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Section: International

  • INTERNATIONAL

    Wikileaks, Assange and freedom of speech

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 28 January 2021
    10 Comments

    A serious discussion of freedom of speech must move beyond it as an individual right to see speech as communication. It will then consider all the relationships, personal and public, involved in communication. It presupposes that people share a common commitment to truth. Freedom of speech flows from that deeper human responsibility and freedom to seek truth.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    Trump impeachment trial risks further division

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 21 January 2021
    54 Comments

    I fear that as the process plays out, it will be seen by a divided nation to symbolise and embody the polarised politics of the previous years and of the incapacity of the organs of government to comprehend or address the causes of the anger and despair that foment division. It will hinder, not free, the new president.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    Masks save lives

    • Catherine Marshall
    • 21 January 2021
    8 Comments

    What will it take, I wonder, to change these people’s minds? In an era as politically divisive as the one Americans (and Australians, for that matter) are living through, nothing is likely to convince detractors that COVID is an omnipresent threat — except perhaps the only thing with tangible currency in this whole blasted catastrophe: the visceral consequences of the pandemic itself. 

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    My halted journey toward freedom

    • JN Joniad and Ashfaq Hussain
    • 10 December 2020
    3 Comments

    I was just fifteen years old when I was forced to run for my life. I dreamed of seeking a better education in Australia and becoming a pilot. Instead, I became a refugee in Indonesia, which does not recognize my existence and basic rights. I am even refused an education in this country. I have been in limbo for the last eight years.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    Reflecting on the inalienable humanity of martyrs

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 03 December 2020
    17 Comments

    This week is the fortieth anniversary of the death of Ita Ford and Maura Clarke in El Salvador. An event distant in place and time, but worth remembering and honouring in its distance. And also worth reflecting on for its significance for our own time.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    The lives of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees are still at risk

    • Peter Coghlan
    • 26 November 2020
    11 Comments

    The continued persecution of Tamils has led to many fleeing Sri Lanka over the past ten years, with some landing on Australia’s shores — they have literally fled for their lives. The Australian government’s response to the inhumane treatment of refugees returned to Sri Lanka has been to praise the Sri Lankan government’s efforts to thwart any asylum seeker attempt to leave Sri Lanka.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    Jesuit Refugee Service: '40 years of accompaniment'

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 26 November 2020
    7 Comments

    Stories of volunteers who went to help in foreign crises used to focus on the impact on the people helped. Today they explore how both parties are changed through the experience. That was also true in Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) whose 40th anniversary occurred last week.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    Biden's middle class in a divided America

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 19 November 2020
    9 Comments

    The priority given to the middle class was not new — Biden stressed it in speeches through the primaries and again as a candidate. And it is no doubt important. But when seen in the light of the passionate polarisation of the campaign, the closeness of the results, and the continuing mutual antipathy of the supporters of each party, rebuilding the middle class seems an unlikely source of healing.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    Profitless prognostications

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 12 November 2020
    8 Comments

    One of the minor annoyances of the United States election was how unreliable the polls turned out to be, particularly in some key swing states. Unsurprising, but still annoying for those hoping for a massive repudiation of the Trump presidency. In the large scheme of affairs the failure of the polls to predict is insignificant, but it does raise interesting questions about its implications for public life in the United States and in Australia.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    An American abroad in an election year

    • J O Acholonu
    • 10 November 2020
    3 Comments

    Being an American abroad during a presidential election means a lot of phone calls and messages back home. It means connecting with other Americans abroad and discussing our plans to vote, our stresses, our anxieties over US politics and ultimately the worthiness of ever going back.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    The US presidential election: democracy, threats and transition

    • Binoy Kampmark
    • 10 November 2020
    7 Comments

    With Joe Biden securing the electoral college votes necessary to win the White House, the concern is whether the transition of power will be one marked by paroxysms of rage and disruption. Donald Trump is promising not to go quietly.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    A new Chilean constitution must remember its origins and people

    • Ramona Wadi
    • 03 November 2020

    Chile has a strong democratic tradition, which was marred by the dictatorship. The representatives tasked with writing the new constitution will need to veer away from the prevailing right-wing and centre-left influence, all of which contributed to Chile maintaining its status as one of the most unequal societies in Latin America.

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