Cognitive Dissonance is a phrase introduced by psychologist Festinger in the late 1950s to describe the mental conflict or psychological discomfort a person feels when their beliefs and assumptions are contradicted by new information. Human nature is such that when dealing with mental discomfort, it chooses to do one or more of the following 3 […]
Are Australians struggling with cognitive dissonance over #asylumseekers? ASRC’s @jj_juliajacob comments
July 10, 2014
Try stopping the bleeding hearts: @burgewords #CreatingWaves
May 5, 2014
There’s no use beating around the bush: The Abbott Government has stopped the boats. I am arts columnist for No Fibs, and I probably should be writing about the Arts. However, like many artists in Australia at the moment, I am experiencing plenty of distractions of the political kind. I find it difficult to focus […]
Visiting concentration camps in Utopia: @burgewords interviews @GGeorgiadisRN on ‘that’ comment the DIBP didn’t like
April 24, 2014
The Australian twittersphere freaked out when refugee advocate @VanessaPowell25 was threatened with legal action by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) earlier this month. Unless she removed a post on her Facebook, which documented one moment at a protest outside the Villawood Detention Centre in Sydney’s Western Suburbs, the DIBP would “consider […]
Rights and justice for #refugees are not commodities: @novidados reports
April 15, 2014
When they come for the innocent without crossing over your body, cursed be your religion and your life. Anon The quote above came to my attention as I followed the protests at Villawood Detention Centre on social media over the past few weeks. It seems apt to think about protest in these terms, as […]
The killing of fair play: @Jansant comments on what the ALP has lost
April 12, 2014
I used to be proud of being born and raised in Balmain, the spiritual home of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). The area has produced and attracted some of the greatest names in Australian history, people of politics like Sir Henry Parkes, Tom Uren, Neville Wran and Herbert Vere ‘H.V.’ Evatt (aka Doc Evatt), […]
Silencing the bird: @burgewords timeline of Immigration Department tweet fallout
April 8, 2014
Thanks to No Fibs readers and citizen journalists monitoring the mainstream and social media for the past 48 hours, we’ve been able to put together the limited facts about the people behind the tweets sent to refugee supporter Vanessa Powell last Friday by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP). Two of the most […]
If you’re feeling the ‘vibe’ Vote Green: @senatormilne speech on #WAvotes
April 1, 2014
Senator Christine Milne, Leader of the Australian Greens National Press Club Address, 1 April 2014 I begin by acknowledging the Ngunnawal and Ngambri peoples the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and acknowledge their elders past and present. And in doing so, I commit to the constitutional recognition of our Aboriginal and […]
Why ‘inadvertent incursion’ won’t wash: @adropex analyses Sovereign Borders inquiry
March 28, 2014
By Lesley Howard @adropex On January 17, 2014, the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Scott Morrison, reported that Australian vessels had entered Indonesian territorial waters during operations conducted in association with Operation Sovereign Borders (OSB). On January 21, 2014, terms of reference were given for an internal review to be conducted by the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service […]
First impressions of a Pirate Party: @GuinevereHall reports on #WAvotes
March 20, 2014
After the surprise showing of minor parties at the 2013 Senate election there has been plenty of interest in the Pirate Party’s policies and preferences during the 2014 West Australian Senate rerun. Last week I spoke to Fletcher Boyd, the lead candidate for the Pirate Party Australia, which did not contest the 2013 WA Senate election […]
Marching for the Lucky Country: @Trixie_Boo reports on #MarchInMarch Perth
March 17, 2014
KnitWit PM. Humour and creativity #MarchInMarch #NoFibsMiM Perth pic.twitter.com/eJF7XYZb4K — Reezy Miller (@Trixie_Boo) March 16, 2014 By Reezy Miller @Trixie_Boo 17th March 2014 Depending on which way you lean politically, the idea of living in one of Australia’s safest political seats – state and federal – may alarm or delight you. I’m fortunate enough to live in the […]
