Changing the Rules: An Interview With ACTU Secretary Sally McManus
During her National Press Club speech on March 21, Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) secretary Sally McManus painted a bleak picture of the state of worker’s rights under the Turnbull government. Ms McManus described an industrial system where “wages are...
The Rise of Redfern’s Black Power Movement: An Interview with Professor Gary Foley
On January 25 1972, then Australian prime minister Billy McMahon stated that his government refused to grant Aboriginal land rights. The conservative politician made the announcement in response to the growing lands rights movement of the time. The fact that McMahon...
Successful Drug Regulation: An Interview with Dr Julian Buchanan
The call for drug law reform is getting stronger, both globally and domestically. There is a growing acknowledgement amongst communities and former holders of positions of authority that the century-old drug prohibition model has failed. The 2011 Global Commission on Drug...
Stop Sniffer Dog Operations: An Interview With the Sniff Off Campaign’s Xiaoran Shi
The campaign against the warrantless use of sniffer dogs in public places by NSW police is moving North. The Sniff Off campaign, which is a collaboration between Greens MLC David Shoebridge and the NSW Young Greens, launched in Newcastle on...
Misgendered Incarceration: An Interview With Scarlet Alliance CEO Jules Kim
A transgender woman is currently being held in solitary confinement in WA’s Casuarina maximum security prison for men. In January, CJ Palmer was found guilty by a Perth District Court jury of committing grievous bodily harm for transmitting HIV. The prosecution claimed...
Time to Start Over: An Interview With Medicinal Cannabis Pioneer Lucy Haslam
Lucy Haslam has been at the forefront of the movement to re-introduce the use of medicinal cannabis in Australia since 2013. The Tamworth local was instrumental in engaging the support of politicians to a cause that many were sceptical about....
Cannabis Patients Denied Access: An Interview With MCUA President Deb Lynch
The Australian medicinal cannabis quagmire is heavily impacting patients. The whole debate around the medicine has been about how to get a criminalised plant, which is now widely recognised for its beneficial qualities, into the hands of those that need...
‘Game Changing’ Medicinal Cannabis Laws: An Interview with Labor MLC Adam Searle
An Australian politician has finally drafted a law which seeks to provide access to medicinal cannabis and is broad enough to get real product into the hands of patients who desperately need it. Leader of the NSW Opposition in the...
Waterloo Injustices: An Interview with Indigenous Social Justice Association’s Ken Canning
A 31-year-old Aboriginal man fell from the 13th floor of an apartment block in Sydney’s Waterloo on February 7. The man slipped from the balcony of the residence, as he was trying to evade Redfern police officers who were attempting...
Rethinking Closing the Gap: An Interview With NCAFP Co-Chair Rod Little
The Close the Gap Statement of Intent was issued by the Rudd government in early 2008 with bipartisan support. Its stated aim is achieving “equality in health status and life expectancy between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous Australians...
