Home for Christmas
Like Trump claiming yet again he won’t vacate the White House, 2020 is throwing another temper tantrum. And while we may hear in the next few days that’s all it is – a small(ish) outbreak exclusive to the Northern Beaches – we are back to where we started in March. At home.
Sorry, no cash on me
The transition to going cash-free was supercharged this year. “An ATM machine,” we eye-roll, “who even bothers?” But what if spare change was your main source of income? Charities, buskers and beggars angling for gold-coin donations are now missing out on vital support.
Preserving our heritage
The destruction of 46,000-year-old rock shelters at Juukan Gorge in Western Australia in July has shown there’s a serious flaw in our heritage protection laws. Without urgent and drastic reform, it will only be a matter of time until another ancient site is allowed to be destroyed.
Clawing back from extinction
For the past 30 years, Tasmanian devils have suffered from their own pandemic, a facial cancer that causes large facial tumours and spreads through biting. Now, new genetic analysis reveals the disease is less infectious than a decade ago. And that is just the news we’ve been waiting for.
For the love of chocolate
Before you throw a few Christmas-themed boxes of chocolates in your shopping trolley, consider this: 20 years ago, the world’s major chocolate producers pledged to stamp out child exploitation. Today, two million kids in West Africa still work in slave-like conditions. Here’s what brands to get behind this Christmas.
Biloela family’s third Christmas in detention
Asylum seekers are held in detention for longer than ever before and far longer than any comparable country. While Australia gets ready for a Christmas out of lockdown, Kopika and Tharunicaa will be facing the festivities in detention – ironically, on Christmas Island.
Alarming growth in female prisoners
More women in Australia are going to prison than ever before. Over the past 10 years, there’s been a 75% increase in incarceration rates. Are women suddenly committing more serious crimes or have laws and policing practices changed so that minor crimes are more heavily penalised?
Pandemic accelerates inequality
Low case numbers and a vaccine underway mean Australia is taking a collective (but tentative) sigh of relief. Whatever “normal” used to look like, we want it back in 2021. But what about the knock-on effects of this truly diabolical year? Well, some are good, some not so much…
Mum and Dad philanthropists making a splash
A group of Australian philanthropists are running out of money. And that’s exactly what they want. Spending big and fast to fight climate change, they are hoping to make a difference during the critical next 10 years and change the course of the impending crisis.
Dangers of being a paramedic
Did you know that a paramedic is assaulted in Victoria every 50 hours? Paramedicine is one of the most dangerous jobs in Australia. Paramedics witness trauma regularly but it is violence committed against them that makes it so dangerous. The profession needs to change, and rapidly. Here’s why.
Billion-dollar home project
It’s the type of social housing investment the Vocal Minority has been calling for. Victoria’s Big Housing Build project will kick-start the economy post-COVID and go a long way to ending the housing crisis. Now it’s time for the rest of Australia to follow.
US election win pushes climate agenda
The Biden presidency will push Australia into taking more action on climate change – regardless of what our prime minister says. Even if Morrison decides to take a final stand on coal and gas, it is inevitable corporate Australia will force his hand.