It didn’t have to be a referendum. The SA Parliament established one directly, as did the Victorian Parliament which, as best as I can see, has an even stronger intention to move towards treaty-like agreements. But the Statement from the Heart proposed a referendum on it, so that was hard to ignore

Flying-foxes are the major pollinators for our native forests. They are Australia’s secret weapon against climate change & have played a critical role in helping restore the land destroyed by the 2019/20 bushfires. 🦇🌳🌼 #bats #NoMeNoTree #Australia #ClimateEmergency #Biodiversity

I’m not suggesting this will always mean good decisions. I expect the two main parties in Australia would vote to deploy troops every time (altho one opposed the insane invasion of Iraq, so maybe we could’ve stopped Australian support of that). But it’s still good for transparency & accountability

Manitoba NDP win majority, CBC News projects. Solid NDP win cements Kinew as 1st First Nations premier in Manitoba history. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/... #cdnpoli #mbpoli

The USA’s ‘democracy’ is farcical in many ways, but one area where it puts Australia to shame is the fact that their Congress, unlike our Parliament, has a genuine say not only over whether to deploy troops overseas, but on major treaties & deals like AUKUS www.afr.com/policy/forei...

Scathing new report hands AUKUS sceptics firepower

A new Congressional report on AUKUS warns that an Australian accident could result in US warships being banned from foreign ports and questions whether Canberra would commit nuclear-powered submarines...

Our Bushcare roundup for this week. Some local activities across the SEQ region where you can learn more about the local environment or do your bit to help restore it.

The massacres, taking of women & kidnapping of Aboriginal children continued into the 20th century unpunished. Long & loud complaints & protests led to inquiries “This is where we honed our national skill in ventilating disgust without taking any useful action.” www.theguardian.com/books/2023/o...

The hatred and greed of the frontier wars still drive race politics today. How little things change ...

Rejig the no voice case rhetoric a little and you’ll find echoes of arguments from the 19th century. Behind it all I hear familiar old voices growling

This is a harrowing but very important read. It’s also an essential read for anyone who wants to publicly express an opinion about Grace Tame. www.crikey.com.au/2023/10/02/g...

‘The older I get, the younger I was’: What’s it like to be the subject of News Corp coverage?

I will always be exploitation material in the eyes of the Murdoch press, but when I first clashed with them, I was an anonymous child in the raw stages of trauma.

It’s bad enough Australia turns a blind eye to the atrocities in WestPapua. What’s worse is that some of these are done with weapons made in Australia by companies subsidised by the Australian govt with the explicit goal of increasing our country’s weapons exports www.theguardian.com/world/2023/s...

‘The kids had all been tortured’: Indonesian military accused of targeting children in West Papu...

Exclusive: Australia is seeking to strengthen ties with Indonesia, despite new reports of brutality by the military — including the torture and murder of civilians — in West Papua

Damning article regarding the person who is now Labor’s head of Home Affairs Dept. “Professor of public policy & law at Griffith University, AJ Brown, said the revelations of Pezzullo’s behaviour made his position “untenable almost instantly” www.theage.com.au/national/fiv...

Five years. A thousand messages. How a top public servant tried to influence governments

Our reporters have uncovered a cache of messages, sent by Home Affairs secretary Michael Pezzullo to a Liberal powerbroker, where he tried to protect his allies and denigrate his enemies.