Heavy-Handed COVID Policing: The Discriminatory Sweep of Southwestern Sydney
On 3 July, the initial, and thought to be only, Saturday of the “soft” Sydney lockdown, premier Gladys Berejiklian at her 11am announcement, jovially empathised with locals about the weather being “great” and asked those exercising outdoors to keep to...
The Great Dividing Range Between Government and the People
If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that public trust in government is vital in times of crises. And during the current global health emergency, the lack of belief in the political class and its institutions has been stark....
The Increasing Militarisation of Australia and the Cold War With China Effect
The twenty year war in Afghanistan is coming to an end on 11 September. That is at least from the perspective of the western allied forces that have been stationed in the Central Asian region since the US-led invasion that...
Further Calls to Drop the Political Prosecution of Bernard Collaery
The ACT Bar Association released a 1 July statement, in which it calls on the Morrison government to reconsider continuing the prosecution of prominent Canberra barrister Bernard Collaery over his part in exposing the 2004 Timor-Leste bugging affair. Representing practising...
“A Sense of Entitlement”: Shoebridge on Pork Barrelling and Lack of Federal Oversight
In the days leading up to the 2019 NSW state election, deputy premier John Barilaro joked with AAP about his nickname being “Pork Barrel-aro”. The NSW Nationals leader further remarked that he’d like to be made state treasurer, as, if...
Refugees Left an Invidious Choice: Barrister Stephen Lawrence on Legal Indefinite Detention
According to Home Affairs, on 31 May this year, there were 112 people amongst the 1,486 individuals being held in our nation’s immigration detention facilities, who’ve been locked away for more than five years. These people are classed as “unlawful...
Morrison Has Gutted Public Universities Under Cover of COVID
Like other sectors, public universities have been hit hard during the pandemic. However, unlike others, the reasons behind the higher education sector receiving such a sustained blow were more to do with the Morrison government settling an old score, than...
New Evidence Casts Further Doubt on Death of Mhelody Bruno
The widely suspected holes in the NSW criminal justice system’s handling of the 29 September 2019 death of Mhelody Bruno are beginning to appear. The 25-year-old Filipina transgender woman died as a result of being strangled unconscious by then 31-year-old...
Key US Witness Admits to Falsifying Evidence Against Assange in Return for Immunity
As Julian Assange turned 50 on Saturday, the pioneering Australian journalist continued to be subjected to what amounts to prolonged solitary confinement - a human rights abuse - in London’s Belmarsh Prison, where he has been since he was taken...
Religious Privilege Set to be Enshrined into Law
Discrimination law experts assert that there’s a gap in Australian law when it comes to protecting those of faith, however the laws that the Morrison government has been prioritising - under two iterations of its Religious Discrimination Bill (RD Bill)...
