Keeping #MarriageEquality off the record: @burgewords comments on #NeverMarried

It felt like a cold label for what was a beautiful love affair. WHEN the South Australian government was caught out by the world’s media for its lax approach to recognising overseas same-sex marriages on death certificates, the justifiable outrage about Marco Bulmer-Rizzi being documented as “never married” to husband David resonated with many readers. One small voice of […]

Local #IndiTalks media slams @MirabellaSophie’s “playground politics”: @Jansant reports

Sophie Mirabella (@MirabellaSophie) and Prime Minister Tony Abbott (@TonyAbbottMHR) have been accused of “playground politics” during the Spirit Of Anzac launch in Wodonga on Friday, by snubbing “people’s choice” independent, Cathy McGowan MP (@IndigoCathy) and using the event to promote their party for the next federal election. The Border Mail (@bordermail) editorial said: respect for […]

#Aid, push factors and people smuggling #OnWaterGate – @mary_sayed comments

The latest low to which the Australian Government – current and previous – has sunk in order to push refugees out of sight and out of mind has made headline news. The major parties’ blind determination to treat refugees as inhumanely as possible seems to know no bounds. We are now refusing to allow boats […]

The making of a #MarriageEquality advocate: @burgewords extract

IRELAND’S yes vote for marriage equality kicked a rainbow-coloured goal for LGBTQI people around the globe, and while the major Australian political parties fight for ownership of the ball, this extract from an upcoming non-fiction podcast and book by MICHAEL BURGE is a reminder of how far we’ve come. Marriage, like a seed, was planted within me […]

John #MalcolmFraser AC 22nd Prime Minister of #auspol: @Jansant tribute

Former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser (@MalcolmFraser12) has left the building, and it feels empty without him. The man who had once torn Australia apart, became a voice of reason, decency and compassion in a sea of gutter level race fuelled political strategy. A child of the squattocracy, that in the end, was the reasoned and […]

Torture report makes @IntlCrimCourt action against @TonyAbbottMHR’s #auspol likely: @jansant reports

On Monday, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, Juan Mendez, released a report (below) that found Australia in violation of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT). The report found multiple violations and identified the systematic nature resulting from government policy. Juan Mendez, is a survivor of […]

International human rights body tells @TonyAbbottMHR #IStandWithGillianTriggs. @Jansant reports

The International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (ICC) has written (full text below) to Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott (@TonyAbbottMHR), expressing “grave concern” about recent Government attacks on the President of the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), Gillian Triggs (@GillianTriggs). The letter was carbon copied to the […]

Wilkie and Barns turn up #refugees heat on Abbott with “comprehensive brief” to ICC. @Jansant reports

Andrew Wilkie MP (@WilkieMP) and human rights advocate and lawyer Greg Barns (@BarnsGreg) have followed up their letter to The International Criminal Court (@IntlCrimCourt) in The Hague (ICC) of last October with a “comprehensive brief on this matter”. The full brief is published below. The ICC is currently also considering a submission (with additional information) […]