LineNoise @ LineNoise @kbin.social

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121

Joined

2 yr. ago

We’ve actually got an even bigger private prison issue than the US by proportion.

Nearly 40 per cent of Victoria’s prisoner population is housed in three privately managed prisons – Port Philip Prison, Ravenhall Correctional Centre and Fulham Correctional Centre. As a consequence, Victoria has the largest proportion of privately managed prisoners in Australia, while Australia has the largest proportion in the world.

https://lens.monash.edu/@politics-society/2019/06/28/1375605/victorias-prison-system-rising-costs-and-population-little-accountability

The lobby doesn’t have quite the same financial clout just on population size but it’s a significant factor in Australia’s modern handling of the issue.

Flashing lights on all speed cameras as a permanent feature would be a far better option if the intent is to actually get people to slow down.

The locations, and potential locations for mobile cameras, are already published.

At this point O’Neil would have made a loyal member of Howard’s ministry.

This whole affair has been disgraceful from Labor yet entirely on brand nowadays.

In full at: https://eresources.hcourt.gov.au/showCase/2023/HCA/37

The old SEx/MEx sleeper service was better than the XPT ever was. You had the full deluxe cabins if you wanted it with families, a proper dining car, and the slower travel time actually made more sense for overnight.

The problem with the XPT is that it's always been a weird middle ground. It's not a high speed train or anything close, it's just a bit faster, and the road these days is in a state where it's a reasonably ok one day drive if you've reason not to fly.

The government has fired Michael Pezzullo this morning. But never fear, the systemic abuses he was employed to oversee look set to continue with bipartisan fervour.

From O’Neil herself, once: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym61tp8AAmc

Dependence on systems of abuse harms all parties.

Yup, but for the most part they're levers government needs to pull.

Stage 3 tax cuts still on the go of course.

From 8 years ago when Labor helped pass the laws: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/mar/26/mandatory-data-retention-becomes-law-as-coalition-and-labor-combine

If you’re ever wondering what sort of person is content to work in amongst NSW Police’s systemic sexual assault…

Mr Moore was ringing to complain about police strip searches, but Keneally later wrote a detailed statement claiming he had made threats to police.

This is a deeply, deeply stupid article.

Good to see these finally get some press coverage. They were enormous rallies and conspicuously ignored, particularly by the ABC.

Good to see these finally get some press coverage. They were enormous rallies and conspicuously ignored, particularly by the ABC.

TIL the container deposit scheme won't take crushed cans.

To repeat a post from a couple of days ago, from the organisers:

Palestine Action Group statement on last night's protest:

On 9 October 2023, Palestine Action Group organised a successful rally in support of Palestine, calling for the end of the occupation and for Australia to cut ties to Israel. Thousands on thousands of diverse attendees marched to the Opera House and demonstrated our opposition to Australia’s support to the State of Israel, a genocidal apartheid regime which has waged war on Palestinians for over 75 years.

Today, we have woken up to the Premier of NSW, the Prime-Minister, the Foreign Affairs Minister and Independent MP, Allegra Spender condemning our protests and questioning why it went ahead. Let us affirm, we have the right to demonstrate. At a conjuncture where anti-protest laws widen to target anyone who opposes the colonial and capitalist structures of this state from First Nations movements to the Climate Justice movement, the states attack on Pro-Palestinian protestors is no different. Australia as a colonial and imperialist entity will always support Israel and the state is frightened by people in their masses showing that we oppose imperialism and colonialism. At a time where the people of Palestine resist over 75 years of war and massacres and Israel declares intent to commit genocide against the people of Gaza, we will demonstrate, we will continue to demonstrate and we will show this state that we oppose apartheid, we oppose settler-colonialism and we oppose genocide.

Despite a very successful and peaceful rally, the media has reported on a tiny fringe (we estimate less than 20 people) of vile antisemitic attendees who showed up to the opera house for an event unrelated to the demonstration we organised. Media reports and videos circulating show young boys, mostly in their teens chanting “fuck the Jews”. From our observations this occurred for less than one minute and was not an ongoing chant. They were quickly condemned for their chants and asked to leave. Long-standing Palestinian organisers and activists, Palestinian, Arab and Muslim elders attending the protest were disgusted and deplored by the action. This is not what our movement stands for. We oppose Zionism, an ideology distinct from Judaism. We oppose Israel, a racist state which has waged genocide on Palestinians. We are an anti-racist and anti-colonial movement and we refuse to fight racism with racism.

PAG has a long-standing history of working with Jewish activists and organisers who oppose Zionism, from Tzedek to Jews against the occupation, we share anti racist and anti colonial values with our anti-Zionist Jewish siblings. We thank them for their ongoing solidarity, including the contingent who attended this very rally. We’ve checked in with as many of those Jewish people in the contingent as we know to ensure they are feeling safe and okay.

For over a decade we have organised peaceful Palestinian rallies and we have mobilised the Australian community and we will continue to mobilise. If you are an antisemite, you are not welcome at our rallies and are not a part of our movement. As we did today, we will ask you to leave and we will continue to do this. We thank the 99.9% who have continued to show up for Palestine, who have continued to help keep our rallies peaceful and promote anti-racist and anti-colonial values.

We will be back on the streets at 1pm, Sunday 15 October 2023, at Town Hall to continue to protest both attacks on Palestinian resistance and Israel’s declaration of genocide on Palestinians. We will not bow to pressure from parliamentarians to end our mobilisations. We will demonstrate until Palestine is free, from the river to the sea!

Free Palestine and fck racism.

https://www.facebook.com/syd.bmbc/posts/pfbid02DQP8J4JCNr42JcbT5cpiWkGPircjjj4iUU9v4xftU37xcFEwXmfjFuH5zGztuEwhl

The multiple "Peter Dutton buys house" stories that effectively left everyone one search short of his precise home address amused me. Particularly given the degree of paranoia the man operates under.

Short of a High Court appeal it looks like we're back to direct action being absolutely essential to ensuring Australia's environmental obligations.

The responsible Minister has neither the interest nor the obligation to act.

Judgement is up here: https://www.judgments.fedcourt.gov.au/judgments/Judgments/fca/single/2023/2023fca1208

We had a period of frontier wars that lasted 150 years. It was grossly asymmetric but the estimates for colonial casualties run into the thousands.

From the organisers:

Palestine Action Group statement on last night's protest:

On 9 October 2023, Palestine Action Group organised a successful rally in support of Palestine, calling for the end of the occupation and for Australia to cut ties to Israel. Thousands on thousands of diverse attendees marched to the Opera House and demonstrated our opposition to Australia’s support to the State of Israel, a genocidal apartheid regime which has waged war on Palestinians for over 75 years.

Today, we have woken up to the Premier of NSW, the Prime-Minister, the Foreign Affairs Minister and Independent MP, Allegra Spender condemning our protests and questioning why it went ahead. Let us affirm, we have the right to demonstrate. At a conjuncture where anti-protest laws widen to target anyone who opposes the colonial and capitalist structures of this state from First Nations movements to the Climate Justice movement, the states attack on Pro-Palestinian protestors is no different. Australia as a colonial and imperialist entity will always support Israel and the state is frightened by people in their masses showing that we oppose imperialism and colonialism. At a time where the people of Palestine resist over 75 years of war and massacres and Israel declares intent to commit genocide against the people of Gaza, we will demonstrate, we will continue to demonstrate and we will show this state that we oppose apartheid, we oppose settler-colonialism and we oppose genocide.

Despite a very successful and peaceful rally, the media has reported on a tiny fringe (we estimate less than 20 people) of vile antisemitic attendees who showed up to the opera house for an event unrelated to the demonstration we organised. Media reports and videos circulating show young boys, mostly in their teens chanting “fuck the Jews”. From our observations this occurred for less than one minute and was not an ongoing chant. They were quickly condemned for their chants and asked to leave. Long-standing Palestinian organisers and activists, Palestinian, Arab and Muslim elders attending the protest were disgusted and deplored by the action. This is not what our movement stands for. We oppose Zionism, an ideology distinct from Judaism. We oppose Israel, a racist state which has waged genocide on Palestinians. We are an anti-racist and anti-colonial movement and we refuse to fight racism with racism.

PAG has a long-standing history of working with Jewish activists and organisers who oppose Zionism, from Tzedek to Jews against the occupation, we share anti racist and anti colonial values with our anti-Zionist Jewish siblings. We thank them for their ongoing solidarity, including the contingent who attended this very rally. We’ve checked in with as many of those Jewish people in the contingent as we know to ensure they are feeling safe and okay.

For over a decade we have organised peaceful Palestinian rallies and we have mobilised the Australian community and we will continue to mobilise. If you are an antisemite, you are not welcome at our rallies and are not a part of our movement. As we did today, we will ask you to leave and we will continue to do this. We thank the 99.9% who have continued to show up for Palestine, who have continued to help keep our rallies peaceful and promote anti-racist and anti-colonial values.

We will be back on the streets at 1pm, Sunday 15 October 2023, at Town Hall to continue to protest both attacks on Palestinian resistance and Israel’s declaration of genocide on Palestinians. We will not bow to pressure from parliamentarians to end our mobilisations. We will demonstrate until Palestine is free, from the river to the sea!

Free Palestine and fck racism.

https://www.facebook.com/syd.bmbc/posts/pfbid02DQP8J4JCNr42JcbT5cpiWkGPircjjj4iUU9v4xftU37xcFEwXmfjFuH5zGztuEwhl

I would argue that it's quite easy to judge, at any distance, the collective punishment of civilians through the withholding of the essentials of life.

We've a referendum this weekend largely on whether we're ready to confront uncomfortable and complex consequences of a history of colonial violence. What's more difficult is reconciling these sorts of statements from a government that says it is.