For millennia, women have had to contend with the ideology that because of their biology, women鈥檚 second class status is part of some 鈥渘atural order鈥. This has been perpetuated by the state, the church, the family, and reflected in laws and through education.
But this is bullshit. Throughout many millennia of human history, women occupied a status at least equal to men鈥檚. The problem is that you won鈥檛 hear about this reality in school, you won鈥檛 see it reflected in the media or in film.
Bylong Valley, near Mudgee in NSW, is a tranquil and secluded village. It is listed by the National Trust as a Landscape Conservation Area because of its stunning beauty and abundant prime agricultural land. But its tranquillity is under threat.
A recent essay by Australian philosopher Clive Hamilton The great climate silence: we are on the edge of the abyss but we ignore it was both moving and frustrating.
Moving because he鈥檚 right when he says: 鈥溾 calamity is unfolding, that the life systems of the Earth are being damaged in ways that threaten our survival.鈥
Runaway global warming threatens mass species extinction and the collapse of agriculture. It may bring with it the most traumatic and violent phase of human history. It鈥檚 truly scary stuff.
Newcastle Students Against Detention (SAD) culture jammed the University of Newcastle鈥檚 rebranding launch on May 15, putting pressure on the administration to cut ties with Broadspectrum which runs Australia鈥檚 detention centres on Nauru and Manus Island.
The students were leaked the designs which they parodied to better reflect the University of Newcastle鈥檚 (UON) odious business ties, and stuck them over the official ones.
The rebranding focused on the word 鈥淣ew鈥, so SAD made posters stating: 鈥淣ew Abuses. New Human Rights Violations. Lose Your Ethics at UON.鈥
The Victorian Labor government is considering a restructure of Victoria's fire services, according to a report in the May 9 Herald Sun.
Victoria has two fire services 鈥 the Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB) and the Country Fire Authority (CFA). The boundaries between the zones covered by these two bodies have not been changed for many years. With the expansion of Melbourne, many outer suburbs are covered by the CFA. So too are large towns such as Ballarat and Bendigo.
Just two weeks ago, four young Muslim women wearing hijabs were assaulted right in front of the University of Technology Sydney at about 1.30pm. They were punched, one after another, by a woman they had not spoken to or interacted with in any way.
One of the women, a young student at UTS, and a recent migrant, was punched in the face and fell to the ground bleeding. A staff member who witnessed the assaults rushed to her assistance and photographed the alleged assailant.
In February last year, 39 universities signed up to , a campaign to eliminate sexual assault and harassment on campus. But more than a year later, there are no new initiatives in place and students are asking why.
Twenty years after the original Bringing Them Home report was released, Aboriginal children are still being taken from their parents 鈥 in greater numbers than before.
Commenting on the impact of Bringing Them Home 鈥 which documented evidence about the Stolen Generations of Aboriginal children 鈥 Murri elder Sam Watson told 麻豆传媒 that 鈥渋t is beyond dispute that Aboriginal children were removed in significant numbers鈥.
鈥淓very single [Aboriginal] family was affected,鈥 Watson said and this 鈥渄ated back to the first years of European invasion鈥.
Australian anti-racist athlete Peter Norman, who was born in Coburg and later became a trainer and player for West Brunswick Football Club, is to be recognised by the Moreland Council.
Norman remains Australia鈥檚 fastest sprinter 鈥 his Australian 200-metre record from the 1968 Mexico City Olympics still stands.
However, Norman was not just an extraordinary athlete. He also took a stand against racism and for human rights. He was the third man in the iconic photo of the medal ceremony for the 200-metre race.
For the better part of six years, Baba Jan, a founding member and activist of the left-wing Awami Workers Party (AWP) in the Pakistani-occupied disputed territory of Gilgit-Baltistan, has been behind bars on a life sentence for 鈥榯errorism鈥 charges. His crime? Demanding rights for Hunza鈥檚 poor and displaced.
Four hundred people gathered at the summit of Mt Donna Buang in the Yarra Ranges National Park on May 13 to create a human sign spelling out support for a new Great Forest National Park in the Central Highlands and Gippsland.
Called The Great Forest Picnic, the human sign was 60 metres long, 50 metres wide and spelled out the words 鈥淲e 鈾 parks鈥.
On May 17, I received an email from Centrelink advising that I would no longer be eligible for the student start-up scholarship.
This means the $1035 payment that helped to pay for my textbooks, university car parking fees and other course materials will now only be available as a loan I will have to pay back on HECs.
Losing this start-up scholarship will hurt many students, with welfare payments hardly keeping up with the ever-increasing cost of living and rent.