“A Stain on Our National Record Forever”: McBride on the Withdrawal from Afghanistan
The United States withdrew its remaining troops from its two decade-long war in Afghanistan on 30 August. This came just weeks before the twenty year anniversary of the 9/11 attack in New York, which was the pretext for western allies...
Social Housing Building in Hard Lockdown: An Interview With Common Ground Resident Action Group
At 8am on 2 September 2021, residents living at Camperdown’s Common Ground social housing estate woke to find themselves in hard lockdown. So, from that moment on, they were no longer permitted to leave their units due to COVID-19 concerns....
Attempting a Hat-Trick of Successfully Suing Police: An Interview With ISUEPolice’s Luke Brett Moore
Prior to the onset of the pandemic and its accompanying COVID policing, issues around the use of strip searches by the NSW Police Force were front and centre, whether that was for their ever-increasing application, or the common breaching of...
Morrison-Berejiklian COVID Plan Equals Mass Death, Says Lockdown to Zero’s Josh Lees
Almost by sleight of hand, the COVID agenda of Liberal Party leaders changed last week. For the initial two months of the lockdown, Berejiklian reiterated that the most important figure being announced during the 11 am daily pandemic press conference...
Unfolding Catastrophe: Journalist John Stapleton on the Government’s COVID Response
Tensions are high in the Sydney region as the population looks towards its tenth week in lockdown, without any clear understanding of when it will be coming out of the home confinement it’s enduring as cases of COVID-19 continue to...
As Deaths Rise, Perth Rough Sleepers Demand Housing: An Interview With NSPTRP’s Megan Krakouer
A group of Perth rough sleepers staged a rally on 14 August, shutting down a major CBD intersection. Those gathered were calling on the McGowan government to do something about upholding their human rights, especially that to adequate housing. Homelessness...
“The Spectre of State Power”: USYD Professor Greg Martin on Policing the Pandemic
At the end of the seventh week of the Greater Sydney lockdown, the NSW government was stumped. Instead of COVID cases decreasing under the law enforcement approach to the pandemic, they were steadily rising in tandem with the ever-increasing police...
Countering Corporate Capture: An Interview With Australian Democracy Network’s Saffron Zomer
The latest IPCC report warned that the fossil fuel-driven climate crisis is accelerating. Yet, in response, PM Scott Morrison stood before the nation last week to announce that rather than move away from fossil fuels, he advises expanding the industry...
Child Removal Suppression Law Is Unconstitutional, Argues Paul Robert Burton
Section 105 of the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 (NSW) (the Child Protection Act) prevents the publication of the name and identifying details of a child or young person, who’s in state care, out-of-home care or...
“Hell on Earth”: Extinction Rebellion’s Violet Coco on the Urgency of Climate Activism
The Federal Court of Australia declared on 8 July that in deciding on whether to approve fossil fuel projects going into the future, the environment minister has to consider a duty of care “to avoid causing personal injury or death”...
