Supporting ‘illegal aggression’ against Iran ‘the worst thing’ Australia could do, international law experts say

The strikes on Iran are blatantly illegal. I explained in June why the strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities were unlawful under US and international law. Everything I wrote then is true today, but this is a far larger assault with far graver consequences. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/23/o...

Die USA und Israel haben mit einem Militärangriff auf den Iran begonnen. MARKO MILANOVIĆ zeigt, warum sich die Militärschläge nicht als Selbstverteidigung nach Art. 51 der UN-Charta rechtfertigen lassen und offenkundig gegen das Völkerrecht verstoßen. verfassungsblog.de/warum-der-er...

The suggestion from the Resources Minister that taxpayer funded organisations should never lose litigation is quite something. As the Minister for Resources, she also shouldn’t be commenting on the conduct of environmental protection organisations. www.theage.com.au/politics/fed...

The CGT 50% discount not only distorts the housing market it is also the most inequitable policy you could dream up. (Which is probably why John Howard and Peter Costello did it) www.theguardian.com/business/gro...

Excellent post here on Auspublaw “First, the contempt consequence sits uneasily with the Summary Offences Act’s purpose of removing restrictions on freedom of assembly and encouraging cooperation between protest organisers and police.” www.auspublaw.org/blog/2026/2/...

Column today - the fuel tax credit scheme for miners, farmers, industry is one of the 20 biggest budget costs. It's also a fossil fuel subsidy. Why are multinationals still being refunded these huge sums? www.theguardian.com/environment/...

“The chief executive of Save the Children Australia, which has advocated on behalf of the group over years, said all political parties should dial down the political rhetoric and put the wellbeing of vulnerable Australian children first.” www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Under water, in denial: is Europe drowning out the climate crisis?

Politicians are outnumbered by lobbyists in Parliament House 15 to one; on sitting days hundreds of lobbyists roam the halls in Canberra, meeting with Ministers to influence government policies. My Clean Up Politics Act would shine a light on lobbyists’ activities.

“Ramadan for the children is the hardest part. They have learned the language of war, and can hear the difference between a shell and an explosion, even before they have learned the songs of Ramadan.” www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

"EPBC reforms a ‘net positive’ for oil and gas, according to Department" @roycerk2.bsky.social thepoint.com.au/news/260217-...

“The question, then, is not whether Australia will experience an intensification of anti-immigration politics—it will. The question is whether there exists any institutional or political force capable of arresting the slide. At present, the answer is not obvious.” open.substack.com/pub/tdunlop/...

"Angus Taylor is preparing his new opposition leader’s office, with oil and gas lobbyist Sam Riordan set to be made his chief of staff. Riordan has been with the Australian Energy Producers since August last year."

“Property developers in Perth plan to bulldoze an endangered banksia ecosystem used by threatened black cockatoo species, and conservationists have warned the damage cannot be mitigated by proposed offsets.” www.theguardian.com/environment/...

ABC piece is delusional or pantomime, I'm going w pantomime Oil & Gas projs are excluded from the 3 EPBC fast-track pathways of national interest exemption, streamlined assessment & bioregional planning but mining & other projs are NOT 4 out of 5 'critical mineral' projs sit on Indigenous lands👇

Really excellent analysis here from UK anti-terror and constitutional law expert @alangreene.bsky.social - explainer of the UK High Court’s decision to overturn the Palestine Action ban. @verfassungsblog.de

To suddenly have politics be a no go discussion at the Berlinale is a little weird. Especially at the very moment when everyone WANTS them to say something to remind the world they actually are artists. 😄 www.theguardian.com/culture/2026...

The English High Court has overturned the ban on Palestine Action. ALAN GREENE on the dangers of expansive executive discretion – and why the Court signals that counter-terrorism powers require genuine legal constraints, not mere trust in the “good chaps.” verfassungsblog.de/palestine-ac...

‘Daunting but doable’: Europe urged to prepare for 3C of global heating - Advisory board member says Europe already paying price for lack of preparation but adapting is ‘not rocket science’ #climatecrisis www.theguardian.com/environment/...

“”The next wave of fascism, there will not be monsters. There will be normal, nice people,” she said.” www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...

‘Daunting but doable’: Europe urged to prepare for 3C of global heating

Bad outcome in the federal court for ACCR's greenwashing case against Santos. More details about the claims here: www.accr.org.au/news/austral...

“The government has approved 33 coal and gas developments or extensions since it was elected in 2022.” www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Greatly enjoyed this @verfassungsblog.de blog by three of the leading international lawyers in Germany: Profes Helmut Aust, Claus Kreß and Heike Krieger, Heike: The End of an Era?: On US Intervention in Venezuela and Its Consequences, 2026/2/03, verfassungsblog.de/the-end-of-a...

““Our job is to communicate that these coal and gas exports are what are fuelling the climate crisis, and making your life harder, and destroying people’s chance of having a good summer and home insurance they can afford,” he says.” www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

High Court: Proscription of Palestine Action unlawful administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2026/02/13/h...

For anybody interested in an explanation of the Palestine Action case, we recorded a podcast in November discussing it and, in particular, the serious concerns we had from a free speech, free association, and democratic perspective. youtu.be/tKN4Wk2SEyQ?...

To explain the ridiculousness of this, holding up a sign at a protest saying that you are pleased with today's HC judgment, could give rise to a 'reasonable suspicion' that you support a proscribed organisation.

Quite striking the part of the Palestine Action judgment dealing with the right to respond prior to proscription and the cases relied upon. Bank Mellat: Banks get right to respond re financial sanctions; but Begum: an individual gets no right to respond re citizenship-stripping.

Now Published The Palestine Action judgment www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/u...

Wow! Palestine Action win judicial review - Guardian report. This is a *big* legal win. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Here is my cartoon about Mr Jon Kudelka www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

“The High Court said the ban on Palestine Action as a terrorist group breached free speech rights and was disproportionate. The government said it would appeal.” www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/w...

“Conservationists estimate coal exported from expanded mine to release CO2 equivalent of about half Australia’s annual carbon footprint” www.theguardian.com/environment/...

“The final rule removes the government’s ability to impose requirements to track, report and limit climate-heating pollution from cars and trucks. Transportation is the largest source of climate pollution in the US.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

The temporal paradox: uncertainty about the extent of a threat to democracy often leads to delayed responses. But waiting for more information on the threat often means confronting illiberals who are stronger, more entrenched, and harder to defeat through democratic means. 3/7

Scientists warn we are edging towards a “point of no return”, where climate tipping points could push us into a hellish “hothouse Earth”. Every fraction of a degree matters. We must urgently cut climate pollution from coal, oil and gas and scale up clean energy.

“The world is closer than thought to a “point of no return” after which runaway global heating cannot be stopped, scientists have said” www.theguardian.com/environment/...

🚨🚨 #climatechange: More than 150 countries including China, India and #EuropeanUnion members have signed off on a report that warns focusing on unchecked economic growth is contributing to the destruction of global biodiversity. 🧵 www.politico.eu/article/obse...

New York Times coverage of the Sydney protest: “To many protesters, the skirmishes felt unprecedented in their country, reminiscent more of police crackdowns they had seen on television taking place in the United States.” www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/w...

“Associate Prof Dr Vicki Sentas, another policing expert at UNSW, said the available footage appeared to depict “a case study in disturbing and unnecessary police violence”.” www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

“An Israeli court has rejected an appeal to allow a five-year-old Palestinian boy with an aggressive form of cancer to enter Israel for life-saving treatment, citing a government policy that bars residents registered in Gaza from crossing the border…” www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...

'Minister for Natural Resources and Mines Dale Last said the area had "serious potential to revitalise a domestic oil production industry".'

“Since those reforms as a community, we seem to have unlearned those lessons. We have adopted a view that it can legitimately be the role of the state to suppress mass protests. We have done so despite the obvious potential for violence.” www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Extraordinary rhetoric from an Australian Nationals MP calling for a female crossbench / Greens MP to be “ripped apart”.

Crisis? What crisis? Govt's own docs prove that there was no "swarm" of FOI requests that required Australians' FOI rights to be restricted. No wonder govt delayed 150 days before releasing. @skyelark.bsky.social on @thepointau.bsky.social live blog: live.thepoint.com.au/2026/02/the-...

Fearing that educated judges might rule on climate cases, Republican Attorneys General successfully bullied the The Federal Judicial Center (the education & research arm of the federal court system) into removing a chapter summarizing climate science from their scientific judicial reference manual.

China — China! — has signed off on a report that warns focusing on unchecked economic growth is contributing to the destruction of global biodiversity. subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...

“Australian government ministers met Japanese gas company executives more than 20 times in the last term of parliament as Labor encouraged investment in the fossil fuel industry.” www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...