In the 1860s, as the new colony of Victoria boomed following the discovery of gold, First Peoples were being moved onto missions and reserves, where their lives were tightly controlled. The date of 19 November 2024 marked the 190th anniversary of Edward Henty’s arrival on, an event that began a legacy of dispossession, violence and Continue reading »
politics
The foundation of Australia’s alliance with the US is that there is a shared commitment to the rule of law and constitutional democratic government. We are faced with the choice of waiting until there cannot be a shred of doubt that the US is committed to a dictatorship or beginning the process of cutting our Continue reading »
The early Quakers knew that a deep understanding of the Bible was critical to recognising when they were being fed bullshit cloaked in religious language. By knowing Scripture well, they resisted manipulation and propaganda, ensuring faith remained a force for justice rather than a tool of power. The story of the widow’s mite (Mark 12:41–44) Continue reading »
In the upcoming federal election, there is no real choice. The Labor Party and the Liberal Party have become virtually indistinguishable, offering voters nothing, but well-rehearsed sound bites, nothing to believe in, nothing to fight for, and certainly nothing to get excited about. Both parties tiptoe around hard truths. Both prioritise economic appeasement over bold Continue reading »
The late journalist Alexander Cockburn had a good line on the legacy media. Referring to the little ‘Correction’ boxes that would appear most mornings in The New York Times, he suggested that the principal reason the paper made such a show of its fallibility was to bolster its reputation for veracity. In owning to these... Continue Reading →
Mao Zedong once said: “A single spark can start a prairie fire!” Some think the same may be said now about Taiwan starting a conflict with China that the U.S. and Russia will join leading to a catastrophic global war. The reasons? There are two wars in progress in the world now. Why not a Continue reading »
“We must never forget, this must never happen again.” Since the WW2 Holocaust, it is said genocide should ‘Never Happen Again’. But it is happening, again. Every genocide is different, yet the deliberate act of ethnic cleansing is devastating, every time. After the Red Army liberated Auschwitz Concentration Camp in January 1945, several thousand children’s Continue reading »
What does the acquisition of iconic Melbourne independent Text Publishing by US-based multinational Penguin Random House tell us about the health or otherwise of the Australian book publishing industry? In itself, and without the details of the agreed financial terms having been made public, not a great deal. Text has been for most of its Continue reading »
What do Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and John Howard have in common with the Piltdown Man? They all managed to sell a hoax that lasted for decades, before it was exposed as completely false. But wait, their hoax is still central to transglobal neoliberal capitalism’s stranglehold on us all, whereas Charles Dawson’s 1912 forged ‘missing Continue reading »
At 7,688,287 square kilometres Australia is the sixth largest country in the world. It is the oldest continent, also home to the oldest continuing civilisation, the history of Aboriginal people reaching back some 75,000 years. Why then, has such a large nation, with such long existence and a civilisation, become so small in its thinking? Continue reading »