Australia Shuts Down Its TV Network

Published on Oct 5, 2014 by Luke Hunt

When the final whistle blew on Hawthorn’s thumping victory over the Sydney Swans in this year’s Aussie Rules grand final it also sounded the death knell for Australia Network (AN), the television channel that delivered Australian programs across much of Asia and beyond.Read more from Luke Hunt in The Diplomat. .

An Unloved Australia Seals Its Cambodian Refugee Deal

Published on Sep 28, 2014 by Luke Hunt

The Australian government tries to bury a much-maligned resettlement deal for asylum seekers.Written by Luke Hunt forThe DiplomatIt was a dreadful omen. As Australian Immigration Minister Scott Morrison sat down with Cambodia’s Interior Minister Sar Kheng, hapless waiters accidentally dropped trays of champagne. Glasses clanged and smashed to the floor as the pair signed off on the fate of hundreds of refugees.It went from bad to worse as neither minister would talk about the details of the deal or accept questions from dozens of journalists, upsetting a Cambodian press corps understandably concerned about Australia’s plan to send refugees here from Nauru and Papua New Guinea.One Cambodian security guard intervened and told journalists to stop asking questions and be quiet as....

Terror Australis – Fear and Theater?

Published on Sep 28, 2014 by Luke Hunt

“All terrorism is theater. All counter-terrorism is theater.” So spoke Dr. Anne-Azza Aly, a counter terrorism expert at Curtin University in Perth, Australia, Monday night on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Q&A (known as “qanda”), where panelists answer audience questions about issues of the day.Read more from Helen Clark in The Diplomat..

‘Comfort Women’ Joining Islamic State

Published on Sep 21, 2014 by Luke Hunt

Reports that Malaysian women, among others, were abandoning their homes and heading to the Middle East to serve in jihad al-nikah (sexual jihad) as “comfort women” have drawn a combination of disbelief and protests from the Islamic community. The reports have come from Malaysian news sources. Police say they are investigating the reports, which “did not come from official channels.”Read more from Luke Hunt in  The Diplomat..

ABC prepares to cut-off Australia Network

Published on Sep 21, 2014 by Luke Hunt

It’s official. The lives of tens of thousands of Australian expatriates in Asia will change forever at midnight on September 28, hours after the AFL grand final. A stake will be driven through our souls. For months we have been in denial: how could it be true that our government could close the ABC-managed Australia Network service?Read more from Lindsay Murdoch at The Age and Sydney Morning Herald. .