“Don’t Take Advantage of Our System”: Racist Traffic Cops Lay Bare NSW Police Culture
Recently released footage shows NSW police officers driving around metropolitan Sydney, pulling people over a young woman and confronting her in such a manner that one would think she’d committed a heinous crime, rather than some minor traffic offences that...
Morrison Intensifies Campaign to Silence Australians
“Apocalyptic in tone. It brooks no compromise. It’s all or nothing. Alternative views are not permitted.” One could be forgiven for thinking these statements were a description of Scott Morrison’s religious beliefs, if they weren’t actually his own words. As...
Sparked by the Cronulla Riots: NSW Police Emergency Public Disorder Powers
Groups of young Anglo Australians began congregating along southern Sydney’s North Cronulla Beach at around 8 am on Sunday, 11 December 2005. Drinking heavily, cooking barbeques and draped in Union Jacks, the crowd had grown to around 5,000 strong by...
“Systemic Unlawfulness”: An Interview With Dr Vicki Sentas on Police Powers
Unsurprisingly, the recently released Rethinking Strip Searches by NSW Police report drew the ire of the force. Commissioned by the Redfern Legal Centre, the UNSW report caused reigning state police commissioner Mick Fuller to criticise it very publicly. At a...
Mainstream Media Fights for Own Freedom, But Not for Assange’s
Major Australian mainstream media outlets joined forces a fortnight ago to launched the Right to Know campaign. It aims to see public interest journalism decriminalised, and safeguards for whistleblowers enhanced. This unprecedented display of unity has seen The Guardian, the...
Dutton Broadens ID-Checking and Move-On Powers at Airports
The Morrison government was busy last month, doing what it does best: stripping away at the rights of Australians. On 14 October, the Senate quietly passed legislation that has broadened the powers of Australian federal police officers at airports. Another...
Suspicious Circumstances: Eric Whittaker Shackled, While on Life Support
Eric Whittaker died in hospital, after being shackled to a bed for several days. This followed his suffering a ruptured brain aneurysm, which a prison guard ignored repeated distress calls about. The 35-year-old Gamilaraay man - who was on remand...
Police Are Strip Searching Protesters to Intimidate
Brisbane continues to be a major flashpoint of rising Extinction Rebellion (XR) protests. Of late, some Extinction Rebellion Southeast Queensland (XR SEQ) activists have even become familiar faces in the press, due to the amount of times they’ve been arrested....
Basta! Mass Protests of Discontent: An Interview With Chileans United’s Patrick Vasquez
Over a million people took to the streets in downtown Santiago on 25 October, bringing a halt to major parts of the city to demand that the reactionary Piñera government bring about structural reforms in a South American nation known...
Section 32 Mental Health Applications: A Psychiatrist’s Report is Not Necessary
Joseph Perdicaro was charged with two criminal offences on 6 April 2018. The first was stalking or intimidation with intent to cause physical or mental harm under section 13 of the Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007 (NSW). This...
