En Passant

Newly elected ACTU secretary Sally McManus was right to say we should break unjust laws, and I know exactly which to start with – Labor’s Fair Work regime.

To read the whole article in Independent Australia click here.

The terrorism hype and changes to our immigration laws throw away basic rights to a trial and give incredible powers to the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection. They undermine our freedoms here and now. They set a dangerous precedent. They prepare the way for further criminalising dissent in Australia.

Given that the AFP is investigating whether Gillian Triggs was asked to resign and if an inducement was offered to get her to do so, isn’t Tony Abbott’s categorical and unequivocal statement that ‘she was not asked to resign and no inducement has been offered’ itself possibly an attempt to influence and perhaps pervert the course of the investigation? Will he too be investigated?

Twenty-three years ago in Bowraville, a small town on the NSW north coast, three Aboriginal children were murdered in five months writes Dave Clarke in Red Flag. The families of the Bowraville Three are still fighting the racist indifference of the authorities.

Lindy Chamberlain was guilty because she didn’t cry. Clearly there can be no justice in an unjust society.

If there were justice, war criminals like George Bush and Barack Obama would be on trial now, with their Australian and British accomplices right beside them.

If there were justice, those who kill Aborigines in custody would be in prison. Those who steal their land would be dealt with.

If there were justice, the media would report the truth.

If there were justice Lindy Chamberlain wouldn’t have spent 3 years in jail and taken 32 years to win this week’s victory.

Only overthrowing the current unjust economic, political and social system can create a just society.

The current Australian Parliament is a good argument for socialism and workers running society democratically through their own institutions.

Under capitalism it is one law for the rich; one law for the poor. Not just for Wendi Deng but for Rupert Murdoch too.

You don’t jail such a rich man for using his power to influence politics for his own advantage.

You don’t jail the Prime Minister for corrupt appointments of influence in his own office or the heavies in the police force for doing the same. You don’t jail the head of the police force for taking freebies worth $20,000 from someone who has a connection with Murdoch.

You don’t jail the son of the mogul for paying hush money.

You don’t jail Murdoch even though his plausible deniability excuse sounds implausible.

Welcome to justice under capitalism.

Justice is expendable. If the ideology of justice stands in the way of the US winning an important propaganda victory then justice is overthrown.

Australian justice is like Chinese justice – it represents the interests of the rich and powerful.