Australia

Chinese healer Hong Chi Xiao has manslaughter charge overturned and will face new trial

A western Sydney “slapping therapy” practitioner who was found guilty of the manslaughter of a six-year-old diabetic boy and sentenced to 10 years in prison has had his conviction overturned and will face another trial.

Hong Chi Xiao appeared in Sydney’s Court of Criminal Appeal on Wednesday.

Mr Xiao was extradited from London to Sydney in 2017 to face charges more than two years after the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, died following a series of workshops held in Hurstville in April 2015.

The boy’s parents attended the conference where the self-proclaimed Chinese healer showed a “disdain for Western medicine”.

Mr Xiao allegedly advised the parents to stop their son’s insulin injections and blood glucose tests.

A Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) investigation found that Mr Xiao told the boy’s parents that slapping therapy “could heal all diseases, including diabetes, and that no medication was required because insulin could be generated” through the treatment.

He also allegedly recommended the six-year-old boy stop eating for three days and only drink water or a “ginger date drink”.

Slapping therapy, also known as paida lajin, advocates the slapping of skin to release toxins from patients.

The boy became visibly ill over several days and began vomiting a black substance, but Mr Xiao allegedly told the boy’s mother that his body was adjusting to the “self-healing process”.

He began having seizures and was rushed to St George Hospital, where he died.

The NSW Coroner found the treatment directly caused the boy’s death on April 27, 2015.

A District Court jury found Mr Xiao guilty of manslaughter for breaching the duty of care he owed the six-year-old boy through gross negligence.

He was handed a sentence of 10 years with a non-parole period of 7½ years in December 2019.

District Court Judge Garry Neilson said Mr Xiao showed “no signs of true remorse”.

Mr Xiao launched an appeal against his conviction, claiming inconsistencies in the evidence and that Judge Neilson told the jury that there was “no defence” during the trial.

Tim Game SC told the court that Judge Neilson did not summarise the defence case and did not give enough evidence to the jury to make a sound decision.

After a short adjournment, Justice Derek Price, Justice Ian Harrison and Justice Mark Ierace granted the appeal and quashed Mr Xiao’s conviction.

However, he will have to face a fresh trial in front of a new jury.

Mr Xiao will face the Sydney District Court on March 11 for mention.

He has been permanently banned from practising medicine by the HCCC.

The boy’s mother, father and grandmother were also initially charged over his death, but they were found not guilty and acquitted.

Mr Xiao has been in prison since his arrest in 2017 but has long rejected criticism that his techniques endanger lives.

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Australia

Australia election: Why is Australia’s parliament so white?

Australia is one of the most multicultural nations in the world, but it’s a different story in the country’s politics, where 96% of federal lawmakers are white.

With this year’s election, political parties did have a window to slightly improve this. But they chose not to in most cases, critics say.

Tu Le grew up the child of Vietnamese refugees in Fowler, a south-west Sydney electorate far from the city’s beaches, and one of the poorest urban areas in the country.

The 30-year-old works as a community lawyer for refugees and migrants newly arrived to the area.

Last year, she was pre-selected by the Labor Party to run in the nation’s most multicultural seat. But then party bosses side-lined her for a white woman.

It would take Kristina Kenneally four hours on public transport – ferry, train, bus, and another bus – to get to Fowler from her home in Sydney’s Northern Beaches, where she lived on an island.

Furious locals questioned what ties she had to the area, but as one of Labor’s most prominent politicians, she was granted the traditionally Labor-voting seat.

Ms Le only learned she’d been replaced on the night newspapers went to print with the story.

“I was conveniently left off the invitation to the party meeting the next day,” she told the BBC.

Despite backlash – including a Facebook group where locals campaigned to stop Ms Kenneally’s appointment – Labor pushed through the deal.

“If this scenario had played out in Britain or the United States, it would not be acceptable,” says Dr Tim Soutphomassane, director of the Sydney Policy Lab and Australia’s former Race Discrimination Commissioner.

“But in Australia, there is a sense that you can still maintain the status quo with very limited social and political consequences.”

An insiders’ game

At least one in five Australians have a non-European background and speak a language at home other than English, according to the last census in 2016.

Some 49% of the population was born or has a parent who was born overseas. In the past 20 years, migrants from Australia’s Asian neighbours have eclipsed those from the UK.

But the parliament looks almost as white as it did in the days of the “White Australia” policy – when from 1901 to the 1970s, the nation banned non-white immigrants.

“We simply do not see our multicultural character represented in anything remotely close to proportionate form in our political institutions,” says Dr Soutphomassane.

Compared to other Western multicultural democracies, Australia also lags far behind.

The numbers below include Indigenous Australians, who did not gain suffrage until the 1960s, and only saw their first lower house MP elected in 2010. Non-white candidates often acknowledge that any progress was first made by Aboriginal Australians.

Two decades ago, Australia and the UK had comparably low representation. But UK political parties – responding to campaigns from diverse members – pledged to act on the problem.

“The British Conservative Party is currently light years ahead of either of the major Australian political parties when it comes to race and representation,” says Dr Soutphomassane.

So why hasn’t Australia changed?

Observers say Australia’s political system is more closed-door than other democracies. Nearly all candidates chosen by the major parties tend to be members who’ve risen through the ranks. Often they’ve worked as staffers to existing MPs.

Ms Le said she’d have no way into the political class if she hadn’t been sponsored by Fowler’s retiring MP – a white, older male.

Labor has taken small structural steps recently – passing commitments in a state caucus last year, and selecting two Chinese-Australian candidates for winnable seats in Sydney.

But it was “one step forward and two steps back”, says party member and activist Osmond Chiu, when just weeks after the backlash to Ms Le’s case, Labor “parachuted in” another white candidate to a multicultural heartland.

Andrew Charlton, a former adviser to ex-PM Kevin Rudd, lived in a harbour mansion in Sydney’s east where he ran a consultancy.

His selection scuppered the anticipated races of at least three diverse candidates from the area which has large Indian and Chinese diasporas.

Party seniors argued that Ms Kenneally and Mr Charlton – as popular and respected party figures – would be able to promote their electorates’ concerns better than newcomers.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese also hailed Ms Kenneally as a “great Australian success story” as a migrant from the US herself.

But Mr Chiu says: “A lot of the frustration that people expressed wasn’t about these specific individuals.

“It was about the fact that these were two of the most multicultural seats in Australia and these opportunities – which come by so rarely – to select culturally diverse candidates were squandered.”

He adds this has long-term effects because the average MP stays in office for about 10 years.

The frustration on this issue has centred on Labor – because the centre-left party calls itself the “party of multiculturalism”.

But the Liberal-National government doesn’t even have diversity as a platform issue.

One of its MPs up for re-election recently appeared to confuse her Labor rival for Tu Le, sparking accusations that she’d mixed up the two Asian-Australian women – something she later denied. But as one opponent said: “How is this still happening in 2022?”

Some experts like Dr Soutphommasane have concluded that Australia’s complacency on areas like representation stems from how the nation embraced multiculturalism as official policy after its White Australia days.

The government of the 1970s, somewhat embarrassed by the past policy, passed racial discrimination laws and “a seat at the table” was granted to migrants and Indigenous Australians.

But critics say this has led to an Australia where multiculturalism is celebrated but racial inequality is not interrogated.

“Multiculturalism is almost apolitical in how it’s viewed in Australia,” Dr Soutphommasane says, in contrast to the “fight” for rights that other Western countries have seen from minority groups.

What is the impact?

A lack of representation in parliament can also lead to failures in policy.

During Sydney’s Covid outbreak in August 2021, Fowler and Parramatta electorates – where most of the city’s multicultural communities reside – were subject to harsher lockdowns as a result of a higher number of cases.

How will things change?

Liberal MP Dave Sharma, the only lawmaker of Indian heritage, has said all parties – including his own – should better recruit people with different backgrounds. He called it a “pretty laissez-faire attitude” currently.

Mr Albanese has urged Ms Le to “hang in there”, insisting she has a future.

But more people like Ms Le are choosing to speak out.

“I think I surprised a lot of people by not staying quiet,” she told the BBC.

“People acted like it was the end of my political career that I didn’t toe the party line. But… none of that means anything to me if it means I’m sacrificing my own values.”

She and other second-generation Australians – raised in a country which prides itself on “a fair go” – are agitating for the rights and access their migrant parents may not have felt entitled to.

“Many of those from diverse backgrounds were saying they felt like they didn’t have a voice – and that my case was a clear demonstration of their suppression, and their wider participation in our political system.”

She and others have noted the “growing distrust” in the major parties. Polls are predicting record voter support for independent candidates.

“This issue…. matters for everyone in Australian society that cares about democracy,” says Mr Soutphommasane.

“If democratic institutions are not representative, their legitimacy will suffer.

Read from: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-61432762

Australia

Scott Morrison effectively ditches his promise to establish a federal anti-corruption commission

Scott Morrison has effectively abandoned his promise to establish a federal anti-corruption watchdog, confirming he would only proceed with legislation in the new parliament if Labor agreed to pass the Coalition’s heavily criticised proposal without amendments.

Morrison pledged before the 2019 election to legislate a federal integrity body in the parliamentary term that has just ended. The prime minister broke that promise, failing to introduce his own proposal before the 46th parliament was prorogued.

On the hustings on Wednesday, Morrison was asked – given his previous undertaking to create the body – whether he would promise to put his proposal to a vote in the next parliament in the event the Coalition won the 21 May election.

Morrison declined to make that promise. “Our position on this hasn’t changed,” the prime minister said. “Our view has been the same – when the Labor party is prepared to support that legislation in that form, then we will proceed with it.”

The prime minister has attempted to inoculate himself from criticism about breaking an election promise by saying he tabled the integrity commission proposal in the parliament.

Tabling an exposure draft, which is what the prime minister did, is not the same as introducing finished legislation to the House of Representatives or the Senate that is then debated and voted on.

As well as repeatedly fudging what happened in parliament, Morrison has also created the impression the proposal can only proceed if Labor agrees to its passage without amendments.

All governments routinely introduce legislation for debate without any undertaking that it will be passed by the opposition. Labor favours a stronger model than the Coalition’s proposal.

Morrison’s lack of urgency on the issue created tensions within government ranks. Late last year, the Tasmanian Liberal MP Bridget Archer crossed the floor to support independent MP Helen Haines’ bill to establish a federal integrity commission. Archer accused the government of “inertia” over the issue.

At that time, Archer said she was “perplexed” at her own government’s failure to release a revised bill almost three years after it was promised before the last election.

While Morrison clearly wants to move on from the issue, he will face renewed pressure from crossbench independents if the coming election is close enough to deliver a hung parliament.

A number of independents running against Liberals in metropolitan seats have made it clear that establishing a credible national integrity commission will be a key demand in the event any new government – Liberal or Labor – is seeking agreements for confidence and supply.

Haines blasted Morrison’s comments on Wednesday. “Mr Morrison broke an election promise to introduce an anti-corruption commission and his pathway to creating one is still as vague as it was in the last parliament,” she said.

The crossbench independent said it was “nonsense” for the prime minister to claim that he could not proceed unless Labor agreed with the Coalition’s proposal without seeking any amendments. “It would appear we are in the same void as we were before,” Haines said.

Read from:https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/apr/13/scott-morrison-effectively-ditches-his-promise-to-establish-a-federal-anti-corruption-commission

Australia

‘Anti-government’ ideology behind alleged Windang terror attack: police

Police have charged a man with committing an act of terrorism after he allegedly armed himself with two large guns and fired at members of the public before barricading himself inside a shop south of Sydney last year.

It is the first time an individual who is alleged to have “an ideologically motivated violent extremist ideology” has been charged with committing a terror attack in Australia, AFP Assistant Commissioner Scott Lee told reporters on Wednesday. He added that the alleged attack was consistent with the current terror threat from “lone wolf” actors with “mixed ideologies”, which boil down to being anti-government.

The “frightening” incident unfolded on a Sunday morning on the main street of Windang, near Wollongong, on November 28. Police responded to reports that a man armed with two firearms had fired at vehicles and pedestrians before entering a dive shop on Windang Road.

Video taken by bystanders showed a man clad head-to-toe in black and carrying a large gun appearing to take shots outside on the quiet shopping strip.

It’s alleged that, after entering the dive shop, 40-year-old Simon Fleming barricaded himself inside and briefly held the store owner hostage while an employee managed to escape. The owner of the store was later released uninjured.

Local police – assisted by heavily armed tactical officers, negotiators, the bomb squad and the dog unit – established a perimeter at the scene and, following negotiations, the man surrendered. He was arrested about 10.30am and taken to Lake Illawarra police station where he was charged with six offences. Nobody was hurt in the incident.

As part of ongoing investigations, a crime scene warrant was executed at a home at Windang, where several items, including firearms, knives and electronic devices, were seized for further examination.

Police said he was found to be in possession of several documents containing extremist ideologies and a willingness to commit violent acts.

The NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team – made up of members from the Australian Federal Police, NSW Police, Australian Security Intelligence Organisation and the NSW Crime Commission – subsequently began an investigation into the man’s activities, under Operation Bletsoe.

On Wednesday, Mr Fleming appeared via audio-visual link at Wollongong Local Court where the new charge of engaging in a terrorist act was laid.

The maximum penalty for the offence is life imprisonment.

Speaking with reporters in Sydney on Wednesday, NSW Police Counter Terrorism and Special Tactics Commander, Mark Walton, said the alleged incident is consistent with the current “probable” security threat posed by “lone actors, and particularly people with an ideology, and mixed ideologies”.

Assistant Commissioner Walton said those ideologies can range from white supremacy to anti-vaccination, but underpinning most, currently, is anti-government ideology.

He urged the community to continue to be vigilant and report suspicious activity to police “so that we can continue to be successful and intervene in matters of risk before they move into matters of violence”.

While “it’s fine for people to have their own views”, Assistant Commissioner Walton said, the “exponential consumption of these ideologies on the internet” is increasing the likelihood of their proponents turning to violence.

Commissioner Lee also urged people “who have got insights into their family members” to come forward if they suspect radicalisation and enable police to intervene. He said police would “act where we can to support those individuals to disengage them from further radicalisation”.

The lone wolf threat is “further exacerbated by the global narrative that continues to be shared on online environments, and how that either directs, inspires or influences individuals within our country,” he said.

The COVID-19 pandemic has also contributed, “where we have individuals in the community who are physically and socially isolated, or they spend a lot of time in the online environment.”

Commissioner Lee also stressed that police “target criminality regardless of the background of the perpetrator. We target criminal activity, not ideologies or backgrounds.”

Investigations by the NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team are continuing, but police said there was no ongoing threat to the community relating to this investigation.

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