Defense
Correspondent Andrew Greene at Australian
Government funded ABC News reports, on May
10, 2020 reports https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-10/outgoing-labor-mp-mike-kelly-takes-new-job-security-company/12229842
[non-ABC News links added and bolded by Pete. US spelling for "Defense" is used.]
"Data company that 'helped locate Osama Bin Laden'
recruits former Labor MP Mike Kelly
A United States tech giant with close links to Western intelligence agencies has appointed former Federal Labor MP Mike Kelly to help drive its rapidly expanding operations in Australia.
...The ABC can reveal Dr
Kelly has taken up a job with the Silicon Valley based tech giant Palantir Technologies, just days after retiring from Parliament on health grounds.
Founded in 2004, Palantir
specialises in the shadowy practice of data mining, and in January its growing
global business was privately valued at $US20 billion ($30.61 billion [Australian dollars]).
"I am not in a
position to retire and have no desire to," Dr Kelly told the ABC when
approached about his new role.
"I have been
fortunate to be able to take up a job offer with Palantir Technologies
Australia that will enable me to work within my physical limitations but still
be in a position to make a difference in relation to the issues that matter to
me."
On at least two occasions
in recent years, the soldier-turned-politician has publicly praised the work of
Palantir, including its reported role in helping track down terrorist Osama Bin Laden.
"Companies like
Palantir for example effectively vectored Osama Bin Laden's location so these
are companies and capabilities that we need to work with," the decorated
Army veteran told Federal Parliament in 2018.
In the same year the Labor
backbencher informed Parliament's powerful Joint Committee on Intelligence and
Security that Palantir was "providing a massive $US12 billion
international effort on security issues".
Late last month, the
60-year-old held back tears as he announced his
resignation in a move that has forced a by-election in the
marginal New South Wales seat of Eden-Monaro.
"I don't believe I
can continue to do the job to the extent — and with the commitment and the
physical demand — that I would want to," the former colonel said in April.
Over
the past six months, Dr Kelly has undergone 10 medical procedures to address
damage to his renal system, caused by severe dehydration during military tours
in Iraq, Somalia and East Timor....
Kelly expected to grow Palantir's security and defense
business in Australia
American spies are known to use Palantir software to link
together the huge cache of data gathered by security agencies such as the...CIA and ...NSA.
Palantir software has been used by Australia's Defense
Department since 2011, and the company has
secured millions of dollars in contracts with security agencies such
as the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) and Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC).
[Scroll a third way down Palantir's Website to see that Palantir has offices in Canberra (Level 4/71 Northbourne Ave, Canberra), Sydney and Melbourne Australia. See Palantir's "Defense" and "Intelligence" solutions,]
Dr Kelly has described his new employer as "amazing
organisation" saying it was "populated with some of the finest talent
and quality personnel in the world".
"At the moment, for example, they are working in
over 30 countries in the fight against COVID-19," Dr Kelly said."
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