Freedom Protests or “Shameful” and “Selfish” Conduct? Police and Protesters Clash in Victoria
Police and protesters have clashed again in Melbourne as hundreds of people demonstrated against coronavirus lockdowns, calling for an end to the harsh restrictions. Video footage shows protesters chanting “democracy is essential” and “all jobs are essential”, before police officers...
A “Shadow Pandemic”: COVID Leads to Rise in Domestic Violence Offences
Since the start of the pandemic, concerns have been raised that a combination of household isolation due to lockdowns as well as work and financial stress could lead to a wave of domestic violence offences not just in our state,...
Don Dunstan: A Past Beacon of Light in a Barren Political Landscape
At around 11 pm on 10 May 1972, South Australia University law lecturer Dr George Duncan was thrown into Adelaide’s River Torrens by what it’s fairly safe to say these days were three SA police vice squad officers. This occurred...
Violence Against Protesters Was Unprovoked: An Interview With USYD Law Professor Simon Rice
Of late, Sydney University Law Professor Simon Rice has been running an extracurricular project, which involves overseeing some students working on reforming protest laws. Indeed, over recent years, state laws have been gradually encroaching upon the right to demonstrate. So,...
Morrison to Further Enhance Military Deployment Capabilities for “Civil Emergencies”
The Morrison government quietly tabled a bill before the lower house on 3 September that’s designed to ensure Australian Defence Force reservists can be called out to deal with “natural disasters and other civil emergencies” with the same ease as...
The Law, Defences and Penalties for the Offence of Aggravated Sexual Assault in NSW
Sydney man Joshua Rini is behind prison bars and facing additional charges, after a third woman has come forward accusing him of sexual assault. Mr Rini handed himself into Police after a public appeal for information on his whereabouts in...
NSW Police Officer Found Guilty of Common Assault
It’s difficult to believe that 30 years after the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, we’re still hearing about the unacceptable treatment of Indigenous people at the hands of police. Disturbing Police bodycam and CCTV footage from Goulburn Police...
Running the PM Out of Brisbane: An Interview With Refugee Solidarity Meanjin
Just after prime minister Scott Morrison entered the Australian Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology at Queensland University on the morning of 12 October, a group of refugee rights activists emerged out of nowhere to commence demonstrating. The protesters doused the...
Boycott Israeli Apartheid: An Interview With BDS Australia’s Nasser Mashni
Increasingly, the use of the word apartheid is being applied to the system of governance that’s currently operating in the nation known as Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories - the land of historic Palestine. In mid-2018, the Knesset (Israeli...
Calls for a Murdoch Royal Commission: “A Cancer on Our Democracy”, Says Rudd
James Murdoch recently told the New York Times that the reason he resigned from the board of News Corp in July, is that his father’s newspaper publishing company is propagating and legitimising disinformation. The younger son of Australian-born media mogul...
