John Stapleton

John Stapleton worked as a general news reporter for The Australian and The Sydney Morning Herald for more than 20 years. He is the author of a book on surveillance in Australia, Hideout in the Apocalypse.

John's recent articles

With our dismal history of bombings in Iraq, Australia cannot take the high moral ground on Ukraine

With our dismal history of bombings in Iraq, Australia cannot take the high moral ground on Ukraine

From Malcolm Turnbulls first day as Prime Minister in 2015, the bombings on Iraq increased. We all became responsible for killing great numbers of Muslims.

Sleaze and self interest is everywhere

Who among us, eighteen months ago, could have believed the mess this country is now in?Few can doubt Australia is at a turning point in its history. The debacle is writ large.The current Cabinet reshuffle will please absolutely nobody and utterly fail to rescue Morrisons smashed reputation. It simply exposes the shallow pool of talent on the government benches.

JOHN STAPLETON Australia's Vicious Assault on Freedom of Speech...

Worlds most secretive democracy. Absurd overreach of power. Secretive, ruthless and vindictive executive government.

JOHN STAPLETON: Hakeem, the Australian Federal Police and a Truly Desperate Government

Just how many own goals can one government make and still survive?

JOHN STAPLETON. Acknowledged Civilian Casualties Only Beginning of Defence Scandal

The truth is military authorities have no idea how many civilians have been killed by Australian bombs in the medieval streets of Iraq and Syria.

JOHN STAPLETON: Could There Be a Greater Betrayal?

So it is done. The Coalition government has admitted defeat.

JOHN STAPLETON. The fiasco of Australia's telecommunications.

Complaints against the troubled broadband network have risen yet again with the latest Telecommunications Ombudsmans Report, released this week, showing significant increases in complaints over the last year.

JOHN STAPLETON. The Demise of Malcolm Turnbull

The leadership is in play. Diabolical polling ensures that.

JOHN STAPLETON: Surveillance in Australia; Part Three.

The democratic contract is broken. The freedom of Australians to go about their daily lives without being watched by their government has vanished with barely a whisper of protest.

JOHN STAPLETON: Surveillance in Australia: Part Two: A Parallel Secret Police Force

This is a government run on announceables. Even without the Budget blizzard, so far in 2018 we have had major announcements on everything from the so-called Gonski 2.0 education reforms, the establishment of an Australian arms industry to compete internationally, and an investigation into the practices of Public Service.

JOHN STAPLETON: Surveillance in Australia; Part One: Whos Watching the Watchers?

Beyond the daily media coverage of the frenetic efforts of a failing Prime Minister, the biggest unexplored story in Australia of Malcolm Turnbulls leadership has been the massive expansion of state surveillance under his watch.

JOHN STAPLETON. Abbott and Turnbulls Assault on Freedom of Speech.

The Abbott and Turnbull governments have mounted the greatest attack on freedom of speech in Australian history.

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