Police Are Routinely Breaching Strip-Search Laws, As Well As Their Own Protocols
Section 31 of the Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002 provides that police can carry out strip searches in the field if “the seriousness and urgency of the circumstances make the strip search necessary”. These days, NSW police has...
A Creeping Surveillance State: An Interview With the Human Rights Law Centre’s Emily Howie
The ABC has launched a legal challenge in the Federal Court against the validity of the search warrant that AFP agents used to raid its Sydney office on 5 June. The national broadcaster claims the warrant breaches the implied freedom...
Against Animal Atrocities: An Interview With Animal Justice Party MLC Emma Hurst
Newly-appointed federal agricultural minister Bridget McKenzie has vowed to crack down on “agri-terrorists”. Indeed, following nationwide nonviolent animal welfare protests in April, McKenzie said she wanted to see laws similar to the US, where animal activists face steep prison time....
Punishment Disguised as Safety: The Injustice of Drug Driving Laws
Enpsychedelia presenter Nick Wallis hosted a roadside drug testing forum on 4 May at the Nimbin MardiGrass, with panellists that included Reason Party leader Fiona Patten, HEMP Party secretary Andrew Kavasilas and renowned medicinal cannabis practitioner Dr Andrew Katelaris. During...
Forced Organ Removals in China Continue Unabated, Tribunal Finds
The China Tribunal has just released its judgement on organ harvesting in China. After a year-long investigation, the independent London-based panel set out on 17 June that it has no doubt the organs of prisoners of conscience are being forcibly...
Carjacking: An Offence Against People and Property
A little after 2pm on 5 May, a young man approached a 51-year-old woman as she was getting into her vehicle in the carpark of the Beresfield Bottle Barn and Tavern on Anderson Drive in the Newcastle suburb of Beresfield....
Iran, the Gulf of Oman and the US False Flag Predilection
As two oil tankers were evacuated after being attacked in the Gulf of Oman on 13 June, the Trump administration was quick to accuse Iran of using magnetic mines to disable the Norwegian and Japanese-owned oil ships. US Central Command...
The Impact of the First Nations Suicide Crisis Up-Close
Karen West* found her daughter in an agitated state last December and realised she’d taken hundreds of pills. As the 15-year-old girl was so upset, police placed her in the back of a paddy wagon and took her to a...
Preventing Aboriginal Child Removals: An Interview With Nelly’s Healing Centre’s Helen Eason
The 2019 Productivity Commission report outlines that in June 2018 there were 6,766 First Nations children in out-of-home care in NSW. This means Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kids made up 39 percent of youths in state care, while only...
“The Weakest Link”: Australia Providing Assistance and Access to the Five Eyes
At a ministerial meeting of the Five Eyes alliance held in the Canadian capital of Ottawa on 26 June 2017, those gathered discussed the hindrance that encryption is when they’re trying to access private data. A joint communique released following...
