Cheap and easy consultation still too much for a racist government
The “Uluru statement from the heart”, produced by a meeting of several hundred Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders in late May, put the final nail in the coffin of the billion dollar bullshit of the “Recognise” campaign. This rejection – most forcefully by the minority of radicals who...CONTINUE READING
Why won’t Buddhist leaders condemn terrorism?
Terrorist atrocities are taking place as I write this, on an almost unimaginable scale. Houses have been destroyed and civilians (including children) have been burned alive, tortured and even beheaded. The BBC has reported seeing a death squad of thuggish perpetrators, brandishing swords,...CONTINUE READING
Shorten thinks pesky voters should be less involved in politics
If you want a candid confession of who the parliamentarians really work for, just check out former minister Matt Canavan taking a moment to note on Facebook that it had “been such an honour to represent the Australian mining sector over the past year”. Survey after survey indicates that mo...CONTINUE READING
Greens dispute shows that politics should have primacy over process
The most recent conflict over NSW senator Lee Rhiannon’s temporary exclusion from the party room shows that differences within the Greens are being increasingly fought on the much more conservative terrain of constitutionality and process, rather than the political differences between the...CONTINUE READING
The ABC should be held to account for lies that justified NT intervention
Ten years ago, the Howard government, with the support of the Labor opposition, sent the military to occupy 73 Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory, an act so racist that the parliament had to suspend the Racial Discrimination Act to do it. The NT Intervention’s proclaimed just...CONTINUE READING
Lindt siege report calls for new reactionary measures
More than two years after the Lindt Cafe siege, the NSW coroner has handed down 45 recommendations for sweeping changes in how police should respond to future terrorism events. Unsurprisingly, in today’s climate of normalised Islamophobia, they are aimed first and foremost at Muslims. The...CONTINUE READING
Constitutional change: symbolism won’t cut it
If one thing is clear from the “Uluru Statement From the Heart” issued after a large Indigenous conference in late May, it is that mere symbolic constitutional recognition of their existence will not satisfy Indigenous people. The Uluru Statement reflects, in some measure, their desire for...CONTINUE READING
Constructing the ‘undeserving poor’
This year’s federal budget trotted out a new round of attacks on the unemployed, most notably the trialling of drug-testing for people on the dole. Emphasising the moral inadequacy of the unemployed, Social Services minister Christian Porter said the trial would “ensure taxpayers’ money is...CONTINUE READING
Millers Point still won’t surrender
A crowd of trade unionists, local residents and other activists gathered outside 32 High Street, Millers Point, this morning determined to stop the NSW sheriff from forcibly evicting Peter Muller from public housing. Three years into the fight, the government has finally moved to eviction,...CONTINUE READING