Human Rights
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JIM COOMBS. Crime is down,Gaols are bursting. Why?
It is essentially a failure of administration.The nation’s foremost collector of information on this, the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics (BOCSAR) recently reported that nearly a third of the NSW prison population is on remand, i.e., awaiting trial. Continue reading »
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JAMES LAURENCESON. The efficacy of being very vocal: Australia and human rights in China (ACRI)
Last week’s news that the Australian Dr Yang Hengjun was being moved to a criminal facility in China was, to use Foreign Minister Marise Payne’s words, “deeply disappointing” to say the least. Continue reading »
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VIC ROWLANDS. Israel Folau – a line in the sand.
If Israel Folau cannot find a way to qualify his homophobic interpretation of the Bible so that it does not cause hurt and offence to other people, his reputation as a person may well be the main casualty of his wilful disrespect. Continue reading »
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SPENCER ZIFCAK. Journalists, media freedom and the law.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) raids on journalists from News Corporation and the ABC have caused very considerable community consternation. The fact that these raids occurred in the immediate aftermath of the recent election and within a day of each other served only to animate public concern. These events have prompted a re-appraisal of the Continue reading »
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ELAINE PEARSON. What Next for Australian ISIS Suspects? Government Should Pursue Full Investigations, Fair Trials (Human Rights Watch)
The Australian government is taking an important step by helping eight Australian children of suspects of the Islamic State (also known as ISIS) return home from northeast Syria. The children were held for months without charge under horrific conditions in Syria’s al-Hol Camp. The youngest is two years old. Continue reading »
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Folau saga: when employers and sponsors become the thought police
Like Paul Collins, I am destined for Israel Folau’s version of hell on multiple counts of sin. Indeed I will be even deeper in it since I have repeatedly, over several decades, refused to embrace the love and salvation offered by Jesus Christ despite countless missionaries and proselytisers pleading with me to do so and Continue reading »
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GEORGE GRUNDY. Greed in the game made in heaven.
I couldn’t sleep last night. All the bigotry, hatred and stupidity in the news gets to me sometimes. For some reason, Israel Folau’s story has really bothered me. It’s not just that old Izzy likes to stand at a pulpit and tell people they’re going to hell, it’s that when called out for it he’s Continue reading »
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CAROL GIACOMO. A New Trump Battleground: Defining Human Rights (The New York Times)
After the horrors of World War II, the United States led in adopting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, recognizing the “inherent dignity” and “equal and inalienable rights” of all people to life and liberty. For three-quarters of a century it has stood for the protection of human rights by the rule of Continue reading »
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PETER SINGER. Rugby Australia’s “Own Goal” (Project Syndicate 11.6.2019)
If Rugby Australia had existed in the first century of the Christian era, and Paul had had enough talent to be a contracted player, the sport’s national governing body presumably would have ripped up his contract once his first letter to the Corinthians, with its injunction against homosexuality, became public. Just ask star fullback and Continue reading »
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BEVAN RAMSDEN. The Anti-Terrorism Act and other Acts strip us of many civil liberties we thought we had.
The recent intimidatory police raids on the ABC and a journalist’s home for making public, matters of community concern, is a wake-up call that press freedoms can no longer be taken for granted. But looking wider, personal freedoms we thought we enjoyed are also fast disappearing thanks to the anti-terrorism act and other laws passed Continue reading »
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DAVID SHEARMAN. Obligations to the World’s children in the climate emergency.
This government is not fit to govern on the climate change emergency because of its incapacity to grasp the imminent danger to Australia, our neighbours and indeed the world. Today science strongly indicates we have only a few decades to act before the impact of a temperature rise of 3 or 4 degrees brings civilisation Continue reading »
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SHARON PARKINSON, DEB BATTERHAM, MARGARET REYNOLDS. Homelessness soars in our biggest cities, driven by rising inequality since 2001 (The Conversation)
Homelessness has increased greatly in Australian capital cities since 2001. Almost two-thirds of people experiencing homelessness are in these cities, with much of the growth associated with severely crowded dwellings and rough sleeping. Continue reading »
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HENRY REYNOLDS. ‘Strange situation’: Why Australia must strike a treaty. (SMH 1.6.2019)
In ringing tones the Uluru Statement declares the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tribes were the first sovereign nations of the Australian continent and possessed it under their own laws and customs. Sovereignty has never been ceded or extinguished, and co-exists with the sovereignty of the Crown. There is, as well, demand for a Voice Continue reading »
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MARK SWIVEL. ‘To be without a home. Like a complete unknown. Just like a rolling stone’. – Bob Dylan.
Having a home one of the most basic human needs. We talk about housing or shelter as a human right – as we should. But that is not what we want. Not just the bricks and mortar but the sense of place and belonging. It’s why homeless people gather. Sure there’s safety in numbers when Continue reading »
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ISABELLE REINECKE. How strategic litigation can strengthen our democracy
Australian politics is becoming increasingly polarised. Policy decisions are made for short term political gain against the advice of experts, and democratic checks and balances are being degraded. Strategic litigation is a tool that can be used to cut through the politics and surface the facts – even for causes that vested interests with deep Continue reading »
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RON WITTON. Zionism and Terra Nullius: a haunting parallel between Israel and Australia
When I was growing up in Sydney in the 1950s, I knew that I came from a Jewish family and I was aware of the little blue and white Jewish National Fund money boxes collecting funds for Israel. Recently I have remembered a phrase from my childhood, “A land without a people for a people Continue reading »
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ELAINE PEARSON. Australian Children are Trapped in Syria and the Government Must Bring Them Home (Human Rights Watch)
An ABC Four Corners investigation has exposed the callous indifference of Australian officials over the return of Australian children held without charge in foreign camps for families of Islamic State members. Continue reading »
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RICHARD FLANAGAN. Have we, Australia, become a country that breeds mass murderers with our words? (The Guardian 14.4.2019)
We are better than our politicians’ dark fears. We are not their hate. We are optimistic about a country built on openness. Continue reading »
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Who Will Bell the Sydney Airport Security Madness?
Is it possible that pranksters with a perverse sense of humour are in charge of security procedures at Sydney International Airport? Perhaps they are trying to test the limits of traveller tolerance. If so, they might be close to succeeding with me. I am slowly approaching the tipping point where either I will break and Continue reading »
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BEN SAUL. Stop talking tough Prime Minister and start caring for Aussie children (SMH 3.4.2019)
With the defeat of the Islamic State’s last stronghold in Syria, governments worldwide are grappling with how to deal with the innocent family members of foreign terrorist fighters. The Prime Minister has proclaimed that he will not “put one Australian life at risk” to extract the children of Australians who were involved. Continue reading »
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MARY KELLY. The horrifying reality of a military occupation
I recently spent some months living in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. I was shocked, deeply distressed and angered by what I witnessed on a daily basis. Palestinians living under the Israeli military occupation experience a relentless, dehumanising, brutal and intimidating regime managed by the Israeli Defence Force and supported by hundreds of thousands of illegal Continue reading »
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SPENCER ZIFCAK. The Federal Government Corrodes the Independence of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal
The Federal Government Corrodes the Independence of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal The Commonwealth Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) is a quasi-judicial body designed to promote the rule of law and good government by enabling citizens to call into question the decisions of public sector departments and agencies. The Tribunal reviews government decisions on the merits of Continue reading »
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DANIEL WARNER. The Martin Ennals and Victorian Prize winners contrast with Australia’s policies against human dignity.
Australia’s refugee policies have been condemned for violations of the detainees’ human rights. The recent winners of two prestigious prizes, both detained on Manus, are further proof of the international community’s condemnation and highlight the shocking plight of those sequestered on Manus and Nauru. Continue reading »
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What to do about Human Rights in China
Human rights in China are under threat. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) government ignores international representations. Should Australia even attempt to intervene? What would we risk? The easy course would be to do the minimum and restrict our representations to cases where Australian citizens and interests are directly involved. Despite possible repercussions for other Continue reading »
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JOHN FALZON. We need to redefine exclusion (Eureka Street).
Inequality is not an aberration that comes with neoliberalism. It is the foundation of neoliberalism, along with its partners in social crime: patriarchy and colonisation. As Sharan Burrow, the Australian General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), puts it so poignantly: ‘We live in a fragmented world.’ The excluded form the majority across Continue reading »
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JOANNE SIMON-DAVIES. Community attitudes towards violence against women. (Commonwealth Parliamentary Blog 5.12.2018)
The National Community Attitudes toward Violence against Women Survey (NCAS) is the world’s longest-running survey of community attitudes towards violence against women. Results from the latest survey are mixed; levels of awareness have generally risen but there are still areas of concern. Continue reading »
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STEPHANIE DOWRICK. The Best of 2018: Issues of Integrity, Not Sex.
The story of a middle-aged husband and father talking up the “failure” of his marriage to justify his relationship with a much younger and previously childless woman is too clichéd to have much drama. The effect of this on the abandoned wife and, in this case, four daughters, would of course make for a story Continue reading »
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RAMESH THAKUR and MICHAEL KIRBY. The 2018 decision merits a rich tribute for its transformative constitutionalism (The Hindu 30.12.2018)
Trapped in a frozen political process amidst heightened public passions, Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was out of sync with contemporary values on gender orientation. It is the courts that have been used as the key to unlock social progress. In a historic judgment, in Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India (2018), the Continue reading »
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JOHN MENADUE. How Murdoch and Abeles twisted the arm of the Hawke Government to help Ansett Airlines at the expense of Qantas. (Edited and reposted)
I have recalled several times that Rupert Murdoch has said that he has never asked a Prime Minister for anything. That is quite brazen. From my own personal experience I know that is just not true. I was the intermediary when Rupert Murdoch asked new Prim Minister Whitlam in late 1972 that he be appointed Continue reading »
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JACK WATERFORD. Why do crime-busters need ASIO-type powers?
Any political cynic will see excellent reasons for giving the Australian Federal Police a lead role in the crusade against online child pornography, the grooming of children for sexual abuse, and other sexual abuse of children, matters which might ordinarily fall within the province of state police forces. Continue reading »