The kind of debate that can prove either endlessly boring or vitally important for the health of democracy. Take your pick. The beautifully produced literary magazine Island asked me recently, after deep coverage of the new book by writer Tim Dunlop called The New Front Page, to write a few words about my vision for…
Showing all posts tagged mainstream media
How US/Australia intelligence collusion rightly concerns Asia
My weekly Guardian column is here: Australia has an identity crisis that has never been resolved. Are we a US client state, happy to host any number of… American troops… and… spying assets, or a fully integrated part of Asia? Do we crave true independence, or are we happy to remain America’s ‘deputy sheriff‘ in the Pacific region?…
How to be a clueless fashion magazine in one easy step
How to be a vacuous and morally void magazine is far too simple. Here’s Human Rights Watch’s Iain Levine with the story: What were they thinking?… Someone, somewhere in the depths of luxury magazine Elle thought it was a good idea to feature “North Korea chic” in September’s edition of the magazine (the page… was subsequently…
David Hicks deserves justice, an apology and compensation
My weekly Guardian column is published today: It’s hard to think of an Australian individual since 9/11 who has experienced more humiliation and abandonment by the federal government than… David Hicks. Julian Assange, who declared he felt abandoned by the Australian government, perhaps… comes close. As they both found out, an Australian passport is no guarantee of…
Why it should not be unlawful to offend a person because of their race
Today the Guardian hosts a discussion about the proposed changes to Australia’s Racial Discrimination Act. Writer and academic Alana Lentin argues the laws should remain while I state they need reform: Alana Lentin The right to offend is often held up by liberals everywhere as more important than the right to be offended. But posing…
Why BDS must be supported for justice in the Middle East
My weekly Guardian column is published today: The… boycott, divestment and sanctions… (BDS) movement,… a thriving Palestinian-led initiative… that attacks… institutional links… to Israel’s illegal settlements,… has been… gaining in popularity. In Australia, the movement has been slowly growing… as Israel continues to defy international law – and it now faces one of its greatest opportunities in the court of public opinion. Shurat HaDin…
Australia's treatment of indigenous population akin to apartheid
My weekly Guardian column is published today: Aboriginal levels of incarceration in Australian prisons have never been higher. In fact, country-wide rates of imprisonment are… worse per capita… for the black population than during apartheid South Africa. These numbers are also largely ignored. This silence, which stretches across the country only to reach the highest levels of…
The importance of dissenting journalism on a global scale
Glenn Greenwald has set the bar high for provocative, original and challenging journalism (his latest interview on Democracy Now is here and here discussing NSA revelations and his new, online media venture). He engages with New York Times columnist and former editor Bill Keller in a revealing exchange that highlights the fallacy of “impartial” and…
Russell Brand informs BBC that corporate democracy isn't the answer
Challenging the predictable and corporatised two-party system and imagining a different future are issues so rarely discussed in the mainstream. It’s welcoming to watch Russell Brand (increasingly becoming a witty and pointed commentator on social and political issues) tackle the BBC’s Jeremy Paxman, rather flailing here: