From #Watergate to #Ashbygate: A review of “Ashbygate” the book, by Joan Evatt @Boeufblogginon

A few weeks ago Ross Jones and Dave Donovan, of Independent Australia, sent me messages asking me to review Ross’s book on the Ashbygate saga. Despite being as crook as Rookwood I was more than happy to agree, and in due course a copy appeared in my letterbox. I was in the middle of reading […]

Selling out ethical journalism: @journlaw on @theage secret recordings #springst

[clear] It is a sad day when senior political figures steal a journalist’s recording device and destroy its contents, as we have been told happened at this year’s Victorian Labor conference. But it is an even sadder day when we hear a major newspaper – The Age – justifying a senior reporter secretly recording their […]

On the turning away: Iris Ray Nunn comments on #leardblockade

It is four weeks since I went into the Leard State Forest and witnessed firsthand the widespread destruction of habitat in return for coal. In truth, I am still hurt, still angry. These difficult feelings tear at me because the desecration of our Earth continues – and I am aware that my existence, albeit simple, is still dependent on the wheel-of-harm.  So what […]

Corruption fighter Tony Fitzgerald QC names Queensland power abuses: @Qldaah analysis

On Friday, March 28, 2014, Tony Fitzgerald condemned Campbell Newman’s Liberal National Party (LNP) government for proposed changes to Queensland’s Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC). In a written submission to the parliamentary committee reviewing the bill, Mr Fitzgerald described the move as: “the final step needed to remove the Commission’s independence entirely and bring it completely […]

The #MarchinMarch Canberra in pictures, by @Jansant

By Wayne Jansson  @jansant 23rd March 2014 Roll over photos to read captions or click for slideshow. Read More from the March In March Archive 

Sssshhhh, don’t tell the media, but politics is changing from the ground-up, by @ariadne_syd

Ariadne Vromen, @ariadne_syd Source: The Conversation University of Sydney 21st March 2014 Political participation in Australia will soon be about hope – and the transformation of citizenship engagement in this country. Here is why. Traditionally, Australian political participation was centred on, and supported by, the electoral system, political parties and major political organisations. Most media commentators tend […]

Miners’ case against #leardblockade: Anyone like to respond?

Opinion: Time to get tough on extremists ignoring the law 22nd January 2014 Originally published in The Daily Telegraph. By NSW Minerals Council CEO, Stephen Galilee This Australia Day weekend, most of us will gather with friends and family to celebrate our nation. In stark contrast, a small group of extreme activists will be gathering […]

Cory’s book: Part 2 of a blow-by-blow fact check series by @adropex

[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 […]

Breaking News: Sex, Lies and the Murdoch Succession by Paul Barry

By Margaret O’Connor 1 November 2013 If you want a quick and telling glimpse of the psychopathology that infested Rupert Murdoch’s power house tabloid News of the World (NoTW), turn to the Leveson Inquiry Hearings for Wednesday, 29 November, 2011. On that day, Paul McMullan, ex-NoTW reporter, reluctantly gave testimony about his work practices there – […]

The intellectual grunt behind @Indigocathy Indi victory: @sarah_capper report

Image by No Fibs citizen journalist Wayne Jansson taken on election night, of Alana Johnson, Cathy McGowan and Mary Crooks.By Sarah Capper Sheila’s editor 20 September 2013 When Jeff Kennett lost the “unlosable” Victorian election in 1999, the Victorian Women’s Trust’s Mary Crooks wasn’t overly surprised. In the years leading up the state poll, in her […]