A history of the culture wars
Australia has an active and influential right wing movement, despite having one of the strongest social democratic movements in the world. Inciting racism against refugees, Indigenous people, African youth and others is their stock in trade, as is promoting “family values” and opposing mar...CONTINUE READING
Merry hell at Merri Health
“When community health is under attack, what do we do?” “Stand up, fight back!” The chant rang out at a lively rally by allied health workers and supporters at Merri Health, a community health centre in Melbourne’s inner north, on 29 June. Merri Health is one of 29 such centres in Victoria...CONTINUE READING
Our cities are choking, but immigration is not the problem
Our cities are under enormous pressure. As the population grows, the shortcomings of our infrastructure become more and more apparent. We sit for extended periods in a car park otherwise known as a freeway, or wait ages for inadequate public transport. Decent affordable accommodation is ge...CONTINUE READING
Ron Walker shouldn’t get a state funeral
Ron Walker will forever be associated with two major blights on the Melbourne landscape: the Formula 1 Grand Prix and Crown Casino. Walker made a fortune out of each, and his mates at the big end of town continue to do so. Disgracefully, Victorian taxpayers, who largely foot the bill for t...CONTINUE READING
Missed opportunity to tackle teacher workloads in Vic deal
Victorian teachers and school support staff stand to make fairly modest gains in the new industrial agreement between the Australian Education Union (AEU) and the Labor government. It is hardly the “great win” claimed by branch president Meredith Peace. Teachers and support staff will get...CONTINUE READING
How Pauline Hanson was stopped
Pauline Hanson burst onto the political scene in the federal election of March 1996. Over the next few years, she attempted to mobilise and lead a racist movement that targeted Indigenous people and immigrants, particularly Asians. As the Liberal candidate for the Queensland seat of Oxley,...CONTINUE READING
When the left ‘uphold the right’
The battle between Labor and the Greens for control of inner city seats in Melbourne and Sydney has resulted in a great deal of vitriol over the last few years. The Labor left consider the rise of the Greens a particular outrage because, in its view, Labor is the rightful home of all left...CONTINUE READING
Attacks on Goodes are racism, plain and simple
Interest declared: I’m a life-long, third generation Swans supporter. But you don’t have to be a one-eyed Sydney fan to be sickened by the outpouring of racist vitriol in response to Adam Goodes’ “war cry” dance in the match against Carlton on 29 May. Whenever you hear or read the words “I...CONTINUE READING
Teachers urged to dob in ‘radicalised’ students
Anyone concerned about rapidly disappearing civil rights would have been alarmed and disgusted on reading an article headed “Teachers urged to report concerns on radicalised students” in the Sunday Age on 12 October. In an initiative that can only feed into the current climate of Islamopho...CONTINUE READING