By Richard Whitington Fun Referendum Facts Fun Referendum Facts #1: The ballot paper for a referendum has just one box on it and you must write “Yes” or “No” in it. If you use a tick or a cross or a number (1), your vote will be invalid. Fun Referendum Facts #2: The 24-year gap…
When President Obama commented that he thought cannabis was likely less dangerous than alcohol it generated headlines around the world. Why? Cannabis is a relatively harmless therapeutic and recreational drug. It has been studied more exhaustively than any other therapeutic substance on earth. In recorded history there is not a single documented case of a…
Refugee Action Coalition Media Release AUSTALIA’S SECRET PNG DEAL MUST BE INVESTIGATED Refugee advocates are calling on both the Australian and PNG governments to urgently investigate the secret 2021 deal struck by the Morrison government and PNG governments for services to refugees left in PNG by Australia. Serious suspicions surround the governance of the deal…
The tributes for the late Democratic Senator from California, Dianne Feinstein, heaped up as word got out. Having served as San Francisco mayor and a senator for three decades from what, on paper at least, is meant to be a progressive state, Feinstein proved herself to be an establishment creature of gusto and brass. The…
A protest vigil will be held for 4 days at the electoral office of Anthony Albanese 334A Marrickville Road, Marrickville NSW 2204. This event is part of a set of rolling actions across the nation aimed at obtaining visas. There are ongoing protests at the Victorian electoral office of Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil. Canberra…
The fact that Elon Musk has just halved his election integrity team this week on X/Twitter at the same time as a former integrity executive at the platform warned that foreign government and extremist bad actors are intervening there to distort the debate on the Voice, policy action to protect our ability to trust government,…
Things did not go so well this time around. When the worn Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy turned up banging on the doors of Washington’s powerful on September 21, he found fewer open hearts and an increasingly large number of closed wallets. The old ogre of national self-interest seemed to be presiding and was in no…
In Melbourne, there have been rolling protests by refugees outside the electoral offices of the Minister for Home Affairs Clare O’Neil and Immigration Minister Andrew Giles for the past fortnight. More rallies are planned. The 500 or so protesters who have attended are people from multiple ethnicities who are still awaiting permanent visas. They aim…
By Jane Salmon All the hyperbole about Pezzullo’s fall from grace is annoying. Everything Pezzullo oversaw on Manus and Nauru was actually worse than all the insider grandstanding, the attacks on public service neutrality, the enabling of lobbyists, the damage to democracy, the filthy deals. He oversaw actual torture, restrictive practices, medical neglect, human…
Now, how do I tackle this? Do I use the information in my “To read” list as source material for another article, or do I use it all as an overview of our politics in its current gloomy state? I select the latter and click into my “To read” box. 1. The first piece I…