The Poor Are Criminalised, While the Crimes of the Rich Are Overlooked
The world’s eight richest people have accumulated more wealth than the poorest four billion, a recently released Oxfam report reveals. And since 2015, the richest 1 percent has owned more than the rest of the world’s 99 percent. The gap between rich...
The Long Road to Becoming a Lawyer
A Queensland magistrate sentenced a 33-year-old man to three months in prison for pretending to be a lawyer. Nicolas Braid was also ordered to pay back the money he charged an unsuspecting client for legal services, when he appeared in court...
Should Trans People be Permitted to Use Bathrooms of Their Choice?
In the wake of Donald Trump’s election victory last November, a wave of hate crimes spread across the US. Perpetrated against minority groups, those who bore the brunt of the attacks were Muslims, Latin Americans, black people and members the LGBTIQ...
Overcrowding in Women’s Prisons – Working Towards a Solution
Melaleuca Remand and Reintegration Facility is a new maximum security prison for women in Canning Vale, Western Australia. Opened in December last year, the prison is located beside the Hakea prison for men and has the capacity to hold 254...
Victory Against Anti-Islam Group: An Interview with Halal Certification Authority Director Mohamed El-Mouelhy
The Q Society and anti-halal campaigner Kirralie Smith have publicly apologised to Mohamed El-Mouelhy, the director of the Halal Certification Authority. At a meeting on Monday, the anti-Islam organisation agreed to make an out of court settlement over the defamation case brought against them....
Government Bureaucracy Impedes Access to Medicinal Cannabis
Australian health minister Greg Hunt announced last week that medical marijuana will be more readily available within the next eight weeks. He said the government will ensure the fast tracking of the importation of cannabis based medicines. This relaxing of the laws...
From the Pulpit to the Bench: An Interview with Chris Geraghty
After years of tension with his seniors at the Catholic Church, Chris Geraghty walked away from the priesthood in October 1976. He’d served 15 years in the Archdiocese of Sydney, after training in the seminaries since the age of 12. Right from...
The National DNA Database Is Watching You
Back in 2012, then NSW police minister Michael Gallacher proposed the establishment of a national DNA database, suggesting that genetic samples be taken from all newborns. The stored information could then be accessed under a Supreme Court warrant, and compared...
The Forest Wars: An Interview with Long Time Forest Campaigner Warrick Jordan
From the 1980s, right up until the early 2000s, the logging of old growth forests was the most prominent environmental issue in Australia. And what’s referred to as the forest wars – a conflict between environmentalist groups and the logging...
Far Right Wing Politics – Fanning the Flames of Hate
Publication date: 22 February 2017 It’s a month into Trump’s presidency, and in that time we’ve seen him produce a range executive orders delivering on several campaign promises: the defunct, soon-to-be newly-revised, Muslim ban, the $21.6 billion US-Mexican border wall proposal and...
