Dear runner,

You're not bothered at all by the facts.
That clearly makes you a candidate for
a political career with the Coalition.

Belly,

It is a while since I have posted in the General Discussion area of the Forum, but matters raised in a now-archived topic of yours, 'Should the green senator resign?', opened on 20 October 2011, have come back to life. I ask your indulgence for a bit of posting tangential to your present thread. I need the link-posting latitude of OLO to give immediate public access to some tweets otherwise unlikely to be accessible to many on Twitter presently interested in the 'outing' of Michaela Banerji as Twitter userID '@LaLegale', and the feared loss of her job because of it.

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Given that some sort of surveillance of tweets by userID '@LaLegale' was by admission claimed to have been being maintained by DIAC in May 2011, it is reasonable to expect that surveillance to have been ongoing. The following links to tweets by '@LaLegale', or showing her participation in twitter conversations in relation to the improperly forced resignation of then Commonwealth Ombudsman Allan Asher, have been copied by me from various posts of mine in that archived discussion.

http://twitter.com/#!/LaLegale/status/135141871067475968

http://twitter.com/#!/LaLegale/status/133302060505497601

http://twitter.com/allanasher/status/133121041965924352?iid=am-156194753213205735045273725&nid=4+status_timestamp&uid=29143498

http://twitter.com/#!/LaLegale/status/132317386719236097

http://twitter.com/#!/ForrestGumpp/status/132338439969443840

With the identification of these tweets with Ms Banerji as a public servant employed within DIAC at that time, and the fact that they reveal an interest of Ms Banerji in ventilating the breach of Parliamentary privilege that saw Allan Asher effectively improperly removed from his Statutory Office that reported to the Parliament, it is not beyond belief that the disciplinary action recommended by DIAC could be seen as 'payback' for Ms Banerji's imputed attempt to see justice done in that matter.

It is, of course, possible that Ms Banerji first came to the notice of DIAC via monitoring of the OLO discussion, and a possible 'witch hunt' for what may have been a presumed (but in reality non-existent) 'leak' from within DIAC, with guilt (wrongly) presumed. Tweets from earlier (May) having been used to disguise what in reality may have aroused DIAC concern.

For OLO viewers who may be interested, this is a link to the archived OLO discussion 'Should the green senator resign?': http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?discussion=4792#127245 that Belly kindly let me sort-of-blog on back then. It delivers the clicker to the first of my posts in that thread from October-November 2011. It is effectively an 'All' link: the whole thread can be scrolled from the landing point.

This is a link to a Twitter conversation involving Allan Asher within which is contained a link to the judgment in Banerji vs Bowles, in consequence of the reporting of which the 'outing' of '@LaLegale' occurred. https://twitter.com/allanasher/status/367869490144354304 You do not have to have a Twitter account to view and surf. (You have to copy and paste 'https' links manually on OLO. Sorry.)

I'm just wondering, in the light of hindsight, if anything from the events recorded back then bears upon former PM Julia Gillard's 'captains pick' of Nova Peris over the otherwise erstwhile-endorsed sitting Senator from the NT, Trish Crossin, for first place on the ALP NT Senate ticket at the upcoming elections?

I also wonder at the speed with which the change in allocation, as between political parties, of the Chair of the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Review Committee from an appointment filled by a Liberal Senator (Senator Humphries, ACT) to one filled by a Greens Senator (Senator Wright, SA), occurred at that time. A deal done to prevent evidence of possible collusion (collusion NOT involving the Ombudsman) coming out in any consideration as to a breach of privilege having occurred that might have taken place? That loss of Parliamentary appointment on the part of Senator Humphries to be shortly followed by demotion on the Liberal ticket for the ACT Senate election in what had all the appearance of a branch-stacking scenario. Curious.

Oh, and a link to Markus Mannheim's news item reporting on Banerji vs Bowles where the 'outing' of '@LaLegale' occurred: http://www.theage.com.au/national/public-servant-loses-fight-over-twitter-attack-on-government-20130812-2rsgn.html

One of the things, express or implied, behind the DIAC recommendation for the dismissal of Ms Banerji ('@LaLegale') that was the reason for the seeking of injunctive relief in Banerji vs Bowles, is the suggestion that a public servant cannot hold and express privately held political opinion whilst still performing properly in their employed role.

Yesterday, being both Viet Nam Veterans' Day and the 47th anniversary of the battle of Long Tan in that war, I responded on Twitter to a series of tweets by Senator Penny Wright, Greens Senator for South Australia. Senator Wright had a minor, and probably incidental, role in the events that surrounded the forced resignation of the Ombudsman in 2011, events involving breach of Parliamentary privilege in relation to testimony before a Committee, which Ms Banerji, now identified as a public servant within DIAC, but tweeting pseudonymously and unidentifiably at the time, is on record as having expressed an intention of ventilating. A (copy & paste) link to that Twitter conversation:

https://twitter.com/ForrestGumpp/status/368935312715563008

I drew to Senator Wright's attention that at least one of those who died in the battle of Long Tan was capable of both privately opposing Australia's involvement in that war, yet at the same time discharging, and to the ultimate extent, his duty as a member of the Australian Defence Forces. The implicit challenge to Senator Wright was, to the extent she may be able, to honour such sacrifice to see Michaela Banerji is given credit for the same capacity of both effectively privately (through erstwhile online anonymity) expressing political dissent, and yet performing acceptably in her employment. Just possibly, Senator Wright knows something she may not know she knows as to the circumstances that surrounded the improperly forced resignation of Ombudsman Allan Asher that Ms Banerji appears may be being 'paid back' for being thought, through DIAC intrusion into her online anonymity, to have perhaps blown the whistle on.

'@LaLegale' never raised any suspicion that she was a public servant, let alone in DIAC. I suspect an element of 'payback' in the investigation that has led to her 'outing'.

As some on here would know I am a member of The Greens, and don't hide the fact, and find little joy in reporting good news for the conservative side of politics. but here is a bit, private Liberal polling last week in my electorate, which is almost marginal Labor, they hold the seat with by 6% on 2 party preferred, polling shows an 8% swing to the Liberals. Then again Labor have shot themselves in the foot with their candidate, the retiring member was on a fast track to political oblivion and the new chum is heading the same way.

LNP by the biggest margin ever achieved in federal politics.
Labor consigned to the fires of Hades
The Greens/ They came they saw and they left...down the drain
The rest are also rans with the exception of Uncle Clive who will win a seat in the senate.
Incidentally did anyone know Joe Hockey was born in Palestine?