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Keywords: Punitive

  • AUSTRALIA

    Dodgy brothers lawmaking

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 04 April 2024

    This week, the Federal Government quickly introduced a new policy in response to a recent High Court decision that prevents them from indefinitely detaining a small number of individuals they wish to remove from Australia. 

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Best of 2023: How Australia's asylum seeker policy has evolved over thirty years

    • Kerry Murphy
    • 04 January 2024

    Throughout recent decades of Australian history, the stance every government has taken on asylum seekers has reflected the shifting political landscapes and challenging humanitarian issues that have continually shaped Australia's response to those seeking refuge. 

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  • AUSTRALIA

    The curious case of Benbrika and a near-cancelled citizenship

    • Kerry Murphy
    • 19 December 2023
    2 Comments

    Accusing someone of being ‘un-Australian’ is easily done, but what crimes or potential threats to the security and safety of Australians should trigger the practice of stripping someone of their citizenship?

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  • AUSTRALIA

    From public good to private gain: The failure of employment services

    • John Falzon
    • 14 December 2023
    4 Comments

    No doubt there were some who genuinely believed that privatising  employment services would result in better services at a lower cost to the public purse. But the engineers of the socially destructive projects of the neoliberal era knew very well that they were more likely to result in the enrichment of some to the detriment of many.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    The sins of our fathers

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 08 December 2023
    1 Comment

    My Father’s Shadow is a beautifully constructed three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle in which perfectly formed and elegant stories from different times and places are juxtaposed and tested for fit, so forming a pattern of meaning that is never closed. 

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  • AUSTRALIA

    The High Court and the detention of asylum seekers

    • Frank Brennan
    • 04 December 2023
    8 Comments

    Last month, the High Court overturned a controversial 2004 decision, reaffirming the principle that asylum seekers cannot be detained indefinitely without prospects of deportation. This ruling not only corrects a historical misstep but also reasserts the High Court's commitment to limiting executive overreach.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Hardened criminals and hardened hearts

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 21 September 2023

    In a better world, people who seek protection in Australia and people removed from prison would not be detained in the same detention centres. But the grounds for differential treatment are not based on the difference between guilty and innocent people; between asylum seekers and 'hardened criminals'. Both groups are worthy of respect and compassion. 

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Kicking own goals in Queensland

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 07 September 2023
    4 Comments

    On the face of it, the decision of the Queensland Government to pass an amendment to permit holding children in police cells was a desperate and discrediting action. Underneath it, however, was a complex coming together of events, prejudices and attitudes.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    The long way back from Bedlam to Bethlehem

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 25 August 2023
    1 Comment

    Failed Ambitions offers a complex exploration into the history of institutions for individuals with mental illnesses and intellectual disabilities. The book addresses the evolution of attitudes towards these communities, highlighting  ongoing struggles with public stigma, systemic neglect, and the importance of giving voice to marginalised individuals.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    The Robodebt reckoning

    • Mark Gaetani
    • 02 August 2023
    5 Comments

    Despite causing despair and even leading to lives lost, those who orchestrated Robodebt from 2015 to 2019 appear unrepentant. Yet one fact remains unchallenged: this scheme lays bare a troubling disregard for the dignity of the most vulnerable in society.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Three steps back and one step forward: Three decades of asylum seekers in Australia

    • Kerry Murphy
    • 28 July 2023

    How has Australia's asylum seeker policy changed over the past thirty years? The approach of every government has reflected the shifting political landscapes and challenging humanitarian issues that have continually shaped Australia's response to those seeking refuge. 

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  • AUSTRALIA

    The cost of automated welfare

    • David Halliday
    • 17 July 2023

    In the aftermath of the Robodebt scandal, an unsettling public apathy has emerged. Beyond exposing the pitfalls of automated welfare and demanding accountability, the response — or lack thereof — spotlights a worrying indifference towards the disenfranchised.

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