Kevin Andrews offers some explanation of the previously secret information upon which he relied. Mr Andrews said the AFP had told him before making his visa decision that police suspected the internet conversation may be evidence Dr Haneef had prior… Read More ›
law
Today’s talkback army talking points
In response to Dr Mohammed Haneef’s interview last night on 60 minutes: Isn’t it better to be safe than sorry? He was only inconvenienced for 4 weeks. Everyone makes mistakes, and it’s all been corrected now. Sure he was incarcerated,… Read More ›
And we thought Haneef had it bad
At least he was charged with a crime in front of a judge before the executive arm got involved. Since the latest Presidential Executive Order has been signed and sent to Congress, someone in Haneef’s situation in the USA could… Read More ›
Beyond parody
Greg Sheridan in the Government Gazette. But I would trust our democratic political system a thousand times more than I would trust its civil liberties lawyers.
Recklessly supplying a SIM card
Curmudgeon of the Day goes to the caller I heard on ABC702 talkback radio this morning (paraphrased from memory): What a ridiculous charge?…How do you even do that? Tie it to a brick and chuck it at someone? He’s talking… Read More ›
Simple changes could end discrimination for thousands of Australian couples
This press release from the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC), dated 21 June 2007, has largely gone off the media radar due to Howard’s Indigenous Emergency plan hogging all the limelight: Changing the definitions describing de facto… Read More ›
Howard’s Wedge
Or, as Kim has named it, Tampa 2007. Prime Minister John Howard has announced a sweeping authoritarian plan of managing indigenous communities in the Northern Territory, with the stated purpose of combatting the horrifying rates of child sexual abuse amongst… Read More ›
Harradine’s poverty legacy continues
Sue Dunlevy writes an excellent column today on the legacy of Senator Brian Harradine, who held the balance of power in the Australian Senate for long enough to drag our foreign aid policy into a position whereby, Dunlevy argues, we… Read More ›
Othering and hate crime legislation
Wherever so-called hate-crime legislation is passed, the strawmen get built and waved around at an alarming rate. The biggest strawman in the current debate about hate crime legislation in the USA is that it gives gays, blacks, non-Christians special rights… Read More ›
What goes around comes around: sins of the fathers division
Via Ann at Feministing, we find that a young woman athlete who has unwillingly become an Internet poster object has a father whose career in law has consisted of several high profile defences of men who objectify, harass and sexually… Read More ›
Hoyden About Town 