Good piece in today’s Sydney… Daily Telegraph that tackles head-on the reality of private corporations that make a fortune by allegedly assisting the most vulnerable in the world and yet: Just seven corporations have raked in a staggering $1.81 billion in taxpayer-funded contracts under the booming foreign aid program. But the lack of scrutiny of their…
Showing all posts tagged Australia
Australia pays millions to company that denies crayons to children
Fairfax reports on a company, Serco, whose primary aim is to punish refugees in its care: The private company that runs immigration detention has been forced to back off an arbitrary ban on children using crayons and coloured pencils in their rooms. Serco Group’s officers in Darwin had decided on the ban, even though crayons…
This is how Australia handles Palestine; contempt with a smile
A Sydney-based friend wrote the following letter to members of the Labor Party in early November 2011: Dear Member I wake this morning to hear once more, with dismay, of the craven obeisance of the Australian Labor government to the wishes of the United States in voting against the recognition of Palestine at UNESCO.… At…
Why Australian government fears hearing, seeing and feeling the reality of asylum seekers
Despite the “best” efforts of the Australian government and Serco, refugees are treated with a combination of suspicion and punishment. Here’s a good piece in yesterday’s Australian by Paige Taylor which outlines the reality of the attitude towards the media by the political and bureaucratic establishment: The Department of Immigration and Citizenship objects to the…
Evidence from the horse’s mouth; Australian immigration loves to punish most vulnerable
Late last year I visited Christmas Island and Curtin detention centre in the Kimberley to investigate the role of British multinational Serco in controlling and managing asylum seekers. The picture was grim; isolation and long spells inside maximum security prisons are how we treat refugees fleeing persecution. This front page today in today’s Australian newspaper…
Keep those Ayrabs away from Australia, they look funny
The level of “conservative” debate in Murdoch’s Australian yesterday, in a piece by Hal G.P. Colebatch. I’m sure he’s seen heaps of Muslims on the TV and knows many of them intimately: Middle Eastern migrants, except in exceptional circumstances, appear to be making little attempt to assimilate and are bringing in polygamy, honour killings and…
Corporate media pays $100k to visit Christmas Island?
I recently visited Christmas Island to investigate the role of the Serco-run prison for asylum seekers. Very few journalists visit the place due to its isolation and cost but in this Crikey piece today, referencing a discussion on SBS TV last night, there is a remarkable admission: Former Channel Ten Producer Jim Carroll blames the…
Israel’s growing anti-democratic tide deepens
My following essay appears in Lebanon’s Al Akhbar English: Radical Jewish colonists in the occupied Palestinian West Bank have been attacking Arabs for decades. In the past these incidents barely rated a mention in the Israeli press, let alone the global corporate media. It was only this month after a small group of Zionists rioted…
Afghanistan should watch out; vulture capitalists on the prowl
Although it receives little media coverage, Afghanistan has vast energy reserves. This is perfect for foreign firms to exploit a very vulnerable country. This story on ABC highlights the Australian role in this sordid activity: Afghanistan wants more Australian help – not from the military, but from Australian mining companies – to kick-start a post-war…