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Alerts - Australia

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Australia

RSF concerned about proposed new media regulations

Proposals include giving the press council the power to penalise newspapers by imposing fines of up to $30,000 AUD and to submit the press to tighter controls, such as the introduction of licences.

Australia

Immigration minister restricts media access to detention centres in wake of detainee death

Journalists who want to visit an immigration detention centre must now sign a "deed of agreement" that regulates what the journalists can report and sets out a system of prior approval for all photos, video and audio footage before it is published or broadcast.

Australia

RSF questions motives behind new commission of inquiry

RSF is concerned by the possibility that too much power will be given to the Australian Press Council, a regulatory body that monitors conduct and responsibility in the print media.

Australia

PFF mourns media workers' deaths in helicopter crash

The ABC media tragedy is a loss for the Pacific, says PFF.

Australia

Journalist arrested following report on Facebook security flaw

Technology reporter Ben Grubb reported on a Facebook privacy vulnerability test conducted at an Internet security conference which revealed that IT experts were able to access photographs protected by Facebook's privacy settings.

Australia / United Kingdom

BBC and APTN block satire of royal wedding

"This interference with Australian broadcasting sends the wrong message to many countries where the right to caricature is constantly denied," RSF said.

Australia

New threats to journalists' sources as police secretly access reporter's telephone records

The police carried out the operation in an attempt to identify Justin O'Brien's source for a report about a police raid on the home of Darwin mayor Graeme Sawyer.

Australia

Media Alliance welcomes draft shield laws

The two new draft laws promise to strengthen the legal protection of media workers in Australia, a country that lacks a bill of rights and where journalists have been open to prosecution for refusing to reveal confidential sources.

Australia

Expedite new freedom of information law, says RSF

In an open letter to Special Minister of State Joe Ludwig, RSF urges the Australian government to pass important legislation on freedom of information.

Indonesia / Australia

IFJ urges Indonesia and Australia to act on Balibo killings

The Indonesian government has banned a film depicting the murder of several Australian journalists in 1975.

Australia

RSF expresses concern over Internet censorship

In an open letter to the prime minister, RSF expresses serious concern over the government's plan to introduce a mandatory Internet filtering system to combat child sex abuse.

Fiji / Australia

In light of regime's censorship, IFJ urges Australian Society of Travel Writers to rethink meeting in Fiji

The IFJ said ASTW members would be compromising their integrity to accept the hospitality of the regime in the current circumstances.

Australia / East Timor / Indonesia

Australia investigates "Balibo Five" murders as war crimes

The Australian police investigation aims to establish whether the journalists' murders can be prosecuted as war crimes under the Geneva Conventions.

Somalia / Australia / Canada

CPJ urges Canada, Australia to step up efforts to free Somalia captives

CPJ urges Canadian and Australian governments to work for immediate release of two journalists held captive in Mogadishu.

Australia / Thailand

Australian author Harry Nicolaides receives royal pardon on lese majeste conviction, released from Thai prison

(SEAPA/IFEX) - Australian author Harry Nicolaides, who imprisoned in Thailand on lese majeste charges, was granted a royal pardon on 19 February 2009, media reports said.

Australia / Thailand

Court sentences Australian author to three years in prison

(SEAPA/IFEX) - A Thai court has sentenced an Australian author to three years in prison for insulting a member of the royal family, media reports said.

Australia / Thailand

Australian author arrested on lèse-majesté charge, denied bail

(RSF/IFEX) - Australian author Harry Nicolaides, who has been held since 31 August 2008 on a lèse-majesté charge over a passage in his 2005 novel "Verisimilitude" that criticises the king's eldest son, Bhumibol Adulyadej, issued a public apology during a meeting with Reporters Without Borders in Bangkok's main prison.

Australia

Journalist faces harassment, threats of imprisonment for refusing to reveal a source

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an IFJ media release:

Australia

Newspaper raided, editor interrogated, documents seized following publication of corruption story

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders reiterates its call for the adoption of a law protecting the confidentiality of journalists' sources after police carried out a search of the headquarters of the "Sunday Times", a tabloid weekly based in Perth, Western Australia, on 30 April 2008.

Australia

IPA concerned about Cricket Australia's attempt to control sales of images to book publishers

(IPA/IFEX) - The following is an IPA press release:

Australia

CAPSULE REPORT: RSF outlines what the next prime minister must do to improve press freedom

(RSF/IFEX) - The following is an RSF press release:

East Timor / Australia / Indonesia

Coroner says death of "Balibo Five" was premeditated war crime by Indonesian army

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders hails the work of New South Wales coroner Dorelle Pinch, who issued an inquest report on 16 November 2007 that establishes with great detail that the Indonesian army was responsible for the death of five British, Australian and New Zealander journalists in East Timor in 1975. The report clearly shows they were eliminated because they knew too much about Indonesia's invasion of East Timor, which was just getting under way.

Australia

Report shows free speech under attack

(MEAA/IFEX) - The following is a 5 November 2007 MEAA media release:

Australia

Proposed new legislation empowering police to block Internet a potential threat to press freedom, says CPJ

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a CPJ press release:

Australia

Journalists convicted of contempt of court for doing "nothing more than their jobs", says IFJ

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an IFJ media release:

Australia

Government withdraws proposal for police screening of press gallery journalists

(MEAA/IFEX) - The following is a 1 June 2007 MEAA media release:

East Timor / Australia / Indonesia

Australian government alleged to have covered up murders of "Balibo Five"

(RSF/IFEX) - As a Glebe Coroner's Court inquest into the murders of cameraman Brian Peters and four other TV journalists in the East Timor town of Balibo on 16 October 1975 draws to a close, Reporters Without Borders has called on deputy state coroner Dorelle Pinch to use all possible national and international police and judicial mechanisms to arrest those responsible.

Australia

West Australia's top officials threaten state's leading newspaper, demand editor's dismissal

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has voiced outrage over attempts by the authorities in the state of West Australia to blackmail the management of "The West Australian" newspaper. Attorney-General Jim McGinty threatened to withdraw state advertising and to not implement a proposed shield law protecting journalists' sources unless editor Paul Armstrong is fired.

Australia

MEAA welcomes new press freedom network, launch of Right to Know campaign in context of "marked erosion of free speech"

(MEAA/IFEX) - The following is 11 May 2007 MEAA media release:

East Timor / Australia / Indonesia

"Balibo Five" inquest told one of the journalists killed may have violated neutrality; MEAA proposes safety training

(MEAA/IFEX) - The following is a 10 May 2007 MEAA media release:

East Timor / Australia / Indonesia

"Balibo Five" inquest: former Australian prime minister suggests journalists acted irresponsibly

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has hailed the progress being made in the inquest into the 1975 deaths of cameraman Brian Peters and four other journalists in East Timor but deplored some of the comments made to the Coroners Court in Sydney on 8 May 2007 by former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam and his defence minister, Bill Morrison.

Australia

Political and media website banned from official budget for third year; police screening of federal press gallery journalists proposed

(MEAA/IFEX) - The following is a MEAA media release:

East Timor / Australia / Indonesia

Inquest into deaths of "Balibo Five" points to high-level cover-up, former Australian PM to be summoned

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has hailed the resumption this week of an inquest into the murders of cameraman Brian Peters and four other journalists 32 years ago in East Timor, saying it hoped every aspect of their deaths would be clarified and insisting that it was not too late for those responsible to be punished.

Australia / World Press Freedom Day

Threats to press freedom in 2006-2007 reflect "government bent on controlling information," says MEAA

(MEAA/IFEX) - The following is an MEAA media release:

East Timor / Australia / Indonesia

Warrant for arrest of former Indonesian army officer

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has hailed the warrant issued on 1 March 2007 by Sydney coroner Dorelle Pinch for the arrest of Yunus Yosfiah, the former Indonesian army officer who led the attack on the East Timor border town of Balibo on 16 October 1975 in which five journalists working for two Australian TV stations were killed.

East Timor / Australia / Indonesia

Under government pressure, Balibo Five hearings to be held in secret

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has voiced outrage at the pressure applied by the Australian federal government so that three hearings in a coroner's enquiry into the death of Brian Peters and four others journalists in East Timor in 1975 are held in camera.

East Timor / Australia / Indonesia

Australian officials said to have lied, destroyed evidence about Indonesia's premeditated murder of five journalists

(RSF/IFEX) - The testimony of former members of the Australian intelligence services, including George Brownbill and Ian Cunliffe, brought a major new development on the 11th and 12th days of a coroner's enquiry into the deaths of five foreign journalists on 16 October 1975 in the East Timor border village of Balibo.

East Timor / Australia / Indonesia

Witnesses describe how Indonesian troops covered up murder of "Balibo Five"

(RSF/IFEX) - In two more days of testimony on 9 and 12 February 2007 to a coroner's court in Glebe, Sydney, witnesses provided more details about the circumstances in which cameraman Brian Peters and four other journalist working for Australian TV stations died in the East Timor border village of Balibo on 16 October 1975.

East Timor / Australia / Indonesia

More witnesses confirm that "Balibo Five" were murdered by Indonesian forces

(RSF/IFEX) - An inquest being held in the Sydney suburb of Glebe into the death of British cameraman Brian Peters, one of a group of five journalists working for Australian TV stations who were killed in the East Timorese town of Balibo in 1975, heard dramatic allegations on 7 and 8 February 2007 about the multiple murders.

East Timor / Australia / Indonesia

Coroner's Court announces reopening of investigation into the deaths of "Balibo Five" in East Timor

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has hailed the reopening of the investigation into the death of TV cameraman Brian Peters, a member of a group of five journalists of Australian, New Zealand and British nationality who were killed by Indonesian soldiers and paramilitaries in East Timor in October 1975.

Australia

Newspaper receives death threats from anonymous "Al Qaeda" caller

(RSF/IFEX) - On 30 January 2007, Reporters Without Borders wrote to Attorney-General Philip Ruddock calling for urgent action in response to death threats against "Al-Furat", a weekly serving Australia's Iraqi community, by an anonymous caller claiming to belong to Al Qaeda. The letter asked Ruddock to take the threats seriously and to provide protection for the editor, Hussein Khoshnow, and his staff.

East Timor / Australia

IFJ urges Australian government not to impede long-awaited inquest into deaths of "Balibo Five" journalists 30 years ago

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 19 December 2006 IFJ press release:

Australia

Student magazine editor subjected to terror probe

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has expressed shock that the editor of a student magazine became the subject of an investigation under a federal anti-terror law after being denounced on an "anti-terrorist" hotline.

Australia

Parliament passes media ownership laws encouraging media concentration, threatening freedom of expression

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an IFJ media release:

Australia

High Court decision undermines the public's right to know

(MEAA/IFEX) - The following is an MEAA press release:

Australia

MEAA releases 2006 report, describes "continuation of the dramatic decline of press freedom"

(MEAA/IFEX) - The following is the introduction to the MEAA report "The media muzzled: Australia's 2006 press freedom report":

Australia

Contempt case at odds with planned legislation to protect journalists' confidential sources, says MEAA

(MEAA/IFEX) - The following is a 24 August 2006 MEAA media release:

Australia

Victoria Supreme Court rejects appeal by two "Herald Sun" reporters facing imprisonment

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Michael Harvey and Gerard McManus of the Melbourne-based "Herald Sun" could be imprisoned very soon for contempt of court after Judge Elizabeth Hollingworth, of the Supreme Court of the southeastern state of Victoria, on 23 August 2006 rejected their appeal against a lower court's order that they name their source for a story about a federal government plan to cut benefits to war veterans.

Australia

ARTICLE 19 calls on the Australian government to review its sedition laws

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) - The following is a 12 April 2006 ARTICLE 19 press release:

Australia

Surveillance laws passed by senate pose severe threat to press freedom, says MEAA

(MEAA/IFEX) - The following is a MEAA media release:

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