Tag: Royal Commission

Construction workers at a union rally — the CFMEU has faced decades of political and media campaigns despite winning better wages and safety conditions for Australian builders.

The Perennial Persecution of the CFMEU: Demonisation as a Defence of Power

February 23, 2026 · 2 Comments ·

For thirty years, Australia’s most powerful construction union has served as a moral punching bag for the nation’s political and media establishment. Every few years another “reckoning” arrives: a Royal Commission, a regulator’s dawn raid, a media exposé discovering organised crime in high-vis. Each time, … Continue reading The Perennial Persecution of the CFMEU: Demonisation as a Defence of Power

Abstract split composition with archival redaction bars and padlock on warm parchment ground contrasted against fading digital message bubbles on dark ground, representing the conflict between government disposal freeze orders and press freedom for ABC and SBS journalists.

Clarke and Dawe: The Messages That Refused to Disappear

February 6, 2026February 6, 2026 · 4 Comments ·

The National Archives orders ABC and SBS journalists to stop their Signal messages from disappearing. The ABC declines to explain how it will protect sources. The SBS is “still working through it.” Nobody is accountable. In the spirit of Clarke and Dawe, Urban Wronski follows the circular buck-passing to its magnificently absurd conclusion.

“Landscape 16:9 editorial illustration, a stark stage scene: a lone podium with a brass plaque reading ‘ROYAL COMMISSION’, intense white spotlights cutting through haze, heavy dark curtains slightly parted behind. On the floor, scattered torn newspaper headline strips with blurred unreadable text, suggesting an outrage cycle. In the background, a subtle translucent adhesive/glue sheen binding papers together as a metaphor for ‘social cohesion’. A distant crowd rendered as dark anonymous silhouettes. Serious, investigative tone, high contrast, muted blues and greys, minimal red accents, cinematic lighting, no caricature, no logos, no readable text except ‘ROYAL COMMISSION’.”

Kill Bill 2.0: Media, Moral Panic, and the Politics of Self‑Righteous Anger

January 9, 2026 · 1 Comment ·

Albanese’s Royal Commission may yield clarity — even some justice — but it can’t cleanse the bad faith of its birth. In a media economy addicted to conflict and an Opposition desperate for a demolition job, the PM is condemned whether he resists or concedes. And “social cohesion” risks becoming the Goddess Araldite: bonding by suppression, not democracy by dissent.

Diverse Australian protesters unite for justice outside Parliament House, holding a banner reading ‘NO MORE SPECTACLE. JUSTICE NOW,’ symbolizing cross-community solidarity against political inaction.

Labor’s Bondi Backflip: When Fear Trumps Justice

January 6, 2026January 6, 2026 · 4 Comments ·

Anthony Albanese’s surrender to a Bondi Royal Commission reveals a political system that prioritises spectacle over justice. But as diverse communities unite to demand real accountability, the question isn’t whether Albanese folded—it’s whether Australia will let the powerful turn tragedy into theatre. A systemic analysis of fear, failure, and the fightback

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Tag: Royal Commission

The Perennial Persecution of the CFMEU: Demonisation as a Defence of Power

Labor’s Bondi Backflip: When Fear Trumps Justice