Defending the Nauru 19: An Interview with Sydney Lawyer Christian Hearn
Nineteen people from the island of Nauru are facing trial accused of public order offences following a protest against the Nauruan government on June 16 2015. Now known as the Nauru 19, the group were part of hundreds of locals who’d gathered...
Explaining the Rohingya Crisis: An Interview with the ARNO
The UN Refugee Agency reports at least 420,000 Rohingya people have fled across the border from Myanmar into neighbouring Bangladesh since violence erupted in their homelands in late August. The refugees are now living in makeshift camps in the Cox’s...
Finland Is Eradicating Homelessness
Over the course of the year, politicians in Sydney and Melbourne have resorted to criminalising homelessness as a way of dealing with the increasing amount of rough sleepers turning up on city streets. Last month, the Berejiklian government passed a...
The Dutch Turn Empty Prisons Into Homes for Asylum Seekers
Like in NSW, crime rates in the Netherland have been declining for years. But unlike us, the Dutch decline has corresponded with a fall in the prison population, rather than a steep rise resulting from increasingly punitive measures. The Dutch...
Stop Murdering Drug Users: An Interview with Harm Reduction Advocate Pascal Tanguay
At 8pm on Thursday night, Catholic leaders across the Philippines rang their church bells simultaneously for five minutes to honour those who have died during president Rodrigo Duterte’s “reign of terror.” The ritual will take place for the next 40 days and...
Drug Law Reform: An Interview with Former NSW DPP Nicholas Cowdery
On 2 June 2011, the Global Commission on Drug Policy declared, “The global war on drugs has failed.” In its report, the commission found that prohibition has led to increased drug consumption, the growth of powerful crime networks and contributed...
“Face of Greed” Stands Trial in the US
The fraud conviction of price-gauging pharmaceutical entrepreneur Martin Shkreli (pictured) has raised concerns that he may not have received a fair trial from an impartial jury, after hundreds of potential jurors were dismissed for perceived bias during the selection process....
Rohingya Muslims Face Humanitarian Crisis
Violence has yet again erupted in Myanmar’s north western Rakhine state, as Rohingya insurgents carried out a series of coordinated attacks on 30 police posts and an army base on August 25. Staged in the townships of Maungdaw, Buthidaung and...
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...
