news
law & crime
law & crime December 12, 2020
AFP’s new power to spy on Australians
In direct contradiction to a recommendation of a national intelligence review, the government is giving the AFP sweeping new spying powers to combat cybercrime.
law & crime December 12, 2020
Funding by delegated legislation
Amid growing perceptions of corruption in Australia, a senate committee has raised concerns about the billions of dollars in funding allocated by the government without parliamentary scrutiny.
middle east December 12, 2020
The impact of Australian war crimes on Afghans
As Afghan civilians make sense of the Brereton inquiry, one family details how an Australian raid killed three of their relatives – including a 14-year-old boy.
law & crime December 5, 2020
As the royal commission into the handling of police informants releases its final report, it’s been revealed that Victoria Police’s use of gangland lawyer Nicola Gobbo as an informant may have contaminated more than 1000 convictions.
religion December 5, 2020
The Vatican’s financial scandals
As the Vatican reckons with scandals involving hundreds of millions of euros, the Holy See’s former treasurer George Pell has given his first interview since returning to Rome.
defence November 28, 2020
Doubts raised over ADF reports
Amid the Brereton report’s findings that military reports have been ‘routinely embellished’, the IGADF is reassessing concerns raised by David Savage, a civilian who sustained serious injuries during a suicide bombing in Afghanistan in 2012.
defence November 21, 2020
How ‘prestige, status and power’ led to Australia’s war crimes
Commanders were told about possible war crimes being committed by Australian soldiers but dismissed the warnings as ‘Taliban propaganda’.
law & crime November 21, 2020
Big picture: Robo-debt, politics and poverty
A landmark Productivity Commission report into mental illness provides a road map to reduce harm, but it chafes against deep-seated government ideology.
law & crime November 21, 2020
Phishing expeditions in the Cocos Islands
An abundance of online gambling and phishing scams linked to an Australian territory raises questions about law enforcement online – but also about ‘digital colonisation’ and who is getting rich on the internet.
law & crime November 7, 2020
Policing family violence in NSW
As the NSW parliament debates amendments to family violence legislation, new research shows that some victim-survivors are being charged as offenders instead, while children are not being protected by apprehended violence orders.
business October 31, 2020
The expenses scandal at ASIC masks a more serious concern: that the government will now overhaul the agency and wind back regulation of the banking and finance sector.
