2 Dec 2009 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
Indonesia’s censorship board has banned an Australian-made film about the alleged murder five journalists by Indonesian troops during the 1975 invasion of East Timor. The ruling came just hours before a planned premiere screening of Balibo was due to take place forcing organisers to cancel. Jakarta maintains they were killed accidentally in cross-fire however in 2007 an Australian coroner concluded that the journalists had been executed. A sixth Australian journalist was killed in Dili shortly afterwards while investigating the deaths. Read more here
17 Aug 2009 | Index Index, minipost
Australia has announced plans to amend its anti-terrorism legislation to give more power to the police. Australia has gradually extended laws on detaining and interrogating terrorism suspects since 2001. There are plans to broaden the definition of a terrorist to include individuals planning to inflict psychological damage as well as those intending to cause physical injury. Read more here
3 Aug 2009 | Index Index, minipost
An Australian radio phone-in show has been taken off air after a 14-year-old girl admitted to being raped while taking part in a game on the programme. Presenter Kyle Sandilands asked the girl if that had been her only sexual experience.
Read more here
14 Jul 2009 | Index Index, minipost
Qantas airline has put a halt on online activist group GetUp’s latest anti-censorship campaign, refusing to run the “Censordyne” advert, which criticises the Australian government’s forthcoming Internet filtering scheme, on its flights. The group had planned to run the parody advert on all domestic flights into Canberra next month to ensure it was seen by politicians around the first sitting week of parliament. Read more here
