By B.S.Clifford. They were lined up along the dock, I couldn’t tell if they were enemies or friends. Bobbing up and down, Up and down, Gracefully and silently In the cold and inky black water. They were tied up, In pairs or by themselves. They were waiting their turn. Waiting And aging. They […]
By Liz Jakimow. This article is part of our February 2013 focus on Religion and Human Rights. A new bill by the Australian Labor Party will give religious organisations in Australia the right to discriminate against those who might cause “injury to the religious sensitivities of adherents of that religion.” It seems that the press wanted to present […]
By Rachel Ball. This article is part of our February 2013 focus on Religion and Human Rights. The recent release of the Federal Government’s draft Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Bill (HRAD) has reignited Australian debate about human rights, religion and the law. The current controversy is around the permanent exceptions in the HRAD which allow religious bodies to discriminate ‘to […]
By Michael Green This piece was originally published on the Wheeler Centre website. Last week, the State Coroner began an inquest into the death of a young man whose body was found in the Maribyrnong River. The hearing didn’t make it halfway. On Friday the coroner, Ian Gray, suspended it, directed police to reinvestigate on […]
Dr Melissa Crouch. This article is part of our February 2013 focus on Religion and Human Rights. In September 2012, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (known as “SBY”) made an announcement to the United Nations to urge the international community to adopt an international instrument banning blasphemy and protecting religion. This came as a surprise to many because, […]
By Tim Costello. This article is part of our February 2013 focus on Religion and Human Rights. Join Right Now in an interactive online discussion with World Vision Australia CEO Tim Costello on Tuesday 19 February 2013, from 12.00 to 1.00 pm. Tim will be online to respond to your comments and questions in the ‘comments’ section of […]
By Professor Denise Meyerson. This article is part of our February 2013 focus on Religion and Human Rights. There are a variety of constitutional models governing the relations between the state and religion. These range from atheist states at one end of the spectrum to outright theocracies at the other. In between the two extremes, the extent of […]
But where shall we go to-day, my dear, but where shall we go to-day? We who watch the television and not a war so much, do not understand how, there, outside our lounge rooms, people unwillingly must leave their homes, unsure – chancing their families to criminals to provide safe passage in […]
This is a follow up interview with Lisa Caripis, who Victoria Police to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal over their refusal to destroy surveillance footage of her taken at a peaceful protest in 2010. You can read the interviews with her before the trial here and just after the trial here. The Tribunal handed down […]
By Professor Sarah Joseph. This article is part of our February 2013 focus on Religion and Human Rights. In response to the ongoing cascade of accusations and evidence of systemic and decades long child abuse, the federal government finally announced a Royal Commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse in November 2012. One possible recommendation is already being mooted, […]
By Sam Ryan. Almost 70 years ago Albert Camus wrote that “goodwill can cause almost as much damage as ill-will if it is not enlightened” – a sentiment it seems that could well apply to the Australian government’s approach to Indigenous affairs. Reading A Decision to Discriminate: Aboriginal Disempowerment in the Northern Territory, published by Concerned […]
By Dana Affleck. This article is part of our December 2012 and January 2013 focus on Asylum Seekers. Hassan is a little younger than me and we have the same cynical sense of humour. When I first met him early last year, he wasn’t very friendly. He just gave me a nod of acknowledgement and a half […]
