Fiction Become Prophecy: A Contemporary Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith
Higher expectations and broader negative assumptions of an Indigenous man underpin the pervasive structural racism that destroys First Nations lives.
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May 28, 2026
ACT Government / Australian Aborigines / Australian Federal Police / Commonwealth Government / Discrimination/Racism / Former Commissioner / Racism / Uncategorized
Sorry Means Accountability: A Sorry Day Essay
Every year on the 26th of May, Australia observes National Sorry Day. Flags are lowered. Speeches are made. Politicians stand at podiums and invoke the language of healing, reconciliation, and…
May 27, 2026
She Speaks, But No One Listens: A Lament of the Old Country
I am old. Older than the names they gave me,
May 24, 2026
ACT Government / Australian Aborigines / Australian Federal Police / Discrimination/Racism / Former Commissioner / Justice / Racism
Still Standing: A Note to Readers of Blak and Black
Some of you have been reading this blog since its earliest days. You know the history. You know what was attempted. This is a brief note to tell you that…
May 20, 2026
Australian Aborigines / Australian Federal Police / Discrimination/Racism / First Nations/Indigenous / Human Rights / Racism / Refugees / Shared humanity
We Were All Made In The Image: On othering, humanism and the Enlightenment legacy
Far from being a footnote in history, the Enlightenment remains a challenge to the racism and exclusion plaguing Australia and the world.
May 16, 2026
This Old Commission, He Played One: A Nursery Rhyme in Verses for an Inquiry That Keeps Rolling Home
Let us begin where we must. On 14 December 2025, fifteen people were murdered at Bondi Beach during a Hanukkah celebration. The attack was ISIS-inspired, carried out by gunmen whose…
May 15, 2026
Superfluous People: Anticipation Without Consummation – A History
Regardless of recommendations, time and again, the rights of Indigenous people in Australia are subordinated to those of others, The Gap never closing.
May 14, 2026
ACT Government / Bill of Rights / Corruption / Former Commissioner / Government / Human Rights / Justice / Law / Rule of Law
Exercising Justice: A Review of the Transgressions of Notable Legal Practitioners
Justice requires that legal practitioners be held to the same standards as the rest of the community, but not all jurisdictions accept that fact.
May 10, 2026
The Red-Haired Fishmonger and the Billionaire From the West: A Fable
Ambition combined with greed and envy makes for a dangerous combination.
May 6, 2026
After Bondi – Terror, Antisemitism, and the Architecture of Safety
A Critical Essay on the Interim Report of the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion.
May 2, 2026
New Chums of the Lucky Country: On the Patriotism of Welcome
The version of Australian identity that excludes newcomers based on difference is not patriotism, but a failure to accept that very difference is what builds the nation.
April 28, 2026
Discrimination / Discrimination/Racism / Racism / Refugee Policy / Respect / Shared humanity / Uncategorized
Riquet with the Quiff:A Fairy Tale for Australia’s Unfinished Multicultural Masterpiece
We are the princess. Reject Hanson’s othering. Love our unfinished multicultural nation enough to transform. Wish it so.
April 26, 2026
What You Permit, You Endorse: On the Second Constitution of the State
The gap between a government's rhetoric and its conduct is the full measure of its character.
April 22, 2026
ACT Government / Discrimination/Racism / Former Commissioner / Government / International Law / Rule of Law
State Power, Intersectional Identity and the Lie of Equality Before the Law
Assuring equality under the law requires the persistent effort of people and institutions to deliver on the promise, a matter at which Australia is failing.
April 19, 2026
Australian Values: Gout Gout, Simpson and the Nation’s Soul
Australia is not and has never been a defined racial group. There is no racial purity and those who argue such are not its defenders.
April 16, 2026
The Dream Deferred: Martin Luther King Jr and Unfinished Justice
Generating the momentum to realise the Dream envisioned in 1963 by Luther King requires the moral will to demand what is owed.
April 15, 2026
Beyond What We Are: A Hard-Nosed Humanist’s Case for Human Possibility
Millennia has brought us to this point in time and has shown us that what we are to become is very much up to ourselves.
April 11, 2026
Beacon: Pope Leo XIV, the Prophetic Voice in the Dark
Far from buckling to threats by the United States, Pope Leo XIV's response has made clear that the papacy will not be bullied into compliance.
April 10, 2026
Australian Aborigines / Discrimination/Racism / First Nations/Indigenous / Law Enforcement / NSW Police / Racism
Early Drug Diversion, Privilege and Racism in NSW Police
Inequities in the management of first-time drug offences by NSW Police highlight the ongoing problems in Closing the Gap.
April 6, 2026