Latest news with #StephanieFoster
SBS Australia
2 hours ago
- Business
- SBS Australia
Government to establish new Multicultural Affairs Office under promoted Anne Aly
An Office for Multicultural Affairs will be established within the Home Affairs Department to combine the department's existing multicultural affairs stream with settlement services and community grants programs. It falls short of the multicultural framework review's urgent recommendation to establish a standalone Department of Multicultural Affairs, Immigration and Citizenship with a dedicated minister. Home Affairs Secretary Stephanie Foster will make the announcement to the department at 11am on Tuesday with a mandatory consultation period to begin shortly after. Settlement services, including the Adult Migrant English Program, grants for humanitarian entrants and other eligible migrants and communities could be included in the Office, as well as translation and interpreting services, and multicultural affairs policy. Exactly what's in the Office's remit will be considered as part of the department's mandatory consultation period. The Office could begin operation from 17 July, a week before the first sitting of the new Parliament. The landmark multicultural framework review released in August last year recommended establishing a standalone Department of Multicultural Affairs, Immigration and Citizenship with a dedicated minister, alongside a Multicultural Affairs Commission and Commissioner. The review found that the Multicultural Affairs portfolio was unable to influence public policy and government decision making within the Department of Home Affairs, and "the focus of policy and program approaches to culturally and racially marginalised communities has become one of being monitored and managed rather than inclusive and celebratory". The review also found that although multicultural policies are more than just immigration policy, the panel was "repeatedly struck by the interplay of migration policy and planning in shaping our success as a multicultural nation", recommending that immigration, citizenship, and multicultural responsibilities sit within a standalone department and single minister. Although a standalone Multicultural Affairs Minister has been elevated to Cabinet, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke will still hold the Immigration and Citizenship portfolios, and the Office of Multicultural Affairs will sit within the Home Affairs Department. At the time of the review, Andrew Giles held the Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs portfolios in the outer ministry, with the review recommending elevating the multicultural minister to cabinet to allow "greater influence over decision-making across government rather than just within their own portfolio". SBS News understands the government intends to create a level of separation between multicultural affairs and the mega Home Affairs department that is responsible for national security, including counterterrorism and border enforcement, the AFP, ASIO, as well as immigration and citizenship. The Office will be responsible for the grants programs currently administered by the Department of Home Affairs. Since the Start of the Hamas-Israel war in 2023, the Department of Home Affairs has awarded more than $30 million in grants for "community funding to support social cohesion initiatives". This includes $2 million awarded to SBS to deliver reporting in multiple languages, and AAP for fact-checking services. SBS News understands the grants process will be reviewed by the Office of Multicultural Affairs, with the intention of modernising the program and improving accessibility. The special envoys for combatting Antisemitism and Islamophobia currently fall under the Minister of Multicultural Affairs portfolio and may become part of the Office of Multicultural Affairs.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Tycoon's astonishing divorce court confession sends shockwaves through Wall Street
The boss of an $800 million private equity firm suddenly announced he has Alzheimer's disease in the middle of a divorce hearing. Health Point Capital managing partner John Foster, 83, has been locked in a bitter divorce with his estranged wife Stephanie Foster, 57, for four years. Foster claimed her extravagant spending habits wiped out his $45 million fortune and he is almost 'destitute', but Stephanie insists he is hiding assets. His lawyers previously claimed Stephanie blew money on designer clothes and other luxuries 'at a rate that… none of us can conceive'. Stephanie Foster's camp instead rubbished claims Foster was suddenly $12 million in debt when his wife filed for divorce, which may also come as a shock to his shareholders. She said he was still flying on his private jet between New York and Florida for Botox, hair dye, and manicure appointments. Foster also sold a sprawling eight-bedroom, nine-bathroom mansion on the ultra-exclusive Fishers Island, Massachusetts, for $10 million last October. But his claims of being unable to remember documents he signed, or where his wealth was allegedly stashed, became more believable on Wednesday. During his second day on the stand in the Manhattan Supreme Court he dropped the health bombshell which is likely to enrage his shareholders. 'I'm 83-years-old, I have recently had an MRI, which is a brain scan for my Alzheimer's,' he said, totally unprompted, according to the New York Post. Stephanie's lawyer Rita Glavin, who was stunned by the news, asked him to confirm his diagnosis, and he replied 'yes and I am being examined' for it with the MRI. However, he later said in his testimony that he couldn't remember why he got the MRI, or what he said earlier in his evidence. He also spent part of the hearing scrolling through his phone and had to be admonished by Glavin. Concealing his condition could open Health Point Capital to shareholder or investor lawsuits and potential action by the SEC, experts told the NYP. Exactly when Foster was diagnosed and how much his business partners knew about his illness was not disclosed. Foster said he was placed on leave several weeks ago due to 'other litigation not to do with this proceeding', which he also had not told the court before. He is still listed as the first managing partner on the firm's website . Glavin then asked if the 'other litigation' was claims he used company accounts to hide personal income, and Foster responded by ending the hearing. 'Judge, I think we should close for the day, I'm not up for it,' he said, the NYP reported. The court previously heard the 15-year marriage broke down after Foster frequently cheated on his wife. But Stephanie previously said the last straw was him telling her, 'I don't care what happens to you when I die.' Glavin previously told the court how Foster added $3 million to his bank account in one year and splurged $800,000 on a Hinckley yacht. Foster also owns a ranch in Texas filled with exotic African animals including oryx, sable and zebra, a Gulfstream IV-SP jet, and a mansion in The Breakers on Palm Beach, Florida. Stephanie produced a text message exchange between Foster and the family lawyer that she claimed was proof he was hiding his wealth. 'Your net-worth strategy worked. Steph is stunned. Told me I'm bankrupt! She's very upset!' he wrote.
The Guardian
04-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Australia's home affairs department has let staff use Signal since Covid lockdowns, documents show
The home affairs department began allowing staff to use Signal in response to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, and even advised employees how to turn on disappearing messages, documents obtained by Guardian Australia reveal. The use of the app by government officials in Australia has come into focus after the global fallout from revelations that top US officials discussed operational details of a plan to strike Yemen in a Signal group chat that accidentally included the Atlantic's editor Jeffrey Goldberg. Signal is known for its privacy and disappearing message features. An American government watchdog group is suing the US officials, arguing that using an app with disappearing messages could put it in breach of legal obligations around record retention. Guardian Australia sought policy documents held by home affairs – the department responsible for national security – on the use of Signal and other encrypted apps by staff, using freedom of information laws. In an April 2020 guide provided to staff as the government grappled with the working-from-home requirement of the Covid lockdowns, the department stated that Signal had been approved for use by staff but said 'official decisions made on this platform must be documented and saved to [the records management system]'. However, the policy document lists one of the benefits of Signal as allowing messages to be sent with an expiry time, 'after which the messages are deleted from the sender and recipient devices'. As 'additional security advice' staff were instructed on how to turn on disappearing messages in Signal. Staff were also instructed not to enable chat backup. A separate policy document for email, instant messaging and social media stated that messaging applications 'are not appropriate for recording or storing records' and advised employees to 'extract, take a screenshot or take note of any official business conducted on a mobile messaging application' for recording. 'Workers are responsible for ensuring that the settings used on devices do not erase records automatically before workers can save the records', it read. Documents outlining which apps were approved for communicating were highly redacted, with the department arguing that releasing the information would adversely affect the operations of the agency. A home affairs spokesperson said records created by the department must be managed in accordance with records policy, and Signal messages 'may be records of the commonwealth, depending on the content of a message'. The spokesperson indicated the records retained could go beyond just official decisions made on Signal. 'Discussion of a decision may be a record if it was created in the course of carrying out the business of the department.' In March, the home affairs secretary, Stephanie Foster, admitted to using disappearing messages in Signal in 'some cases' in her role. 'I use messaging apps – Signal included – for purposes that one might typically use a phone call for,' she said. 'So, to set up a meeting, or to ask if someone's free.' But Foster said she complied with record-keeping requirements. In March, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) and the National Archives of Australia released an investigation into how agencies were using encrypted apps and what security and record rules were in place for work-related conversations occurring on them. The report found that, of the 22 government agencies that responded to a survey on encrypted app use, 16 permitted its use by staff for work purposes. Of those, just eight had policies on the use of the apps, and five of those addressed security requirements for communicating on the apps. The National Archives said home affairs' advice to staff was consistent with its own guidelines, including allowing disappearing messages. 'The feature of disappearing messages can be used in conjunction with records management policies and guidelines,' a NAA spokesperson said. 'Agencies should retain or destroy records in line with relevant records authorities or the agency's normal administrative practice.' This process allows agencies to destroy 'certain types of low-value and short-term information in the normal course of business', the spokesperson said. A spokesperson for the OAIC said messages should be subject to FoI if those messages supported the business of an agency. 'Agencies should consider the importance of upholding this right to access information in their records management policies.' After the bombshell Atlantic report, it was reported that the US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, had shared sensitive operational information about strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen on a private Signal group chat he set up himself to communicate with his wife, brother, personal lawyer and nine associates. It was also reported Hegseth had an unsecured internet connection set up in his Pentagon office so that he could bypass government security protocols and use the Signal messaging app on a personal computer.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
National security boss uses disappearing texts for work
A national security head admits using disappearing messages on an encrypted app for work, days after revelations top US officials accidentally texted bombing plans to a journalist on the same platform. Department of Home Affairs secretary Stephanie Foster said she had used the messaging app Signal and in some cases, set her texts to disappear after a period of time. "I use messaging apps, Signal included, for purposes that one might typically use a phone call for: to set up a meeting or ask if someone's free," she told Senate estimates on Thursday. "Should I have a message that needs to be retained, then I absolutely know what my obligations are and I know how to retain it." Greens senator David Shoebridge grilled the secretary over the app in reference to a "notorious" incident in the US, where a journalist was inadvertently added to a Signal group chat in which national security leaders were discussing American attacks on Houthi rebel sites in Yemen. The chat included precise details about weapons, targets and the timing of bombings, alongside the officials' emoji-filled reactions. Messages had been set to disappear after either one or four weeks, which raised questions over whether US laws had been violated as text messages about official acts are deemed records that should be preserved. The Australian home affairs department has risk-assessed and accredited Signal in accordance with a system security framework, and has instituted particular protections. Public servants must have a work account associated with the app and Signal can only be installed on their work devices. There is no prohibition on disappearing messages, but employees have to be conscious of their record-keeping and privacy obligations, department officials assured.
The Guardian
27-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Home affairs secretary admits to using disappearing messages on Signal for work
The secretary of the home affairs department, Stephanie Foster, has admitted to using disappearing messages on Signal in her work, but says the department has strong record-keeping rules surrounding the use of encrypted apps. In response to questions about department use of Signal from Greens senator David Shoebridge, home affairs officials in Senate estimates said there were robust policies in place around the use of Signal by staff in the department.
