Now Is the Time for First Nations Justice and Systemic Change
As protests against continuing First Nations deaths in custody began mobilising this month, prime minister Scott Morrison appeared on retrograde AM talkback radio stating that this nation “shouldn’t be importing the things that are happening overseas”. The bulwark of conservative...
“Nothing But Utter Contempt”: Shoebridge Takes a Racially Tone Deaf Government to Task
David Shoebridge held up a mirror to Berejiklian government ministers on Tuesday indicating just how skewed their priorities are. The NSW Greens MLC did this as the Coalition - with the backing of Labor and One Nation - moved a...
Defund the NSW Police Force Movement Gains Traction
The recent Stop All Black Deaths in Custody rally brought central Sydney to a standstill, as citizens from all backgrounds came together to call for an end to the systemic racism and violence in the NSW policing and criminal justice...
Drug Driving Laws Are “a Great Wrong”: An Interview With Former Magistrate David Heilpern
David Heilpern is something of a legend in the NSW Northern Rivers. The former Lismore magistrate is known throughout the region for the just decisions he handed down in relation to residents who’d been caught out by the unjust laws...
The Kangaroo Point Blockade: An Interview With Refugee Solidarity’s Dane De Leon
On Wednesday, 17 June 2020, the 24/7 Community Blockade stationed out the front of the Kangaroo Point Central Hotel situated in inner city Brisbane was into its sixth day of operation. The protesters making up the action are demonstrating against...
Against the Death Penalty: The Execution of George Stinney Junior
George Stinney Junior was only 14 years old when a South Carolina court sentenced him to death. Executed on this day, 16 June, in 1944, the African American boy was the youngest person to be put to death by the...
NSW Police State Moves to Silence Protest Voices
The scene was reminiscent of what one might expect to be depicted in a photo of Mussolini’s fascist Italy. However, the massive 600 police officer presence in the Sydney CBD last Friday night marked a new post-COVID lockdown show of...
Why the NSW Court of Appeal Declared the Protest to Be Legal
Looking out from Sydney Town Hall steps at 2.40 pm on 6 June the size of the crowd gathered for the Stop All Black Deaths in Custody-Black Lives Matter rally was staggering. But, the thousands there were all about to...
Black Lives Matter at Long Bay Prison: Justice Action’s Brett Collins on the Prison Crackdown
Just days after Black Lives Matter protests swept the nation, reigniting the Aboriginal Deaths in Custody movement in this country, reports started emerging that a similar demonstration was taking place inside Sydney’s Long Bay Gaol. Indeed, aerial footage shows inmates...
NSW Drug Driving Laws Are Unfair and Do Not Deter
This state’s unfair drug driving laws were a major reason why former Lismore magistrate David Heilpern retired. Over the last half decade or so, the judicial officer had built up a reputation across the Northern Rivers region for his just...
