Cannabis Legalisation Is Creeping Closer for Canberra
The ACT Legislative Assembly health committee last week tabled its report on the legislation that would see the personal possession and use of cannabis legalised in the capital territory. And with a great sigh of relief, the review recommended the...
The Offence of Drug Supply in New South Wales
A South Australian man has been handed an 18-month suspended prison sentence for selling a range of cannabis-infused products, including fairy-floss, hazelnut spread, lollies and lip balm. 32-year old James Stephen Woodward pleaded guilty in the state’s District Court to...
Silencing Dissent: Government Demonises and Targets Animal Welfare Activists
Recently appointed Australian agriculture minister Bridget McKenzie has vowed to continue the Morrison government’s crackdown on animal welfare activists with the fast tracking of new laws aimed at preventing protests being carried out by those she terms as “agri-terrorists”. Prime...
Mother of ‘Incest Family’ Granted Bail
The 52-year old matriarch of a rural Australian family has been granted bail in the Supreme Court of New South Wales after spending 14 months behind bars. The woman, given the pseudonym ‘Betty Colt’, was arrested in April 2018 and...
Welcome to 1984: The Government’s Relentless Assault on Democracy
Many social commentators have drawn comparisons between George Orwell’s dystopian novel ‘1984’ and the pervasive nature of surveillance in a several modern nations, labelling the book as prophetic rather than emphasising that it is a work of fiction. Orwell’s book...
Exposing the Far-Right in Australia: An Interview With the White Rose Society
The White Rose Society is a clandestine group of online anti-fascists operating in Australia. It has the aim of exposing the rising white nationalist movement in this country in all its various forms: from street-level movements to politicking at the...
Government Reach Is Too Pervasive: An Interview With Electronic Frontiers Australia’s Angus Murray
Australians were shocked last week as reports circulated about federal police agents raiding the Sydney offices of the Australian national broadcaster over the July 2017 publication of classified document details. The Sovietesque fear many felt when they realised the law...
The Impact of Police Strip Searches on Kids And Sexual Abuse Victims
Right now, when taxpayers’ daughters and sons go out to cultural events, there’s the very real possibility that they’ll be taken into a tent alone by two armed police officers and ordered to remove their clothes Teenagers are being led...
Law Firm Boss Ordered to Pay for Sexually Harassing Employee
As the Australian legal profession grapples with the issue of bullying and harassment in the workplace, the principal of one NSW law firm has been ordered to pay damages to an employee for ongoing sexual harassment. Ordered to pay damages...
Domestic Violence Murders Double in New South Wales
According to data recently released by the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR), the number of domestic violence-related murders in New South Wales has doubled over the past year The statistics also suggest that after years of steady decline,...