Unlike in Australia, where the Federal government was more than happy to accept a Sri Lankan nominee for a top diplomat post despite serious allegations of war crimes against him, some other countries treat human rights with proper seriousness: The Sri Lankan government has recalled its second most senior diplomat to Switzerland and Germany in…
Showing all posts tagged Australia
ABCTV News24 on climate change, Murdoch thuggery and asylum seekers
I appeared last night on ABCTV News24’s The Drum (video here). The Federal government is introducing its carbon tax legislation into the parliament and yet I argued it’s legitimate to ask why so many polluters are receiving such concessions. It’s an attempted political fix that hasn’t convinced many Australians. Simply put, many people are skeptical…
Another day and all we hear are conservative voices fellating Israel
Oh Australia, you are a parochial place. First up, here’s the Opposition Foreign Affairs spokesperson Julie Bishop who says that, “Australia must stand firmly with Israel at this tumultuous point in its history.” Yes, that brutal Zionist occupation of Palestine needs all the support it can get. This week’s Federal Parliament was filled with talk…
Just who are those blindly backing Israel and hating BDS in Australia?
This ain’t pretty. As the BDS movement grows in Australia – the hysteria in the corporate media and political elites suggest panic stations – it’s important to understand what those opposed to full Palestinian rights are arguing. Sydney journalist Kate Auburn attended a rally last weekend in Sydney and documented the following. Note the paranoia,…
Iraq tragedy explodes on Australian television
Now and then, on commercial TV, the brutal reality of our world erupts on the screen and reminds us of our real place and responsibility:
9/11 legacy is an Israeli/American catastrophe
My following essay is published today on ABC online: The 9/11 attacks had barely happened and the smouldering wreckage in New York and Washington was still shocking America and the world. Israel already saw an opportunity. Then former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was asked to express his feelings about the terrorist action in the immediate…
Are we training Afghan forces to torture and kill?
We are constantly told in Australia that our brave boys in Afghanistan are training the local army. A new Human Rights Watch report reveals the reality of so much Western training (some of which is privatised); corruption, torture and death squads is what we appear to be leaving behind, presuming we ever depart: Militias and…
Cluey firms making good money from Australian government’s privatisation obsession
The Canberra Times reveals who is making a killing, largely invisible in the public domain and likely to only make more money in the years ahead; privatisation is a bi-partisan disease: Detention centre operators, an international training company, a NSW Government department and a multinational IT firm are the big winners from the Federal Government’s…
My reaction to 9/11 didn’t turn into desire to murder Arabs
I was interviewed last week by Radio Farda, Iranian Branch of Radio Free Europe, on my attitudes toward 9/11 and the subsequent decade. My answers were translated into Farsi so my English responses are below: 1) Do you remember how and where you got the info on 9/11? I was in Melbourne, Australia and I…
The Left and 9/11
Two views, one from here in Australia and the other on the global scene. From my perspective, the last decade has brought both remarkable levels of carnage by both Western actions and Islamists but also a growing awareness of where the real threats reside, and it isn’t from some men in a cave in Afghanistan…