An alternative voice in search of truth and justice.
01/09/2022
Today I was able to attend and participate in the National Tertiary Education Union’s strike action at the University of Queensland, where I am currently a student. It is the first of what will hopefully be many such actions taken both at UQ’s St Lucia campus and across other universities in Queensland and other states, with a clear message and clear demands – secure work, a real pay rise, and more control.
Continue reading “The NTEU Starts “Striketember” Industrial Action at UQ“This essay was written for one of my political science units at UQ. It is a response to the question of whether Australia’s major parties enhance or damage our political system. While (hopefully) sticking to the criteria and constraints of the assessment, I have argued the latter. A full reference list is at the end. Enjoy.
Australia’s political system has been dominated by two major contenders dating back to 1909, between the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and what is now the Coalition parties (the Liberal Party of Australia (LPA), the National Party, and, in Queensland, the Liberal National Party (LNP)). While the latter has gone through several iterations and name changes, these two blocs have maintained power between themselves with only tentative challenge from minor parties and Independents in recent years. (Kefford et al 2018). It is the purpose of this article to explore some of the key issues such a restrained system has and the damage it has had on Australian politics and policy.
Continue reading “The Monopoly of Australia’s Major Parties and Political Disenfranchisement”22/09/2021
We are in the third day of small but loud protests taking place in Melbourne right now, and it has become crystal clear what the purpose of these demonstrations really are. What started ostensibly as a “tradies” protest against Victoria’s vaccine mandate and the Union’s support of it has quickly turned into a violent, nationalist and conspiracy ridden farce. The misinformation online has accelerated as clashes begin with police, now at the Shrine of Remembrance.
Continue reading “The Melbourne Protests Are Not a Worker’s Movement”20/03/2021
The art of communication has become highly coveted in today’s global and highly connected societies and economies. Whether it’s PR spinning a positive image for a corporation, a creative team selling a hit advertising campaign, or journalists telling the news, professional communicators reach into every aspect of our lives. Some can, and do, have immense power over our perceptions of reality, particularly in the political realm. But while these communicators have the power to disperse meaning, they aren’t always the ones making it.
Continue reading “The Management of Meaning in Australian Journalism”01/11/2020
Constant weariness, a lack of productivity, and general self-loathing has created a cycle resulting in a drought of posting this past month that I simply can’t justify, so let’s attempt to overcome that by breaking in the door to dispel some myths perpetuated by utter fools about socialism and the Australian Labor Party. Just like how the American circus calls Joe Biden and Kamala Harris radical Marxists, if only our leaders were as based as the propagandistic media believes they are.
Continue reading “Is Labor Socialist? I Wish”24/09/2020
In the past week, both the Daily Telegraph and the Sydney Morning Herald, the Murdoch and Costello duo enveloping Australia’s media landscape, did hit pieces on Friendlyjordies. This resulted in a number of things, the most ironic being the skyrocket of attention someone can get from being on the front page of a national paper. But for all the transparently hostile spin towards Jordan, there is one criticism I saw in the online response to these pieces that I thought worth noting: Friendlyjordies is not the be all and end all of political thought.
Continue reading “Go Beyond Friendlyjordies”02/08/2020
Right after having to claim he isn’t stupid, Alan Jones, now gracing the festering pit of Sky News commentary, repeated the claim made by Donald Trump – that COVID-19 cases only appear to be bad because more testing reveals more cases. He then goes onto question whether there is a pandemic, if it is even dangerous at all, and concludes by saying we’ve committed economic suicide. But not before he tears Victorian Labor Premier, Daniel Andrews, to shreds over his handling of “not-a-pandemic”.
30/05/2020
I first heard of Drew Pavlou, a UQ student Senator, in the height of the Hong Kong protests last year when he made local waves supporting Hong Kong at the University of Queensland’s (UQ) St Lucia campus. This demonstration, as I recall, got a little heated, but I didn’t hear much come of it until recently, with Pavlou reaching an international audience and entering the national discourse. The reason? That protest has since become a small movement of its own against UQ’s connections with the Chinese Communist Party.
12/04/2020
I have recently stumbled into a few videos online with pro-capitalist arguments, decrying socialist ideas and encouraging free markets to take full form. The one thing I have found listening to them, whether their arguments have any legitimate points within, is their selective examples and, at times, complete disfiguration of facts. One such video was an argument about why socialism did not work by a man (who I know nothing about beyond this) called Daniel Hannan. I haven’t written in a while, so what better way to get back into it than by questioning this random guy’s points?
Continue reading “Daniel Hannan’s Arguments Against Socialism”
04/12/2019
Hell hath no fury like a Labor supporter who cannot handle even the slightest criticism of their party or who has an aneurism every time someone mentions the Greens. I’ve been at the receiving end of some rather defensive and dismissive statements for daring to suggest Labor still has much to improve upon, or that there are alternatives. Greens voters aren’t faultless either, being unable to view Labor as a viable option against the Coalition given the sad reality of politics in this country. What we end up with is… nothing, the Coalition keeps winning.
Continue reading “Labor and Greens Divide Is Petty Factionalism”
Anarchist Rising 