Fighting for the Right to Die: An Interview with Dr Philip Nitschke
The Victorian parliament passed voluntary assisted dying legislation on November 29 last year. When the new laws come into effect in mid-2019, local residents over the age of 18, who have less than six months to live, and are suffering...
The Ongoing Stolen Generations: An Interview With Grandmothers Against Removals
This February 13 marks ten years since then prime minister Kevin Rudd issued an apology to First Nations peoples, acknowledging the tens of thousands of children who were forcibly removed from their families in what became known as the Stolen...
Should Magistrates and Judges Be Required to Obtain an Extra Qualification?
NT attorney general Natasha Fyles spoke out about controversial Central Australian Judge Greg Borchers on Thursday, stating she was “most concerned” about his conduct, and that she’d accepted the advice of bureaucrats when deciding not to hold an inquiry into his...
Making GPs Medical Cannabis-Wise: An Interview with Dr David Caldicott
In the mid-90s, Israeli medicinal chemistry professor Raphael Mechoulam discovered the endocannabinoid system. The professor’s earlier research had already led to the 1964 discovery of THC: the psychoactive ingredient of cannabis. The endocannabinoid system (ECS) is a set of cell receptors, chemical...
Corruption and Misconduct Still Pervade the NSW Police Force
Former NSW police sergeant Nigel Alfred Davey was found guilty of common assault and perjury in Queanbeyan Local Court on December 12. Magistrate Michael Antrum ruled that Davey lied in court in October 2014, when he said a Nowra man was...
Australia’s Indigenous Suicide Crisis: An Interview with Professor Patricia Dudgeon
Suicide rates among Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islander communities are amongst the highest in the world. This is a crisis born of violent dispossession, intergenerational trauma, and ongoing cultural atrocities. In 2016, intentional self-harm was the fifth leading cause of...
Cocaine Testing May Lead to Fairer Drug Driving Laws
NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian announced on January 15 that the state government will be toughening drug driving penalties and increasing the number of mobile drug tests (MDTs), which is concerning to many given that the current regime is fundamentally flawed. NSW police...
Dutton Continues to Undermine the Rule of Law
. As federal Coalition ministers lined up to take a New Year’s swipe at the Victorian Labor government’s handling of youth crime, home affairs minister Peter Dutton took the opportunity to make yet another attack upon the legal profession. This time,...
Turnbull’s New Secrecy Laws: Prison for Whistleblowers and Journalists
Soon after the marriage equality bill passed through the lower house on December 7, prime minister Malcolm Turnbull introduced a piece of legislation ostensibly aimed at countering espionage, treason and foreign interference. But in reality, the laws have frightening implications for...
Australia Day: Patriots, Politicians and Changing the Date
The push to change Australia’s national day is gaining momentum, and many feel today will be the last time January 26 will be referred to as Australia day. However, it seems there are some Anglo Australians that still need the...
