Lest We Forget the Frontier Wars
As Australians gather on April 25 to commemorate those who fell in conflicts on foreign soils, the nation still refuses to officially acknowledge the bloody conflicts that raged across this continent for close to a century and a half, known...
The Rise of Australian Neo-Nazis: An Interview with Online Activist Slackbastard
Over recent years, a number of loosely affiliated white nationalist groups have been organising online and rallying on the streets in this country. And these far-right groupings are united in their hostility towards asylum seekers, immigration, as well as the...
Cold Cases Still Warm: Sexual Assault at Sydney Uni and ‘Suicide’ at Koorawatha
At 7.15 am on October 29 1977, Annette Louise Morgan set off down inner city Sydney’s Glebe Point Road to meet a friend at the notorious St Paul’s College at Sydney University. Less than two hours later, her body was found dumped...
Government Promises to Finally Make Medicinal Cannabis Accessible
At a Council of Australian Governments health council meeting last Friday, all state and territory health ministers signed onto a national scheme to streamline patient access to medicinal cannabis products. Federal health minister Greg Hunt said prescribing cannabis medicine will be left...
Ball Tampering Scandal: A Way to Divert Attention from Government Misconduct
Former English cricket captain Andrew Flintoff told the BBC on Monday that it was “absolute nonsense” that the three Australian cricketers implicated in the recent ball-tampering scandal were the only players who were involved in the deceit. The now-notorious incident saw...
Changing the Rules: An Interview With ACTU Secretary Sally McManus
During her National Press Club speech on March 21, Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) secretary Sally McManus painted a bleak picture of the state of worker’s rights under the Turnbull government. Ms McManus described an industrial system where “wages are...
Tougher Policing Leads to More Women Behind Bars
Between 2011 and 2017, the NSW adult female prisoner population has increased by 50 percent, according to a recent Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) report. And the sharpest increase has been since the beginning of 2015. Released on...
Murder Confession Inadmissible Due to Threats
In March 2014, Gary Clifford Blackman was living on his semi-rural property named Tomewin, near the NSW Northern Rivers town of Murwillumbah. Mr Blackman suffered cognitive impairment due to chronic alcoholism, and by most accounts, was a passive and agreeable...
The Rise of Redfern’s Black Power Movement: An Interview with Professor Gary Foley
On January 25 1972, then Australian prime minister Billy McMahon stated that his government refused to grant Aboriginal land rights. The conservative politician made the announcement in response to the growing lands rights movement of the time. The fact that McMahon...
The Fallacy of ‘You Have Nothing to Fear if You Have Nothing to Hide’
Privacy is something valued by all of us, at least to some degree. Arriving home at the end of the day, it’s important to know that what goes on behind closed doors is not being monitored by authorities or some...
