Flinders 那位同学，我们是另一组当事的 Petitioner，不要怕，请进来！

dnw123

欢迎网友把本帖转载各澳华论坛，尽快让Flinders 那位同学看到，谢谢！

Council 里面是有正义的声音的，请见今天早上所发邮件：

To: Phillip Martin <[email protected]>; Anne Moran <[email protected]>
Cc: Robert Simms <[email protected]>; Arman Abrahimzadeh OAM <[email protected]>; Franz Peter Knoll <[email protected]>; Mary Couros <[email protected]>; Zhuopeng (Simon) Hou <[email protected]>; Jessy Khera <[email protected]>; Greg Mackie <[email protected]>; Helen Donovan <[email protected]>; Alexander Hyde <[email protected]>; Lord Mayor <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: A petition to dismiss Simon Hou as councillor of Central Ward


Dear Councillor Moran:

Thank you for your kind support. Yes, it is shocking, but the even more shocking development is yet to come over the weekend. It has been reported by the media that Mr Hou's lawyer has sent a letter to the other petitioner (reportedly a Flinders Uni international student), demanding $ 50,000 for defamation   https://www.reddit.com/r/Adelaide/comments/ld62fq/advice_needed_councillor_simon_hou_of_the/

We find it necessary to express our honest opinions on the matter:

1. In the letter which was originally shown in the link above (now locked), Mr Hou's lawyer has quoted our petition in allegations against the other petitioner. We have no connection whatsoever with the poor student. It is unfair, and simply wrong, to make allegations on the other petitioner by mixing the two separate petitions together.


2. In the last email in response to Councillor Martin's request for a translation of Mr Hou's statement, we have referred to the other petition because it was handily ready on line. We have taken every reasonable steps for proof reading the translation in the other petition, and we believe on reasonable grounds that it is a fair translation.


3. Having said that, due to the immense difference between the Chinese and English language, no translation can claim to be 100% accurate. In fact, there are a lot of subtle meanings underneath the words and between the lines of Mr Hou's statement which can only be apprehended by native Chinese speakers and can hardly be translated into English directly. It is exactly for this reason why Mr Hou's statement had sparked wide spread criticism among the Chinese Australian community, not only in Adelaide but across the country. There have been thousands of comments on Mr Hou's statement, including but not limited to this famous one by 澳洲吐槽君 阿德莱德某议员神操作回顾  

4. It is completely unAustralian for an elected member to respond to a petition by an individual member of the public with a defamation lawsuit, let alone on a vulnerable international student. To the best of my knowledge, it never happened with any elected members at any tiers of governments in Australia.

5. A member of a local government is defined as a public officer under Schedule 1 of the ICAC Act 2012 (SA). The character and conduct of a public officer is to be put under the test of a high standard of integrity.

6. A petition by a member of the public to the governing organisation in regards to the conduct of a public officer is the exercise of an implied constitutional freedom of communication with respect to political disclosure or matters. (see Nationwide News Pty Led v Wills, and also Australian Capital Television Pty Ltd v Commonwealth of Australia)

7. "Political discussion" includes discussion of the conduct, policies or fitness for office of government, political parties, public bodies, public officers and those seeking public office. The freedom of communication about the government of the Commonwealth extends to all political matters, including matters relating to other levels of government. This is a constitutional defence for defamatory matters upheld by the HCA (see Theophanous v Herald & Weekly Times Ltd, and also Stephens v West Australian Newspapers Ltd )

8. Further to the above, Defamation Act 2005 (SA) also provides a number of other defences in Part 4 Division 2 which can be applied to this matter.

9. There is no chance of winning on Mr Hou's side. However, we acknowledge his right to put this matter before the court. If he chooses to do so, we will stand in solidarity with the other petitioner. We will go fund for the poor young kid to fight the legal battle in the Magistrate Court, District Court, Supreme Court and/or all the way up to the High Court if need be.

We truly believe that the Adelaide city council, as the recipient of the petition, has a moral duty to do something to help the poor international student who has been under great stress after receiving the letter. Further to that, the council also has a legal duty to clarify its stance on the matter, otherwise this threatened action for defamation will set a dangerous precedence with an appalling chilling effect on all future petitioners or whistle blowers.

Defamation lawsuit is not a tool for those with superior financial position to shut the humble people's mouth up. Do You Hear the People Sing?  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1q82twrdr0U


May God bless you all and the poor kid.


V for Victory of the people

On behalf of a growing group of citizens across Adelaide and beyond

Read those comments below this 7 news report (starting from 0:48 in regards to this threatened action for defamation  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wrSBl9qoD8 )

不知道是谁给那位候议员想出来法院起诉的办法，简直是…… 最深的敌人就藏在身边啊！

顶

谢谢支持！已经转给Flinders的那位同学。他确实压力很大，因为Simon Hou 的律师要求周一下班前回复，周末很难找到legal assistance，而且律师是Greg Griffin

谢谢你们也跟他一起战斗！虽然我和学生也是素未谋面，但是我和我的朋友们准备好了对他进行无条件经济上和法律上的支持！不管对方律师是谁，我们准备好了战斗到底！Simon Hou 和他朋友 Gavin Guo, 以及 Jason Duan的行为绝对不能被容忍。他们是华人之耻！！

另外，您那边的 petition 最新进展，或者councillor 回复了也请告诉我们

苍天饶过谁 发表于 8-2-2021 10:32
谢谢支持！已经转给Flinders的那位同学。他确实压力很大，因为Simon Hou 的律师要求周一下班前回复，周末很 ...

谢谢你们，请转告Flinders的那位同学，不要担心，Hou 方面的诉求完全没有法理基础，而且必须明确指出，他的律师移花接木，把我们的 petition 和 Flinders 那位同学的 petition 混为一谈，是完全不可以接受的，让他打回去重写（如果他还想杠到底的话），我想他今天只需要回这一句就够了。

值得注意的是，flinder的学生给 city council 发邮件不到一个小时，Simon Hou 就发邮件给他律师了，六个小时后学生收到律师函。
鉴于Greg Graffin 'specialises in Liquor Licensing, Commercial/Property Advice, Corporate Law, Commercial Litigation and Sports Law', 也有可能他之前和 Simon Hou 有合作。
建议大家去 google review 上留言，要求Greg Griffin 不再代理 Simon Hou 的案子

苍天饶过谁 发表于 8-2-2021 11:01
值得注意的是，flinder的学生给 city council 发邮件不到一个小时，Simon Hou 就发邮件给他律师了，六个小 ...

Greg Griffin 是 former Adelaide United chairman，曾经代理过若干体育明星的诽谤案，但恕我直言，对于公共政治领域的诽谤案，他完全是外行，相关的法理依据我上面的邮件已经说的很清楚了，政治人物和体育明星之类的诽谤案，完全不一样，那位同学完全没有必要担心。

dnw123 发表于 8-2-2021 11:12
Greg Griffin 是 former Adelaide United chairman，曾经代理过若干体育明星的诽谤案，但恕我直言，对于 ...

谢谢！希望这位学生没有因此次事件遭受任何经济或其他损失(如果有，也没关系，他有强大的后援团)。他是一个见义勇为的英雄，这种行为应该受到鼓励！有这样的人，我们Chinese community才能更好向前！而不是每次都因为wage theft这种问题被人诟病。既然大家决定移民澳洲，遵守尊重澳洲法律法规是必须的。