Latest news with #Downer
Sky News AU
5 days ago
- Business
- Sky News AU
‘Politics at play': Albanese ‘appeasing' Trump administration with lift of beef ban
Former foreign minister Alexander Downer discusses the Labor government's decision to overturn an effective ban on American beef imports. 'It smells very much like politics at play,' Mr Downer told Sky News host Chris Kenny. 'A measure that the government has now taken to appease the Trump administration.'
The Citizen
21-07-2025
- Politics
- The Citizen
State can't argue against Zuma's chronic attempts at removing Downer
Zuma has suffered a series of losses in his bid to remove Downer due to alleged bias, claiming his continued involvement would compromise his right to a fair trial. Jacob Zuma's lawyer has insisted that the state cannot argue against the former president's repeated attempts at removing his arms deal prosecutor, Billy Downer, as part of his Stalingrad strategy. Zuma has suffered a series of losses in his bid to remove Downer due to alleged bias, claiming his continued involvement would compromise his right to a fair trial. Zuma lawyer: Stalingrad claim impermissible In papers filed at the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), Zuma's attorney Bethuel Thusini argues that it is 'impermissible' for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to again argue the former president was pushing for Downer's removal as part of a proven abusive campaign. In February 2025, Zuma's counsel argued against multiple court findings that the former president had employed Stalingrad legal tactics, pursuing futile cases and appeals with the sole aim of delaying his arms trial and avoiding his day in court. Thusini argues that this is because KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) High Court in Pietermaritzburg Judge Nkosinathi Chili stated in his ruling dismissing Zuma's latest attempt to remove Downer that he 'did not consider it appropriate to engage in the exercise of attributing blame to any party for the delay' in Zuma's trial. NPA's arguments According to Thusini, this amounts to Chili 'roundly' rejecting the state's Stalingrad argument, which has already been accepted by multiple other courts. Thusini suggests that, because Zuma's trial judge, Piet Koen, and Chili were both reluctant to make findings about the former president's Stalingrad strategy, this amounts to a rejection of the NPA's arguments. The NPA clearly does not accept that contention. ALSO READ: Zuma and Thales back in court for judgment on corruption charges Long complex trial Zuma's insistence that he was owed a long and complex ruling on his latest attempts to remove Downer – despite the fact that multiple courts had conclusively rejected his various complaints – was just one of many arguments he made to the SCA as part of his efforts to revive an appeal by Chili found to have no reasonable prospects of success. Zuma's eight failed attempts to force Downer's removal followed his unsuccessful efforts to privately prosecute the career state advocate and journalist Karn Maughan for the alleged violation of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Act, through the sharing of publicly available court papers, which contained a sick note from one of the former president's doctors. Abuse of court That case was condemned as an 'abuse' by multiple courts and invalidated. The SCA found that the facts demonstrated 'that the private prosecution of Mr Downer is an abuse of the process of the court' because it was 'instituted as a further step in a sustained attempt by Mr Zuma to obstruct, delay and prevent his criminal trial' and 'to have Mr Downer removed as the prosecutor in Mr Zuma's trial'. This 'ulterior purpose' rendered the private prosecution unlawful, SCA Judge Nathan Ponnan said – before adding that the charges that Zuma had sought to pursue against Downer and this writer were 'patently a hopeless case' and 'obviously unsustainable'. In Zuma's SCA application to appeal the dismissal of his latest Downer removal bid, the former president maintains that the fact that his private prosecution of Downer was invalidated as an abuse 'was irrelevant in relation to the reasonableness or otherwise of [my] perception of bias on the part of Mr Downer'. ALSO READ: Zuma's lawyers argue for acquittal due to lengthy delays in the arms deal case [VIDEO] Downer removal In July, in papers filed before the SCA, Downer argued that the legal framework and arguments surrounding Zuma's application for leave to appeal to remove him are clear and well-established. 'As the High Court's refusal of Mr Zuma's attempt to have me removed as a prosecutor was a decision made during a criminal trial, it may be appealed only if and when Mr Zuma is convicted and sentenced.' Delays Downer also argues that Zuma's prosecution has been dragging on for the better part of 21 years. The delay has in large part been due to Mr Zuma's alleged 'Stalingrad strategy,' through which he allegedly seeks to avoid facing the charges against him. 'He does this by launching and prosecuting multiple challenges of various kinds. They have all failed. He then pursues them through successive attempts to appeal. When a challenge finally peters out, he initiates a fresh challenge through another round of litigation. The purpose is contrary to his public rhetoric that he wants his day in court – to avoid ever standing trial,' Downer said. Zuma appeal Downer argued it is crucial for the SCA to summarily dismiss Zuma's latest appeal bid. 'The state views this as yet another instalment in Zuma's alleged 'Stalingrad strategy', aimed at delaying the criminal trial indefinitely. The SCA's decision could either reinforce or challenge the judiciary's stance on curbing such tactics.' In response to the state's argument that the SCA should outright dismiss Zuma's latest appeal as yet another meritless attempt to further delay his trial, Thusini maintains that the former president's argument that Downer must be removed because he 'perceives' him to be biased is 'unanswerable'. ALSO READ: Downer dismisses Zuma's allegations of 'racist undertones' in legal strategy Arms deal The arms deal case was declared trial-ready three years ago but has been delayed by Zuma's repeated failed efforts to force the removal of Downer. The 81-year-old Zuma and French arms manufacturer Thales are facing multiple charges, including fraud‚ corruption, money laundering, and racketeering, in connection with the controversial multibillion-rand arms deal procurement concluded in the late 1990s while he was vice president. It is the state's case that Zuma was kept on a corrupt retainer by his former financial advisor, Schabir Shaik, who then allegedly used his political clout to further his own business interests. ALSO READ: Zuma unsuccessful in bid to change April 2025 arms deal trial date [VIDEO]
Sky News AU
17-07-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
'Embarrassing': Former Foreign Minister lashes Anthony Albanese's foreign policy agenda as China visit comes to close
Former Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has lashed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for his handling of Australia's foreign policy interests as his diplomatic visit to China comes to a close. Mr Albanese will on Friday conclude his six-day trip to China after holding face-to-face talks with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang in Beijing earlier this week. The Prime Minister has copped fierce criticism from the Coalition for indulging in nostalgia during his visit while failing to push China on more serious issues. Mr Albanese has also come under fire for his move to meet President Xi for the fourth time while he is yet to nail down a meeting with President Donald Trump. Speaking to Sky News Australia on Thursday night, Mr Downer emphasised the importance of Mr Albanese raising issues concerning the Indo-Pacific with President Xi. Mr Downer said it is crucial the Prime Minister also remember that "Australia has always been a great champion of liberal democracy and the alliances which hold the security of liberal democracies in their hands". "If you want peace in the Indo-Pacific region, you need a strong US-led alliance in the Indo-Pacific region and as well as elsewhere in the world in order to balance the growing power of China," Mr Downer said. "You know, President Trump is an elected president. President Xi Jinping never had to worry about an election and doesn't have to worry about the next election. "So we're neutral, apparently, between those two, and that's terribly disappointing." Mr Downer said Mr Albanese's China trip, where he has visited pandas and has been serenaded by musicians playing Australian rock classics, had poor "optics" considering the Prime Minister is yet to meet with President Trump. "We don't know the details of the private conversations he had with both Xi Jinping and also the Chinese Premier and other officials, but it will have been important that he makes the geopolitical arguments first and foremost to China," Mr Downer said. "It's one thing to talk about trade issues, and restrictions on trade, and liberalising trade in other areas ... but the really important issue with China is geopolitics, and the need for China to play a much more responsible rules-based role in the world." Mr Downer cited global issues concerning Australia and its allies, including the Russia-Ukraine war, Middle East conflict, and prospect of a Chinese military attack on Taiwan. "These issues are critically important, and they're important to Australia," Mr Downer said. "My worry is... the optics of the Prime Minister going to China for five or six days, yet never having met the President of the United States, the optics of that are quite poor, I'm afraid." Mr Albanese told reporters he voiced concerns about recent Chinese navy activities during his talks with President Xi earlier this week. In February, Chinese warships engaged in live-fire drills in the Tasman Sea as the vessels lingered off Australia's south-east coast. While the Port of Darwin has also been a burning topic of debate leading up to Mr Albanese's trip, the Prime Minister said the issue was not brought up during his meeting with President Xi. Mr Downer, who was Australia's Foreign Minister from 1996 to 2007, warned it would be an "embarrassment for Australia" if Mr Albanese had not raised geopolitical issues concerning the Indo-Pacific. "The Prime Minister talking trade, that's fair enough, a couple of human rights issues that I gather he raised, that is fair enough - there is nothing wrong with that," Mr Downer said. "But not talking geopolitics, and not ever having met the President of the United States, it plays Australia completely out of the geopolitical equation." Mr Albanese said his trip was "worthwhile" and wants to "see more agreement and less disagreement" in the Australia-China relationship. "Will there be a circumstance when there is no disagreements? No, because we have different political systems, we have different cultures," he said. "Obviously, things will occur over a period of time that you have to deal with." Mr Albanese is set to conclude his China visit on Friday after touring The Great Wall of China on Wednesday and visiting a panda breeding centre.
Sky News AU
17-07-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Strikes on Damascus aimed at deterring Syrian military from ‘massacring Druze population'
Former foreign minister Alexander Downer says Israeli strikes on Damascus were aimed at stopping the Syrian military from massacring the Druze population, while further adding that any critique of Israel's strikes would 'boil down to antisemitism'. 'Why don't people criticise the Syrian military and the Syrian President for killing Druze?' Mr Downer told Sky News host Chris Kenny. 'There are a lot of Druze in Israel, about 150,000 Israeli Druze, and many of them are in the Israeli defence force … they're completely integrated … into Israeli society. 'The Israelis are stopping the Syrian military from massacring the Druze in Syria, and to criticise the Israelis for doing that, that pretty much boils down to antisemitism.'
ABC News
17-07-2025
- ABC News
Victim's family horrified convicted double-murderer Scott Alexander McDougall could be released
The family of a woman killed with a meat cleaver in a violent double murder in Canberra are "heartbroken" the killer may be released back into the community. Queanbeyan man Scott Alexander McDougall received two life sentences when he was found guilty of murdering his friends Struan Bolas and Julie Tattersall, also known as Julie Franco, in a house in Downer in September 2008. Ms Tattersall's sister Amy Butterworth said her family had just this week been told McDougall had applied for a transitional program, which could see him given short-term release, to assist with reintegration into the community. "We're angry and we're also really shocked that someone like Scott McDougall can have the right to apply for this," Ms Butterworth said. "How the corrections facility can even put forward that he would be a suitable candidate for this is absolutely diabolical. "The amount of violence and the frenzied, blood-lust attack that he killed my sister and Mr Bolas with is just horrifying." McDougall killed the pair with a meat cleaver before setting fire to the building. In handing down his sentence in 2011, Justice Malcolm Gray said he considered the murders to be in the most serious category, describing them as ferocious and callous. Justice Gray said McDougall had "given into a frenzied blood lust and killed his friends in the most brutal way". He handed down two life sentences for both counts of murder and five years in jail for arson. When he was sentenced in 2011, McDougall was the first convicted murderer in the ACT in more than a decade. Ms Butterworth said her family had received "very minimal" and "sporadic" communication from the ACT Victims Register. McDougall's security classification was downgraded from maximum to medium in the years after his sentencing. Ms Tattersall's family was not told McDougall was downgraded again to minimum security late last year. The Victims Register sent Ms Butterworth a text message earlier this week saying there had been a change in McDougall's case, before following up with an email. She now has just a few weeks to enter a written submission outlining any concerns about the possibility of McDougall entering the program and being released. "People need to know how awful it was because that's what they're looking at — this offender being released back into the community. "I understand this could be a great program for people that have misdemeanour offences but seriously — Scott McDougall, the double murderer?" Ms Butterworth said her elderly parents never expected to face the prospect that their daughter's killer might be released into the community, and it filled the entire family with fear. In a statement, an ACT Government spokesperson said a number of matters were taken into account when determining a prisoner's application in the Transitional Release Program, including the views of any known victims and the likelihood of reoffending. The spokesperson said applications under the program were, in most instances, only for those detainees approaching eligibility for parole. McDougall is not specifically eligible for parole, but may apply to the Attorney-General for a release license. "ACT Corrective Services takes the likelihood of an upcoming release into consideration when determining suitability for acceptance into the Transitional Release Program," the spokesperson said. The spokesperson said the government was reviewing the flow of information to victims of crime in relation to the classification of offenders.
