Dear Pete,

The following may be of interest:

http://ada.ash.au/commentary/formal-co0mment/2016/vale-michael-james-occonnor,-am,-1938-2017.html

Yuyutsu,

I agree. We wouldn't be under the threat we are now but for the love of money and the greed of people who already have much more of it than they need.

Dear Pete,

My apologies for the typo in the previous link.
Here it is again:

http://www.ada.asn.au/commentary/formal-comment/2016/vale-michael-james-oconnor,-am,-1938-2017.html

And this may be of interest as well:

http://www.quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2017/12/vale-michael-oconnor-1938-2017/

Michael's boys babysat my young children. We were neighbours at
one time. He was a lovely man.

cont'd ...

Dear Pete,

I thought that you may have known Michael - considering
your interest in Australia's defence and international affairs.

Hi Foxy

Thanks for those links recording the fruitful life and sad passing of Michael O'Connor. He was about a generation ahead of me, so I can't say I knew him.

Michael handed over the running of the Australia Defence Association (ADA) to Neil James who was an OLO author http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/author.asp?id=4095 and OLO commenter in the 2000s/naughties. Neil seemed interested in me helping at the ADA which is still going http://www.ada.asn.au/about-us/board-of-directors/speaker-biography.htm .

But I went my own way starting "Submarine Matters" http://gentleseas.blogspot.com/ which is also still going - foreign "info" collection and analysis.

http://www.ada.asn.au/commentary/formal-comment/2016/vale-michael-james-oconnor,-am,-1938-2017.html you've kindly provided mentions T.B. Millar and Bob O’Neill.

T.B. Millar taught me foreign policy at ANU and helped introduce me to the foreign policy apparatus. Bob O’Neill was a close neighbour in Canberra.

Also mentioned, Kim Beazley, was a boss as Minister and friend of Mum and Dad in Canberra, Washington and I think Perth.

Foxy, its sad we are of an age (I'm almost 60) that so many people we know (or know of) are dying.

Pete

Another 2021 event:

ASSANGE’S EXTRADITION to the US REJECTED BY UK COURT over mental health fears

See 4 Jan 2021 article at http://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-04/julian-assange-wont-be-extradited-to-the-us-uk-court-rules/13030240

"US authorities have accused the 49-year-old WikiLeaks founder of conspiring to hack government computers and of violating an espionage law in connection with the release of confidential cables by WikiLeaks in 2010-2011.

In her ruling, [London] Judge Vanessa Baraitser rejected nearly all of the arguments put forward by Assange's lawyers, including that the charges were politically motivated and that he would not receive a fair trial in the US.

However, Judge Baraitser refused the request on the basis of Assange's mental condition and risk of suicide.

Assange, she said, lived with at times severe depression and had been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome and autism.

...US government prosecutors have indicated they will appeal against the ruling in London's High Court, which could see the case go further to the UK's Supreme Court and delay an outcome for some time.

Assange's lawyer, Edward Fitzgerald QC, said he would apply for bail for his client on Wednesday (local time), pending that appeal.

Assange has been in custody since April 2019, when he was arrested inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London and eventually jailed for breaching bail conditions, before the US Justice Department formally asked for his extradition in June 2019."