Latest
If I were the banks, I wouldn’t be losing sleep over the royal commission
December 7, 2017 4
Even an aggressive commissioner who manages to work around the commission's impotent framing probably won't reveal anything we don't already know.
How Australia’s strict defamation laws could thwart our ‘Weinstein moment’
November 29, 2017 16
Australia has, notoriously, the most repressive defamation laws in the English-speaking world, writes Michael Bradley.
Facebook wants your nudes and the government says that’s fine
November 13, 2017 8
Facebook is asking you to send it your own nudes. And the eSafety Commissioner is encouraging you to do so.
Due process around sexual harassment claims needs a complete overhaul
November 2, 2017 1
The court of public opinion, entertaining as it is, will not deliver justice.
A lot of smoke but no fire at the AWU
October 27, 2017 21
Amid the fallout of the the ROC's foot-shootingly efficient raid, no one seems to be asking what crime the AWU actually committed.
Why the High Court shut down Tassie’s anti-protest laws in Bob Brown case
October 19, 2017 1
The High Court has given judgment in Bob Brown’s case against Tasmanian anti-protest laws, and found the laws invalid on the basis they infringe the implied constitutional freedom of political communication.
America’s gun-toting fanaticism is too deeply embedded in the nation’s psyche to ever be removed
October 6, 2017 17
Michael Bradly attempts to explain why America and guns are so obsessively in love.
High Court allows the government to spend its slush fund on just about any old bullshit
September 29, 2017 25
The court’s breezy willingness to let this bullshit exercise through the gate sets a dangerous, destructive precedent.
The terrible history of Roger Corbett’s ‘separate but equal’ philosophy
September 21, 2017 21
Corbett's justification for denying equal marriage rights to LGBTI people, you see, is an old, old sociological theory, one you don’t hear expounded these days outside a One Nation rally.
Attention religious bakers: you may not discriminate against LGBTI people. It is the law.
September 13, 2017 25
There is no good reason in legal or social policy for a religious body to get a free pass on discrimination.
On what legal basis did the High Court approve a statistically meaningless opinion poll?
September 7, 2017 14
It seems the High Court figured that adding up two columns of numbers and pointing out which one is longer constitutes a statistical exercise. OK then.
Why Bill Shorten should not have shown his citizenship documents in Parliament
September 7, 2017 15
Our justice system is built upon the principle of innocent until proven guilty. Demanding that MPs who have not been charged with anything stump up documents is a very dangerous path indeed.
How Dutton is slowly undermining the rule of law in Australia
September 1, 2017 26
Peter Dutton has sent an unequivocal signal that he holds the human rights of asylum seekers to be non-existent, insignificant or, at best, an inconvenience. Which might turn out to be bad news for his own department.
Government cynically seeks asylum from the judiciary when it comes to refugees
August 29, 2017 22
The government's recent announcement that the few asylum seekers on Australian soil will have their support cut off seems needlessly cruel. But it is actually part of a considered plan to avoid judicial responsibility.
Freedom of religion is not the right to dictate others’ lives
August 21, 2017 23
Tony Abbott, in his clarion call, said vote No for religious freedom and freedom of speech. Michael Bradley explores how Abbott's invocation of freedom relies on trampling over the freedoms of others.
If Barnaby Joyce goes (and he could well be going), the government could fall
August 14, 2017 24
The discovery that Barnaby Joyce is a New Zealand citizen could bring down the entire Turnbull government.
This postal plebiscite bullshit is nothing but fear, wrapped in cowardice, inside stupidity
August 9, 2017 60
The plebiscite is a delaying tactic, and eventually we'll end up right where so many said we should have started: with a vote of the federal Parliament to amend the Marriage Act to deliver equality before the law.
Forbidding marriage equality violates a fundamental, democratic legal principle
August 2, 2017 20
John Howard's amendments to the Marriage Act conflict with a fundamental principle of law: equality before the law.
That’s a spicy constitutional meat-a-ball! Section 44 is an indigestible mess for Signore Canavan.
July 27, 2017 61
The situations of Ludlam and Waters appear straightforward. But Matt Canavan's predicament presents an entirely different bowl of spaghetti for the High Court.
Miranda Devine selfishly exploits Justine Damond tragedy for her own ends
July 20, 2017 24
For Miranda Devine, there is apparently no time to waste on sentimentalities such as acknowledging that Justine Damond is tragically dead; there are political points to score, after all!