“All men should strive to learn before they die, what they are running from, and to, and why.” – James Thurber
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Renate Kamener Oration 2016
Renate Kamener Oration 2016 Is Islamophobia the new anti-Semitism? Julian Burnside Introduction It is a fine thing for a family to remember a loved one with an annual speech. To remember your loved mother each year by a public act of remembering is a truly... read moreCoffee, croissants and crusades
12 September 1683 is the date on which the Ottoman siege of Vienna ended. In 1683, Vienna was struggling to survive a siege by the Ottoman Turks. A Pole named Kolscitzky, who was learned in Turkish, came to their rescue. He escaped through enemy lines to reach the... read moreA passenger talks back to Myki system
Dr Michael Enright had a bad run-in with Authorised Officers over a Myki disagreement. So far, nothing out of the usual. The Myki officers issued a summons seeking to have him fined. The summons was eventually withdrawn, but with a “warning”. He was... read moreMyki Officers still behaving badly
The culture of many Myki Authorised Officers continues to be appalling. Consider this message I received recently: (On a suburban train) I was approached by a ticket inspector who asked me to show him my ticker. At the time I was reading reports from my family... read moreShocking medical conditions on Manus
Peter Dutton MP, Malcolm Turnbull PM note this. You are now fixed with knowledge of the fact that medical care for refugees on Manus and Nauru are appalling. You will not be able to hide behind a pretence of not knowing about it, when the next person dies because of... read moreBoat people: Deterrents
Most Australians have trouble understanding what it means to put your life in the hands of a people smuggler, or why anyone would do it. Try to imagine that you are a refugee: you are part of an ethnic minority in Afghanistan. Your people have been the target of... read moreThe Grand Mufti’s comments concerning homosexuality
Postscript: since I wrote the piece below, I have been the target of various people who prefer to hide behind anonymous Twitter handles, abusing me for what I say below. For the anonymous haters, I have great pity: most of them seem to suffer from one or both of: a... read moreA piece for all who criticise Islam
Helen Razer posted a piece on her Facebook page in which she criticised some Islamophobes as “racist”. They corrected her: Islam is not a race. She wrote them an apology. When I had finished reading it, I wished I had written it myself. It is an... read morePeter Porter: a seminar
SEMINAR: A POET’S ARCHIVE Peter Porter’s Creative Legacy The National Library is proud to be the custodian of the personal archive of poet Peter Porter. From first drafts to page proofs, from notes to correspondence, the collection reveals the life of an Australian... read morePauline Hanson and Sam Dastyari
Pauline Hanson and Sam Dastyari had some interesting exchanges on Q & A on Monday 18 July 2016. Dastyari pointed out that Hanson has, in the past, expressed strident views against Aborigines, then against Asians, and more recently against Muslims. She wants to... read moreWas Eureka a terrorist event?
Yes: the Eureka Stockade, 1854, was a terrorist event by our contemporary legal standards. The current definition of “terrorist act” is set out below. It’s complex, but the bottom line is this: if an ordinary criminal act of damage to property or... read moreAn index to this blog (alphabetical order)
#hushtag A Blunt Assessment A Brief Account Of Australias Offshore Detention Regime A Christmas Letter From Manus A Classic Rant Against Peter Dutton A Letter To Minister Dutton From A Refugee Advocate A New Account Of The Ways We Manage To Mistreat Asylum Seekers.... read moreMore bigotry from Sonia Kruger
Sonia Kruger went full Trump on morning television today. A colleague of mine contacted Channel 9 and made a few points about her experience of Islam. Here are some of the points she made: -As a refugee rights advocate, around half my friends came here by boat. Most... read moreFact Checking Pauline Hanson
Senator Pauline Hanson must be grateful to Senator Brandis. He declared that every one has the right to be a bigot. Pauline Hanson is a bigot, and she revels in it. Her bigotry is accompanied by ignorance, which makes her public utterances ugly and dangerous,... read moreIslamophobia rampant
I have had an interesting exchange of correspondence with someone I have never met. He has emailed me a number of times warning me about the dangers of Islam in Australia. Here are our last exchanges (for obvious reasons, I have removed any identifying details):... read moreHuman Rights & Social Justice
- The National Pro Bono Resource Centre is an independent organisation that supports and promotes pro bono legal services in Australia.
- JusticeConnect: working to provide effective means for people and organisations in need to access justice
The Arts
Jewellery
- Kate Durham’s jewellery: a small sample
- Kate Durham exhibition of jewellery at fortyfive downstairs: Show ran from 17 Sept to 11 Oct
- A VIDEO showing some of Kate’s work and a few photos: here and here
Art, music and theatre
- what’s on at fortyfive downstairs (45 Flinders Lane Melbourne)
- Wolfgang Sievers photographs for sale
- Fine chamber music: Musica Viva Australia
- Look at this remarkable example of art in cut paper: truly amazing
Asylum Seekers
- Australian Human Rights Commission: Facts about asylum seekers and refugees
- Andrew and Renata Kaldor Centre at UNSW: debunking myths about refugees
- New website: Compassion Without Borders
- And find various refugee support groups across Australia here
- Doctors for Refugees
Julian on Twitter
Videos
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