Donald Rhodes

Donald Rhodes is an Australian lawyer and activist based in New York. He is General Counsel for a democracy-focused NGO. He was awarded a Columbia Law School Public Interest Fellowship in 2020. He has previously worked as a political staffer for Labor front-benchers Tanya Plibersek and Mark Butler.

Recent articles by Donald Rhodes

After 50 years, it’s time we called it a coup

After 50 years, it’s time we called it a coup

Fifty years ago today, an elected government was ousted by a representative of a hereditary monarchy. Broadly, Australian society has still not grappled with these events.

Coups are not electorally disqualifying, just look at the dismissal

Coups are not electorally disqualifying, just look at the dismissal

Many Australians will be surprised that voters across the US could cast a vote for Donald Trump after a (poorly) attempted coup on January 6, 2021. The only reason we might find this shocking is because we don’t talk about the Dismissal of the Whitlam government in 1975 as what it really was – a successful coup.