Andrew Wilkie

Stop Black deaths in custody

Gunnai Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung independent Senator Lidia Thorpe has received crossbench backing for her call on Labor to implement the royal commission into Black deaths in custody’s recommendations. Isaac Nellist reports. 

Andrew Wilkie wants the Labor government to use the power it has to “discontinue the politically-motivated prosecutions” of whistleblowers David McBride and Richard Boyle. Paul Gregoire reports.

Hundreds of people joined a rally on Parliament Lawns in Hobart to call for whistleblower Julian Assange to be freed and support public interest journalism, reports Tristan Sykes.

Unemployed and welfare groups are calling on the government not to cut income support at the end of March. Peter Boyle reports.

Crown Sydney

Everybody knows the gambling industry feeds on misery. We need to hold the individual fat cats accountable. But we also have to shine a spotlight on the pathway out of this systemic mess, argues Alex Bainbridge.

About 100 people protested against Australian Federal Police (AFP) raids on News Corp and ABC journalists, outside the Commonwealth Parliamentary Offices on June 15.

The rally, called by NSW Greens MLC David Shoebridge, heard from former ABC and SBS journalist and multiple Walkley Award winner Mark Davis, Stop the War Coalition founding member Pip Hinman, National Union of Students Ethno-Cultural Officer Hersha Kadkol, investigative journalist Michael West and independent journalist Paul Gregoire.

The federal Attorney General’s case against a defendant dubbed “Witness K” began in the ACT Magistrates Court on September 12. Media reports say Witness K is a serving Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) officer. 

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie has called on the Australian Federal Police (AFP) to investigate the role of intelligence services in the bugging of East Timor's cabinet rooms while the two nations were negotiating a deal on accessing offshore oil deposits. Wilkie has the support of Tasmanian Greens Senator Nick McKim and South Australian Senators Tim Storer and Rex Patrick.

The Chilcot Inquiry into Britain's role in the Iraq War has prompted calls for a similar inquiry into the Coalition government, then led by John Howard, taking Australia into war in 2003. Andrew Wilkie, the only intelligence official from the US, Britain or Australia to dispute the official explanation for the Iraq War, said on July 7 there should be an investigation into the Howard government's decision to go to war.
Andrew Wilkie, speaking at anti-pulp mill rally in Launceston, June 16, 2007.

The death of Lance-Corporal Jared Mackinney in Oruzgan province in Afghanistan on August 25 brought the death toll of Australian soldiers to 21 — 10 of whom have died since June. Mackinney was the third Australian soldier killed in Afghanistan in four days.