The Liberal Party is a cabal of bullies
The Liberal Party is a cabal of bullies. They subject a long list of victims to continual harassment and abuse, and escalate their attacks at every opportunity. One frequent target is the trade union movement. Last year, then employment minister Michaelia Cash ordered the federal police to...CONTINUE READING
Left versus right battle for NSW Greens seat
The contest between David Shoebridge and Jeremy Buckingham for the lead position on the Greens NSW Legislative Council ticket is a clear left versus right battle. The two candidates have very different approaches to the parliamentary position and to society more generally. Shoebridge is a...CONTINUE READING
What they can get away with is the only limit to Liberal bastardry
The media are preoccupied with the scintillating tale of the government filing cabinet full of classified documents that ended up in a second hand furniture sale. But the entire narrative is focused on national security, bureaucratic procedure, the identity of the person who handed the fil...CONTINUE READING
#MeToo proves need for structural change
#MeToo is sensational, gimmicky and mainly focused on Hollywood and other elite hierarchies, but much of what it has uncovered is recognisable to women everywhere. Sexual harassment, ranging from assault at the extreme through to everyday unwanted sexual attention, is both common and norma...CONTINUE READING
Summer reading suggestions
Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor’s 2016 book From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation is a must read this summer. Often books published in the midst of movements read like a mash-up of journalistic articles and blog posts. This book is cleverly crafted and politically serious, as well as being a...CONTINUE READING
Always will be
“It is my responsibility to bring our stories into the public domain, to hopefully connect and engage the audience with images through a black lens”, Barbara McGrady tells me at the opening of her photography exhibition “Always will be”. “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history from...CONTINUE READING
The heroism of Héritier Lumumba
“I arrived at this football club in 2004 as an 18-year-old from Perth with the name Harry O’Brien. And now in 2014, we find ourselves in a very interesting time, not only for this football club but for this whole world. The landscape is changing. And I know that if the Collingwood Football...CONTINUE READING
A special kind of justice for pro-Palestine student activists
The Australasian Union of Jewish Students (AUJS) has a reputation for smearing supporters of the Palestinians. AUJS is an avowedly Zionist organisation. Though it claims to welcome all Jewish students, its members must agree to “actively promot[e] the interests of Israel”. This is somethin...CONTINUE READING
A meeting of kings
French president Emmanuel Macron is very short. Like Napoleon. He is also very young. Like Napoleon. And Macron’s adoration for Napoleon is profound. He is the most king-like leader the French republic has ever had. So where better for Macron to take his guest of honour, Donald Trump, than...CONTINUE READING