My book review in The Saturday Paper on the new book by Siddharth Kara, Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives: We’re all complicit. Anybody who uses a laptop, mobile phone, electric vehicle (EV) or tablet has purchased a product that contains cobalt, a rare-earth element. It’s largely unknown to the…
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The human cost of the “green” revolution
My latest investigation in Declassified Australia is about one of Australia’s richest men, Andrew Forrest, and his attempt to develop green hydrogen in the Democratic Republic of Congo: Australian mining billionaire Andrew Forrest wants to make himself a champion of ‘green energy’ by building an US$80 billion mega-dam to develop ‘green’ hydrogen in one of…
Belmarsh Tribunal on Julian Assange co-sponsored by Declassified Australia
I’m happy to announce that Declassified Australia, the news website that I co-founded in 2021, will be co-sponoring the upcoming Belmarsh Tribunal at Sydney University on 4 March. It’s the latest in a long tradition of similar events around the world, aiming to hold the powerful to account. In this case, it’s about highlighting the…
Finding ways to access vast Afghan resources
My latest investigation for Declassified Australia (where we’ve just launched a crowd-funding campaign with Patreon so supporters can back our independent journalism with $): PDF here: TWIGGY’S AFGHAN MINERAL COUP – Declassified Australia Andrew Forrest, Australia’s second richest person, is on a self-declared global mission to fight climate change. But there’s another side to this story that’s…
TNT Radio interview on Wikileaks, press bravery and conflict
David McBride is an Australian hero, a former military lawyer turned whistle-blower who exposed war crimes in Afghanistan. He appears weekly on TNT Radio and interviewed me last weekend about journalism, war, ethics, Wikileaks and accountability:
Speaking in support of freeing Julian Assange and Wikileaks
On 10 December, I spoke outside the Sydney office of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in support of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. The other speakers included whistle-blower David McBride and Greens Senator David Shoebridge. The video was filmed by Cathy Vogan of Consortium News.
Australia’s role as a sub-imperial power
My review in The Saturday Paper, of the new book by Clinton Fernandes, Subimperial Power Australia in the International Arena: In early October, Australia’s deputy prime minister and minister for Defence, Richard Marles, was in Hawaii to meet the American and Japanese defence chiefs near Pearl Harbor. “The global, rules-based order is being pressured in…
The rise of Declassified Australia
Declassified Australia was launched nearly one year ago by journalist Peter Cronau and me. We’ve published more than 20 stories since on a range of issues including spying, social media manipulation, Afghan refugees and Australia’s foreign policy. We have big plans for ramping up the reach and scale of the outlet so stay tuned. This…
Art, war and another Afghanistan
I recently spoke at Melbourne’s Wheeler Centre about Afghanistan. Here’s the event blurb and video below: Writers, musicians, sportspeople, artists, refugees and activists celebrate the resilience, art and creativity of Afghanistan. Haunting images from Kabul Airport filled Western television screens following the 2021 Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, drawing into sharp relief the devastation caused by…
What the media should be doing
This letter was just published in the Williamsport Sun-Gazette newspaper in Pennsylvania: Oscar Wilde said, “In the old days men had the rack. Today they have the Press.” We are bombarded with what the media says is news, but, in most cases, does not identify a real source, or attribute the facts to a specific…