The Real Spycatcher: Government Crimes, Secrets and Lies
Government secrets and assassination plots make for intriguing reading - especially when they are true. But what happens when the government doesn’t want the information to become available to the public? In 1987, Peter Wright, wrote a book entitled Spycatcher:...
Inmates Throw Human Waste at Robert Hughes
Robert Hughes, the former Hey Dad! Star, ended up in prison after being convicted of the sexual assault and indecent assault of four young girls. Back in April 2014, he was found guilty by a jury in the Downing Centre...
Jury Asks Dead Man if Defendant is Guilty of Murder
How would you feel about a dead person being asked to decide your fate if you were on trial for murder? It’s certainly not the most conventional, or recommended, method of deciding guilt or innocence, but this was exactly what...
Amber Heard Faces Criminal Charges for Bringing Depp’s Dogs to Australia
A few months ago, Johnny Depp and his dogs made headlines when it was revealed that the dogs had actually entered the country illegally. Under the Quarantine Act 1908, anyone wanting to bring animals into Australia must have an import...
Obama Frees Drug Offenders: Is Clemency Ever Justified?
In what has been hailed a remarkable act of mercy, President Obama last week used his power to order the release of 46 inmates who were serving sentences for non-violent drug offences. The move came as part of Obama’s promise...
NZ Bans Animal Testing for Cosmetics
Animal testing has been instrumental in the the development of new medicines that are important to saving human lives and making our daily existence a little easier and more comfortable. But there is a moral cost – millions of animals...
The Julian Assange Saga: Secrets, Suspicions and Supreme Court Decisions
Australian citizen Julian Assange rocketed into the national consciousness in 2010. Assange is the co-founder of WikiLeaks, a website dedicated to publishing secret information and leaks from anonymous sources. That year, WikiLeaks published thousands of secret US military and diplomatic...
The US Winds Back Mass Surveillance Laws
People living in the United States are said to be some of the most watched on the planet, with the National Security Agency (NSA) ramping up mass surveillance following the events of September 11, 2001. The nation’s willingness to monitor...
Cardinal George Pell to Face the Music
Allegations that Cardinal George Pell tried to cover up abuse by bribing a victim to keep quiet have once more been thrust into the spotlight at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Cardinal Pell has strongly...
Move Over DNA: Microbe Evidence May Be Coming
It may sound far-fetched, but could the microbes we all naturally carry around on our bodies be used to solve crimes? A group of researchers is currently looking into whether microbes can link people to crime scenes. What are microbes?...
