Morrison’s Election Has Sparked an Outbreak of Attempted Suicides on Manus
After being detained for six years in a foreign country by Australia, the around 550 asylum seekers and refugees on Manus Island are now not only part of this nation’s consciousness, but, despite the Coalition’s best efforts, they’re also a...
Strip Searches: State-Perpetrated Sexual Acts
NSW police use of strip searches hasn’t just risen in recent times, but almost become routine. Over the four years ending in June 2018, its general use rose by 47 percent, while last year, 11 percent of persons in respect...
Passive Smoking Defence Exposes Flawed Drug Driving Regime
Magistrate David Heilpern has delivered yet another landmark ruling that reveals the shonky logic underlying the drug driving regime in NSW. The Lismore magistrate accepted last month that a woman tested positive to cannabis because of passive smoking. Nicole Spackman...
Drug Dogs Are No Deterrent & Increase the Harm: An Interview With RMIT’s Dr Peta Malins
These days, commuters alighting the train of an early evening at Sydney’s Central station can be confronted by police with drug dogs. And if a canine makes an indication about one of the citizens on the platform, that individual can...
Keeping Religion Out of Politics: An Interview With the National Secular Lobby’s Peter Monk
As the campaign for marriage equality grew stronger, the debate on religious freedoms rose to the fore, as the state agreeing to grant some in the community the same human rights as others, seemed to irk a number of people...
“We Must Speak Out”: Lawyers Are Obliged to Speak Out About Human Rights
Lawyers stand in a unique position. Their training and practice gives them a keen awareness of how the law functions in our daily lives, as well as the likely impacts of any newly-enacted or amended laws. Often, at times when...
The Adani Mine: Morrison, Albanese and the Growing Rebellion
Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk was completely right last week when she remarked in regard to the Adani mine that “everyone’s had a gutful”. But, most Australians aren’t feeling it in the bend-over-backwards-to secure-the-mine-opens sort of way that she is. The...
Torres Strait Takes Australia to UN Over Climate Inaction: An Interview With 350’s Glen Klatovsky
Eight Torres Strait Islander representatives from four different islands lodged an official complaint with the UN Human Rights Committee on 13 May against the Australian government over its complete inaction on climate change, which is threatening their island homes. The...
Colonising First Nations: From the Killing Times to Reserves to Incarceration
The British colonisation of the continent now referred to as Australia was based on terra nullius, meaning the land was neither owned nor occupied. As the High Court of Australia acknowledged in 1992, this was a lie, which was obvious...
Australian Prisoner Rights Activist Ends 33-Day Hunger Strike
Sydney man Jock Palfreeman has ended his month-long hunger strike inside correctional facilities in Bulgaria. The 32-year-old began his protest on 21 April, with the aim of drawing attention to rights violations in the local prison system, as well as...
