If Australia is to set an example in the region, we need to clean up our constitution and abolish the race powers act.
AAP/Courtesy of Traditional Owners and Rio Tinto Alcan/Peter Eve
AUSTRALIA IN THE ASIAN CENTURY – A series examining Australia’s role in the rapidly transforming Asian region. Delivered in partnership with the Australian government. Here, Dr Matt Harvey argues that…
Two teams of psychiatric assessors have come to different conclusions about Breivik’s mental state.
AAP
On July 22, 2011, Norwegian Anders Breivik killed 75 people, as a statement against Norway’s liberal immigration policies. He was a member of an extreme right wing group and a product of a dysfunctional…
Falun Gong protestors outside the Chinese consulate in Sydney in 2008.
AAP/Dean Lewins
UPDATE: The Chinese nationals have now elected to stay in Australia, where they will seek asylum. A group of ten Chinese people fleeing persecution in their home country has presented Australian authorities…
It’s time for the government to review our national security laws.
Flickr/another_activist
More than ten years ago, the Australian public and policymakers overreacted to 9/11 and created a set of laws that went beyond what was needed to protect us against terrorism. With the recent release of…
Shamed senior police officer Mark Standen is lead away from King St Supreme Court after being found guilty of attempting to import a massive haul of pseudoephedrine.
AAP/Tracey Nearmy
The Australia21 report on illicit drugs draws much-needed attention to many serious issues, including the major role played by corrupt police in drug distribution networks. The role played by drugs in…
The UK and Australia have both looked at reforming their counter-terrorism laws, but which country has been more rigorous?
Flickr/neeravbhatt
Within a couple of weeks of each other, the independent monitors of counter-terrorism laws in both the UK and Australia have delivered their reports assessing the operation of national security legislation…
Scientists are clear that tuna catch needs to be cut, but figuring out who will fish less and where is much trickier.
AAP
The eighth meeting of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission concluded in Guam on Friday 30 March 2012. Five hundred delegates from more than 40 countries argued for a week about how to reduce…
The government’s obligations to immigration detainees are very similar to those of prisoners.
AAP/Dean Lewins
A training manual instructing immigration detention centre guards to use force to incapacitate detainees was leaked this week. It included techniques to kick, punch and target pressure points on detainees…
Gina Rinehart with daughter Ginia Rinehart attend a State Reception for Queen Elizabeth II in Perth.
AAP/Lincoln Baker
The dispute between Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, and her children is more than a private squabble between relatives. The high profile of the litigants meant the case was always going to attract…
The High Court decision against Palm Island rioter, Lex Wotton highlights concerns about how little our constitution does to protect us.
AAP Image/Ian Hitchcock
When a prisoner has served their time, it’s difficult to understand why they would be stopped from engaging in public debate or communicating with the media. But a new precedent has been set by the High…
Many groups have called for sharia, or Islamic law in Australia, but is it workable?
EPA/Andy Rain
A major Australian Islamic group recently argued for a formal recognition of sharia or Muslim law in the Australian legal system. According to the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, Australia should…
The new Attorney-General, Nicola Roxon needs to commit to more serious reforms of human rights in Australia.
Flickr/Takver
While Australia makes much of its human rights standards in international dialogues, its own track record is variable to say the least – human rights concerns around the Northern Territory intervention…
The leadership spill could lead to constitutional confusion if Rudd wins next week’s ballot.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced this morning that she will hold a leadership ballot at 10am on Monday, to “settle once and for all” Labor’s escalating leadership crisis. Kevin Rudd has not formally…
Comments posted by the writer have seen Twitter sued for defamation.
Mosman Library
Twitter is being sued for defamation by a Melbourne man who was wrongly identified as the author of a “hate blog” directed at writer and TV personality, Marieke Hardy. Hardy posted a tweet last year to…
Tony Abbott says the end is near for the government, but can he bring it down?
AAP/Alan Porritt
After declaring the Gillard government was entering its “endgame”, opposition leader Tony Abbott is believed to be preparing to table a motion of no confidence. Since Tasmanian independent Andrew Wilkie…
It’s essential that we get it right when it comes to changing our constitution to recognise Aboriginal Australians.
Flickr/Rusty Stewart
Earlier this year, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Indigenous Australians gave its final recommendations to the government. Recognition would acknowledge the unique place of Aboriginal…
Convicted murderer Keli Lane is one of Australia’s most famous cases of infanticide.
AAP Image/Dean Lewins
In December 2010, Keli Lane, a former champion water polo player, was convicted of the 1996 murder of her two day old daughter, Tegan. The new-born girl was never seen again after leaving the hospital…
The Treaty of Waitangi reminds us that indigenous people must be treated honourably before the law.
Sids1
Much is made of the Treaty of Waitangi as the vehicle for the recognition of Maori in New Zealand’s legal system. Australia lacks a treaty, the argument goes, and therefore is constitutionally disabled…
We should take a closer look at the history of the Constitution before reforming it.
Flickr/Rusty Stewart
The one recommendation of the Expert Panel on Indigenous Constitutional Recognition that everyone appears to support is the repeal of section 25 of the Constitution. Section 25 says that if a State law…
If the US Research Works Bill passes, public access to US research will be restricted.
Flickr/the Firebottle
Over the Christmas period, a short Bill was introduced into the US House of Representatives. The Research Works Act aims to make it illegal to require researchers to make their work publicly available…