Kanberra's Konservative Kontender for Chief Minister Kaught on Kamera at Krazy Korean Kult Konference

Strange format to the posting. Was the majority cut and pasted from elsewhere?

Long boring story Thumper, but I can tell you there’s no conspiracy.

jimbruce said :

Stupidy or strategy? Dupe or ideological fellow traveler? Only you can
be the judge …

I’ll hold judgement until Zed reveals what is going on. But until then I can’t help but have my suspicions about any aspiring pollie who is linked to the ‘Third Adam’.

There is a vocal ‘anti-cult movement’ who can be just as loopy as the groups they attack, so it is easy for these discussions to degenerate into agenda-driven drivel.

Thumper – true. The formatting is a bit odd. I wonder if this has been posted elsewhere.

Ok, as a long time Moon watcher (thesis on the Unification Church in
Australia in the late eighties, school friend still a Moonist in
America) let me make a few comments on Zed and ‘True Father’.

Zed is not the only Australian Liberal to wander ‘innocently’ along to
a Moonist conference.

Ultra-rightist NSW upper house Liberal David Clarke, of
‘Taliban’/’Uglies’ fame was outed in Crikey (with a little help from
moi) in late 2005 for doing exactly the same thing. If Zed is even
vaguely cogniscent of Liberal affairs, he should have paid attention
to the fallout from that.

The cult has a history of cultivating predominantly right wing
politicians to support Moon through their involvement in and support
of Moon front groups variously related to anti-communism, family
values, world peace, or other buzz word initiatives/motherhood
statements. Some of these have been unwitting or innocent dupes,
others are strategic fellow travelers. Either way, their name gets used a ‘supporters’ of Moon’s theocratic ambitions.

David Clarke was at one time
actively promoting various Moon front groups in Australia.

Whatever topic the front group starts with, the (garden) path always
leads to worship of Moon and his teachings, the ‘Divine Principle’,
and Moonist plans for a theocratic world government.

Sun Myung Moon’s messianic cult (known variously as the Moonies, the
Unification Church, The Family Federation for World Peace and
Unification, Ambassadors for Peace and dozens of other front
organisations) has never numbered more than a hundred or so people in
Australia, and effectively collapsed in the late nineteen eighties.
The various remaining front groups are all run by just two or three
key people. In the centre back of Zed’s group photograph I can
identify the Rev Paul Saver (blonde, blue shirt), one of Australia’s
few active Moonists and the guy who probably set up the Zed jaunt.
Saver is active throughout the southern Pacific in establishing links
between naive or trip-hungry politicians and various Moon front
groups.

While the cult’s numbers worldwide have also collapsed (no more mass
weddings) under the weight of messianic failure, Moon’s embarrassing
‘sinless’ offspring, increasing publicity, criminal convictions and
actions by a number of western governments, the aging millionaire
arms-manufacturer and self-proclaimed messiah retains considerable
influence in the US through his control of the right-wing Washington
Times newspaper, political alliance with key Uber-Republicans,
organisational sponsorship of ‘Intelligent Design’ advocates and
government-funded premarital celibacy programs, and his sponsorship of
selected serving and retired politicians.

Moon is a colourful and controversial character. Best known for his
self-proclaimed messiahship, hillbilly theology (part Christian, but
largely an indigenous Korean mix of shamanism and Confusionism), mass
weddings, controversial sect recruitment practices, shady associations
with various nationalist/anti-communist/far right groups, and
anti-semitic, anti-gay rhetoric, Moon became the focus of fresh
controversy in the US in 2004 when a front group arranged for his
crowning as ‘King of Peace’ in a US Senate Building with several
congressmen in attendance (strange but true). See investigative
journalist John Gorenfield’s blog at http://www.gorenfeld.net/book/

And lest you think its only the Liberals…

One Moon front group is the Interreligious Peace Sports Festival
(IPSF). In 2006, the group organised an Australian tour for a
Singaporean Muslim Football team, Nova Certeza. The aim as always, was
to gain contact with community leaders and politicians to assay them
for possible use in furthering the Moon organisation’s goals. When it
visited the ACT, the group’s Belconnen reception was attended by
Senator for the ACT, Gary Humphries and then ACT Legislative Assembly
Speaker, Wayne Berry MLA.

See http://upf.org.au/news/winter06.htm for details.

Stupidy or strategy? Dupe or ideological fellow traveler? Only you can
be the judge …

HateMachine said :

In Molonglo you’ve also got Jacqui Burke, who Zed is ruthlessly knifing in the back in favour of Giulia. And there’s no love lost between Zed and Clinton White, the former Stefaniak Chief of Staff having a final pre-retirement shot.

You have claimed that:

1. Zed Selselja is ruthlessly knifing Jacqqui Burke in the back in favour of Giulia Jones.
2. There’s no love lost between Zed and Clinton White.

Can you provide facts to substantiate this slander? Or is the law only for other people? And what makes you such an expert, Hedda Hopper?

Yeah, but no-one reads it.

Actually, I used to. then I found enlightenment and started reading RA. now I look at the CT for amusement and Jack W’s blog posts, with bagging out by one particular poster.

peterh said :

considering that if you dug for dirt on Stanhope

It’s called The Canberra Times. I’ve heard it comes out every day.

Woody Mann-Caruso said :

The only question that matters is: is it true?

Your sense of politics is one of the least developed in town, if you really believe that, WMC.

The important questions are mostly “How can this change things?” and “How can we use this?”.

I think whoever created this was asking themselves “Is it true enough?”

considering that if you dug for dirt on Stanhope, there would semi trailer loads of it, it would seem strange if zed didn’t get the same attention. if the korean visit is it, his one “indiscretion”, then he would win on being cleaner than his opposite number.

what about Stanhope’s mistakes?

Let’s see….

The al Grassby statue and subsequent denial of its existence.
The 2003 Fires
The coroner inquest
My absolute favorite – If I had done this, I would have been locked up for treason….

Publishing the Fed Govt’s Anti-Terrorism Laws on the internet.
as it says in the CT article:

Prime Minister John Howard has condemned the ACT Government for publishing copies of the Commonwealth’s controversial new anti-terrorism laws on the internet.

The ACT Chief Minister, Jon Stanhope, released a draft copy of the new laws on his website yesterday.

Mr Howard said Mr Stanhope had been irresponsible for releasing the draft laws, which are to be introduced to federal Parliament on October 31.

“It’s important that governments, no matter what political stances you might take, should have the capacity to talk to each other in confidence. And that legislation was given in confidence,” Mr Howard told reporters.

what if the draft laws were written by the Rudd Govt? would stanhope be looked upon kindly by the PM?

no way.

he has made some contributions to the ACT, but he has made some monumental mistakes as well.

we changed from Lib to the ALP in fed govt, as we weren’t happy with the incumbent.

perhaps this will happen here in the act too.

And no-one thinks this is simply a seriously low blow attack by a Labor sympathiser?

Who cares where it came from? I don’t care if ‘GSAAlliance’ is a registered trading name of the Communist Zed Seselja Destruction Company Pty Ltd; it’s not as though his allies are going to put this out, is it? The only question that matters is: is it true?

I see, a ba-ad moon ris-ing

I think a free trip to Korea shows great frugality and that’s what I like to see in a Chief Minister.

Personally, I welcome our new moonie overlords.

Oops..sorry a bit early. I just posted a comment on the Woodstock item. The thrust of my comments were this guy took a very bodgey trip. What does that tell us? Did it show great judgement? No! And he wants to be Chief Minister.

I would like to know what went on at the conference and the extent to which Zed was/continues to be influenced by the Unification Church.
No, the real question is how many other expensive “gifts” has he received from organisations without checking their backgrounds. I’d like to know whether this is a one-off, or if he’s made a habit of it.

The more I read about these desperate long and low shots by anti-liberal people, the more I want to vote sonic and his pathetic cronies out of office! Keep em coming!!!! LOL!!!

Hatemachine, that would only serve to hurt them. Trying to chink Zed’s armour in the hope that those votes will somehow come to you without causing enough damage to jeopardise the chance of a 3rd Lib in Molonglo, is pretty ridiculous.

fhakk said :

Sounds intriguing…I’m pointing the finger at Mulcahy for this one – I don’t think that even at this late stage in the election campaign, any of the Libs would be that stupid to start spreading rumours about their Great Leader.

You’re probably right, but I wouldn’t bet money on it. In Molonglo you’ve also got Jacqui Burke, who Zed is ruthlessly knifing in the back in favour of Giulia. And there’s no love lost between Zed and Clinton White, the former Stefaniak Chief of Staff having a final pre-retirement shot. And I wouldn’t put anything past the dark smurf Gary Kent.

Sounds intriguing…I’m pointing the finger at Mulcahy for this one – I don’t think that even at this late stage in the election campaign, any of the Libs would be that stupid to start spreading rumours about their Great Leader. However, Zed’s conservative stance and his religious links seem fairly innocuous imho. While I can see why people would be interested in this, I don’t see how this would affect his skills as a politician.

Aside from his views on abortion I suppose…

Several young Canberrans were brainwashed by the “Children of God” cult in the 1980s, and have never left. Young women were sent out into the street as “fishers for God” and lured people with sexual favours (under compulsion). It is now called I think “The Family” … if Zed has seriously been involved with this cult, it’s a massive problem. They make Scientology look like High Anglicanism.

The best part is ‘Reverend Kwak’. Surely that is made up?

Well that ad Zed has where he says ‘you’re going to hear a lot of bad things about me over coming weeks’ is suddenly starting to make sense….

i had honestly never heard of the Moonies before this article, been reading in fascination wiki articles about them all afternoon. They do sound pretty loopy.

“The Church is known to have been involved with weapon and munitions manufacturing in Korea since the 1960s, as documented in a 1978 United States Congressional Report on the Unification Church. The explanation given by Korean Unification Church members is that all manufacturers seeking to do business in South Korea were required to supply the military.”

You’re a bad, bad man.

Rules for minefield bingo:
Every time Zed uses one of the politically charged phrases below, tick one off the list.
If Zed uses less than three, he has made it to the other side of the media gauntlet in relative safety.

accident
accident of inexperience
advice of a friend
suspected arms dealer
business contact
benefit of hindsight
beyond my control
close friend
destructive
dung eating dog
experience
explore partnership opportunities
factional stunt
father
gave me his blessing
Homosexual
inexperience
infighting
Jew
legitimate businessman
Liberal Party infighting has got to stop
mass wedding
media beatup
monogamy
nothing like this will happen again when I am Chief Minister
polygamy
study tour
slow to realise
teapot
true
true father
trusted colleague
unintentional
watch
working relationship
woke up on a plane, and they ransomed my passport back to me
youthful exuberance
youthful indiscretion
younger days

I wouldn’t go so far as to claim it as a scoop. I wouldn’t have even ran it if the earlier CT work hadn’t firmed up the details.

But the photos are news to me.

For some people it will be significant, for others it won’t, but I thought it warranted letting you all make up your own minds.

Aurelius said :

So what.

I doubt Zed flew to Korea because he thinks Moon is the Messiah and I’m sure the free tea set didn’t clinch the deal either.

My interest in this is not motivated by any kind of anti-Lib/Zed agenda. I would be just as interested if it was Stanhope, Rattenbury or even Morgo. Sometimes it is interesting to explore political figures beyond their stance on fiscal responsibility/GDE/public art/getting high.

I would like to know what went on at the conference and the extent to which Zed was/continues to be influenced by the Unification Church.

Given the history of Moon and his church, which has only been touched on here, I think this is a genuine topic of interest.

I’d been wondering about the apparent halo around Zed’s hair in the photo used in his ads/posters/etc.

Thought it was the graphic designer’s fault, but now I’m not so sure…

Crikey said :

There is a good article on Moon in Wikipedia. Sure he’s controversial but he seems to have achieved a lot in his lifetime.

Yes, becoming ‘Emperor of the World’ is not something to sneeze at….

jakez said :

This is a real skoop for the RiotAKT. In fakt I’m of the opinion that this issue is going to bekome the key issue of the elektion.

I doubt it. Knowing the Canberra Times, it’ll get a one line mention on page 17, 3 weeks after the election. I reckon johnboy should ‘sticky’ this article until Zed confirms/denies it.

I googled ‘David Clarke reverend moon’ and it seems like there is a link:

http://upf.org.au/news/winter06.htm

“The next day the team travelled to Sydney, where State MP the Hon David Clarke, MLC, invited the team to the New South Wales Parliament for a reception and tour.”

No exactly a scoop seeing as though the Canberra Times covered it when Zed was a ‘who?’

But funny all the same!

This is an old story. I remember reading about this before, in the Canberra Times, after he declared the trip as a gift….”skoop” yeah LOL

I am not sure why everyone is getting so excited. So what if Zed instead attended a political conference sponsored by the Moonies.

I just did a Google and former US Presidents George Bush and Gerald Ford, Soviet President Gorbachev, Rosalynn Carter, Bill Crosby, Coretta Scott King, former British PM Harold Heath and hundreds of other former Presidents, PMs and statesmen have attended these conferences. So I guess Zed was in good company.

There is a good article on Moon in Wikipedia. Sure he’s controversial but he seems to have achieved a lot in his lifetime. Was surprised he owns the Washington Times and other newspapers.

Aurelius said :

I’m a paid up member of the ALP, and I read this with with a “meh”.
So Zed associates with barking mad fruitbats? We knew he was a member of the Liberals, so who is shocked by this latest round of loops he hangs with?
So what.

It’s funny because it’s true.

I’m a paid up member of the ALP, and I read this with with a “meh”.
So Zed associates with barking mad fruitbats? We knew he was a member of the Liberals, so who is shocked by this latest round of loops he hangs with?
So what.

The only way you would end up at this conference is if you stopped listening after someone said “hey, do you want an all expenses paid first class trip to Korean for…”

That alone raises some questions about his character, let alone him still being there at the end of the conference…

This is a real skoop for the RiotAKT. In fakt I’m of the opinion that this issue is going to bekome the key issue of the elektion.

A golden tea set? that’s one hell of a junket.

Skidbladnir said :

From a purely stylistic perspective, no single article should mix serif fonts with non-serif fonts, nor mix multiple serifed fonts, nor rely on a font which considers acute accents, apostrophes, and grave accents as the one character.

(Don’t mix other fonts with Arial unless they mesh with it, Book Antiqua should never be used unless absolutely necessary, and save Times New Roman for when it is needed)

In Safari it’s all luvverly arial.

Skidbladnir said :

Reply

Frankly I’m more worried about GSAAlliance and why they can be bothered writing this stuff.

I’m with Ralph on this one.

Yawn

Reply

Ralph said :

Yawwwwwwnnnnnnnnn. Who really cares?

At least the moonies aren’t flying planes into buildings and conducting suicide bombings.

I’d be more concerned if he was outed as an Islamic.

And what about the IRA? Should we be concerned if pollies are outed as catholics?

Ralph said :

Yawwwwwwnnnnnnnnn. Who really cares?

At least the moonies aren’t flying planes into buildings and conducting suicide bombings.

I’d be more concerned if he was outed as an Islamic.

Well, tax-fraud dude…and doesn’t multiple wives infringe your goody-goody conservative stance?

Yawwwwwwnnnnnnnnn. Who really cares?

At least the moonies aren’t flying planes into buildings and conducting suicide bombings.

I’d be more concerned if he was outed as an Islamic.

By the way, the original story around the teapot (and watch) of unspecified value, goes back to 2006.

Link to 29 Apr2006 Canberra Times article, “Nothing wrong with gifts: Smyth MLAs often wined and dined”, by Markus Mannheim

Or Mulcahy who has no love for Zed.

It is rumoured that Zed keeps the tea set in pride of place on his desk at parliament, and in times of great stress lovingly strokes and fondles it.

And no-one thinks this is simply a seriously low blow attack by a Labor sympathiser?

Fcku me, it is get personal.

Given the deeply factionalised nature of the local libs it could just as easily come from someone there.

From a purely stylistic perspective, no single article should mix serif fonts with non-serif fonts, nor mix multiple serifed fonts, nor rely on a font which considers acute accents, apostrophes, and grave accents as the one character.

(Don’t mix other fonts with Arial unless they mesh with it, Book Antiqua should never be used unless absolutely necessary, and save Times New Roman for when it is needed)

johnboy said :

If Zed wants to claim the photos are faked, and repudiate his friends, we’ll be sure to let you know.

I can’t wait. As long as there is some truth to this (and the pictures would indicate as much) then this is my favourite story of the election. Speak Zed!

He’s a little teapot himself for not thinking an all expenses paid *first class no less* trip to a religious cult in the orient wasn’t going to come out around about now.

Anyway we probably wouldn’t have run it, but the stuff about the moonies is accurate to my knowledge and there are photos.

If Zed wants to claim the photos are faked, and repudiate his friends, we’ll be sure to let you know.

Love it. I want more poo flinging from the greater unwashed.

excuse my incorrect use of html tagging there *embarrassed*

what a load of BS he didn’t know what it was about – as if you would travel to korea for a week long conference without knowing what it was about. and if perchance (one chance in a million) he didn’t know what it was about but just went to ‘accept a freebie’ on taxpayer time, well quite frankly that is also disgusting.

And having heard what they had to say he stayed to pose in photos and kept their gift…

EXACTIMO JB!

@caf gotta love that. I haven’t seen one for asian brides yet…

One of the best bits about this thread is the contextual ads it’s attracting.

Skidbladnir said :

This is shaping up to be the most entertaining ACT election in at least four years.

Oh yeah…I just got interested!

The Unification Church holds a hell of a lot of clout – Reverend Moon even got crowned “King of Peace” by a bunch of pollies in the states and is rumoured to have close connections to George HW Bush. Check it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f08clPMODw8

Moon believes that he is on earth to complete the work left unfinished by Adam and Jesus. As a big player in the anti-cult hysteria of the 70s (“these weirdos have stolen my darling children”) the Moonies got a bad wrap but I don’t think they have anywhere near the membership they did back then. These days it’s more business clout – owning the Washington Times newspaper and North America’s sushi distribution networks.

Yes, it is a bit weird (though not necessarily dangerous) and you really have to wonder what Zed is doing with the Moonies.

I, for one, am most keen to know what the nature of Zed’s relationship is with the Unification Church. Tell us, oh potential leader!

This is shaping up to be the most entertaining ACT election in at least four years.

he declared the tea set. he attended the conference. he probably got more at the conference than he bargained for. Just because the conference was run by the moonies, does not mean that it didn’t have some actual focus on international peace…

but if he had been brainwashed into their belief system, the policies would be far more different.

toriness said :

what a load of BS he didn’t know what it was about – as if you would travel to korea for a week long conference without knowing what it was about. and if perchance (one chance in a million) he didn’t know what it was about but just went to ‘accept a freebie’ on taxpayer time, well quite frankly that is also disgusting.

And having heard what they had to say he stayed to pose in photos and kept their gift…

There are a great many things here which need further links checked.

Who is the GSAAlliance, and are they a political organisation requiring disclosure?

The all-expenses paid trip should be checked further, someone will have documentation somewhere.
Which Congressional Report?
Can you clarify where you pull the ‘most participants’ statement from in relation to the conference and HIV\AIDS character development.

And there a fair emount of deliberately emotive language being used.

BEST. THREAD. EVER

Not Stanhope = Vote in my opinion.

what a load of BS he didn’t know what it was about – as if you would travel to korea for a week long conference without knowing what it was about. and if perchance (one chance in a million) he didn’t know what it was about but just went to ‘accept a freebie’ on taxpayer time, well quite frankly that is also disgusting.