Regardless of faith, regardless of age, regardless of history Gaza has become a killing field and occupied Palestine a prison and place of fear and displacement. Here is just some of what Palestinian Christians have told me of the recent horror.
Greens Senator for NSW. Living and working on unceded Gadigal land. Authorised by David Shoebridge, Australian Greens, Canberra ACT 2600
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Regardless of faith, regardless of age, regardless of history Gaza has become a killing field and occupied Palestine a prison and place of fear and displacement. Here is just some of what Palestinian Christians have told me of the recent horror.
There are no more excuses. There is nowhere to hide. This is a genocide being committed by Israel against the people of Gaza. The answer must be immediate sanctions and an end to the two-way weapons trade. Today.
It’s clear police want access to facial recognition AI tech to target this offending but that must occur with strict guard rails and prohibitions on broader use if they are to have public trust on this
Important round table this morning with ICMEC calling for serious action on AI facilitated child sexual abuse
Labor’s plan to fix FOI is to make it harder to apply for information.
'An attack on multiculturalism': government's new Nauru deal to deport hundreds of refugees and migrants to danger by removing the right to procedural fairness, greeted with alarm by human rights organisations across Australia. www.sbs.com.au/news/podcast...
We don’t agree the choice is between Big Tech OR Murdoch controlling our public spaces and debate - we choose neither! The real question is why Labor and the Murdoch media are so afraid of parliamentary oversight of this ban?
This morning an absolutely bizarre take in the Australian that gets our inquiry into age verification backwards. Our inquiry isn't helping Big Tech, it's exposing how Labor's rushed age ban will HAND POWER to the very companies that are exploiting kids.
Proud to be cohosting Community Legal Centres Australia this morning as they launch their Vision for Justice - a desperately needed plan for law reform and a more caring and just society
The age assurance trial findings accidentally prove the social media age ban is unworkable. Bias against girls and people of colour, plus massive privacy risk = a policy that will harm the very kids it claims to protect. Time to abandon this flawed approach.
The govt’s report on age assurance tech admits "implementation depends on the willingness of a small number of dominant tech companies" meaning we'd be handing even more power to Big Tech to decide who gets online access. Labor surely understands this is bad!
🚨 The age assurance trial report makes the case AGAINST a social media age ban. The risks it identifies - mass surveillance, biometric data collection, Big Tech control, and systematic bias against girls and POC - clearly outweigh any potential benefits.
Had a delightful walk in Namadgi National Park today along the Granite Tors Walking Track with the Greens Bushwalking Club. Snow, roos, red breasted robins and great company.
They are two sides not the same coin - Labor having spent two decades demonising asylum seekers and jailing and punishing them, validating the Coalition’s far right rhetoric, and passing extreme laws attacking them, they need to accept responsibility.
This is our statement about the rallies and the inclusive, multicultural Australia that we know is our future greens.org.au/news/media-r...
Lovely morning, if a bit chilly, walking through Jerrabomberra Wetlands, lots of roos, wattle and swamp hens
BREAKING: yesterday Labor rightly condemned anti-migrant rallies. The same day they signed a $400m plus secret deal with Nauru to allow them to forcibly deport up to 100,000 people without their consent. Labor’s dog whistle politics is so much part of the problem.
Honoured to host a roundtable concerning the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. To the Palestinian, Chilean, Tamil, Bangladeshi, Iranian, Filipino, Kurdish, Myanmar, Indian and Pakistani communities present, we are with you in your struggle for justice.
Read in full here: www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
The fact that the Albanese Government is seeking to remove the right of natural justice shows how toxic and far-right Labor’s immigration policy has become.
The US wants Australia for the money, it wants us for the bases, and then they treat us with contempt.
Never forget that the Attorney General could have stopped this prosecution AT ANY TIME and chose not to. Shame. Remember too that ordinary taxpayers funded Richard's unfair prosecution.
I know I join millions today who feel great relief that Richard Boyle avoided jail today but truth is he should NEVER have been prosecuted for protecting vulnerable taxpayers! We should learn the lesson of what Richard has gone through and fix the laws so it never happens again.
BREAKING: Hero whistleblower Richard Boyle walks FREE! After 7 years of hell for exposing ATO's brutal debt collection, he's received a good behaviour bond. Justice at last! But this travesty shows we urgently need whistleblower law reform & compensation for what he's endured
The terms of reference for the inquiry are here:
The inquiry will soon begin accepting submissions so watch this space for more details..
The current approach risks driving young people away from safer regulated platforms and towards spaces where bullying and image-based abuse cannot be controlled. This inquiry will examine what really works globally 🌍 We need evidence-based policy, not knee-jerk politics!
Instead of the much promised digital duty of care, the Government is focusing on bans and codes that will encourage platforms to vacuum up your private information. Our inquiry will explore better alternatives including how the Children’s Safety Code and a duty of care could work! 💡
The age ban will force EVERY Australian to hand over personal data to access social media. The verification codes will mean the same for search engines. Everybody will go through age-checking to make this work. Our inquiry will examine these massive privacy implications
BREAKING: The Senate has just voted YES to our inquiry into the social media age ban & search engine age verification codes! This isn't just about kids - it's a national age verification and identification system masquerading as being about online safety for children. 🧵
I've written to the Australian Human Rights Commission and Attorney General raising serious concerns about Commissioner Lorraine Finlay joining the Gold Coast ‘Mayors Anti-Semitism summit’. You can't fight hate by standing on a platform with hate.
Senator Cash, who is already showing her reckless approach to Foreign Affairs is saying laws against protest to are needed due to criminal acts carried out on behalf of the Iranian govt- it’s an offensive and false conflation that slanders hundreds of thousands of ordinary Australians
She’s now arguing that our Greens bill on right to protest is unacceptable because it bans excessive penalties - being pro excessive penalties is a new one
Michaelia Cash currently speaking against the rights of Australians to protest - she doesn’t want you to be able to express yourself and oppose unfair laws. Really shows what the Coalition thinks about the general public.
I don’t know about you, but seeing these three together makes me feel a whole lot less safe. Marles handing over our cash with the same rote lines about shared history and values, and the other two grinning like cats about to eat a mouse. Time to end AUKUS and save us from this.
Read our release in full here: t.co/xmD845gILw
People rightfully don’t want to go to Nauru because they know they will face the very real risk of being forcibly returned to danger, and they surely have the right to be heard before that happens to them.
For centuries, natural justice has been a cornerstone of our law. The Albanese Government is seeking to remove these rights from migrants shows how toxic and far right Labor’s immigration policy has become.
For centuries, natural justice has been a cornerstone of our law. The Albanese Government is seeking to remove these rights from migrants shows how toxic and far right Labor’s immigration policy has become.
The Home Affairs (2025 Measures No. 1) Bill 2025 introduced is targeted at people recently released from immigration detention following a High Court ruling that people cannot be held indefinitely by bureaucrats or politicians. Removing the right of natural justice.
Labor today launched another cruel attack on refugees and migrants, tabling new legislation to strip people of the right to natural justice.
Green's statement on the sanctions on the Iranian Regime
I have worked with Walter Mikac for many years. After losing his wife and daughters at Port Arthur he has been a staunch advocate for responsible gun laws. 30 years after Port Arthur it's horrific he's still having to fight the gun lobby's attempts to water down Australia's world class gun laws.
Can we please leave Team War?
We need to end AUKUS and develop a genuinely independent foreign and defence policy with a defence force that defends Australia but doesn’t make war plans against our neighbours, while committing to deeper regional links, global peace efforts and non-aggression.
This is a pathway best described as dangerous, cringing surrender to Donald Trump. We build and maintain bases for them while retired defence staff, bureaucrats and politicians get jobs for US weapons companies … and then we join another disastrous US war.
“Contingency planning” means war plans. The war that the US is demanding we join is a future US war with China, our major trading partner that has no territorial ambitions against Australia.
The stark truth of AUKUS keeps becoming clearer and clearer. Now a key Washington think tank says Australian should only get US nuclear subs if we quietly surrender our sovereign control of them in secret “contingency planning” meetings with US officials.
While US activists protest Palantir, Australians should take note: Palantir operates here in Defence, Westpac and more, with similar AI surveillance systems potentially deployed for immigration enforcement or other targeting like protests. We need proactive privacy safeguards now
ICE recently paid Palantir tens of millions for "complete target analysis of known populations" to support Trump's deportation efforts. The same tech used by IDF in Gaza with systems like "Where's Daddy" that tracks targets to family homes for airstrikes.
Did you see this article? A former Palantir employee reveals how ICE is using AI surveillance systems called ISTAR to track and detain immigrants at scale. These AI kill chains combine massive datasets to identify targets automatically. 🧵
Breaking! We have just found out that the Albanese Government plans to pay hundreds of millions for building houses for US troops and foreign arms companies using a secret AUKUS “cost-sharing” deal with Donald Trump.
We don't need to be part of US wars. This law, like so many others from the major parties, wants to make Australia into a US military base.
The major parties have given so much power to Washington, from Pine Gap to AUKUS and beyond.
Whenever the war parties come together, that is a warning sign. And this law is about tribute to Donald Trump, regardless of what is good for the Australian public.
The idea this is about 'jobs' is ridiculous. Labor think the public are fools. It would be more productive to spend the $375 billion AUKUS funds on digging a hole and filling it in again.
But it gets worse, under this law the Australian public will be forking out money to build houses for foreign military contractors too!
Would you like to know how much public funds we are spending on building houses for US troops? So would we. But the major parties are refusing to say.
You cannot make it up, we are debating Labor's first housing bill this Parliament. To build public housing for US troops under AUKUS. More below 👇
We have started the week with a debate on the "Defence Housing Australia Amendment Bill 2025" - a bill that seeks to build public housing for US troops. How on earth can this be Labor's priority this week!?
The Netanyahu government’s plan on Palestine is not just to kill men, women and children and destroy their homes, but to kill Palestinian culture as well. This is why they bulldoze Palestinian olive trees.
Today I join other cartoonists in action, solidarity and hope that these atrocities will end v soon. #CartoonistsForG4za
NEW: In 40 cities across Australia, an estimated one million people have been on the streets calling for an end to the genocide in Gaza. These were the scenes in Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth.
Guns kill people. Guns also don’t have a use-by-date, which means without regulation, gun numbers keep growing. The gun lobby knows this and push for weaker laws to let the numbers grow and grow. We need to push back.
In the UK it takes far right extremist parties to authentically copy what Labor and the Coalition routinely do to people here who have come seeking refuge and safety. Seen from afar it looks extreme. It’s just as extreme on Nauru or in Villawood. www.smh.com.au/world/europe...
Credit to the Australian Uyghur Tangritagh Women’s Association as well as the @uon-hrlc.bsky.social and Be Slavery Free for keeping the pressure on for anti slavery laws that work.
We need laws that create a positive duty on manufacturers and retailers to remove slavery from their supply chains. Currently Australia has a National Anti-Slavery Commissioner, but with no enforcement powers and almost no staff, and this is the result www.theguardian.com/law/2025/aug...
Nationals Leader David Littleproud says he loves the 1950’s, wants to be a Jetson when he grows up and have a nuclear powered toaster to deal with his food insecurity. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08...
Guess where former defence ministers are? 👀 The revolving door is a real obstacle to good governance and it should be SHUT.
Making billions by taxing wealth rather than work - now that’s an idea from The Australia Institute that takes us in the right direction news.com.au/national/polit…
End AUKUS, just think of all we could do with $375 billion apart from subsidising the US military? Investing in human security in climate action, public education, housing and international partnerships.
The people of Gaza City face an unthinkable threat. Every day we delay action is another day civilians live in terror. Australia must lead by example by implementing sanctions and ending our part in the two way arms trade that fuels this conflict.
Australia has a moral obligation to act before Gaza city becomes the next site of mass murder and displacement. We join with millions of Australians to call for immediate sanctions and a complete end to the arms trade that enables this violence.
The Israeli invasion of Gaza City represents an escalation that will bring untold suffering to innocent civilians. Telling people to evacuate when nowhere is safe is sadistic and inhumane. Australia must not remain complicit.
Today, tomorrow and for as long as Israel’s appalling assault on the people of Gaza continues, every world leader will be asked this question: ”What are you doing to stop the killing?” Sanctions, end the two way arms trade and act like Palestinian lives matter.
The Australian Defence Force having billions in Israel defence contracts puts Australia at risk - military, ethically and legally michaelwest.com.au/billions-in-... via @michaelwestbiz.bsky.social
The full report is online here www.goodancestors.org.au/ai-stress-test
Labor has taken a concerning U-turn from their previous AI guardrails work, now adopting a "Trumpian let-it-rip approach" that rejects public interest regulation. The new Australians for AI Safety report shows why we need responsible AI governance, not lazy and short sighted deregulation.
We can't wait until AI models are creating chemical or cyber weapons before stepping in. Tech companies can't be trusted to self-regulate when profits clash with human rights and public safety. We need enforceable AI safety obligations now.
🚨 New report from Australians for AI Safety confirms Australia is "sleepwalking into an unregulated AI future with escalating risks." The 'catastrophic' rating for loss of control scenarios with zero effective regulation should be a wake-up call - we're running out of time to get this right.
When a corrupt war criminal launches a political attack, it is useful to remember he is a corrupt war criminal. It helps with perspective.
Donald Trump rolled out the red carpet for Putin, but did he get played again? @emmashortis.bsky.social discusses the the leaders' meeting in Alaska, Australia's planned recognition of Palestine & the state of US democracy with the National Guard patrolling Washington DC. 🎧 theaus.in/4ls8Umx
Seriously, this guy “phoned a friend” in the middle of these negotiations, and it was Putin
Meanwhile, Israel is planning its next genocidal actions to forcibly displace Palestinians from Gaza to Sudan and the world is shrugging its shoulders in exhaustion and self-imposed impotence. Sanctions now. Stop all trade in weapons.
Israel is taking harsher steps against Australia for our government’s pending recognition of Palestine than Australia has taken against Israel for its genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
… first …
When you see these two together like this you can clearly see how they are both dangerous, how both put ego and self interest and how disturbingly similar they are. We desperately need an independent Defence and Foreign policy.
Albanese’s Gaza Recipe: Add a Bit of Recognition and Continue with the Two-Way Arms Trade - another strong piece from Paul Gregoire www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/albanes...
It has been four years since the Taliban seized control in Afghanistan, and since that day, there has been a dramatic deterioration in rights and freedoms. I've included the full statement below.
Why would any sane Australian government bring this public safety risk to Australia, first with US and UK nuclear submarines and then, in the AUKUS dream world, with AUKUS SSN subs? The Scots are desperately trying to get rid of it while we are paying to bring this stuff here.
Our AUKUS ‘partners’ in the UK, had a Category A serious nuclear event in Scotland earlier this year that posed an "actual or high potential for radioactive release to the environment.” It’s the second in the last two years. The Scottish public are given zero details about it.
This is a horrifying report from the UN. There must be targeted sanctions on the Myanmar junta leadership. This includes sanctions on General Min Aung Hlaing, who led the brutal attacks on the Rohingya people. www.sbs.com.au/news/article...
Read the article in full here 👇https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-14/australia-defence-export-permits-to-israel-gaza-war/105628320
Every military export to Israeli forces assists the genocide in Gaza and ongoing war crimes, including the mass starvation of Palestinians. International law experts say this exposes people in Australia to breaches of the Genocide Convention. End the two-way arms trade.
The truth is out about Australia’s military exports to Israel and ongoing Labor lies. Defence Minister Marles said exports were all “dual use” for civil or military purposes. Turns out 90% are “inherently lethal” or only for military purposes. He has never apologised.
Greens Chlöes Swarbrick wants her country to oppose a genocide and recognise Palestine. When she is punished by some warped tradition that prizes niceties over decency, she just gets stronger. Greens in Aotearoa proudly in solidarity for a Free Palestine 🇵🇸
Read the full story here www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
For First Nations people, AUKUS is a direct attack on their land and water. Defence now has the power to impose a nuclear waste dump anywhere, any time. This is designed to defeat First Nations resistance and cultural protections. End AUKUS.
Imagine paying $375+ billion to have a nuclear waste dump turn up next door. That’s AUKUS for you, it opens up the whole country to be a potential toxic nuclear waste dump. Let’s dump AUKUS now.
The NT Police Force, which has just been granted even more powers to detain, arrest and torture, has entrenched racism. It needs independent oversight and a Federal Government willing to make funding conditional on a complete overhaul of safety and performance standards.
