The case sheds new light on how Victoria police pursued youth offenders of African-Australian background and provides another extraordinary example, in the wake of the Lawyer X and Jason Roberts controversies, of the force failing to properly disclose evidence to an accused.
Refugees and asylum seekers are camping 24/7 outside Tony Burke’s office. By Jane Salmon, P&I
Demonstrators say they need case-by-case solutions and permanent visas. Up to 10,000 people have been in the country for up to 12 years. Many have found ways to contribute as front-line workers paying tax during that time. They have seen other groups receive faster outcomes. They need clarity about their future, their children’s’ futures, plus work, study, family reunion and health care rights (not to mention assurances that they will not be arbitrarily removed in the future).
Refugees and asylum seekers are camping 24/7 outside Tony Burke’s office. By Jane Salmon, P&I
Labor rejects report that international students will be capped at 40% of university enrolments. By Paul Karp, The Guardian
Jason Clare (Minister of Education) described international education, Australia’s fourth biggest export industry, as “an incredibly important national asset” which “makes us money”.
“It also makes us friends, because when students come to Australia to study and fall in love with the place or maybe someone special, they take that love for us back home.”
Poor at politics, strong on policy. By Peter Mares, Inside Story
Andrew Giles and Clare O’Neil shouldn’t be judged only in the light of the two most controversial developments during their tenure — the response to the High Court decision and the sudden spike in temporary migration. During Labor’s first year in office they significantly improved how the migration system works…
Poor at politics, strong on policy. By Peter Mares, Inside Story
Survey data finds many recent migrants don't fully understand Australia's political system. By Max Walden, ABC News
Survey and focus group data collected by Sukhmani Khorana of UNSW and Fan Yang from the University of Melbourne found about half of first-generation migrants they surveyed said they lacked political literacy, meaning many could be going to the polls without making an informed choice.
This gap in understanding among newer migrant communities has allowed for the proliferation of misinformation and disinformation, said Dr Khorana, who is an expert on migrant and refugee communities in Australia.
Rich countries are paying poorer ones to manage their refugee crises: 3 reasons this is dangerous. By Ali Bhagat & Genevieve LeBaron,The Conversation
We have been following how western governments have created a new form of refugee governance. Just as they once outsourced production, the dumping of e-waste and plastics recycling, they have been seeking to hand over to developing countries the problem of refugee processing and governance. This approach is flawed, too. It opens the door to human rights abuses and the propping up of authoritarian regimes in developing countries, and is expensive for western countries under the guise of humanitarianism and “solving” so-called migration crises.
History-makers: The cycling sisters defying the Taliban and chasing a medal in Paris. By Madeleine Wedesweiler, SBS News
Under the Taliban's rule in Afghanistan, women are forbidden from competing in sports.
When the harsh regime took over following the fall of Kabul in 2021.
Yulduz and Fariba Hashimi didn't know if they'd be able to continue cycling, let alone qualify for the Paris Olympics.
They were able to continue their training with the help of a friend who mentored them when they fled to Italy. They now live in Switzerland.
The big picture: Paula Bronstein on the plight of Rohingya refugees. By Tim Adams, The Guardian
The award-winning photojournalist captures the despair of some of the 600,000 people forced to flee Myanmar for Bangladesh in 2017, where they faced inhuman treatment.
The big picture: Paula Bronstein on the plight of Rohingya refugees. By Tim Adams, The Guardian
Advocates welcome new visa allowing migrant workers to remain in Australia to pursue legal action against their employers. By Emilia Terzon, ABC News
A new visa that was quietly introduced last week is already giving hope to migrant workers who are battling for justice against exploitation, a leading legal advocate says.
If granted, the workplace justice visa (subclass 408) lets a migrant worker without any other legal avenue to stay in Australia, remain in the country for up to 12 months to fight an active workplace claim.
Pressure grows to end ‘double standard’ on Australian visas for Palestinians fleeing conflict. By Sarah Basford Canales, The Guardian
The Palestinian community and refugee advocacy groups are urging the veteran Labor frontbencher to offer those fleeing Gaza a special humanitarian pathway like those offered to Afghans in 2021 and Ukrainians in 2022.
Labor’s immigration record and the zombie portfolio. By Peter Hughes, P&I
Given the catastrophe they inherited from the Coalition Government, Labor’s immigration record over two years is actually quite good. Huge improvement is still required. They will remain seriously hampered by the Home Affairs portfolio construct and must eventually restore a freestanding Department of Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs. Andrew Giles has been unfairly criticised for his handling of a problem that was of Peter Dutton’s making.
Labor’s immigration record and the zombie portfolio. By Peter Hughes, P&I
Tony Burke blasts ‘idiotic’ suggestion he would weaken security checks for Palestinians. By Sarah Basford Canales, The Guardian
The new home affairs minister, Tony Burke, has rubbished suggestions that he will rubber-stamp visas for Palestinians in a bid to stave off backlash in his western Sydney seat at the next federal election.
Burke, in his first interview following the Albanese government’s reshuffle, said the suggestions made by shadow home affairs minister, James Paterson, in a recent article were “idiotic” and untrue.
Opinion: The Coalition’s home affairs experiment was doomed to fail. Tony Burke has a huge job on his hands. By Abul Rizvi, The Guardian
After an announcement by Anthony Albanese, Asio is now moving back to the attorney general portfolio, along with the AFP, where the two functions had been before the home affairs experiment started.
While the title remains, the vision of making immigration and multicultural affairs function as part of Australia’s national security and law enforcement apparatus is hopefully over.
Ministers aren’t the problem at a shrinking Home Affairs. By Bernard Keane, Crikey
Changing ministers at Home Affairs won't fix its problems, especially when Labor wants effective management of our visa system.
Ministers aren’t the problem at a shrinking Home Affairs. By Bernard Keane, Crikey
Cabinet reshuffle: Here's who made Anthony Albanese's 'team to take to the election'. SBS News
O'Neil has moved to housing and homelessness but remains in cabinet.
Giles has been given skills and training in the outer ministry.
Tony Burke has taken up home affairs and immigration, with the latter being elevated into the cabinet from the outer ministry — as well as holding the cyber security and arts portfolios, and being Leader of the House.
Cabinet reshuffle: Here's who made Anthony Albanese's 'team to take to the election'. SBS News
Cabinet contenders circle as Giles expected to be moved out of immigration in reshuffle. By Amy Remeikis, The Guardian
Andrew Giles, the immigration minister, is expected to be moved out of the immigration portfolio with questions over Clare O’Neil’s future in home affairs. The Queensland senator Murray Watt has been named as a possible contender for elevation up the ranks, potentially being moved into immigration or either skills or the industrial relations portfolio.
If moved from their portfolios, O’Neil and Giles are expected to remain in cabinet.
CRUELTY BY DESIGN: The health crisis in offshore detention. Prepared by Asylum Seeker Resource Centre
During the past 11 years, Australia’s policy of offshore processing has caused at least 14 deaths and significant physical and mental harm to the thousands of refugees and people seeking asylum subjected to unimaginable cruelty in detention centres in Nauru and Manus Island (PNG).
The policy has proven to be a cruel failure, not only due to the significant costs to operate the contentious detention regime – over $12 billion from July 2012 to June 2024 – but due to the widely-documented cases of medical neglect, sexual violence, suicide attempts, mental and physical abuse and countless other human rights violations that have occurred offshore.
Today, the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) continues to advocate alongside medical experts and those still held offshore, for the Australian Government to be held accountable for the safety, medical care and welfare of approximately 47 refugees and people seeking asylum held in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and 96 people detained in Nauru.
Migrants and homeless people cleared out of Paris during Olympics. ABC News
Authorities also have been sharply criticised as they have bussed camping migrants from the city centre, where the Olympics are taking place, to the fringes of Paris or other areas.
Activist groups and migrants have called the practice — long used in other Olympic host cities like Rio de Janeiro in 2016 — a form of "social cleansing".
Migrants and homeless people cleared out of Paris during Olympics. ABC News
Stop the offshore health crisis - calls for Federal Government to end offshore detention. By Jane Favero, Croakey Health Media
Everyone ASRC is in contact with on PNG reports physical health problems and issues accessing appropriate health care. On Nauru its more than 60 percent.
Alarmingly, in PNG, 20 percent of refugees are so unwell that their lives are in imminent risk. We have a real fear that someone will die soon. And its not just us doctors have issued the same warning.
Refugees Susan and Raj Dahal have been waiting 12 years to bring their eldest children to Australia. ABC Ballarat / By Rochelle Kirkham
After 11 years of uncertainty in Australia, Susan, Raj and their two Australian-born children were granted permanent residency, allowing them to apply for visas to bring their eldest children to Australia for the first time.
It was a celebratory moment, but the joy has now worn off, after 12 months of anxiously waiting without any news on their application.