What Malcolm Turnbull used to think about asylum seekers
In June 2005, Malcolm Turnbull rose to speak in parliament on the Migration Amendment (Detention Arrangements) Bill 2005. Hundreds of my constituents, since I announced […]
Politics
The Foreign Policy White Paper: An Innovative Regional Big Picture?
Denis Bright invites comments on the recently released Foreign Policy White Paper which charts Australia’s short-term future in the Indo-Pacific Region to 2030. Is the […]
We have a right to know
On Sunday, the Guardian reported that Médecins Sans Frontières has been denied access to asylum seekers and refugees on Manus Island in order to assess […]
Turnbull begins week badly; ends in disaster.
When the going gets tough, the tough burrow under the bed-covers. Malcolm Bligh Turnbull, “a good man in a crisis”, and a “strong leader”, as […]
Foreign Policy Blues: The Australian Foreign Policy White Paper
The Australian Foreign Policy White paper was touted as a main course for consumers of policy, a document that revealed the inner workings of those […]
Hats off to Queensland
On Saturday night, we witnessed another spectacular crash by One Nation Party in the Queensland state election, following their less than inspiring performance in the […]
The Dark Lord and the Call of Cthulhu (or, The Crisis of Planning in NSW)
By David Paull “It is absolutely necessary, for the peace and safety of mankind, that some of earth’s dark, dead corners and unplumbed depths be […]
The Violent Conclusion: Manus Island and the Clearing of Lombrom Naval Base
It was another etching in a chronicle of extended violence. For days, resistance by refugees and asylum seekers against forced removal from the Lombrom Naval […]
Relying on the poor to fix the budget is not much of a plan
Between the May budget and the actual outcome for the 2017-18 financial year less than two months later, “personal benefits expense”, read welfare spending, fell […]
Malcolm feels the end game approaching
By Peter McCarthy Cancelling a sitting week in Parliament is unusual to begin with, but I initially thought that Malcolm might have been building an […]
Ruddock: The man who called a refugee child “it”
In August 2001, 6 year-old Shayan Badraie, an Iranian asylum seeker who arrived by boat in Australia with his family, became seriously ill with chronic post-traumatic stress […]
Crocodiles and Freedom Fighters: Zimbabwe, Colonialism and Violence
The strongman lost some muscle this week. Robert Mugabe, a leader of the liberation movement that transformed colonially pressed Rhodesia into post-colonial Zimbabwe, had issued […]
A New Movement of Rights and the Right in Australia
Scholars have wondered what “triggers” might be in the social furniture of a culture that might propel a people to embrace a bill of rights. […]
Media must ask LNP: Do you intend to allow the Manus refugees to die?
Since the days of the Tampa, seventeen years ago, I’ve heard it said repeatedly that Australians don’t care about what happens to asylum seekers and […]
Christian dominionism in Australia
When the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils made a submission to a government inquiry suggesting that Muslims should enjoy “legal pluralism” by allowing moderate forms […]