Barefaced lies as government moves to deport thousands of refugees
The Australian government is escalating its attacks on refugees. On 20 May, immigration minister Peter Dutton announced that 7,500 people would face immediate deportation should they fail to complete asylum claims by 1 October. Clearly taking inspiration from Donald Trump, whose administra...CONTINUE READING
How Christensen and Katter became Care Bears
The political right prides itself on its tough, no-nonsense approach to border security and crime. Sentimentality is occasionally permitted on Anzac Day or when a royal octogenarian gets the hiccups. But the right’s champions assure us that empathy and compassion can have no place in the v...CONTINUE READING
Why they lie about refugees
Politicians lie. There’s nothing they do better or more predictably. But Australian politicians have the uncanny ability to surpass even the most cynical expectations of what the people in power will sink to. And all they have to do is start talking about refugees. Take Peter Dutton’s late...CONTINUE READING
Refugees on Manus Island and Nauru should be brought to Australia
The acrimony over Australia’s “refugee deal” with the United States has created an unprecedented sense of diplomatic turmoil between the two counties. But the situation only underlines the Australian government’s appalling treatment of asylum seekers. The only country responsible for the r...CONTINUE READING
Savage restructure to hit Melbourne Uni staff and students
Melbourne University is planning a fundamental restructuring of tertiary education delivery. The Flexible Academic Program (FAP) – yet to be made public – is an enormous assault on education quality and job security. The university wants to cut core elements of higher education. In-person...CONTINUE READING
Young people’s future sold down the river
Working class youth are facing one of the biggest generational backslides in Australian history. The federal government’s proposed attacks on higher education only tell part of the story. Soaring housing prices, a rapid rise in youth unemployment and attacks on penalty rates are the lot of...CONTINUE READING
Copying the US university model is a catastrophe
Christopher Pyne and his Liberal goon mates think the US education system should be emulated in Australia. But in the US, the vast majority of people are deprived of anything resembling a worthwhile education. The “diverse array of institutions” in the US, so extolled by Pyne, is two-tiere...CONTINUE READING
A victory at Monash University
The left has achieved its biggest victory in several years in the Monash Student Association elections. Left Hook – a ticket convened by members of Socialist Alternative and independent campaigners for education rights, refugee rights and a host of other progressive issues – won the office...CONTINUE READING
Access to university is a class question
If you are from a working class background, you are only one-third as likely as children of the middle class and the rich to get into university. A 2008 Melbourne University study found that students from the poorest 25 percent of society made up just 15 percent of uni students, while 40 p...CONTINUE READING