Staff front 'kangaroo court' probe after arrest threat

Senior government staff have faced terse questions over the passage of anti-protest and hate speech laws after threats they could be arrested for refusing to front an inquiry.
NSW Premier Chris Minns' chief of staff James Cullen, his deputies and two senior staff for Police Minister Yasmin Catley showed up on Friday after being summoned to appear earlier in June.
The parliamentary inquiry is probing the swift introduction of laws in February after the discovery of a caravan at Dural, on Sydney's outskirts, containing explosives and a list of Jewish sites.
Mr Minns and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese initially labelled the caravan incident a thwarted terror attack in late January when a media leak disclosed the earlier caravan find.
But inquiry chair Rod Roberts on Friday criticised the terrorism label, saying it would have led to fear and consternation in the community.
"I can't see how the premier standing in front of a press conference saying there is no other alternative to terrorism provided any calm to anybody," the independent MP said.
It later emerged the caravan was thought to be part of what investigators labelled a "criminal con job" that was staged in an attempt to gain leverage with police.
Senior NSW police told the inquiry in April they believed it was a ruse virtually from the outset.
Controversial laws that passed parliament included curbs on the right to demonstrate near places of worship.
But Mr Cullen, appearing frustrated and occasionally interrupting questions, repeatedly defended the premier's language about the caravan find.
"This was not a line dreamt up by the premier," he told the committee inquiry in a tense exchange with Mr Roberts.
"It was not a term thrown around lightly at all.
"There's a very convenient rewriting of history and squashing of time and concepts."
The three pieces of legislation were drafted during a 12-18 month period when there was a marked rise in anti-Semitic incidents, Mr Cullen said.
"The relationship that's been constructed by some between the Dural caravan event and those three pieces of legislation is extremely ... unfair."
They included graffiti and arson attacks on a synagogue, a preschool's fire-bombing and other incidents in areas with large Jewish populations, all of which had drawn widespread condemnation, he said.
Mr Minns - who, along with the police minister, cannot be compelled to appear before the upper house - told reporters his perspective had been "well ventilated".
Following news the staffers could face arrest, Mr Minns on Wednesday said they had been summoned to an inquiry that was "close to a kangaroo court".
Mr Roberts had addressed five empty chairs a week earlier when the government staffers did not appear, prompting the drastic but legal step of threatening to arrest them.
Mr Minns criticised parliamentary "shenanigans" on Friday and said his focus was on supporting the people of NSW.
Senior government staff have faced terse questions over the passage of anti-protest and hate speech laws after threats they could be arrested for refusing to front an inquiry.
NSW Premier Chris Minns' chief of staff James Cullen, his deputies and two senior staff for Police Minister Yasmin Catley showed up on Friday after being summoned to appear earlier in June.
The parliamentary inquiry is probing the swift introduction of laws in February after the discovery of a caravan at Dural, on Sydney's outskirts, containing explosives and a list of Jewish sites.
Mr Minns and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese initially labelled the caravan incident a thwarted terror attack in late January when a media leak disclosed the earlier caravan find.
But inquiry chair Rod Roberts on Friday criticised the terrorism label, saying it would have led to fear and consternation in the community.
"I can't see how the premier standing in front of a press conference saying there is no other alternative to terrorism provided any calm to anybody," the independent MP said.
It later emerged the caravan was thought to be part of what investigators labelled a "criminal con job" that was staged in an attempt to gain leverage with police.
Senior NSW police told the inquiry in April they believed it was a ruse virtually from the outset.
Controversial laws that passed parliament included curbs on the right to demonstrate near places of worship.
But Mr Cullen, appearing frustrated and occasionally interrupting questions, repeatedly defended the premier's language about the caravan find.
"This was not a line dreamt up by the premier," he told the committee inquiry in a tense exchange with Mr Roberts.
"It was not a term thrown around lightly at all.
"There's a very convenient rewriting of history and squashing of time and concepts."
The three pieces of legislation were drafted during a 12-18 month period when there was a marked rise in anti-Semitic incidents, Mr Cullen said.
"The relationship that's been constructed by some between the Dural caravan event and those three pieces of legislation is extremely ... unfair."
They included graffiti and arson attacks on a synagogue, a preschool's fire-bombing and other incidents in areas with large Jewish populations, all of which had drawn widespread condemnation, he said.
Mr Minns - who, along with the police minister, cannot be compelled to appear before the upper house - told reporters his perspective had been "well ventilated".
Following news the staffers could face arrest, Mr Minns on Wednesday said they had been summoned to an inquiry that was "close to a kangaroo court".
Mr Roberts had addressed five empty chairs a week earlier when the government staffers did not appear, prompting the drastic but legal step of threatening to arrest them.
Mr Minns criticised parliamentary "shenanigans" on Friday and said his focus was on supporting the people of NSW.
Senior government staff have faced terse questions over the passage of anti-protest and hate speech laws after threats they could be arrested for refusing to front an inquiry.
NSW Premier Chris Minns' chief of staff James Cullen, his deputies and two senior staff for Police Minister Yasmin Catley showed up on Friday after being summoned to appear earlier in June.
The parliamentary inquiry is probing the swift introduction of laws in February after the discovery of a caravan at Dural, on Sydney's outskirts, containing explosives and a list of Jewish sites.
Mr Minns and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese initially labelled the caravan incident a thwarted terror attack in late January when a media leak disclosed the earlier caravan find.
But inquiry chair Rod Roberts on Friday criticised the terrorism label, saying it would have led to fear and consternation in the community.
"I can't see how the premier standing in front of a press conference saying there is no other alternative to terrorism provided any calm to anybody," the independent MP said.
It later emerged the caravan was thought to be part of what investigators labelled a "criminal con job" that was staged in an attempt to gain leverage with police.
Senior NSW police told the inquiry in April they believed it was a ruse virtually from the outset.
Controversial laws that passed parliament included curbs on the right to demonstrate near places of worship.
But Mr Cullen, appearing frustrated and occasionally interrupting questions, repeatedly defended the premier's language about the caravan find.
"This was not a line dreamt up by the premier," he told the committee inquiry in a tense exchange with Mr Roberts.
"It was not a term thrown around lightly at all.
"There's a very convenient rewriting of history and squashing of time and concepts."
The three pieces of legislation were drafted during a 12-18 month period when there was a marked rise in anti-Semitic incidents, Mr Cullen said.
"The relationship that's been constructed by some between the Dural caravan event and those three pieces of legislation is extremely ... unfair."
They included graffiti and arson attacks on a synagogue, a preschool's fire-bombing and other incidents in areas with large Jewish populations, all of which had drawn widespread condemnation, he said.
Mr Minns - who, along with the police minister, cannot be compelled to appear before the upper house - told reporters his perspective had been "well ventilated".
Following news the staffers could face arrest, Mr Minns on Wednesday said they had been summoned to an inquiry that was "close to a kangaroo court".
Mr Roberts had addressed five empty chairs a week earlier when the government staffers did not appear, prompting the drastic but legal step of threatening to arrest them.
Mr Minns criticised parliamentary "shenanigans" on Friday and said his focus was on supporting the people of NSW.
Senior government staff have faced terse questions over the passage of anti-protest and hate speech laws after threats they could be arrested for refusing to front an inquiry.
NSW Premier Chris Minns' chief of staff James Cullen, his deputies and two senior staff for Police Minister Yasmin Catley showed up on Friday after being summoned to appear earlier in June.
The parliamentary inquiry is probing the swift introduction of laws in February after the discovery of a caravan at Dural, on Sydney's outskirts, containing explosives and a list of Jewish sites.
Mr Minns and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese initially labelled the caravan incident a thwarted terror attack in late January when a media leak disclosed the earlier caravan find.
But inquiry chair Rod Roberts on Friday criticised the terrorism label, saying it would have led to fear and consternation in the community.
"I can't see how the premier standing in front of a press conference saying there is no other alternative to terrorism provided any calm to anybody," the independent MP said.
It later emerged the caravan was thought to be part of what investigators labelled a "criminal con job" that was staged in an attempt to gain leverage with police.
Senior NSW police told the inquiry in April they believed it was a ruse virtually from the outset.
Controversial laws that passed parliament included curbs on the right to demonstrate near places of worship.
But Mr Cullen, appearing frustrated and occasionally interrupting questions, repeatedly defended the premier's language about the caravan find.
"This was not a line dreamt up by the premier," he told the committee inquiry in a tense exchange with Mr Roberts.
"It was not a term thrown around lightly at all.
"There's a very convenient rewriting of history and squashing of time and concepts."
The three pieces of legislation were drafted during a 12-18 month period when there was a marked rise in anti-Semitic incidents, Mr Cullen said.
"The relationship that's been constructed by some between the Dural caravan event and those three pieces of legislation is extremely ... unfair."
They included graffiti and arson attacks on a synagogue, a preschool's fire-bombing and other incidents in areas with large Jewish populations, all of which had drawn widespread condemnation, he said.
Mr Minns - who, along with the police minister, cannot be compelled to appear before the upper house - told reporters his perspective had been "well ventilated".
Following news the staffers could face arrest, Mr Minns on Wednesday said they had been summoned to an inquiry that was "close to a kangaroo court".
Mr Roberts had addressed five empty chairs a week earlier when the government staffers did not appear, prompting the drastic but legal step of threatening to arrest them.
Mr Minns criticised parliamentary "shenanigans" on Friday and said his focus was on supporting the people of NSW.

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Six Americans caught sending cash, rice to NKorea

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2 hours ago

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Six Americans caught sending cash, rice to NKorea

South Korean police have detained six US citizens who were attempting to deliver around 1300 plastic bottles filled with rice, dollar notes and Bibles to North Korea, a police official said. The group had been trying to float the bottles by sea at a border island west of the capital Seoul near the isolated North before being spotted by a military patrol, the official at the Incheon Ganghwa Police Station told Reuters. The six are suspected of violating the country's disasters and safety act through their actions in an area recently designated as a "risk zone" which prohibits activities deemed harmful to residents, the official said. "We're investigating them through an interpreter and will decide after 48 hours whether to release them or not," the official said. Since taking office earlier in June, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung pledged to improve relations with neighbouring North Korea after a spike in tensions between the neighbours. Lee has suspended anti-North Korea loudspeaker broadcasts on the border and asked activists in the South launching helium balloons carrying leaflets criticising the authoritarian state's leaders to stop in a bid to prevent inflaming ties. Chung Dong-young, who has been nominated as South Korea's unification minister, said on Wednesday that the leaflet-laden balloons acted as "a catalyst for confrontation and hostilities" between the two Koreas, expressing hopes to rebuild communications with the North. The activists, often defectors who have fled North Korea and members of Christian groups, also sometimes try to send items such as Bibles and USB sticks loaded with South Korean TV dramas in plastic bottles by sea. North Korea has described the activists as "human scum" and retaliated last year by launching trash-filled balloons into the South and blaring anti-Seoul broadcasts along the border. Complaints by residents that the actions of activists put them at risk have led some border areas in South Korea including Ganghwa island to be designated "risk zones" since late last year, enabling authorities to step up monitoring of balloon launches and other anti-North Korea campaigns. South Korean police have detained six US citizens who were attempting to deliver around 1300 plastic bottles filled with rice, dollar notes and Bibles to North Korea, a police official said. The group had been trying to float the bottles by sea at a border island west of the capital Seoul near the isolated North before being spotted by a military patrol, the official at the Incheon Ganghwa Police Station told Reuters. The six are suspected of violating the country's disasters and safety act through their actions in an area recently designated as a "risk zone" which prohibits activities deemed harmful to residents, the official said. "We're investigating them through an interpreter and will decide after 48 hours whether to release them or not," the official said. Since taking office earlier in June, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung pledged to improve relations with neighbouring North Korea after a spike in tensions between the neighbours. Lee has suspended anti-North Korea loudspeaker broadcasts on the border and asked activists in the South launching helium balloons carrying leaflets criticising the authoritarian state's leaders to stop in a bid to prevent inflaming ties. Chung Dong-young, who has been nominated as South Korea's unification minister, said on Wednesday that the leaflet-laden balloons acted as "a catalyst for confrontation and hostilities" between the two Koreas, expressing hopes to rebuild communications with the North. The activists, often defectors who have fled North Korea and members of Christian groups, also sometimes try to send items such as Bibles and USB sticks loaded with South Korean TV dramas in plastic bottles by sea. North Korea has described the activists as "human scum" and retaliated last year by launching trash-filled balloons into the South and blaring anti-Seoul broadcasts along the border. Complaints by residents that the actions of activists put them at risk have led some border areas in South Korea including Ganghwa island to be designated "risk zones" since late last year, enabling authorities to step up monitoring of balloon launches and other anti-North Korea campaigns. South Korean police have detained six US citizens who were attempting to deliver around 1300 plastic bottles filled with rice, dollar notes and Bibles to North Korea, a police official said. The group had been trying to float the bottles by sea at a border island west of the capital Seoul near the isolated North before being spotted by a military patrol, the official at the Incheon Ganghwa Police Station told Reuters. The six are suspected of violating the country's disasters and safety act through their actions in an area recently designated as a "risk zone" which prohibits activities deemed harmful to residents, the official said. "We're investigating them through an interpreter and will decide after 48 hours whether to release them or not," the official said. Since taking office earlier in June, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung pledged to improve relations with neighbouring North Korea after a spike in tensions between the neighbours. Lee has suspended anti-North Korea loudspeaker broadcasts on the border and asked activists in the South launching helium balloons carrying leaflets criticising the authoritarian state's leaders to stop in a bid to prevent inflaming ties. Chung Dong-young, who has been nominated as South Korea's unification minister, said on Wednesday that the leaflet-laden balloons acted as "a catalyst for confrontation and hostilities" between the two Koreas, expressing hopes to rebuild communications with the North. The activists, often defectors who have fled North Korea and members of Christian groups, also sometimes try to send items such as Bibles and USB sticks loaded with South Korean TV dramas in plastic bottles by sea. North Korea has described the activists as "human scum" and retaliated last year by launching trash-filled balloons into the South and blaring anti-Seoul broadcasts along the border. Complaints by residents that the actions of activists put them at risk have led some border areas in South Korea including Ganghwa island to be designated "risk zones" since late last year, enabling authorities to step up monitoring of balloon launches and other anti-North Korea campaigns. South Korean police have detained six US citizens who were attempting to deliver around 1300 plastic bottles filled with rice, dollar notes and Bibles to North Korea, a police official said. The group had been trying to float the bottles by sea at a border island west of the capital Seoul near the isolated North before being spotted by a military patrol, the official at the Incheon Ganghwa Police Station told Reuters. The six are suspected of violating the country's disasters and safety act through their actions in an area recently designated as a "risk zone" which prohibits activities deemed harmful to residents, the official said. "We're investigating them through an interpreter and will decide after 48 hours whether to release them or not," the official said. Since taking office earlier in June, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung pledged to improve relations with neighbouring North Korea after a spike in tensions between the neighbours. Lee has suspended anti-North Korea loudspeaker broadcasts on the border and asked activists in the South launching helium balloons carrying leaflets criticising the authoritarian state's leaders to stop in a bid to prevent inflaming ties. Chung Dong-young, who has been nominated as South Korea's unification minister, said on Wednesday that the leaflet-laden balloons acted as "a catalyst for confrontation and hostilities" between the two Koreas, expressing hopes to rebuild communications with the North. The activists, often defectors who have fled North Korea and members of Christian groups, also sometimes try to send items such as Bibles and USB sticks loaded with South Korean TV dramas in plastic bottles by sea. North Korea has described the activists as "human scum" and retaliated last year by launching trash-filled balloons into the South and blaring anti-Seoul broadcasts along the border. Complaints by residents that the actions of activists put them at risk have led some border areas in South Korea including Ganghwa island to be designated "risk zones" since late last year, enabling authorities to step up monitoring of balloon launches and other anti-North Korea campaigns.