Polls are revealing the vast popularity of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, but is his rhetoric of reform simply a matter of appearance, or a sign of substantial change in Australian policy?
The government’s uncontested assessment of national interest and security often trumps the rule of domestic and international law, as well as Australia’s obligations under human rights treaties.
The second Universal Periodic Review of Australia took place under the auspices of the UN Human Rights Council on November 9. Such reviews, which entail wide ranging scrutiny of a state’s human rights…
The #feesmustfall movement brought gains for democracy. As relatively free spaces for enquiry, universities have a public duty to fight, not facilitate, a slide into a national security state.
The United Nations was born 70 years ago, emerging from the horrors of World War II. After the failure of its predecessor, the League of Nations, the UN heralded the dawn of a new era, with the promise…
Hardly an enthusiastic upholder of human rights, Qatar has been welcomed as a participant in R2P – even though that obligates it to do basically nothing.
China’s president, Xi Jinping, has arrived in the UK on an official state visit and it seems that he will largely be welcomed in most quarters. Indeed, the British Conservative government’s approach to…
Saudi Arabia’s criminal justice system – if you can call it that – has suddenly started to attract increased international scrutiny. Reports of the crucifixion sentence for a teenage protester and the…
Attorney-General George Brandis told the ABC that Australia co-operates with the United Nations in relation to its human rights obligations. Is that right?
The European obsession with labeling people either economic migrants or refugees hampers understanding of the problems they face. Adding the role remittances play to the debate would help.