“We Can’t Police Our Way Out of a Pandemic”: Shoebridge on Intensifying COVID Policing
The NSW Parliament Public Accountability Committee held its first hearing this year into the NSW Government’s Management of the COVID-19 Pandemic inquiry on 10 August. The meeting was confrontational as NSW health minister Brad Hazzard repeatedly blocked questions that committee...
“The Spectre of State Power”: USYD Professor Greg Martin on Policing the Pandemic
At the end of the seventh week of the Greater Sydney lockdown, the NSW government was stumped. Instead of COVID cases decreasing under the law enforcement approach to the pandemic, they were steadily rising in tandem with the ever-increasing police...
Countering Corporate Capture: An Interview With Australian Democracy Network’s Saffron Zomer
The latest IPCC report warned that the fossil fuel-driven climate crisis is accelerating. Yet, in response, PM Scott Morrison stood before the nation last week to announce that rather than move away from fossil fuels, he advises expanding the industry...
Queensland Tightens the Noose on the Unvaccinated
Queensland Premier Anastacia Palaszczuk put another nail in the coffin of civil liberties democratic freedoms this week by refusing to allow unvaccinated people, including essential workers, to cross the border from New South Wales. Hundreds of people were turned away...
The US and Australia Leave Power Vacuum in Afghanistan for the Taliban to Fill
After the US, Australia and other allies overthrew Taliban rule early on following the invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001, the Islamic militants have easily swept back into power in a matter of months after Washington announced its withdrawal, with...
UK Extends Extradition Appeal, So US Can Challenge Assange’s Suicide Risk
Two Royal Court judges in London agreed last Wednesday to extend the grounds upon which the US government can appeal the decision of the Westminster Magistrates’ Court not to permit the US to extradite Australian journalist Julian Assange to face...
What is a Recognizance Release Order?
A former teacher at one of Sydney’s most elite private schools has been sentenced in court for sending sexual messages to a person he believed was a 13-year old girl. While 40-year Alexander Simpson didn’t know it at the time,...
Victoria’s Ongoing Heavy-Handed Cannabis Policing Is Harmful
The Victorian state government has created a “ring of steel” enforced and protected by police. Protection from COVID-19, you’re thinking? Well, yes, but there is another ring of steel operating in this state, which is preventing drug policy reform. Already...
Sydney Criminal Lawyers® Weekly Rundown – Articles from 9 to 15 August 2021
In case you’ve missed any of them, here’s a rundown of the past week’s articles: Hillsong Pastor Brian Houston Charged With Concealing a Child Sexual Offence The leader of the worldwide megachurch has been charged with covering up a child...
COVID-19: NSW Premier Announces Harsher Rules and State-Wide Lockdown
New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian has announced a snap lockdown of the entire state effective at 5pm today, and even tougher public health orders to enforce the restrictions. Despite the number of COVID cases continuing to rise, with 466...
