Keep the Rate Raised: An Interview With ACOSS’ Charmaine Crowe
One good thing that came out of the COVID-19 crisis was that the over 700,000 Australians receiving the below-poverty-line Newstart allowance were suddenly lifted out of their hardship overnight. As it became clear the lockdown was inevitable, the Morrison government...
Police Watchdog Finds that Illegal Strip Searches Did Not Amount to ‘Serious Misconduct’
The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC) released its report into Operation Karuka on 8 May. It was one of a number of reports into questionable strip searches carried out by NSW police officers over recent years, at a time when...
Government Proposes to Ban Mobiles Phones from Detention Centres
The Federal Government has proposed new laws which would give the Immigration Minister the power to ban mobile phones, computers and other items it sees fit from detention centres and other places of immigration detainment. The laws - a similar...
Welcome to Country: Lidia Thorpe on the Mantra Refugees
Right now, governments around the country are in the midst of a staged lifting of the COVID-19 restrictions that have been set in place for the last couple of months. And while many out there in the community are breathing...
Robodebt Class Action is Coming
Centrelink will be contacting hundreds of thousands of Australians in the coming weeks to notify them that they could be part of a Robodebt class action lawsuit against the federal government. About 13,000 people have already signed up to the...
Police Commissioner Gets 15% Pay Rise Despite COVID and the Erosion of Public Confidence in the Force
As recently reported, New South Wales Police Commissioner Mick Fuller has received a controversial $87,000, or 15%, pay rise backed by Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Police and Emergency Services Minister David Elliott. Many other MPs have opposed the raise, with...
Sydney Criminal Lawyers® Weekly Rundown – Articles from 11 to 17 May 2020
In case you’ve missed any of them, here’s a rundown of the past week’s articles: Contractor Fined $100,000 Over Fatal Gas Mix-Up A newborn was killed and a child left with permanent brain damage, prompting the judge to remark, “[i]n...
Dutton’s ASIO Bill Further Erodes Legal Protections
As a reduced Australian parliament met for a series of special sitting days this week to deal with matters that couldn’t wait until after it resumes normal duties post-pandemic, home affairs minister Peter Dutton introduced some new rights-eroding laws, hoping...
Occupying the Mantra Rooftop for Refugees: An Interview With WACA’s Sam Castro
Right now, there are over 65 former offshore refugee detainees being held at the Mantra Hotel in the Melbourne suburb of Preston. Brought to Australia under the provisions of Medevac, these men with compromised health are now fearing for their...
India Cracks Down Further on Kashmir Under the Cover of COVID-19
Indian soldiers fatally shot a young Kashmiri man on Wednesday, claiming he’d ignored instructions to stop at two checkpoints in the disputed region of Kashmir. However, eyewitnesses state that the man - who was complying with security officials - was...
