Australia has always found a way to bring in people suffering in conflict zones - when it wants to. There are well-established procedures that have worked effectively for decades between the immigration authorities and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) to make it happen safely Continue reading »
politics
One hopes that the story of Majdal Shams and its courageous people could prompt Australia’s policy makers to stand up for international law and take a principled stand against lies that exacerbate hatreds and fuel war talk. Continue reading »
Peter Dutton’s politicised dog-whistling about visas for people fleeing the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza ignores the devastation and extreme risk for innocent civilians trapped in a violent conflict. In a crisis, moving away from danger is a natural and rational human response. While some people have the financial resources, immigration documentation and networks to get Continue reading »
The challenge we face with digital technology is not just managing it; it’s about what it’s doing to us. As of 15 August 2024, mobile phones have been banned in public schools across Australia. Anecdotally, most think this is a good idea. Then, last Monday, the ABC’s Q&A had a sensible debate on controlling digital Continue reading »
“When you’re siding with John Bolton on whether to bomb Iran, you’re as insanely hawkish as it gets.” Celebrity progressive Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez falsely claimed at the Democratic National Convention on Monday night that Vice-President Kamala Harris “is working tirelessly to secure a ceasefire in Gaza”. There is literally no evidentiary basis anywhere for this assertion. She Continue reading »
The call for Bisan Owda’s nomination to be rescinded was “an incredible testament to the threat posed by a single young woman with an iPhone,” said one author. The head of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, which nominated Palestinian journalist Bisan Owda for an Emmy Award for her documentary on life under Continue reading »
At primary schools in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Australian children were prescribed textbooks with titles such as New Worlds to Conquer, and taught to admire the British Empire as a gift to the world. The theft and occupation of indigenous peoples’ land together with their enslavement and annihilation, was synonymous with progress and Continue reading »
I write as a child of Holocaust survivors because I am disturbed by the demagoguery engaged by the leader of the Opposition, Peter Dutton, labelling hapless Palestinian refugees as potential terrorists. I quote from The Guardian article: “Peter Dutton has compared Hamas to the Nazis in an opinion piece that calls the registered terrorist organisation Continue reading »
Australia is not immune to the global trend to nationalism. Politicians here as elsewhere pepper their talk with terms such as “sovereignty”, “national values” and “our way of life”. These are all relative, only defined by reference to other peoples and other nations that are “not like us”. The uniqueness of Australian nationalism is that Continue reading »