Tim Watts: Yesterday saw an overdue but welcome decision from the Morrison government in the case of the Murugappan family-the Biloela family, as they've become known around the country-Priya, Nades, Tharunicaa and Kopika, a Tamil family from Sri Lanka who have been in detention on Christmas Island since 2019. Many of my constituents have contacted me about this family's case for several...
Read More >Tim Watts: On Tuesday of this week the Assistant Minister for Defence released new figures indicating that ransomware reports to the Australian Cyber Security Centre had increased by 200 per cent. In response, he announced an awareness campaign and called on Australian organisations to lift their cyberdefences in the face of increasingly sophisticated and well-resourced Russian ransomware groups....
Read More >Tim Watts: Credibility, like integrity, is something that you build over time through actions, not words. That's a problem for this Prime Minister, particularly when it comes to fringe conspiracy theories and extremist ideologies. This is a prime minister who always seems to be conspiracy adjacent, a PM who always seems to want weirdos in the room with him. Last night's Four Corners episode told...
Read More >Tim Watts: This week ransomware became a literal barbeque stopper when JBS Foods, Australia's largest meat processor, was paralysed by a ransomware attack mounted by Russian cybercriminals. All beef and lamb kills along the east coast of Australia were cancelled. It might not be immediately obvious, but the meat business is heavily reliant on IT systems for record keeping, regulatory documentation,...
Read More >Tim Watts: I must admit that I was impressed when I read this motion on the Notice Paper, not because it's yet another example of the Morrison government using defence as a political tactic-I have come to expect that from this government-it's the sheer hubris of talking about a $270 billion defence capability investment in a self-congratulatory motion when they have delivered very little...
Read More >Tim Watts: Last year 655 Victorians died from COVID-19 infections in aged-care facilities, 64 of them in four facilities in my electorate. I've spoken with their grieving families. They aren't statistics. They're beloved mothers, fathers, grandparents, friends who died in appalling circumstances, scared and cut off from the physical support of their loved ones. My heart breaks for these families today...
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