Always and and always will be Aboriginal Land. Black lives have always mattered. Not just this week, not the last time there was an outrageous beating, or death in custody. Not the 402 times since the Royal Commission into Black Deaths in custody over twenty years ago. Not just when Rodney King was the first live broadcast beating, resulting in riots in LA 30 years ago, and not just when colonisers killed Aboriginal people for sport, and to drive them off their lands in the last 230 years.** Please note, flag is upside down in feature image as sign of distressThey have mattered for millennia. When First Nations people across the Aboriginal nations of Australia (or any other First Nations people who are at high risk, including the US at thus time), African American people in the United States or … Read More »

EDIT NOTE 8/5/20 – Yes, this is a long post. We want to provide context for the bigger picture of some data, privacy and surveillance concerns but also outline the many issues with the app. We also want you to listen to voices not platformed in this debate, and explain some of the technical aspects in plain English. Since publishing this has been viewed 10k and we’ve added some extra links to some improved discource around the app. Scroll to find areas of interest.

The public discourse around the CovidSafe app has been problematic to say the least. In one corner we have model citizens, people on Team Australia, those willing to act together for the common good. They believe in family values, they’ve been self distancing and they champion the Anzac spirit.

3.5 million of them have installed the … Read More »

Why friends don’t let friends endanger friends

We are living through this wild ride together – where things don’t make sense. Some activist groups were the first I saw to cancel events, and also the first to mobilise into mutual aid networks – directly supporting each other in community. In the main, people who would normally be out on the streets in protest at government over-reach are doing right by their community and staying home.

We saw the Greens actively pushing for a lockdown, but seemingly without any clear parameters for how to manage this when it occurred – nor a detailed plan for how to manage policing so it did not impact on marginalised communities. In this topsy turvy land we have seen the ACTU and the Liberals working collaboratively on one of the biggest government packages we have ever … Read More »

This is Alana and Aysha. Aysha has down syndrome. Alana says “I’m wanting people who are unwell to pull back from sending kids to school, going to work, health services and public spaces. It’s serious, it might not be your most important person that doesn’t make it but it will be someone’s.”