Thoughtful piece in today’s Sydney Morning Herald by Peter Manning. At a time when Israel is increasingly accused of apartheid, and many Western hacks continue visiting the country with the Zionist lobby, the average citizen is smarter than we think: …Polls now show that while Hawke might have reflected Australian attitudes in the 1980s, in…
Showing all posts tagged Australia
What the resource curse is doing to Bougainville in Papua New Guinea
My following investigation appears in Crikey today: The rusted air vent is deafening and a whoosh echoes around the pit. Copper-polluted water sits in a pool nearby and trees are starting to take over the graded hillside. Rocky, uneven ground is where locals pan for gold, hoping to find a few grams to make some…
Private eyes are watching us activists
A worrying development in Australia (courtesy of the… Greens): Minister Joe Ludwig, representing the Attorney General in the Senate, confirmed in Question Time today that the Australia Federal Police monitors coal seam gas protesters and that the government outsources some intelligence gathering to private consultants. “Farmers in Queensland trying to protect their land from coal seam…
How Wikileaks must be supported and why
Mainstream support for Wikileaks is often far removed from the daily news cycle. Many journalists seem to feel uncomfortable backing Wikileaks (and Julian Assange) because of his ongoing legal issues, forgetting the key miracle behind the site; the profound challenges to the established information order and exposing the sycophancy between journalists and corporate power. I…
What Australia needs is a “proper dose of free market thinking”
Fox News style TV brought to you by billionaires. That’s real “democracy” (and the inspiration is that glorious lover of free debate, Rupert Murdoch):
Is there anything Julia Gillard won’t do to get closer to the Zionist lobby?
Apparently not, according to today’s Melbourne Age, though one has to wonder; our government can’t really support Zionist occupation more than it already does. Well, I guess she could order an Australian military invasion of Iran; that may keep Tel Aviv happy for a few minutes: Julia Gillard has moved to strengthen her already close…
When an Haaretz columnist comes to Australia…
Akiva Eldar in Haaretz: Although Middle Eastern affairs are at the bottom rung of priorities for Australian politicians and there is nothing for Jewish lobbyists to do, Israel figures centrally in Jewish life. You won’t find an Australian Jew who has not visited Israel at least once, and many families have branches in Israel. In…
Do Neo-Nazis have the right to free speech in Australia? (hint: yes)
This morning I was interviewed on Radio Adelaide about the limits (if any) of free speech in Australia: It’s festival season, the Fringe, Adelaide Festival, WOMAD – and we’re all picking out which events we’ll go to – but what about the neo-Nazi aligned Hammered festival? It’s to be held in Queensland– unsurprisingly it will…
