At the recent ceremony of the 2019 Jerusalem Peace Prize, one of Australia’s leading peace awards that I won, I gave a speech on the themes of the night and then spoke with esteemed journalist Mary Kostakidis about my work on Israel/Palestine, drugs, disaster capitalism, Wikileaks etc. Here’s the video of my speech and Q&A…
Showing all posts tagged Australia
My Jerusalem Peace Prize acceptance speech
Last week I was awarded the Jerusalem Peace Prize in Melbourne Australia for my 15 years of work on Israel and Palestine. It was a surreal and rather overwhelming evening at Victoria’s Parliament House in front of 150 people. The audience was a diverse combination of Palestine supporters, Palestinians, Arabs and dear friends and family.…
In defence of human rights in Chile – open letter to the Australian community
Happy to sign the following important letter, partly initiated by my friend Dr. Rodrigo Acuña: Sydney, 24 November 2019 We express our deep concerns about human rights violations taking place in Chile, including the de facto war that billionaire President Sebastian Piñera has unleashed on his people. On 18 October, Chilean students took to the streets to protest…
Talking serious drug reform at the Melbourne Town Hall
During my recent Australian tour for my book, Pills, Powder and Smoke: Inside the Bloody War on Drugs, the biggest event, organised by Drug Policy Australia, was held at the Melbourne Town Hall in front of 700 people. Alongside star panelists Fiona Patten, Mick Palmer, Laura Turner, Greg Barns and Tania de Jong, and host…
The Australian newspaper positively reviews Pills, Powder and Smoke
A review by writer Simon Caterson in the Australian newspaper last weekend of my new book, Pills, Powder and Smoke: Inside the Bloody War on Drugs:
Let’s establish a Ministry of Happiness
My story in today’s Canberra Times: Australia is facing an epidemic of loneliness, depression and suicide. These problems aren’t being solved by usual medicines or policies. What if federal, state and territory governments established a Ministry of Happiness to investigate the causes and find rational, achievable and funded solutions that looked beyond the typical remedies…
The Saturday Paper praises Pills, Powder and Smoke
One of Australia’s major weekend newspapers, The Saturday Paper, reviews my new book, Pills, Powder and Smoke: Inside the Bloody War on Drugs, in a piece by Louise Swinn: While our government, under the guise of “compassionate conservatism”, announces plans to drug-test welfare recipients, journalist Antony Loewenstein brings us Pills, Powder, and Smoke, the result…
How serious drug reform happens
During my recent Australian book tour for Pills, Powder and Smoke: Inside the Bloody War on Drugs, the Canberra Times consistently featured the work and its themes (likely due to the fact that this progressive Territory is very open to drug reform and just legalised cannabis for personal use). Last weekend the paper published yet another…
Sydney’s 2GB radio interview on ending the drug war
During my recent Australian book tour for Pills, Powder and Smoke: Inside the Bloody War on Drugs, I was interviewed by Sydney’s 2GB radio by the host Luke Grant. To have such a friendly conversation on a usually conservative broadcaster shows how far the debate has shifted:
Brisbane Writer’s Festival conversation on the global drug war
I recently appeared at the Brisbane Writer’s Festival talking about my new book, Pills, Powder and Smoke: Inside the Bloody War on Drugs. One of the events was a conversation about the book and the drug war with Susan Forde, Director of the Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research and Professor of Journalism at…