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US WHISTLEBLOWER CHELSEA Manning, jailed for leaking classified information, is facing a ban from Australia with organisers of a speaking tour saying today her visa application was likely to be refused.
The former soldier, freed last year after then US president Barack Obama commuted her 35-year sentence days before he left office, was due to talk at the Sydney Opera House on Sunday followed by engagements in Melbourne and Brisbane.
Suzi Jamil from Think Inc, which organised Manning’s tour of Australia and New Zealand, said a “notice of intention to consider refusal” of her visa application was received from the conservative government yesterday.
“We are very disappointed to learn that the department of home affairs has taken this approach and will be vigorously advocating for her ability to enter Australia,” Jamil told AFP.
Ms Manning has many formidable ideas and an insightful perspective which we are hoping to bring to the forefront of Australian dialogue.
Jamil said Think Inc would “pursue all legal avenues to the minister and hope he will decide to allow the Australian public to hear about vital issues around data privacy, artificial intelligence and transgender rights”.
The Australian government does not comment on individual cases but said anyone entering the country must meet the character requirements set out in the Migration Act.
“A person can fail the character test for a number of reasons, including but not limited to where a non-citizen has a substantial criminal record or where their conduct represents a risk to the Australian community,” a spokesperson for the home affairs department added.
Manning, who was an army intelligence analyst, was detained in 2010 and jailed in 2013 for leaking over 700,000 classified documents related to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The revelations by Manning, who is transgender and was then known as Bradley Manning, exposed covered-up misdeeds and possible crimes by US troops and allies.
Her actions made Manning a hero to anti-war and anti-secrecy activists but US establishment figures branded her a traitor.
She served seven years and during her incarceration battled for – and won – the right to start hormone treatment.
Manning’s speaking tour has also generated lively debate in New Zealand, where she is booked for events on 8 and 9 September.
She will need special dispensation to enter the country because of her convictions and the conservative opposition wants her barred, labelling Manning a felon who has shown no remorse and wants to profit by talking about her crimes.
New Zealand’s immigration department is still considering her visa application.
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More of us would send cards if An Post brought out a 50c Christmas stamp.
I bought 6 local stamps today. The cost? 8.40 approx.
Sure the stamp is almost dearer than the card!!!
Sure what else would it be, this is Ireland 2023 rip-off country
And if you’re sending post beyond the EU you should’ve done your own research and not rely on reminders from the Journal because… You’re too late, like this article ;)
Just as well that I posted my letter to Santa last July.
@Pato: no one cares about you. Santa isn’t real so focus on CV drafting
@Éanna o Sca: Keep your hair combed and your trousers pressed Éanna.
I don’t personally send much post and I usually hand out any Christmas cards I give. But I post a lot for work. The post office we used closed down and moved to a spar store. Only a few years later that post office closed though the spar is still there. The nearest post office is much further away and the postbox opposite the work place had been locked closed since the end of October. We’re thinking it’ll get removed entirely. Options to post are limited, and that’s in Dublin City centre/south side.
Don’t send anything by post anymore unless I really have to. Got sent a one for all voucher in the post last year. Never received it. Got no help at all from post office it turned me off using them after.
@Emer Daly: Then they didnt send it. An post is one of the few working things in this country. Received post for 30 years and don’t remember them ever missing a delivery.
@Emer Daly: one 4 all vouchers have been sent by work to staff and several went ‘missing’. Very upsetting for those who never got them and trying to trace what happened. Hence why we no longer post anything like that :( family members received birthday cards from abroad that were torn open and resealed by An Post with the gift money nicked. Devastating for a child to even receive the torn and poorly resealed envelope.
I BOUGHT A BOOK IN DUBLIN TO SEND TO GREECE.WELL THE IRISH POST OFFICE COLLECTED THIS ITEM ON 4 TH DECEMBER AND QUESS WHAT THEY SENT THIS ITEM TO SORTING OFFICE IN POST LAOISE AND IT LAY THERE UNTIL 11 TH DECEMBER BEFORE DISPATCH TO GREECE(SEVEN DAYS IN IRISH POSTAL SYSTEM)MY ADVICE IS THAT IF YOU ARE SENDING ITEMS ABROAD USE A COURIER IN FUTURE.
@Brian Smith: Your Caps Lock key is broken!
@Brian Smith: I feel your pain. This is why people send ‘Save the date’ cards or emails out for weddings, long in advance. My friends sent a batch of invitations that were only delivered from the Netherlands a month & a half later.
AI comin over here takin our homeless? Disgraceful
@Sean: Anyone who was fooled by that image needs to have a think about how gullible and/or vulnerable to misinformation they are when using the ‘net.
@Sean: That image was hilariously bad. Still laughing at the tiny black horse or whatever it’s supposed to be in the background.
Corniest Oirish collage ever. Plus the burning candle inside a sealed mason jar on the right.
@F Fitzgerald: probably too busy posting here to pay any attention to detail
I normally would but since Richard and Mary are blanking me and didn’t have decency to acknowledge their card last Christmas, I am going to give it a miss and cut those gossip queens out of my life
No.
Comments open
@Colm Molloy: minds closed
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