With the arrest on June 4 of Kristo Langker, producer and journalist for YouTuber Jordan Shanks (who works and publishes under the moniker FriendlyJordies), it has become clear that the defamation lawsuit against Shanks from the desk of Deputy NSW Premier John Barilaro represents a nexus point. Two great forces––one which wants to usher in the new…
A fourteen-year-old wonders why a monologue from Macbeth is used to determine their “intelligence” in English; a sixteen-year-old ponders why integration in maths class is so significant for later on in life. A first year law student contemplates why sitting a 70 percent closed book final will determine how smart they are against the rest…
It is the 8th of April. A woman stands on top of a white car. She wears a white thoub, the traditional dress that signifies the professional Sudanese woman, heralding back to the Queens of Kandaka. A crowd surrounds her, their phones held high, the lights of their cameras glinting against her gold hoop earrings. They…
It is now merely a statement of fact to call China a dominant force in global economics. A globally integrated China has begun to pose the very real possibility of economic dominance shifting from the West to the East. Closer to home, economic ties have been deepened with Australia, with the creation of the China-Australia…
The Olympic Games seem to have only one purpose: to remind humankind once every four years that we can’t have nice things. Despite being an international sporting event, the media usually seems more preoccupied with the geopolitical snipes and snubs that go on between different nations. The spirit of good sportsmanship is often tarnished by…
During the height of the Umbrella Movement protests in 2014, I made an attempt to predict the fate of Hong Kong after the expiry of Beijing’s ‘one country, two systems’ approach to governing the city in 2047. My forecast for Hong Kong was simultaneously pessimistic and optimistic. Pessimistic, because of the improbability of a city…
Laughing at ourselves and with others about our experiences and idiosyncrasies holds a special place in human nature. It keeps us honest, grounded and aware of who we fundamentally are – irreversible defects and all. Yet we seem to be losing this essential element of our humanity. Real humour does not come armed with malice.…
Recently, a Chinese warship came within 40 metres of colliding with a US Navy vessel. The catalyst of the incident stems from military posturing and territorial disputes in the South China Sea. But why have such disputes remained largely unresolved? And, with key diplomatic partners at the centre of the conflict, how should Australia respond…
Combatting the onslaught of low quality or outright false analysis circulating online means wielding simple, effective tools – not complex appeals to the rational mind. It is unreasonable for any particular person to think they can reason through their own cognitive errors. In any case, it is unrealistic to expect readers of news and political…
Remember when an entitled white man somewhere said something along the lines of ‘millennials could afford to buy a house if they stopped spending so much money on avocado toast’? While roasting him (and ourselves a little) was fun for that week, there’s an underlying condescending attitude in that statement that you’ll still hear in…
Canada is now the second country in the world (after Uruguay) to legalise and regulate cannabis use. With one in five Americans living in states where marijuana is legal or in the process of legalisation, why are Australian policymakers still so apprehensive about decriminalisation? Australia has a relatively high rate of drug use, with 57…
Writing for The Guardian in August 2017, journalist Toby Manhire noted an unusual cooling of Australia-New Zealand relations. This chill came during what proved to be the early days of the parliamentary ineligibility scandal, when certain political developments showed signs of Kiwi intervention. Suggestions of intrigue floated around the media landscape. New Zealand Labour Party…
