Pine Gap: Enabling the US to Kill Civilians
If you ever find yourself in Alice Springs, try driving 18 kilometres south-west and you might spot Pine Gap, a small military base on the fringes of the city. Its purpose has been clouded in secrecy since it was established...
Trump Fans the Flames of Hate
Joe Arpaio is the former sheriff of Maricopa County in Arizona. Under his 24-year tenure as the head of law enforcement, Arpaio was renowned for his sweeps to round up illegal immigrants, as well as for opening Tent City: an...
Redefining Medical Cannabis: An Interview with This Week in Weed TV’s Loren Paul Wiener
Australian Greens leader Richard Di Natale moved a disallowance motion through the federal Senate on June 13 this year, which allowed terminally ill patients to import up to three months’ worth of medical marijuana products from overseas. The motion reversed...
Terrorism Charges Expected Over Mosque Attacks
Three men are expected to be charged with terrorism offences over two alleged arson attacks on a Melbourne mosque late last year. The trio of suspects, aged 29, 27 and 25, allegedly started a fire at the Imam Ali Islamic...
Not Guilty of Drug Driving Despite Cannabis in System
Northern Rivers region resident Joseph Carrall was pulled over by NSW police senior constable Chayne Foster on 23 June 2015 for a random drug test. The officer asked the driver whether he’d taken any illicit drugs within the last 48 hours, to...
Digital Surveillance: An Interview with the Cyberspace Law and Policy Community’s David Vaile
Big data is watching you. And you might want to get used to it, because its reach is getting wider. These days, it’s common knowledge that governments, security agencies and even social media companies are monitoring people’s behaviour on the...
Aussie Teens Turning Away from Drugs
There’s some positive news in the latest National Drug Strategy Household Survey (NDSHS) – most notably the fact that drug, alcohol and tobacco use appears to be declining amongst our nation’s teenagers. The NDSHS survey of 24,000 people, which was...
New Rules for Disqualified Driving
On 14 August, NSW attorney general Mark Speakman announced a suite of new reforms to driver licence disqualification laws. The changes, that will begin operation in late October, include pathways for driving whilst disqualified drivers to apply for their licence to be reinstated at...
Institutional Abuse of Girls in Australian Detention Centres
A report into Western Australia’s Banksia Hill youth detention centre released last month revealed that a number of girls being detained at the facility were “abruptly moved” from the female accommodation precinct and placed in the male-only Harding unit. This...
The Unreliability of Confessions: Implanted Memories
For many, a confession is indisputable evidence of a person’s guilt. However, a significant body of scientific research has found that people can easily be persuaded to confess to serious crimes that they did not commit. Wrongful convictions In 2014,...
