Nauru Asylum Seekers Protest Delays
Yesterday more than 200 asylum seekers on Nauru held a protest to demand the Australian government start processing their applications for asylum - and close down the camp, reports Wendy Bacon.
Speaking at Wikileaks forum at NSW Parliament - September, 2012
Speaking at Wikileaks forum at a NSW Greens forum in NSW Parliament - September 2012
Why I'm a contributing editor at New Matilda
This week I became a contributing editor the Australian daily online publication New Matilda which is reader funded publication available free to all.
Effective media accountability does not have to threaten journalists' independence
Journalists, especially those from News Ltd, and right wing commentators promote the illusion that the Australian Gillard Labor government is threatening to 'regulate' the media in response to rigorous scrutiny of its performance. It has even been suggested that the Australian Labor Party is bullying News Ltd which is by far the most powerful media owner in this country.
Media Report interviews me about leaving full-time employment as a journalism academic at UTS
Richard Adey from the ABC Radio National's Media Report interviewed me last week about leaving UTS after 21 years.
The second part of my New Matilda timeline on the "Pacific Solution'
Yesterday, New Matilda published the second part of my Pacific Solution Timeline. The second part begins on New Year's Day 2004. As champagne corks were popping in Australia, asylum seekers in Nauru detention centre were on a hunger strike. Some were in hospital after vomiting blood and losing consciousness.
The Three Waves Of Nauru Anguish
Is Nauru the answer to the political impasse over asylum seekers? We must not forget the brutal realities of detention on Nauru and the trauma associated with it. Wendy Bacon continues her timeline.
Breaking through Nauru amnesia
In June, the Australian parliament debated refugee policy proposal put forward in a private member's bill by Independent member Rob Oakshott which if passed would have meant asylum seekers arriving by boat would be sent to Malaysia or to the tiny Pacific nation of Nauru, which had played a key role in the notorious Howard government's Pacific Solution.
Our Nauru Amnesia
Nauru is back on the agenda. Have we already forgotten the Howard years? Wendy Bacon has delved into the archive to recover a blighted history. Part one of NM's Pacific Solution timeline today.
Letter from 200 academics on Refugee policy - Objections and solutions.
In early July, Murdoch University academic Anne Pedersen and others wrote a letter about Australian refugee policy. The letter was circulated and along with 200 others, I was glad to support this initiative as I had become increasingly frustrated with the way the political choices in the refugee debate was being portrayed by the media.