Justice: The Achilles‘ Heel of Democracy
The objective of democracy is justice, whether it be in the realm of politics, the judicial process or elsewhere within society. But justice is an elusive target and a difficult objective to achieve. The possibility of justice is the privilege of a small minority of humanity ; the probability of justice is the privilege of an even smaller minority. Most crimes and misdeeds go unpunished and most criminals are not even apprehended. The success rate of crime worldwide is far superior to the success rate of justice and the gap is widening.
Rodney Crisp
Saving Protests from Apathy, Police and Bad Laws
Earlier this year, Attorney General George Brandis tried to sell the Australian public on his proposal to repeal Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act by championing the right of people to be ‘bigots.’ And even as Brandis was defending the right to be racist, coalition state governments across the country were (and are) rolling out laws that threaten not only our right to peaceful protest and public dissent, but even to simply occupy public space.
Protesting is becoming a crime.
Ruby Hamad
The Medical Research Future Fund: A Good Deal for Health?
During the 2014 May Budget Treasurer, Joe Hockey announced the creation of a dedicated Future Fund for medical research. The MRFF is arguably one of the greatest changes to how Australian medical research is supported. Yet unfortunately, what has been lost in the vocal, and sometimes heated debate about savings and spending – and the controversial $7 GP co-payment – is the tremendous value that investment in health and medical research represents.
Roger Yasbeck
The Next Fifty Years
The 1950s were a time of great prosperity in Australia. Yet while the scars of WWII were fading, the Cold War and rising tension in Vietnam hovered like a cloud. Even so, the 50s were obsessed with images of a prosperous and technologically advanced future.
To celebrate 85 years in print, AQ reprints an article from 1954 that endeavours to predict Australia’s future. It’s a window to our future past and a mirror to present selves. Have we fullfilled the promise of ours stars or are we still preoccupied with same old fears?
R. R. Scholl