Morrison Moves to Enshrine the Right to Be a Religious Bigot in Law
The exposure draft of the Religious Discrimination Bill 2021 (RD Bill) was released on Tuesday. And compared to its first two iterations, it’s watered down. Folau’s clause has been dropped, and so too has the provision that permitted health practitioners...
What is the Legal Defence of Honest Opinion in Defamation Cases?
Federal Defence Minister Peter Dutton has been awarded $35,000 in damages after winning his defamation lawsuit against refugee advocate Shane Bazzi. The former Minister for Home Affairs commenced legal proceedings against Mr Bazzi in the Federal Court of Australia over...
Affirmative Sexual Consent Laws Passed in New South Wales
The New South Wales parliament passed laws this week, which mean that those who plan to have sexual relations are required to take active steps to ensure the other person is a willing participant. Welcomed by victims’ groups The laws...
“Strip Searches Were Never Meant to Be Routine”: RLC’s Sam Lee on the Splendour Class Action
The protocols stipulating when police can carry out strip searches are set out in a piece of legislation commonly known as the LEPRA. Section 31 of this Act requires that when outside of a police station “the seriousness and urgency...
Bail Laws and the Presumption of Innocence in New South Wales
New South Wales Police Minister David Elliott is pressing for a review of bail laws after coming on board with radio ‘shock jock’ Ray Hadley to slam the grant of bail to a man accused of sexual assault. The 35-year...
Climate Activist Imprisoned Over Successful Blockading of Newcastle Coal Port
The heat is turning up on all climate fronts. Keeping below 1.5°C on preindustrial levels is looking increasingly unlikely, while political leaders globally are growing more cunning at presenting their inaction as movement, and climate activists are becoming far more...
Palmer Champions His Own Freedoms, Not the Peoples: Morrison Instigated Mandates
The Freedom movement continues to grow nationwide, as those opposing lockdowns, border closures and vaccine mandates, rally together on the streets, calling for the upholding of rights and the restoration of freedoms. Tens of thousands of protesters took to the...
The Offence of Providing False Documents or False or Misleading Information Relating to Non-Citizens
Former Federal Labor MP Craig Thomson has been charged over an alleged fraudulent visa scheme worth millions of dollars. The charges follow a joint investigation by the Australian Federal Police (AFP), Australia Border Force (ABF), Australian Taxation Office (ATO), AUSTRAC...
Morrison’s Voter Suppression Laws Will Provoke US-Style Electoral Paranoia
Over recent months, the increasingly Trumpian Morrison government has introduced a suite of laws relating to partaking and voting in federal elections that not only stink of desperation, but they appear as a solution to electoral issues imported from the...
Queensland Border Bureaucracy Endangers Injured Woman
A young New South Wales woman was forced to walk home across the border after being released from hospital disoriented and in pain, when she was abandoned by both Queensland health and taxi drivers. Phoebe Kirk was involved in a...
