Our esteemed Prime Minister Tony Abbott and his Attorney-General George Brandis are loving this war business. The word WAR, or if you want to be more high-brow about it ‘National Security’ is just magic. Serious voodoo. As soon as either is uttered, the press bow down at the Governments feet and question nothing! The likes […]
Silencing the ones who serve you: a public servant speaks out
April 11, 2014
As a public servant of some 20 years’ standing I don’t expect much support from the general population these days, but it has been heartening this week to see some impassioned responses from a range of respected commentators on social media to the new ‘dob in a colleague’ policy formulated for its staff by […]
You cannot burn a mummy blog: @burgewords comments
April 7, 2014
Over the weekend a ripple of panic went through the social media in Australia. I was alerted to it by one of my Twitter friends. Word was that Vanessa Powell, described on her Twitter profile as a “refugee supporter”, had been sent two anonymous tweets by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection. They could […]
Finally! @YaThinkN’s inner #bigot has a chance to fly free with the repeal of 18C
March 25, 2014
By Noely Neate @YaThinkN Alrighty, I am all for free speech; hell, even ripe speech. You should hear me when a neighbour uses his chainsaw or dreaded leaf-blower on an early Sunday morning; my speech flows very freely. As an aside, the neighbour has red hair too, just saying. However, I was raised to be […]
Cory’s book: Part 2 of a blow-by-blow fact check series by @adropex
January 19, 2014
[clear] [clear] By Lesley Howard @adropex 19 January 2014 In Chapter 2 “The First Pillar: Faith” Bernardi presents a strong and considered study of the historical contribution Christianity has made to Australia’s national development and how this heritage is represented in the laws and moral codes of Australian society today. Bernardi proposes that faith is fundamental to […]
Shaking pressies in Griffith: a by-election Christmas wrap from @GriffithElects
December 23, 2013
By Jan Bowman @GriffithElects 15 December 2013 Following candidates around my electorate has proven a hit and miss affair at the same time as everyone’s getting ready for Christmas. Aware that she would be rallying the troops last weekend, I kept missing Terri Butler, but it was not hard to spot her supporters in their red t-shirts, […]
The Skull Beneath the Skin
May 10, 2013
By Margo Kingston 10 May 2013 In his Cry, Freedom speech this week, Shadow Attorney General George Brandis said this: ‘But at least the debates about freedom of speech and freedom of the press, which we have seen in the past couple of years, have been a sharp reminder to the Liberal Party of its historic […]
The Forgotten People
May 9, 2013
By Margo Kingston May 9, 2013 The day after Howard, Abbott and Brandis, among other Liberals, pulverised our freedoms for George Bush, they did it again for Chinese President Hu. This chapter of my book is Part 5 in our series of memory joggers for shadow Attorney General George Brandis, in the hope that he revises his recent […]
Can the cross bench deliver citizens accountability from newspapers?
March 27, 2013
By Margo Kingston, March 27, 2013 What a predicament. All seven cross benchers and the Government are dissatisfied with the standards of newspapers and want citizens to be protected against their abuse of their power. Julian Disney, who heads the Press Council which administers self-regulation, believes there are ‘substantial problems with media standards in Australia’. Yet […]
Absolute freedoms destroy freedom: Disney
March 20, 2013
Extract of evidence from Professor Julian Disney on freedom of expression and Australian newspapers to the Senate hearing on media reform, March 19 There are substantial problems with media standards in Australia. A number of them we have in common with other countries… We also gather (information) from journalists as well. Journalists tend to speak […]
