19/08/2025

TUESDAY | AUG 19, 2025

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China slams Germany for ‘hyping’ regional tensions

Qantas fined A$90m for illegal layoffs

PALMERSTON NORTH: A military court found a New Zealand soldier guilty of attempted espionage for a foreign power yesterday – the first spying conviction in the country’s history. The soldier was caught offering to pass military base maps and photographs to an undercover officer posing as an agent for the third country, the court-martial heard. The man’s name, the country he attempted to spy for and the name of the undercover officer who caught him were all suppressed by the court. He was the first person to be convicted of spying by a New Zealand court and only the second to be tried after a former public servant was acquitted of espionage in 1975. The soldier admitted to attempted espionage, accessing a computer system for a dishonest purpose, and to knowingly possessing an objectionable publication. He had copies of a livestreamed video of the March 2019 killing of 51 worshippers at mosques around BEIJING: China lashed out at Germany yesterday, warning Berlin against “inciting confrontation and hyping up tensions” after its foreign minister said Beijing was “increasingly aggressive” in the Asia Pacific region. During a visit to Japan, Johann Wadephul (pic) said China had made repeated threats to “unilaterally change the status quo and shift borders in its favour”, citing its behaviour in the Taiwan Strait and the East and South China Seas. “Any escalation in this sensitive hub of international trade would have serious consequences for global security and the world economy,” Wadephul said yesterday after talks with Japanese counterpart Takeshi Iwaya. A statement issued on Sunday before Wadephul’s visit to Japan, and later Indonesia, said that China was “increasingly asserting its regional supremacy and, in doing so, is also questioning principles of international law.” “China’s increasingly aggressive behaviour in the Taiwan Strait and the East and South China Seas also has implications for us in Europe: fundamental principles of our global coexistence are at stake here,” Wadephul said in the statement.

For example, he said Qantas had announced it would appeal to the High Court against the 2021 court decision “without any time passing”, to consider the 431-paragraph judgment. When its appeal failed, Qantas issued a statement “spinning” the outcome, however, and overlooking findings on its unlawful conduct, he added. He also criticised Qantas’ conduct during litigation, such as opting to keep out of the witness box Vanessa Hudson, its current chief executive and former chief financial officer. “It is one thing for the ‘Qantas News Room’ to issue press releases by a CEO saying sorry; it is quite another for written assertions of contrition, recognition of wrong and cultural change to be tested in a courtroom,” Lee said. The penalty was the largest ever ordered by a court for violations of Australia’s labour laws, said Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, which represented TWU. “This record-breaking penalty reflects the monumental scale of Qantas’ wrongdoing,” said the firm’s principal, Josh Bornstein. – Reuters

o ‘Penalty reflects scale of wrongdoing’

have set, was important to ensure it “could not be perceived as anything like the cost of doing business”. He said A$50 million of the fine would be paid to the Transport Workers’ Union (TWU), which brought the case against Qantas. After the decision, Michael Kaine, the national secretary of the TWU, said, “Against all the odds, we took on a behemoth ... that had shown itself to be ruthless, and we won.” The decision follows a December agreement on a compensation fund of A$120 million struck by the airline and the sacked workers. During the pandemic in 2020, Qantas’ senior management decided to lay off 1,820 ground staff and shift their work to contractors. Qantas said it was a commercial decision but the Federal Court in 2021 held the move to be “adverse action”, preventing staff from exercising their workplace rights and unionising, in breach of Australia’s Fair Work Act. Assessing Qantas’ actions, Lee said he was unconvinced it was truly contrite and criticised its culture, public relations approach and litigation strategy.

SYDNEY: A court ordered Australia’s largest airline, Qantas Airways, yesterday to pay a record fine of A$90 million (RM248 million) for illegally sacking 1,800 ground staff and criticised it for a lack of contrition. In imposing the penalty, the largest ordered by a court on a company in the history of Australia’s labour laws, Federal Court Judge Michael Lee also inveighed against the airline’s litigation strategy. While Qantas made changes to its board and management team, Lee said subsequent expressions of regret seemed more aligned with “the damage” the case had done to the company than remorse for the harm caused to workers. “I accept Qantas is sorry, but I am unconvinced that this measure of regret is not, at least in significant measure ... the wrong kind of sorry,” he said. Lee said the size of the penalty, about 75% of the maximum he could

Christchurch by white supremacist Brenton Tarrant. The soldier became a person of interest in the aftermath of the Christchurch attack as police cracked down on right-wing extremist groups, the court heard. While monitoring him, the New Zealand government became aware he had “made contact with a third party, indicating that he was a soldier who was wanting to defect”, according to an agreed summary read out by the prosecution. An undercover officer then made contact with the would-be spy, claiming to be from that foreign nation. The soldier said he could provide “mapping and photographs, and he could possibly get a covert device into Army Headquarters”, the court heard. He provided telephone directories of several military camps, including information classified as restricted. The man offered an assessment of vulnerabilities at Linton Military Camp and access codes. The man is yet to be sentenced. – AFP China’s Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning hit back yesterday, telling a regular news conference that the situation in the East China Sea and the South China Sea “remains generally stable”. “We urge the relevant parties to respect regional countries, resolve issues through dialogue and consultation, and safeguard the common interest of peace and stability, instead of inciting confrontation and hyping up tensions,”she said when asked about Wadephul’s comments. – AFP Foreign

New Zealand soldier found guilty of attempted espionage

CREATIVE REST ... A Colombian takes part in a contest in Itagui, Colombia to celebrate World Laziness Day on Sunday. – AFPPIC

Air Canada grounded as union defies back to work order MONTREAL: Air Canada planes remained grounded yesterday after striking flight attendants refused a government-backed order to get back to work and called on the airline to return to the bargaining table. almost unprecedented standoff with the Canadian government, which had requested the back-to-work order. passengers. They currently are only paid when planes are moving, sparking some vocal support from Canadians on social media.

Court has ruled that governments have to be very careful when they take away the right to strike, even for public sector workers that may be deemed essential,”said Dionne Pohler, professor of dispute resolution at Cornell University’s Industrial and Labour Relations School. Another option is to encourage bargaining, Pohler said. The government did not respond to requests for comment. – Reuters

the strike now include asking courts to enforce the order to return to work and seeking an expedited hearing. The minority government could also try to pass legislation that would need the support of political rivals and approval in both houses of parliament, which are on break until Sept 15. “The government will be very reticent to be too heavy-handed because in Canada the Supreme

The Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents 10,000 Air Canada cabin crew, had pushed for a negotiated solution, saying binding arbitration would take pressure off the airline. The attendants are striking for better wages and to be paid for work on the ground, such as boarding

CUPE invited Air Canada back to the table to “negotiate a fair deal”, calling the order to end its strike unconstitutional. The airline said it would delay plans to restart operations and described the union as illegally defying the labour board. The government’s options to end

The carrier had planned to start ramping up operations on Sunday evening, after a labour relations board ordered the union to return to work and start binding arbitration. The union said no, setting up an