What we learned: Tuesday 14 January
That’s where we’ll leave the blog for today, but first let’s recap the main events:
The government launched a national autism strategy.
The communications minister said Meta had no ‘immediate plan’ to abandon factchecking program in Australia.
A house in Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula collapsed down a cliff amid a landslide.
Peter Dutton said he wants to “see more women running” after six-to-one gender imbalance in recent preselections.
The NSW government raised its pay offer to rail unions as it attempts to prevent worsening disruptions across Sydney’s rail network.
Daniel Duggan’s family has said they will challenge his extradition to the US in federal court.
The blog will be back bright and early tomorrow morning.
US indictment alleges Duggan trained Chinese fighter pilots, which he denies
Following on from that last post about former US marine pilot Daniel Duggan launching a court challenge fighting his extradition to the United States:
Duggan is now being held in prison in Wellington, in the central west of NSW. He was arrested in October 2022 in Orange, where he had been living with his family.
Duggan cannot be extradited while he has a legal challenge before the courts.
In December, Australia’s attorney general Mark Dreyfus said a NSW magistrate had found Duggan was eligible for surrender to the US. Dreyfus said:
Mr Duggan was given the opportunity to provide representations as to why he should not be surrendered to the United States.
In arriving at my decision, I took into consideration all material in front of me.
The US is seeking the extradition of Duggan on charges of arms trafficking and money laundering arising from his alleged training of Chinese fighter pilots more than a decade ago. The allegations have not been tested in court.
A US indictment alleges he taught Chinese fighter pilots to land jets on aircraft carriers – known as “carrier-arrested landings” – in defiance of arms trafficking laws. The indictment details payments Duggan allegedly received in 2011 and 2012 for training Chinese fighter pilots at a test flight academy “based in South Africa, with a presence in the People’s Republic of China”.
The father of six – whose children are all Australian citizens – faces a potential 60-year prison term if convicted in the US.
Duggan, who has no criminal history anywhere in the world, has faced significant isolation in prison, having been classified as a high-risk inmate. He has consistently denied the allegations against him as politically motivated, and has claimed the indictment is filled with “half-truths, falsehoods and gross embellishments”.
Updated
