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The legal wrangling over WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been going on for well over a decade. It confronts us with a twisted tale about the eternal conflict between truth and power.
Nils Melzer, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, has spent several years methodically examining Assange’s case and has documented his findings in a new book, The Trial of Julian Assange. His conclusions are damning.
As Matthew Ricketson writes, Melzer proposes that Assange has been the subject of “a carefully orchestrated plan by four countries – the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden and, yes, Australia – to ensure Assange is punished forever for revealing state secrets.”
It is not an exaggeration, argues Melzer, to regard the relentless persecution of Assange as a form of torture. In his forceful assessment of the evidence set out in Melzer’s book, Ricketson asks whether the time has finally come for Australia’s newly elected prime minister to take a stand.
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James Ley
Deputy Editor: Books + Ideas
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Matthew Ricketson, Deakin University
The UN’s Special Rapporteur on Torture has investigated the ongoing persecution of Assange and his conclusions are damning.
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Flavio Macau, Edith Cowan University
The impacts of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will pass, but the impacts of climate change will not.
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Matthew England, UNSW Sydney; Andréa S. Taschetto, UNSW Sydney; Bryam Orihuela-Pinto, UNSW Sydney
The collapse of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation would profoundly alter the anatomy of the world’s oceans. New research explores the consequences.
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Tim Lindsey, The University of Melbourne; Tim Mann, The University of Melbourne
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s visit is so essential because most previous ‘resets’ have not lasted. The government-to-government relationship between Australia and Indonesia is a fragile one.
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Marlee Bower, University of Sydney; Maree Teesson, University of Sydney; Scarlett Smout, University of Sydney
We asked over 1,000 Australians about their mental health concerns. Without being prompted, participants consistently highlighted three: service barriers, financial stress, and social disconnection.
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Chari Larsson, Griffith University
June 8 marks the 50-year anniversary since Associated Press photographer Hyung Cong ‘Nick’ Út captured one of the Vietnam War’s defining images.
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Politics + Society
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James Chin, University of Tasmania
Political families have a strong hold on power in Southeast Asian countries – often to the detriment of the people they serve.
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Health + Medicine
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Elizabeth Kendall, Griffith University; Connie Allen, Griffith University; Kelsey Chapman, Griffith University; Maretta Mann
For many Australians, there is no clear distinction between the two labels: chronic conditions can result in disability and disability can increase vulnerability to a range of chronic conditions.
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Science + Technology
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Aaron J. Snoswell, Queensland University of Technology
‘Vicootes’, ‘wa ch zod rea’ and other strings of gibberish seem to have special meanings to state-of-the-art AI models. What’s going on here?
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James Fodor, The University of Melbourne
We’ve seen AI systems writing texts that are indistinguishable from human texts. Some are even rendering impressive 3D artworks from short text inputs. But it doesn’t mean they can ‘think’ like us.
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Environment + Energy
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Romy Zyngier, Climateworks Centre
For the first time, we calculated Australia’s share of planetary environmental boundaries and found we’ve shot past three already.
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Peter Burnett, Australian National University
Can one department adequately tackle climate change, energy, the environment and water? It’s unlikely.
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Education
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Craig Whitsed, Curtin University; Antonia Girardi, Murdoch University
Academics described their universities as exploitative, oppressive, toxic and fiscally driven. They felt themselves being dehumanised and demoralised by management. Most reported feelings of burnout.
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Arts + Culture
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Prudence Gibson, UNSW Sydney
Daniel Boyd’s solo exhibition Treasure Island, now at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, is a deeply political and personal interrogation of Australia’s colonial history.
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D. Bondy Valdovinos Kaye, Queensland University of Technology
Running Up That Hill had a prominent moment in the new season of Netflix’s Stranger Things – and now it’s being played on commercial radio and being discovered by a younger audience.
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Books + Ideas
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Suzie Gibson, Charles Sturt University
A new historical novel, redolent of the masterful writing of Henry James and Charlotte Brontë, explores the themes of loss, alienation and displacement.
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Business + Economy
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John Quiggin, The University of Queensland
For the past 30 years or so, the RBA has targeted an inflation rate of 2-3%. But the rationale for a rate that low was always weak, and has since broken down.
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Featured jobs
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Featured Events, Courses & Podcasts
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— Victoria, Australia — The Conversation Weekly Podcast
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— Australian Capital Territory, Australia — Politics with Michelle Grattan
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— Victoria, Australia — Asylum Seeker Resource Centre
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— State Library of Queensland, Auditorium 1 & Online , Brisbane , Queensland, 4101, Australia — State Library of Queensland
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