I’m currently working on a new, investigative book on the global “war on drugs” covering vast parts of the world consumed by the drug war (from Honduras to West Africa). It’ll be published by Scribe in Australia, the UK and beyond in 2019. This week I was interviewed by the US podcast, Bitcoin Uncensored, on…
Showing all posts tagged Australia
Imagining a sporting/tourist boycott of Australia
After 25 years of increasingly extreme Australian policies against asylum seekers both onshore and offshore, perhaps it’s time to think about more active measures to change course. I was interviewed by the Guardian about my suggestions: The author and journalist Antony Loewenstein is attempting to open up another front in the campaign against offshore detention.…
Is it time to boycott Australia over its refugee policies?
My following article appears in Australian news outlet, Crikey: Let’s talk about boycotting Australia. Australia’s war on asylum seekers at Manus Island, Nauru and other privatised detention facilities on the Australian mainland is seemingly unstoppable by traditional means. While condemned by every human rights organisation in the world, Canberra is unmoved. The demonisation of (mostly)…
Defending the right to protest Pine Gap
I signed the following public statement to support peaceful protest of the secretive US spy base at Pine Gap in Australia. It’s directed at Attorney General George Brandis: We seek your urgent intervention to protect the right to freedom of speech, expression, political communication and of religion for six Australian citizens who face up to…
Australia's ambition to become global arms dealer
My major investigation in the Melbourne Age/Sydney Morning Herald on Australia’s surging defence industry: This year’s Avalon Air Show in Geelong was the first chance for the public to see the long-delayed Joint Strike Fighter in action. At a cost of at least $100 million per aircraft, Canberra is slated to spend $17 billion on…
ABCTV Lateline interview on Israel/Palestine
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten travelled to Israel this week to “celebrate” the 100-year anniversary of Beersheba and the Balfour Declaration. Palestine was barely on the agenda. After living in East Jerusalem for the last 1.5 years, I was interviewed for Lateline by ABC TV reporter Michael Vincent on the…
ABC TV The Drum on refugees, boycotting Australia and Israel/Palestine
This week I appeared on ABC TV’s The Drum talking about Australia’s awful refugee policies, Israel/Palestine and the Israel lobby’s pernicious attacks on anybody who dares challenge the Jewish state: The show has gone viral. One clip, of fellow journalist John Lyons and I talking about the Zionist lobby’s pressuring of critical voices, has been…
What happens when Israeli occupation is permanent?
My article in Australian magazine Crikey: Less than one and a half hours from Jerusalem, Gaza is like a different planet, literally cut off from the outside world. Its 2 million residents, suffering huge electricity cuts, polluted water (a recent Oxfam report details Israel’s refusal to allow vital equipment into Gaza to fix infrastructure destroyed…
ABC TV The Drum on refugees, terrorism and the limits of comedy
Yesterday I appeared on ABC TV’s The Drum talking about refugees, terrorism, comedy and the “war on terror”:
How failing British multinational Serco wants to expand its reach
My investigation for Australian publication Crikey: British multinational Serco is angling for more work in Australia. In August, The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the New South Wales government was preparing to start outsourcing public housing in 2017, with about a third to be transferred to non-government groups over four years. Serco told what was…