People in Sydney and the broader community are feeling shocked, anxious, and sad about the actions of a lone, unstable person that led to the tragic loss of lives in the siege early this week. But there’s…
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has launched a joint inquiry with the NSW Government into the Martin Place siege.
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
The Abbott and Baird governments have announced an urgent review into the Martin Place Lindt cafe siege, including an investigation of how gunman Man Haron Monis slipped through state and federal security…
It’s impossible to escape news of the Sydney siege, and children are curious. So how much, and what, should you tell them?
AAP
Sometimes, despite our best efforts, shielding our children against the coverage of potentially terrifying events can become very difficult. This is especially the case if everyone is talking about it…
Man Haron Monis, the hostage-taker in the Sydney siege, in 2009.
AAP/Sergio Dionisio
The events of the Sydney siege this week evolved amid a torrent of speculation and theorising about the motivations and intent of the hostage-taker Man Haron Monis. Some media reporting during the Sydney…
We need to contain the fear and address the anger.
AAP Image/Adam Masters
We are in the midst of a wave of soul searching trying to understand the Lindt Café siege in Sydney. In a sense we’ve been collectively holding our breaths for years wondering if Australia would ever fall…
We need to temper the desire to offer well-intentioned care to Sydney siege hostages by abiding to the guiding principle of not causing harm.
AAP/Joel Carrett
As the country reels from the Sydney siege and its unhappy end, many will be wondering what can be done for the hostages stuck for hours with the gunman in the Lindt café. The answer may be surprisingly…
Man Haron Monis had a history of violence and radical behaviour.
AAP/Sergio Dionisio
When Tony Abbott was asked what he’d say to people wondering how Sydney’s siege had been allowed to happen given gunman Man Haron Monis was well known to police, the Prime Minister said cabinet’s National…
Man Haron Monis was a madman with a persecution complex, but his frustration with the legal system wasn’t without justification.
AAP/website screenshot
This week’s hostage tragedy in Sydney’s Lindt Cafe will cast a long shadow. It will force us to rethink our readiness for emergencies and the adequacy of our criminal justice system. There has already…
Man Haron Monis, the perpetrator of the Sydney hostage siege, appeared to be unaware of basic Islamic theology.
AAP/Dean Lewins
Man Haron Monis, the sole perpetrator of the Sydney hostage siege, is but one example of the recent development of a new form of Islamic extremist radicalisation. In recent years, Islamic extremism has…
In the age of social media, misinformation travels rapidly around the globe.
AAP
It has become one of the hallmarks of the news now. Whenever there is a dramatic event, social media instantly comes alive with comment and conjecture as facts vie for attention with fiction. Alongside…
It is hard to police ‘soft targets’ for violent, lone wolf actors without becoming an overpoliced state.
AAP/Dean Lewins
Sydney is slowly returning to normal after police brought an end to a 16-hour siege in a Martin Place cafe in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The perpetrator, Man Haron Monis, and two hostages, Katrina…
Twitter users offered their friendship with a hashtag.
Twitter
Against a backdrop of fear and uncertainty following the hostage taking in Sydney, thousands of ordinary Australians turned to social media to spread a message of unprecedented tolerance and solidarity…
Police have now confirmed that the siege in Sydney has ended after the cafe was stormed by officers, but questions about how it happened, what the motives were and how Australia should respond are just…
As the hostage crisis in Sydney came to a dramatic, deadly end, people were flooded with information. The siege at the building in the city’s Central Business District is over and the gunman is dead. The…
Dramatic moment as a hostage escaped.
EPA/Joel Garrett
The dramatic siege in Sydney’s Martin Place played out in front of a global audience through real-time reporting by mainstream news outlets abetted by social media. Australian media academic Julie Posetti…
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has said the motivations of the gunman were unknown, but could be politically motivated.
AAP/Lukas Coch
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has appealed to Australians to “go about their business as usual” as a gunman holds a group of people hostage in the Lindt cafe in Martin Place, Sydney. After a meeting of cabinet’s…