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Scientology and the Government in South Australia

mate

Patron Meritorious
Here is a curious piece concerning the CofS from a major newspaper, the Adelaide Advertiser

Martin Hamilton-Smith humiliated by forged 'Labor invoices'

Article from:

RUSSELL EMMERSON, STATE POLITICAL REPORTER

April 30, 2009 02:00pm

GOVERNMENT heavy-hitter Pat Conlon has called on Martin Hamilton-Smith to reveal the source of forged documents used to attack the Government.
Mr Conlon - the state Transport Minister - said the Labor Party would not refer the matter to the police, but wanted to know who provided the documents to the Liberals.

"We're not talking about a whistleblower here, we're not talking about someone who helped find a hidden truth - we're talking someone who allegedly interpreted false documents," he said. "They must have known they were false."

Mr Conlon said he had "absolutely no fear who the Leader of the Opposition might identify" when asked whether there were concerns that the Liberal Party's source could be inside the ALP's state headquarters.
He dismissed the argument that the Labor Party had the most to gain from Mr Hamilton-Smith's humiliating backdown.

"I do not accept the Government benefits from it. I think the Leader of the Opposition suffers," he said, "It has also damaged innocent parties who may not be able to recover.

"Out there, people may listen to the radio one day and not the next, and there are people who have been accused of doing things that are essentially corrupt.

"People who have heard one news show and not the other, they've heard names (and) those people have suffered."

It is understood ALP state secretary Michael Brown, former ALP senator and current lobbyist Nick Bolkus and Labor state treasurer John Boag will take legal action over the affair.
They were named in a series of false emails supposedly organising "special treatment" for a company linked to the Church of Scientology which would donate $20,000 to Labor.

Premier Mike Rann has also indicated he is seeking legal advice after the emails named him as having discussions with the company, Applied Scholastics Australia.

Mr Rann told Parliament on Tuesday that he "would never do a favour for the Church of Scientology".

Applied Scholastics Australia spokesman Bernard Merrick told The Advertiser the company had not met with the Premier or any other South Australian government minister and did not make any political donations.
Mr Hamilton-Smith apologised to Parliament yesterday afternoon and admitted he now accepted the documents were false.

Who was the source?
Today, Mr Hamilton-Smith has refused to reveal the source of forged documents he used to accuse Premier Mike Rann of corruption.
Speaking on ABC Radio this morning, Mr Hamilton Smith was keen to put the issue behind him.

"I think at the end of the day people are more worried about water, more worried about jobs and a few other things," he told Matthew Abraham and David Bevan.

"I would very much like to know the identity of the forger because I think (that) is the key.
"We fully acknowledge the information in these documents cleverly put together is incorrect ... I've apologised to the House. I'm the leader - I take responsibility.

"We get a lot of information. It comes up in a variety of ways, a lot of it we discard. On this occasion we felt it was worth asking the questions."
Mr Hamilton-Smith told Parliament on Tuesday that Mr Rann had a meeting with Applied Scholastics, an education company linked to the Church of Scientology, in Melbourne to smooth the way for "special treatment" in return for a $20,000 donation.

The Opposition produced a series of emails purporting to be between Mr Brown, Mr Bolkus and Mr Boag that detailed an "under the radar" donation of $20,000 – and seeking four separate invoices in an apparent bid to avoid federal donation disclosure laws.

But Mr Hamilton-Smith was forced to apologise after Mr Brown released the invoice numbers in question – each for a different amount, dated one year earlier than invoices released by the Opposition.

"I'm happy to accept the invoices and emails have been discredited so I will go on and apologise to everybody," he said.

"We get drops from time to time from the Labor Party and some of them you run with and some you don't, and in this case we made the decision (that) we'd ask the question. You're making calculated judgments all the time from Opposition about information you get, about which ones to run with and which ones not to run with. I accept that based on the statements made today the invoices have been discredited so I apologise."
Liberals angry at blunder

The incident has sparked unrest within the Liberal Party.
Senior Liberal sources said the public backdown was "very damaging for Martin Hamilton-Smith".

They said the Scientology attack distracted from a very obvious target – the traffic offences of former Road Safety Minister Tom Koutsantonis. This was reflected in Parliament. The Opposition failed to follow up its own questions on the Scientology donations.

Liberal deputy leader Vickie Chapman previously said she would not challenge for leadership unless Mr Hamilton-Smith made a major mistake. A March poll of AdelaideNow readers found 40 per cent supported Mr Hamilton-Smith, with only 12 per cent backing Ms Chapman.

Premier Mike Rann, at a gathering of Commonwealth and state leaders in Tasmania yesterday, posted messages on Twitter calling Mr Hamilton-Smith to account.

"(It) shows he lacks not only experience but judgment to be Premier," he wrote. "Will he tell Parliament / police the name of the crook".
Mr Hamilton-Smith refused to reveal the name of the Liberals' source.
 

DCAnon

Silver Meritorious Patron
Yeah, I'm not sure exactly what's been going on with all this. :confused2: WTF Australia?
 

Panda Termint

Cabal Of One
Despite the questionable source of the "emails" this looks like the tip of an iceberg to me, with South Australia's CofS cast as the Titanic.
 

Lucretia

Patron with Honors
I saw this too. Its been running for about 3 days, and actually made the front page to the Advertiser - our local and only daily newspaper in Adelaide.

It is very strange. Both Mike Rann (Premier) and Jane Lomax Smith (Education) have both been reported saying less that kind things about $cn. Hamilton Smith must have known the e-mails were fake - at the very least should have checked them before releasing them to to press - he's been around long enough to know the rudiments.

It will probably be another storm in a teacup and die away, but it's wierd! One thing though - if Martin Hamilton Smith thinks he can discredit Rann by associating him with $cn, it shows $cn is NOT flavour of the month down in South Oz. Maybe H S is needling Rann to do something about $cn.
 

scooter

Gold Meritorious Patron
Very curious - what the hell were the favours associated with ApS?

And having ApS termed as a company is rather curious too - have they dropped the "not-for-profit corporation" stuff?

Makes me wonder what's at the bottom of this rabbit hole :p
 
Here is a curious piece concerning the CofS from a major newspaper, the Adelaide Advertiser

Could a local familiar with the specifics please verify/correct the following summary:

A. Liberal Party accuses Labor Party of corruption.

B. Basis of the corruption charge are forged documents linking Applied Scholastics to Labor.

C. Everyone now admits documents were forged.

D. Everyone admits there is no link between Labor & Applied Scholastics.

E. There is no apparent link between Labor & Co$, either direct or indirect.

F. Source of release of forged documents purporting to indicate an indirect link between Co$ & Labor via Applied scholastics is undisclosed.

G. Source of actual forged documents unknown.


Given that the above is true (hypothetical), I fail to see how this would actually implicate the Co$ in anything. It would be much more likely that someone wishing to embarrass the Co$ and/or the Labor Pm would seek to forge & release such documents rather than someone acting on behalf of the Co$, i.e. it seems to be "Aussie political" rather than "Co$ criminal". Alternately, someone out to "get" the Liberal Party could have a motive, yet again there is no clear "Co$" connection or link. :confused2:

Conspiracy theorists may well differ on this, however. :eyeroll:

So, all you Hairy Nosed Wombats, what gives? What does this story actually mean in terms of Applied Scholastics, or the Co$ in South Australia? :)


Mark A. Baker
 
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