I Live in An Affected Local Government Area: Can I Leave it to Work?
We felt great pity for Melbournians last year when the ‘ring of steel’ was assembled around the metropolitan area, with various police checkpoints to ensure that people were only leaving or entering for ‘authorised’ reasons under the state’s public health...
Tough New Covid Restrictions for Greater Sydney
Just a month ago, the New South Wales Premier told a Liberal Party Council meeting in Canberra that the state would never go into lockdown again. Touting the state as the nation’s leader in containing outbreaks, and backed by PM...
COVID Policing: We Can’t Arrest Our Way Out of a Pandemic
As COVID-19 delta strain spread its way out to Sydney’s southwest, NSW police deployed 100 extra officers to the area as of 9 July with the aim of patrolling the streets to ensure the largely migrant population is abiding by...
Heavy-Handed COVID Policing: The Discriminatory Sweep of Southwestern Sydney
On 3 July, the initial, and thought to be only, Saturday of the “soft” Sydney lockdown, premier Gladys Berejiklian at her 11am announcement, jovially empathised with locals about the weather being “great” and asked those exercising outdoors to keep to...
The Great Dividing Range Between Government and the People
If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that public trust in government is vital in times of crises. And during the current global health emergency, the lack of belief in the political class and its institutions has been stark....
NRL Cracks Down on COVID Breaches
State of Origin Player Jai Arrow faces a $35,000 fine and a two-game suspension after allegedly breaching a public health order by bringing an ‘unregistered guest’, understood to be a dancer, back to the Gold Coast hotel where Queensland players...
Morrison Has Gutted Public Universities Under Cover of COVID
Like other sectors, public universities have been hit hard during the pandemic. However, unlike others, the reasons behind the higher education sector receiving such a sustained blow were more to do with the Morrison government settling an old score, than...
The Offence of Assaulting a Police Officer in New South Wales
The New South Wales Deputy Police Commissioner has defended the actions of police officers who manhandled a 62-year old female store manager while arresting her for not wearing a face mask at an organic food store in Bowral in the...
Couple Charged with Assault After Altercation Over QR Code Check-In
A couple has been charged with assault and affray after they allegedly attacked a restaurant owner and a customer when they refused to use the QR check-in code at a restaurant in Forster on the mid-New South Wales Coast. The...
What Will Happen to My NSW Local Court Case During Lockdown?
The Chief Magistrate of New South Wales, Judge Graeme Henson AM, has issued Memorandum No. 19 COVID-19 which applies to the following Local Courts in Greater Sydney and regional NSW until at least 9 July 2021: Albion Park Bankstown Blacktown...