The myth they sell and the values they betray
In the second of a two-part series, Robin Brown and Nick Bogiatzis show how it is the politicians most loudly claiming to defend Western values who are among the most dedicated to undermining them.Recent articles in Racism
Multiculturalism is the middle ground Australia needs
In the first of a two-part series, Robin Brown and Nick Bogiatzis argue that the moral values claimed as Western are common human values – and deeply present in the world's oldest continuing culture.
How the Royal Commission should define antisemitism
Drawn from his submission to the Royal Commission, Gareth Evans argues for a definition of antisemitism that protects Jewish Australians without suppressing legitimate criticism of Israel.
Beyond taking sides
What a letter from Accra can teach Australia about prejudice and why our convictions must be accompanied by curiosity.
The World Cup asks what we mean by “we” – Message from the (acting) Editor
The World Cup is compromised, commercialised and often grotesque – but it can still show us something true about belonging, about multicultural Australia and the complexity of loving something, while refusing to look away from its failures.
The World Cup press conference is an ideological checkpoint
Footballers from the Global South are having to face questions about their countries' politics – questions European and US players don't get.
When Hanson starts fishing in multicultural waters
Pauline Hanson’s politics is finding new resonance because it turns real pressures over housing, services, tax and insecurity into a familiar politics of exclusion, offering some migrant-background voters the dangerous comfort of a place near the gate.
Pauline's poisonous politics – Message from the Editor
A little while after Pauline Hanson graduated from Ipswich City Council politics to take the Queensland seat of Oxley, I ran into her in a Canberra pub. This isn’t as unlikely as it sounds. Journalists and politicians often drink together, or at least in close proximity to each other, and in the late 1990s Canberra had so few drinking holes that collisions were inevitable.
The questions Hanson was not made to answer
Pauline Hanson’s National Press Club address gave the media a chance to test One Nation’s claims on racism, public broadcasting, nuclear power, AUKUS, defence spending and foreign policy – but too many of the hardest questions went unasked.
Victoria: the police state
The Victorian Government relies too heavily on policing as the default solution to every social issue and is granting the police unchecked powers.
The chilling effect of recent legislation
Freedom of speech and assembly is being curbed by legislation designed to address hate speech. What does this mean for the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement?
Compassion does not end at the front gate – Message from the Editor
Like many I was revolted by the video of Itamar Ben-Gvir taunting and humiliating courageous international citizens determined to get supplies to Palestine. If you haven’t seen it, the video shows the Israeli Minister humiliating Gaza flotilla activists, who are shown kneeling in rows, heads bowed, hands cable-tied behind their backs.
Taking back the Southern Cross
Once a symbol of unity, equality and democratic rights, the Eureka flag is increasingly being appropriated by extremist groups seeking to legitimise racism and exclusion. Reclaiming its precious original meaning may now require protecting it from misuse.
