My weekly Guardian column is published today: Australia’s reactionary culture warriors are amateurs compared to their British and American counterparts. Sack the ABC Chairman Jim Spigelman,… screams… News Limited columnist Piers Akerman. Privatise the public broadcaster,… shouts… the Institute of Public Affairs (a think-tank that refuses to disclose its funders, though the ABC still allows its spokespeople to appear).…
Showing all posts tagged Australia
On anti-Semitism, BDS, Palestine and justice
My essay in New Matilda is here: As the BDS campaign starts to gain traction, accusations of anti-semitism should be treated gravely – whether from pro-Palestine advocates or Israel’s defenders, writes Antony Loewenstein The charges of racism were serious. University orientation weeks, reported Rupert Murdoch’s newspaper,… The Australian,… in early March, “have been marred by a series…
Don't trust Western media when reporting Russia/Ukraine (or most conflicts)
My weekly Guardian column is here: Reading the global and Australian media recently, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Russian president Vladimir Putin is a dangerous demagogue who threatens the security of the world after his country’s involvement in Ukraine and Crimea. How many times have we seen those infamous… shirtless photographs… of Putin looking menacing and…
It's time for Australia to face up to its dark military past and present
My weekly Guardian column is published today: Official, government-mandated story telling should be treated with suspicion. How else to to separate the truth from hagiograhy? Australian prime minister Tony Abbott was in Darwin last week-end to… attend a welcome home ceremony… for soldiers who fought in Afghanistan. “Australians don’t fight to conquer”, he said in a voice…
3AW Neil Mitchell interview about drugs and decriminalisation
In 2012 I wrote for the Guardian a column about the lunacy of the “war on drugs” and the need to decriminalise or legalise many drugs. Last week I was interviewed by one of Australia’s more popular radio presenters, Neil Mitchell, about these issues and why it’s becoming increasingly mainstream, especially in the US, to…
Triple R interview on Biennale boycott and social responsibility
The issue of the Sydney Biennale receiving financial support from Transfield, a company profiting from running detention centres on Manus Island and Nauru, has troubled many artists and activists (my recent Guardian column examined it). I was interviewed by Triple R‘s Spoke program yesterday about the politics around boycotts, from Australia to Palestine:
Dangers of corporate sponsorship for cultural and artistic events
My weekly Guardian column is below: The 19th… Biennale of Sydney… opens on 21 March. There will be a… range of artists… displaying all manners of artistic endeavour. So far, so good. But a major sponsor is Transfield, a company used by the Australian Federal Government to handle refugee services and which therefore profits from the asylum seeker industry…
Detention centre owners making a killing
My following feature appears in the January edition of Britain’s New Internationalist magazine: Outsourcing detention to private companies is a recipe for a disaster, says… Antony Loewenstein. Imprisoning immigrants is good for business. In the… US… it’s common for lobbyists hired by leading prison companies to magically convince officials to write legislation that benefits their bottom… line. US… magazine… The Nation… revealed…
Never ignoring the realities of vulture capitalism
One of Australia’s leading literary bloggers, Angela Mayer, has positively reviewed my 2013 book, Profits of Doom: In… Profits of Doom, Antony Loewenstein investigates the effects of predatory, vulture or disaster capitalism on individuals, communities, the environment, and future prospects of entire countries. Loewenstein’s work is powerful because he… goes… to Afghanistan, Christmas Island, Papua New Guinea, and…
Talking Profits of Doom and messing with vulture capitalism
I was interviewed by Red Flag newspaper late in 2013 about my book Profits of Doom: Antony Loewenstein… is a Sydney based journalist, activist and author. He spoke to… Red Flag’s… Alexis Vassiley… about his latest work, the recently published… Profits of doom: how vulture capitalism is swallowing the world. Tell us a bit about the book. Profits of doom… looks…