Calls to Prevent Corrupt Foreign Officials from Using Our Banks
British-American policy advisor Bill Browder has led calls for “rule of law” nations such as Australia to enact laws similar to the ‘Magnitsky Act’ in the United States, which make it harder for corrupt foreign state officials to launder embezzled...
‘Game Changing’ Medicinal Cannabis Laws: An Interview with Labor MLC Adam Searle
An Australian politician has finally drafted a law which seeks to provide access to medicinal cannabis and is broad enough to get real product into the hands of patients who desperately need it. Leader of the NSW Opposition in the...
Woman Who Stabbed Boyfriend Avoids Prison
By Blake O’Connor An Oxford University student who stabbed her boyfriend with a knife has avoided prison, after the judge found that imprisonment would damage her prospects of a medical career. The perceived leniency of the sentence has led to...
Overrepresentation of Indigenous People with Disabilities in Prison
The Australian prison system is overflowing with inmates with mental and cognitive disabilities. It’s estimated that around 18 percent of the country’s population has such a disability, while close to 50 percent of the prison population does. And there’s an even...
Turnbull Refuses to Rebuke Colleague for Posting Anti-Muslim Videos
Malcolm Turnbull continues to refuse to rebuke Liberal Senator Jim Molan for posting two propaganda videos by the extreme right-wing anti-Muslim ‘Britain First’ on his Facebook page. The videos purport to depict Muslim men committing acts of violence on religious or...
Iceland Set to Criminalise Male Circumcision
A bill currently before the Icelandic parliament proposes to make it a criminal offence punishable by up to six years in prison to circumcise, or arrange for the circumcision of, a boy for non-medical reasons. Circumcision is the surgical removal of...
A Bill of Rights Would Protect All Freedoms, Not Just Religious Ones
Philip Ruddock’s Religious Freedom Review closed for submissions on February 14. And the review’s expert panel has decided not to publish the submissions it’s received, until it reports its findings to the prime minister on 31 March 2020. Malcolm Turnbull announced the...
Professor Sacked after Reporting that Alcohol is the Most Harmful Drug
On October 29 2009, professor David Nutt was the chair of the UK government’s Advisory Committee on the Misuse of Drugs. However, on the following day, he was promptly sacked after publishing a paper that assessed and compared the harms...
Outrage Over French Sexual Assault Laws
A number of recent ‘age of consent cases’ in France have triggered public outrage and drawn international criticism of the somewhat murky child sex laws the nation has in place. In response, the Macron government is currently drafting a bill...
Police Get Extra Powers and Courts Close for Commonwealth Games
It has been reported that case-activity at Queensland’s second busiest courthouse will be significantly reduced during the Commonwealth Games in April, due to traffic and congestion expected on the Gold Coast. Courtrooms shut down Between April 3 and 15, only...
