The Architect Who Dismantled: F.W. de Klerk and the Politics of Letting Go
Whether genuinely seeking peace or simply a pragmatic politician who saw the inevitable, FW de Klerk was instrumental in dismantling apartheid
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July 19, 2026
Nelson Mandela: The Long Walk to Freedom and Reconciliation
On Nelson Mandela International Day, we reflect on the life and legacy of one of modern history's greatest humanists.
July 18, 2026
The Constitution, the Census and the Limits of the Christian Claim
The Australian Constitution is silent on the matter of religion, and the census shows that it is not the Christian country One Nation purports.
July 15, 2026
The Business Of Men: Penelope, Power and Australia’s Unfinished Reckoning
Homer's The Odyssey records the earliest instance of verbal abuse of a woman, demonstrating an embedded cultural trope that requires rectifying.
July 14, 2026
Gillham v MSO: A Precedent To Follow
Jayson Gillham's unsuccessful litigation against the MSO raises a number of concerns about the consequences for subsequent claims, in particular for contractors.
July 13, 2026
The Ledger of Belonging: Australian Identity and Its Religious Influences
Australian identity must hold the country's Indigenous history, its British institutional inheritance, and its immigrant present in the same frame.
July 6, 2026
Impossible Monoculture: Diversity, Pluralism and the Australia That Actually Exists
I. Two Arguments That Must Not Be Confused The case against monoculturalism in Australia rests on two distinct foundations that are often conflated, and the conflation weakens both. The first…
June 25, 2026
Fear: Aetiology, Pathogenesis and Therapy
Fear is a disease, one that can cause profound societal division, but which is treatable with honesty and a willingness to face the uncertainties in unity.
June 22, 2026
Exclusion: White Nationalism and the Moral Imperative of Resistance
Coordinated effort across education, institutions, legislation and community is required to counter the skewed narratives of white nationalism
June 16, 2026
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.
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