winning the election.

The powerful US congressional system is the same process that brought down Richard Nixon in 1974 and its inquiry does not bode well for the man many have long described as the “Kremlin’s candidate”.

The strategic leaking of tens of thousands of emails, including those of Democratic campaign chairman John Podesta, bedevilled Hillary Clinton’s run for president and is believed to have been a decisive factor in Mr Trump’s win.

It was the first time that WikiLeaks, formerly obsessed with transparency in government, played a decisive role in the outcome of an election.

Mr Trump has made so many enemies within his own party – and made such strikingly pro-Russian appointments – that there are many who would be happy to see him impeached, US political experts have told The New Daily.

And Australia’s Julian Assange is at the heart of the imbroglio.
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The animosity between Mrs Clinton and Mr Assange is well known. WikiLeaks released 250,000 documents during her period as secretary of state, which exposed shocking military misconduct in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Can’t we just drone this guy?” Mrs Clinton is reported to have asked, while Mr Assange said “she [Mrs Clinton] shouldn‘t be allowed near a gun shop, much less an army”.

Election expert, University of Melbourne researcher James Cahill, told The New Daily that strongly pro-Russian appointments have heightened questions around the influence of Moscow in the US election.

Secretary of state nominee, ExxonMobil chief executive Rex Tillerson, received Russia’s Order of Friendship Medal in 2013 from Vladimir Putin and is known to be a friend of the Russian President.The nomination of Rex Tillerson as secretary of state has raised questions over Donald Trump’s relationship with Russia. Photo: Getty

Mr Trump’s choice for national security adviser, retired army general Michael Flynn, also has extensive Russian connections.

“These appointments tie in very poorly with the idea that Russians favoured the Republicans,” Mr Cahill said. “During the US election, WikiLeaks not merely went in and hacked and gathered information, it benefited one side of politics.”

Mr Cahill said with serious concerns among traditional Republicans over these Russian connections, Mr Trump could well fall foul of a US congressional committee, which has similar powers to a royal commission.

“Trump insulted John McCain, who is a proud man, during the election campaign,” he said. “He might well see it as his final patriotic duty to pursue the question of whether the Russians made Trump president. Trump should be very concerned about this. Not to comply with such a committee is in itself an offence.”
CIA claims

The CIA has released a report claiming that Russia interfered in the US election to help Mr Trump win, a claim the President-elect dismissed as ‘ridiculous‘.

Intelligence operatives from multiple agencies found connections between the Kremlin and WikiLeaks, but WikiLeaks founder Assange has denied Russia was the source of the leaks.Julian Assange has denied Russia was the source of the damaging Clinton leaks. Photo: PA

One of America’s most senior security figures, former deputy director of the CIA Michael Morrel, said: “A foreign government messing around in our elections is an existential threat to our way of life. This is the political equivalent of 9/11.”

Russian expert with Sydney University, Professor Graeme Gill, told The New Daily that while the CIA claimed the Russians were behind the hacking of Clinton officials, they had not produced the evidence and the FBI did not support the claim.

“They have been able to trace back some of the servers which have been used to transmit the material and those servers are located in Russia,” Prof Gill said. “But that doesn’t prove that the Russian government did it, as opposed to individual hackers.”
WikiLeaks shift

Academic Director at the National Security College in Canberra, Dr Matthew Sussex, told The New Daily the Russians were most likely involved and the role of WikiLeaks in the US elections was a far cry from the organisation’s original idealism.
WikiLeaks has gone from the darling of the old left to the darling of the old right.


“WikiLeaks have become a source or outlet of various intelligence agencies. Something that began as exposing government practices is now an instrument for other governments.

“I was asked, when WikiLeaks first came on the scene, if it was a game-changer. I replied, ‘Not really, it will be co-opted into a different bunch of agendas’. And that’s what’s happened.”

Drafts for Donald Trump under pressure over Moscow, Wikileaks links, written 14 December, 2016.

We have lost a generation of Syrian children, The New Daily, 13 December, 2016.

http://thenewdaily.com.au/news/world/2016/12/13/aleppo-fall-syria-crisis/

‘We have lost a generation of Syrian children’


Aleppo is being pummelled by Syrian government forces, with these rebels fighting back. Photo: Getty
John Stapleton
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UPDATE

Russia’s envoy to the United Nations says a deal has been reached for rebel fighters to leave the embattled Syrian city of Aleppo.

“My latest information is that they indeed have an arrangement achieved on the ground that the fighters are going to leave the city,” Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters on Tuesday.

It could happen “within hours maybe,” he said.
CNN has reported that a ceasefire and evacuation agreement had been reached in the beleaguered eastern part of the city, and that residents had received text messages from rebel leaders announcing the ceasefire.

The evacuation of the remaining rebels would mark a major victory for President Bashar Assad and return Syria’s largest city to full government control for the first time since rebels seized the eastern half in 2012.

EARLIER

Aleppo is falling and the end is horrific.

Syrian President Bashar al–Assad’s forces are on the cusp of victory in what has been the most horrific slow-motion disaster of 2016.

The regime’s army and allied forces are being accused of killing civilians in their homes and executing those trying to flee.

Reports include 82 people, including women and children, being summarily killed by militiamen, and 100 unaccompanied children trapped in a building under fire.

The UN says it is “clear evidence of a complete meltdown of humanity”.
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Its security council has convened an emergency session, in which Secretary–General Ban Ki Moon talked about one of the oldest cities in the world disappearing before Christmas.

A rebel group claims a ceasefire with the Russians has been brokered by Turkey, but that is being denied by the Syrian Army.

Syria’s largest city has been the subject of a brutal conflict between the Syrian government – in alliance with Russia – Shiite militias and Hezbollah, who have all been engaged in a battle with the Syrian opposition for control.

The conflict has been characterised by barrel bombs dropped from helicopters killing thousands, chemical weapons, massacres, reprisals, executions, bombings of hospitals, scenes of dozens of dead bodies littering the streets, and apocalyptic imagery of bombed-out districts and sickening footage of wounded and dying children.

Swathes of Aleppo are now in ruins as the final rebel-held areas fell on Tuesday.


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News: @UNHumanRights office "filled with the deepest foreboding for those who remain" in Aleppo http://ow.ly/rnzX3074Q8V #Syria
12:05 AM - 14 Dec 2016

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The rout of rebels from their ever-shrinking territory in Aleppo has sparked a mass flight of civilians and insurgents in bitter weather.

“The reports we had are of people being shot in the street trying to flee and shot in their homes,” said Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the UN office. “There could be many more.”

UNICEF says the situation is “hell on earth”, with food and basic supplies running out. Schools haven’t been running for weeks.

Regional director, Geert Cappelaere, says it’s “time for the world to stand up for the children of Aleppo and bring their living nightmare to an end.”




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"I hope you can remember us."

This teacher in Aleppo shares a harrowing "last call" video as government forces take control of the city.
3:26 AM - 14 Dec 2016

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As another day dawned in the ruins, the cries on social media became increasingly despairing.

Volunteer rescue group The White Helmets – rescue workers nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2016 for their efforts helping casualties of the Syrian conflict – tweeted: “All streets and destroyed buildings are full with dead bodies. It’s hell.”

And: “We hear children crying, we hear calls for help, but we just can’t do anything. We are being bombed continuously.”

And another: “People of Aleppo wish to inform you that tomorrow they will be killed with their families.”


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The White Helmets @SyriaCivilDef


+100,000 civilians are packed into a tiny area. Bombing + shelling relentless. Casualties unimaginable. Bodies lie where they fell.
11:37 AM - 13 Dec 2016

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Meanwhile, terrified residents posted final “goodbye” messages, thanking supporters and questioning how the world allowed this to happen.


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Final message - I am very sad no one is helping us in this world, no one is evacuating me & my daughter. Goodbye.- Fatemah #Aleppo
11:28 PM - 12 Dec 2016

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To everyone who can hear me!#SaveAleppo#SaveHumanity
8:23 AM - 13 Dec 2016

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Rami Zien @Rami_Zien


U guess it's goodbye..
Thanks all who stand for us and pay for us.
But it's almost over and they are just hours away of killing us
5:13 AM - 13 Dec 2016

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The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said almost 600 civilians had been killed since fighting intensified in Aleppo in the past month.

“The humanitarian situation is catastrophic in eastern Aleppo, the massacres being committed,” it said in a statement.

One of the world’s leading Middle East experts, Australian journalist Martin Chulov, told The New Daily that the scale of the suffering in Aleppo is unlike anything else in the Syrian war.There have been ‘unimaginable casualties’ due to the conflict in the city. Photo: Getty

“Half of the country’s industrial heart is in ruins. The fabric of east Aleppo has been destroyed,” Mr Chulov said. “Entire clans have been wiped out and tens of thousands of children traumatised by some of the most sustained and indiscriminate bombardment of the past half century.”

Earlier this month a UN envoy warned that Aleppo was becoming “one giant graveyard”.

On Tuesday the warning came true as the Syrian army announced it had taken full control of the Aleppo districts abandoned by rebels during their retreat in the city.

Syrian soldiers earlier celebrated victory when rebels withdrew from the east side of the Aleppo river on Monday afternoon, while a coalition of civil groups issuing a statement that 100,000 civilians were trapped without safe passage.

On Monday, Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon issued a statement expressing alarm “over reports of atrocities against a large number of civilians, including women and children, in recent hours in Aleppo”.

The situation has been devolving ever since.Smoke billows from the former rebel-held district of Bustan al-Qasr as Syrian government forces retake the embattled city. Photo: Getty

Dr Anthony Billingsley, a lecturer on Middle Eastern politics at the University of NSW, told The New Daily the fall of Aleppo would be a significant propaganda boost for the Assad regime.

“We have an extraordinarily messy situation. It is a tangled, bewildering mixture of alliances of convenience,” Dr Billingsley said. “I used to live in Syria and watching the news just brings tears to my eyes.

“Syrians themselves are friendly and welcoming, a lovely people. It is horrendous to see the fighting. The images you see are sanitised, they don’t show the dead. There seems no depth they won’t plumb.”

Experts warn that the fall of Aleppo will not mark the end of Syria’s suffering, with the complex allegiances of military factions and Islamist groups – including Islamic State – likely to become even more dangerously divided.

Australian National University’s Middle East expert Dr Vanessa Newby, who has also lived in Syria, told The New Daily that Syrian standards of living had been relatively high and the country was opening up to the world prior to the start of the civil war.

“There is nothing left of Aleppo to speak of,” she said. “The government areas still function, the old souks and citadels are largely destroyed. We have lost a generation of Syrian children. That is the biggest tragedy of all.”

France has called for an immediate UN Security Council resolution to discuss alleged atrocities being carried out in eastern Aleppo, Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault says.

Qatar has called for an emergency Arab League meeting to discuss the situation.

Mike Baird's lockout laws 'too little, too late' for Sydney, The New Daily, 8 December, 2016.

http://thenewdaily.com.au/news/state/nsw/2016/12/08/mike-baird-lockout-laws-relaxed/

Mike Baird’s lockout laws changes ‘too little, too late’ for Sydney


Sydney residents protest the lockout laws earlier in 2016. Photo: Getty
John Stapleton
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The relaxation – by 30 minutes – of the widely despised lockout laws imposed on Sydney’s entertainment districts have been slammed as “too little, too late”.

The laws were introduced by former New South Wales premier Barry O’Farrell in 2014 as one of his finals acts in answer to the deaths of two teenagers from ‘one-punch’ attacks.

Comprising a 1.30am lockout for all venues and a 3am final-drinks call, the laws have been blamed for the closure of numerous venues, the loss of hundreds of jobs, the death of Sydney’s nighttime economy and the destruction of its international reputation.

Sydney was recently labelled one of the world’s least-fun cities. Melbourne ranks as one of the best, and shows no signs of following Sydney’s lead.

On Thursday, with his popularity having dive-bombed partly as a result of his wowser reputation and perceived closeness to developers, NSW Premier Mike Baird took a halting step back from the abyss.

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The 1.30am lockout will be moved to 2am and last drinks extended to 3.30am for venues in Sydney’s CBD and Kings Cross that offer live entertainment or cultural events as part of a two-year trial.

Takeaway and home delivery alcohol sales will be also be extended from 10 pm to 11 pm across NSW.

Easing restrictions was one of the key recommendations of a review into the legislation overseen by former High Court judge Ian Callinan.

Mr Baird said, while the laws have been relaxed, they were here to stay.

“They have proven to be effective. If you look at the statistics, they show there’s been a 40 per cent reduction in violence in Kings Cross, 20 per cent across the CBD and there’s no doubt they have been saving lives,” he said.

“At the same time, there’s been strong views put that this has been an impact on live music and the vibrancy in this great city.”

The changes will come into effect in January.

8 Dec
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Sydney’s controversial lockout laws to be relaxed: http://bit.ly/2h7pObQ @KeepSydneyOpen pic.twitter.com/HJgd6wiNrF


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@TheNewDailyAu ...by 30 minutes. We consider this to be tokenism.
10:13 AM - 8 Dec 2016 · Sydney, New South Wales

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Keep Sydney Open campaign director Tyson Kol told The New Daily the government overreacted to a nonexistent problem, with violence rates on the decline for several years before the lockout laws.

“We are the laughing stock of the world in terms of nightlife,” Mr Kol said. “Thirty minutes is not going to do enough to restore confidence in Sydney as a nighttime destination or restore the music industry.”

He said the solution was to relax licensing laws across the city to encourage the spread of entertainment, as many cities around the world had done.

“There has been a lot of talk about the government agenda. Regardless of what their intentions were, it has played out in two short years as critics suggested.

“An entertainment precinct has been destroyed and prime real estate is up for development.”The once ‘sleazy’ Kings Cross has huge development potential.

Sydney Business Chamber executive director Patricia Forsythe welcomed the modification of lockout times as a step in the right direction.

She told The New Daily Sydney’s reputation has suffered internationally.

“Perception is everything and we have definitely taken a hit,” Ms Forsyth said. “The changes are cautious, moderate. We welcome them because, whether for tourists or the local population, it is vital we have a vibrant nighttime economy.”


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Matt Barrie @matt_barrie


Premier @mikebairdMP must take the people and small businesses of sydney for idiots if he thinks 30 mins will do anything. #nswpol #auspol
10:03 AM - 8 Dec 2016 · Sydney, New South Wales

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Gerardo Mazzella, a consultant to two of the remaining Kings Cross sex shops, McQueen’s Adult Concepts and The Pleasure Den, told The New Daily the lockout laws “just killed Sydney”.

“There is nothing there. The incidents were just an excuse. The lockout laws were clearly about real estate and nothing else,” Mr Mazella said.

Australia’s so-called ‘Porn King’ Con Ange told The New Daily the western side of Kings Cross had phenomenal views of Sydney, which obviously appealed to developers.

“Those views are worth millions. The lockout laws have already destroyed the Cross, every hotel and bar business up there. Thirty minutes is too little, too late.”Mike Baird’s lockout laws have been a hot button in NSW. Photo: AAP

Mr Callinan was appointed in February to provide an independent assessment of the liquor laws.

When he announced the review, Police Minister Troy Grant said it would be “open, genuine and transparent”.

But ahead of the review, Mr Baird wrote a Facebook post indicating he was reluctant to make any changes to the laws.

There will also be changes to the government’s “three-strikes” disciplinary policy for venues.

The government has proposed strikes be incurred by individual licensees rather than attaching to a venue’s licence. The Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority Board will determine strikes.

The freeze on new licences for venues such as hotels, clubs and bottle shops will also be extended until June 1, 2018 – however that does not apply to small bars.

Mr Grant said the government’s definition of a live entertainment venue did not include strip clubs.

“The famous artist that won about five ARIAs – Flume – who does wonderful music from that sort of operation, is absolutely live entertainment and will be the sort of live entertainment of offer,” he said.

“It’s for the venues to make that application to the secretary and see if it fits within that broader definition that we’ve created.”

-with ABC

Parliament security breaches mark end of arduous year, The New Daily, 1 December, 2016.

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9:45pm, Dec 1, 2016 Updated: 1h ago

Parliament security breaches mark end of arduous year

Despite channelling billions of dollars into counter-terrorism and trumpeting national security as a major issue, the past two days have proven that the government is unable to protect even the core of Australian democracy.

A banner proclaiming “CLOSE THE BLOODY CAMPS NOW #JUSTICE4REFUGEES” was draped across the front of Parliament House on Thursday, placed there by two abseiling protesters.

As a man and a woman abseiled down the front of Parliament, demonstrators stood in the decorative pond in front with signs including “stop the boats go die somewhere else”.

It was the final sitting day for Parliament, and an ignominious end to a long and arduous political year.

On Wednesday, about 25 protesters from the group Whistleblowers, Activists and Citizens Alliance interrupted Question Time from the public gallery with loud chants demanding offshore asylum seeker detentions camps be closed. But it was Parliament they succeeded in closing down.

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Parliament House security to be tightened amid terror fears

Their removal was made more difficult by the fact they had glued themselves to the balcony.

The high-profile breaches have raised serious questions about security at Parliament House, with security experts demanding to know how Parliament could be so easily breached.

Head of Homeland Security Asia/Pacific, Roger Henning, described the incidents as a major embarrassment for the Australian Federal Police.

“The latest disruptions, including a forced interval in Question Time, until protesters were evicted, followed by a banner being successfully hung from the top of Parliament House, highlight the lack of security ‘smarts’ and total reliance on CCTV and displays of heavily armed AFP officers, in and around the precinct,” he told The New Daily.

“These are only two components of the security mix needed to protect all who enter Parliament House.

“Politicians and their staffers are not bulletproof and all are living with a false sense of security. It’s just a matter of time before disaster strikes, resulting in mass casualties.”

Dr Tony Zalewski, a forensic security specialist at Global Public Safety who has degrees in law and criminology and is a security risk adviser to governments locally and abroad, told The New Daily that the breaches of parliamentary security were an unfortunate embarrassment for the AFP.

A protester is pinned to the ground by security outside the chamber on Wednesday. Photo: AAP

“When you consider what a basic and amateurish group of individuals can achieve in a high-security environment, imagine what professional and properly trained individuals could do,” he said.

“For persons with an ideological or religious motive now have evidence how easy it is to breach the perimeter of one of our most high-profile properties.

“It doesn’t send a good message about strategies, risk minimisation or security effectiveness. I would expect contraband to be identified, things like ropes, hooks, superglue, signage, banners. But none of these seem to have been detected.”

One sympathiser with the protesters, Darrell Morrison, told The New Daily: “So much for Border Force, if we can’t even guard Parliament House. If you can abseil down the front of Parliament House, that is a major breach.”

Controversial measures being considered to increase security around Parliament House include erecting a glass barrier between the chamber and the public gallery and installing 2.6-metre high bollards to block access to the green lawns that surround it.

A police officer escorts a pro refugee protester who abseiled from the roof of Parliament House in Canberra. Photo: AAP

A spokesman for the Australian Federal Police, Hamish Walker, told The New Daily the AFP worked closely with the Presiding Officers and the Department of Parliamentary Services to ensure the overall security of Parliament House is appropriate.

“Security operations within the parliamentary precinct are constantly monitored to ensure they remain flexible, easily adaptable and are responsive to the threat environment,” Mr Walker said. “Recent events will be considered in an effort to reduce the chances of such events from occurring in the future.”

On his Facebook page, Senator James McGrath of Queensland – who holds the position of Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister – described the demonstrators as “a bunch of bong-sniffing, dole-bludging, moss-munching, glue-guzzling, K-Mart Castros”.

Not everyone agreed.

Refugee advocate Julian Burnside QC told The New Daily: “The parliamentarians are very cross; these people have broken some obscure law.

More than 1,200 asylum seekers remain in detention across Nauru and Manus Island.

“But they overlook the larger point, that by conducting operations against boat people, with indefinite criminal detention, that in itself is a criminal offence.

“Parliament should be open to the people, and if the parliamentarians are dedicated to breaking the criminal law, they should face up to the possibility of some members of Parliament protesting about it.”

It is definitely not the end to the parliamentary year Malcolm Turnbull was looking for.

Australian airports at risk of major security breaches, experts warn, The New Daily, 24 November, 2016.

http://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2016/11/24/security-warning-australian-airports/

Australian airports at risk of major security breaches, experts warn

Concerns over the nation’s airports have escalated amid criticism of government inaction. Photo: AAP

John Stapleton

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The safety of millions of Christmas travellers has been put at risk by government inaction over urgent concerns about the security of the nation’s airports, experts have warned.

The story concerning the safety of Australian airports has many strands, all of them alarming.

A Senate inquiry into aviation and airport security is yet to report after two years, which critics describe as a scandalous failure to take the welfare of passengers seriously.

Concerns over the nation’s airports have continued to escalate, with experts reflecting everything from inadequate training of airport staff to crowded passenger areas readily targeted by suicide bombers.

Christmas travellers may be at risk, according to experts. Photo: AP

Planeloads of Australian tourists flying back from Bali and Phuket are also at risk.

‘Extremely vulnerable’ 

The Transport Workers’ Union (TWU) claimed this week their members were raising concerns about high staff turnover, poor working conditions and inept security checks.

Last week, UN expert Dr Jim Kent warned during a visit to Australia that local airports were “extremely vulnerable” to terrorist attacks. This week a man was charged with making hoax calls to both aircraft and air traffic controllers at Melbourne and Avalon airports.

Related Coverage

Security failures putting ‘lives at risk’, warn experts

When retired customs officer Allan Kessing gave evidence to the inquiry this week he said reports he compiled that had not been acted on showed that more than 20 per cent of staff with access to baggage and aircraft had criminal convictions.

“What was most concerning was the level of fraud in identity cards,” he told the committee.

Leading terror expert Professor Clive Williams told The New Daily that given Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s comments this week that an additional $1.5 billion had been allocated to counter-terrorism efforts in the past two years, “you would have thought they would be right on to airport security, but it seems to have been on the back burner”.

The word airport was not mentioned in the Prime Minister’s lengthy National Security address to Parliament on Wednesday.

Airports are an obvious target. There should be a greater sense of urgency.
Terror expert Professor Clive Williams

Professor Williams said with explosive devices the size of a soft drink can capable of bringing down a plane, Australian authorities needed to concentrate on poor security at airports in surrounding countries, particularly at the holiday destinations of Bali and Phuket.

“Flights are packed with Australian tourists,” he said. “Australians are a primary target for terrorists because of our involvement in the coalition against Islamic State, something the government never explains to the public.”

Malcolm Turnbull did not not speak about airports in his latest national security address. Photo: AAP

Senior investigative journalist with the Seven Network, Bryan Seymour, whose reports triggered the Senate inquiry, said documents obtained under Freedom of Information revealed 282 security incidents and breaches at Australian airports between January 2012 and April 2014.

These included weapons, such as knives, blades, tasers, guns, ammunition and box cutters in secure areas and on planes.

Mr Seymour told The New Daily his investigations revealed numerous breaches of airside and secure areas by unauthorised people. The situation remained dire, with recent investigations showing hundreds of sharp weapons and instruments being seized, including 83 “credit card knives”.

“These are lethal illegal concealed weapons,” he said. “Our airports should and can be more secure. There is a lot more that could be done.”

Scandalous delays

National Secretary of the TWU Tony Sheldon told The New Daily: “Our members are reporting that workers are accessing secure airside areas, in some cases using only library ID and photocopies of driver’s licences, where food and drink containers bound for aircraft are stored.

“There is clearly a problem.

A former senior security advisor to the federal government, Mike Roach, told The New Daily the two-year delay in delivering the Senate inquiry findings was scandalous.

The Transport Workers’ Union’s Tony Sheldon has concerns around airport security. Photo: AAP

“The government is delaying on enhancing the safety of people using airports,” he said. “The bottom line is nothing has happened, and nothing will happen until something goes bang in the night. There has been continued inaction.”

Director of Homeland Security Asia/Pacific Roger Henning told The New Daily his organisation had been up against “stiff, concerted opposition” in their attempts to change the security culture at Australian airports.

“There has been no government or industry action since 2010,” he said. “The revelations by Bryan Seymour of the Seven Network were ignored by the government, despite triggering a Senate inquiry.

“They should have been a wake-up call.

“The government has reneged on its duty of care obligations to this day; leaving millions of airline passengers at risk this Christmas peak season.”

Senator Nick Xenophon, who initiated the inquiry, told The New Daily it had received highly controversial evidence: “I hope valuable lessons have been learnt.”