I will be going to jail sometime in the near future for doing nothing more than the crime of journalism. Yes, journalism is now a crime in Australia. On Thursday the Supreme Court of NSW in my absence ordered me to pay a fine and Channel 7’s Chairman Kerry Stokes’s costs. In lieu of the fine jail time is standard which is the option that I will take.
This is happening with the full knowledge and support of a dodgy NSW judiciary led by Premier Mike Baird, Attorney-General Brad Hazzard and Chief Justice Tom Bathurst. (Click here to read more)
There are two options, the first is trying to appeal on limited funds and playing the game on their territory which they control or two, don’t pay the fine and go to jail on principle which helps highlight how corrupt the system is and fight hard in the court of public opinion online which is our territory and we the public control.
The contempt
Channel 7 owner Kerry Stokes and his lawyer Justine Munsie instituted defamation proceedings against me on the 14th of April 2014 and at the same time went to court ex parte (without my knowledge) and asked for a Suppression Order on the defamation proceedings and for a Suppression Order on the Suppression Order as you can in the document below.
The following day at 5pm Tuesday I was emailed the documents. The next day I published a post on this site about it and wrote an email of complaint to the NSW Attorney-General, Chief Justice Bathurst and the federal police. I have been found in contempt of court not just for the post I published but also the email of complaint I sent to the Attorney-General etc. Yes making a complaint is apparently a criminal offence even though it is protected as political communication as per the High Court judgement Lange v ABC 1997.
The Suppression Order only lasted 2 days and expired at 4pm on Thursday the 17th April although Stokes’s lawyer’s argued in court that day it should be extended permanently. Justice Harrison did hand down a judgment on the 24th regarding the hearing on the 17th but did not give specific reasons why he issued a Suppression Order in the first place on the 14th nor why did he have an ex parte hearing on the 14th of April. So why was the Suppression Order issued in the first place and why a Suppression Order on a Suppression Order.
Justice Harrison has never published a written judgment justifying it even though it is the law that judges have to publish their reasons which is meant to keep them honest. It could be argued that Justice Harrison is a criminal on the run as he cannot justify his actions and judgment.
WikiLeaks – The Suppression Order on the Suppression Order leaked
International news was made on Wednesday (30/7/14) when WikiLeaks leaked the document that shows the federal government had managed to get a judicial officer to issue a Suppression Order on a Suppression Order in a matter involving the Reserve Bank international bribery scandal. Every media organisation in Australia has reported the story. So will the courts or government have them charged for contempt? Of course not. So why was I found guilty and fined?
The SMH said: In a statement provided to Fairfax Media, Assange said it was completely egregious to block the public’s right to know and suppress the media in any instance, and especially in cases of international corruption involving politicians and subsidiaries of a public organisation”.
“Despite the legal implications WikiLeaks publishes this suppression order, as it will others, to uphold our values of freedom of information and transparency of government – the Australian people have a right to know, we work to ensure this right for them, even when their government tries to obstruct it.”
WikiLeaks suggests there has not been a comparable “blanket suppression order” since 1995 when the Australian government sought to suppress publication by Fairfax Media of details of a joint US-Australian espionage operation to bug a new Chinese embassy in Canberra. (Click here to read more)
Actually the situation is a lot worse than Assange or anyone else knows when you consider that Suppression Orders on Suppression Orders are being issued for simple court cases like defamation suits for people like Stokes. Where did the federal government get the idea to get the Suppression Order on a Suppression Order? Maybe the idea came from my matter with Stokes as they have been aware of it for months.
Where you see JM, KS and SD they are the initials for Justine Munsie, Kerry Stokes and Shane Dowling.
Section 6 is the Suppression Order and then lists what things are covered by the Suppression Order. Section 6 G is stating that there is a suppression order on the suppression order where is says “any orders of the court made in these proceedings. (the suppression Order)” (Click here for a PDF version of the suppression orders) That means at the time the Suppression Order was in effect I could not even tell people that Kerry Stokes was suing me for defamation and that there was a suppression order put on it. I could not even say someone is suing me and there is a suppression order on it. Yep, this is Australia your new Communist State. (Click here to read the transcript for Kerry Stokes’s barrister’s (Sandy Dawson) private hearing on the 14th of April with Justice Harrison (when I was not there) to have the Suppression Order issued)
The court never charged me for contempt Kerry Stokes did. So who runs the court? Stokes seems to.
As a side note the Financial Review published a story on the case Thursday morning before Nicholas heard the sentencing, so at least someone in the MSM have done their job (Click here to read – It is behind a paywall)
The Suppression Order on the Suppression Order and why I have to be punished
What has happened is a deliberate attempt by Kerry Stokes and his mates in the courts to send a message to all the little people. Do as you’re told otherwise you will pay. The reason given by Kerry Stokes that he was entitled to a suppression order in the first place was that I disobeyed an instruction from him in 2011 not to publish a threatening letter sent to me by his lawyer. Courts are issuing those types of orders on a regular basis and do not want others to disobey them. (Click here to read)
What every Australian should be concerned about is how does a billionaire media owner like Seven Group Holdings Limited Executive Chairman Kerry Stokes manage to get a Suppression Order on a Suppression Order in a defamation case and how many other times has this happened and to whom and by whom.
Judgments of William Henric Nicholas QC or also known as Nicholas AJ
Acting Justice Nicholas heard the contempt proceedings on the 15th July and handed down a judgment on the 22nd July and then heard the sentencing hearing on Thursday (31/7/14) in my absence and handed down a judgment ex tempore (in court immediately). I only found out about the judgment on Friday when I phoned the court myself. I wrote a post about the contempt hearing (Click here to read) and click here for the sentencing judgment. I did email in submissions but they pretty much went in the bin as Nicholas admits. (Click here to read the submissions). I could dissect how corrupt both of Nicholas’s judgments are further than I have but I’ll save that for another time. The fine is $2000 and Stokes costs are to be paid forthwith on an indemnity basis.
Today it is me, tomorrow it could be you or another journalist or another blogger or simply someone using Twister or Facebook etc. Where is the attack on free speech and political communication coming from? The people who are meant to protect your rights like Channel 7’s Kerry Stokes and the politicians who protect him.
Make sure you save a copy of the above picture and start putting it everywhere such as Facebook, Twitter and even the local message board etc.
So what is motivating Kerry Stokes – Nothing more than a power trip
Some might wonder why Stokes is doing what he is. Well Stokes has a long history of suing anyone and everyone, just Google the C7 case for starters were Stokes had to pay $200 million in legal fees and lost badly. But then it could be the fact that I have written numerous times about the 2010 “election year bribe” where Kerry Stokes has been ripping off the tax payer and not paying his share. (Click here to read more)
Mr Stokes has been married four times and does not talk to his 2 children from his first marriage. In a story in the SMH last year titled “Billionaire’s ‘forgotten’ family speaks out” Stokes’s granddaughter is quoted as saying: “I am very disappointed in him, and a little bit disgusted that he can publish things about his other children and leave out his other wife and children and his granddaughter. I don’t really have any sympathy for him,” says Tara, the four-times-married billionaire’s granddaughter by his eldest son, Russell.” (Click here to read more)
I wouldn’t normally raise someone’s personal issues but I think in this case given his extreme relationship with his own family it helps to some degree explain why Stokes acts as he does. Stokes seems to only care about power and nothing else.
Is Kerry Stokes a fit and proper person to be a Director of a company?
Directors of companies are meant to be fit and proper people. The question that has to be asked is whether Mr Stokes fits that category. I have no doubt he does not and that he should resign or be sacked from his position as Executive Chairman of Seven Group Holdings Limited.
Someone wrote a while ago in the comment section that they felt sorry for me regarding being sued by Stokes. Well there is nothing to feel sorry about as this website is about driving change for the better and if you are going to try and change things you are going come up against obstacles. That’s all Stokes is, an obstacle and he is not as tough and powerful as he thinks he is. In part at least what is happening with the Suppression Orders is an attempt at media control/censorship or at least social media control/censorship.
What you can do to help!
The obvious thing is that you can use the social media buttons and promote this post because the number of likes and how times it is promoted on Twitter etc will influence whether or not the politicians do anything. And make a donation if you can which helps a lot. But also use the contacts below and ask the politicians why they haven’t already taken action given I notified them long ago what is happening. Remember all Australian’s rights which include your rights have been undermined by the precedent that Justice Nicholas and others have set. Because a precedent is a law and it is what other courts, especially lower courts, are meant to follow.
Contacts to email and phone and ask them what they are doing about protecting your right to free speech and political communication regarding the above:
Federal Attorney-General George Brandis – senator.brandis@aph.gov.au – Ph(02) 6277 7300
NSW Premier Mike Baird – office@premier.nsw.gov.au – Ph (02) 9228 5555
NSW Attorney-General Brad Hazzard – office@hazzard.minister.nsw.gov.au Ph (02) 9228 5258
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