Labor’s Mark Dreyfus QC takes stand on #freespeech: Abbott and Brandis honour Voltaire only in the breach

[clear] The Coalition will never waver in its defence of freedom of speech and freedom of the press. — Tony Abbott (@TonyAbbottMHR) March 13, 2013 Oh the terrible irony for George Brandis QC in fronting the latest Abbott Government attacks on free speech through its terror legislation. Brandis was one of several moderates in the […]

@Jansant interviews respected refugee advocate Kon Karapanagiotidis OAM @Kon__K from the @ASRC1

[clear] By Wayne Jansson  @jansant February 8, 2014 Ever since John Howard’s Tampa affair back in 2001, refugees arriving by boat have been at the centre of political debate in Australia. A campaign to demonise and dehumanise refugees has been in full swing ever since. Its been so successful the Abbott government has even seen the […]

Best Polly Ticks Quotes and Moments of 2013

by Sarah Capper 23 December 2013 A week is a long time in politics. A year is an excruciating amount of time, and as we near the end of 2013, our third prime minister for the year has just reached his first 100 days in office. Awww. In many senses, it’s been Tony Abbott’s year. So […]

The chances of same-sex marriage in Australia: @burgewords comments

Supporters of marriage equality in Australia would have been forgiven for thinking the issue was dead in the water under the 43rd Parliament. We endured Tony Abbott’s predictable religious opposition. We winced at Julia Gillard’s incomprehensible atheist mantra against relationship freedom. We shed tears as Penny Wong assured us of a more enlightened tomorrow. Then […]

Fight for freedom like IPA: Brandis to Human Rights Commission

By Greg Barns February 22. 2013 Expect to see political interference in the work of the Human Rights Commission – the national guardian of our human rights – under an Abbott Government. Likely Attorney-General Senator George Brandis this week hinted at what might be in store in an interview with The Australian. He said the HRC was […]