Curbing Homelessness: An Interview with Senator Lee Rhiannon
On June 24, City of Sydney rangers moved in to shut down Sydney’s 24-7 Street Kitchen and Safe Space, which had been operating in the CBD since December. The operation had been providing free meals for the city’s needy, and...
Crimes Against Humanity: The British Empire
It was the largest empire ever to have existed. And as the saying used to go, the sun never sets on the British Empire. At its height in 1922, the colonial power was lording it over a fifth of the world’s...
NSW Police Given Power to Kill with Impunity
The Berejiklian government has continued on in the Coalition’s tradition over recent years of enacting laws that increase police powers, whilst whittling away at civil liberties, all in the name of a perceived terrorist threat. On June 21, the Terrorism Legislation Amendment...
Stop the Intervention: An Interview with Indigenous Social Justice Association’s Ken Canning
Ten years ago, the Howard government sent the army into 73 remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory. It was a move many described as an act of war. Officially known as the ‘Northern Territory National Emergency Response’, the intervention...
Police Arrest Patient For Possessing Medicinal Cannabis: An Interview with MCUA’s Deb Lynch
On June 19, Queensland police arrested Deb Lynch, secretary of the Medicinal Cannabis Users Association of Australia (MCUA), on charges of possessing a dangerous drug. Several officers were at her Cornubia residence on a different matter, when they noticed her...
A Victory for the Street Kitchen and Safe Space, As Government Provides Housing
In an unprecedented move, Housing NSW has “throw out the rule book” and offered housing to the rough sleepers who’ve been staying overnight at Sydney’s 24-7 Street Kitchen and Safe Space. On Saturday, City of Sydney council workers and NSW...
Turnbull Clears the Way for Indian Company to Build Adani Mine
A bill amending native title law was passed in the Senate on June 14 with bipartisan support. In February, attorney-general George Brandis rushed the legislation through the lower house in response to a Federal Court decision that threatened past and future Indigenous...
Applying for Asylum: An Interview with Asylum Seekers Centre’s Steven Glass
At the end of May, Australian immigration minister Peter Dutton gave 7,500 asylum seekers until October 1 to lodge their applications for a visa, or face deportation. Dutton went so far as to imply that some of these people – who made...
Victoria Police May Get the Power to Search Without a Reason
Victoria police are pushing the Andrews government to expand police search powers at music festivals, so that officers are able to search patrons for drugs without having a reasonable suspicion to do so. Police claim the powers are necessary to...
Barriers to Medicinal Cannabis: An Interview with Medical Cannabis Advisory’s Grace Sands
Last week, a Greens motion passed through federal parliament that allows terminally ill patients faster access to cannabis medicines. These patients are now able to import up to three months’ supply of medical marijuana from regulated markets overseas. The disallowance motion...
