Strip Searching Women is Routine in Australia
Australians were justifiably outraged when they learnt last week that dozens of women - including thirteen citizens of this country -were taken off a Sydney-bound plane sitting on the tarmac at the international airport in Doha, capital of Qatar, and...
Legalising Cannabis: New Zealand’s Referendum Setback Isn’t the End
Cannabis advocates across the globe were left gobsmacked last Friday, when the preliminary results of New Zealand’s national cannabis referendum turned up a vote against legalising the comparatively innocuous drug, with 53 percent of those polled and counted voting “no”....
Legalising Cannabis Would Assist Australia Out of Its Deep Recession
Australia is going through its greatest economic recession since the Great Depression. The Australian Bureau of Statistics released figures in early September that showed over the 12 months to June the economy had contracted by 6.3 percent. The downturn was...
“A Massive Victory”: Democracy Is Essential’s Eleanor Morley on Lifting the Protest Ban
As NSW police officers began picking up Sydney University students non-violently protesting and, at a distance, hurling them onto the footpath, it was quite clear that something had gotten out of hand. And it seems that state authorities finally agreed....
Supporting Refugees Made Destitute by Dutton: An Interview With BMRSG’s Brendan Doyle
It was clear by August this year that the economy was in deep recession due to the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the number of unemployed people having risen to over one million since the societywide lockdown....
A Victory for the People: Bolivia Reinstates Indigenous-Based Democracy
The 18th October Bolivian national election was a victory on many levels. The return to power of MAS (Movement Toward Socialism) marked a win for the Indigenous people of Bolivia - the Aymara and Quechua - who make up the...
“The Government Has Shown No Mercy”: Dane de Leon on a KP120 Refugee Suicide Attempt
Saif Ali Saif has been one of the 120-odd former offshore asylum-seeking detainees, who have been staging a daily afternoon protest on the balcony of Brisbane’s Kangaroo Point Central Hotel since April this year. Known as the KP120, the men...
Black Lives Matter Triumphs Over the Attempts to Suppress Dissent
The Stop Black Deaths in Custody - Black Lives Matter rally that took place at Djarrbarrgalli-the Domain on Monday, 26 October 2020 was the first major demonstration to take place in the city of Sydney since the government revoked the...
Calls to Ban NSW Police From Participating in Mardi Gras
A coalition of LGBTIQ groups, community members and supporters released an open letter on 21 October calling on the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras to reconsider the participation of NSW police and Corrective Services NSW, as a sign of...
Drug Supply Prohibition Orders: Targeting Those Who Have ‘Served Their Time’
The Berejiklian government has introduced a bill that establishes a pilot scheme that allows NSW police to place those who have been convicted of drug supply or drug manufacture under enhanced surveillance after they’ve served their sentences. Introduced on 20...
