Jeff Sparrow writes on the ABC that Australian politics is filled with the gutless, pathetic and predictable: Take refugees. Yes, if Labor had taken a principled stand against xenophobia in the past, there would, quite probably, have been a short-term political penalty. Nonetheless, a campaign that had sought to humanise rather than demonise asylum seekers…
Showing all posts tagged Australia
Murdoch down under shows how powerlesss he is
This is almost tragic. Murdoch’s Australian newspaper has spent years demonising the Greens for extremism and much else and yet despite the wise counsel of Rupert support for the party is surging. So what to do for the little Murdoch minions? Slam the Greens more, claim they are “far Left” (a supposedly problematic term) and…
Nothing to see here, simply more Zionist propaganda down under
What does Israel need? More uncritical supporters in the West who back a “nation on the front lines of the global battle between those who love life and those who glorify death.” Welcome to the Friends of Israel Western Australia who are launching in a massive event on 8 August. Don’t expect any discussion about…
How the ALP tries to keep any pro-Palestinian thoughts well hidden
Yesterday’s Sydney Morning Herald examined Labor Party head-kicker Mark Arbib and his supposedly magical powers within the ALP. Lucky him. Then there was this paragraph: He kept a tight rein on the state’s MPs. Julia Irwin, then the Member for Fowler, says he responded to a speech she gave on the rights of Palestinians by…
How the Melbourne Film Festival embraces apartheid Israel
Back in 2009, film-maker Ken Loach withdrew his film Looking for Eric from the Melbourne International Film Festival after it was revealed that the Israeli government offered financial support for the event. This year there was supposedly no controversy despite the festival again taking funds from the Israeli government (the director, Richard Moore, is a…
Anything to protect the privatised asylum seekers
Following my article in yesterday’s Crikey about the out of control privatisation agenda in Australia, two heavy hitters respond today in the publication in predictably shallow ways. Spin, spin and more spin: Department of Immigration and Citizenship spokesman Sandi Logan writes: Let me assure Crikey readers the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC)”‰—”‰and its detention…
Open letter to MEAA over ExxonMobil funding of journalism
Following the recent decision by Australia’s leading journalist’s union to ask ExxonMobil to fund its annual conference, the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism – I’m a research associate there -is circulating the following letter. I’ve signed it, as have many other leading reporters: Open Letter Chris Warren Secretary Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance Dear Chris…
The Greens may like the Palestinians just a little too much
The Australian Zionist lobby AIJAC are worried that the Greens, likely to poll very well in the upcoming election, aren’t sufficiently pro-Israel. Opposing the West Bank settlements is supposedly a bridge too far for Zionists who talk about a “two-state solution” but in reality believe in ongoing colonisation.
Palestinian art is “propaganda”
It’s supposedly offensive to support Palestine. Makes you a backer of Hamas, supposedly: Outrage over “propaganda” at a recent Chapel off Chapel art show has prompted an apology from Stonnington Council. But the show’s organisers are defiant, saying they were entitled to express “free speech” in the printed flyers. The Painting Blue Skies Over Gaza…
Australia is increasingly owned by somebody else
My following article appears in Crikey today: The Crikey/ACIJ series on Australian companies profiting from the foreign aid budget is a welcome discussion of the rapid privatisation of services in Australia and overseas, an area largely ignored by the mainstream media. The market, lightly regulated or not, is simply accepted by most commentators as the…