Today NGO Digital Rights Watch launched an important campaign that I was asked to support. Very happy to: Today, a global coalition led by civil society and technology experts sent a letter asking the government of Australia to abandon plans to introduce legislation that would undermine strong encryption. The letter calls on government officials to…
New Zealand outlet positively reviews Disaster Capitalism film
My film Disaster Capitalism with director Thor Neureiter continues to spread around the world. Thor was recently in Melbourne for the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival and the film is screening soon in Australia, the UK and elsewhere. New Zealand outlet Foreign Control Watchdog has published a review of the film written by Jeremy Agar: Afghanistan…
Capitalising on disaster in the Trump era
My latest book, Disaster Capitalism: Making A Killing Out Of Catastrophe, remains continually relevant especially in the Trump era (just a few examples in the news recently include Blackwater founder Erik Prince still obsessed with privatising the Afghan war and a CIA-linked military contractor making money from housing refugees in the US). UK publisher Taylor…
Book endorsement for new work by Palestinian writer Dr Olfat Mahmoud
I was recently asked to endorse the new book by Palestinian writer… Dr Olfat Mahmoud whose work is called Tears for Tarshiha. Published by Wild Dingo Press, here’s the book’s blurb: Olfat Mahmoud, a stateless refugee, is a descendant of the ”˜forgotten Palestinians’, forced from their homes by the Israeli military in 1948. A former nurse,…
Australian asylum policies inspiring the globe
My investigation in US magazine The Nation: Soon after President Trump assumed office in January 2017, he had a phone call with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. The transcript of the conversation, leaked in August, revealed that the new US president admired his Australian counterpart because Turnbull was “worse than I am” on asylum seekers.…
Getting past the drug addicted myths
My following book review appears in the Sydney Morning Herald/Melbourne Age today: Addicted? How Addiction Affects Every One of Us and What We Can Do About It Matt Noffs and Kieran Palmer HarperCollins, $32.99 When the Australian Greens recently called for the legalisation and regulation of cannabis, following moves in countless US states, Uruguay and…
Interviewing UK journalist Johann Hari on antidepressants and alternatives
During the recent Sydney Writer’s Festival, I interviewed best-selling, British journalist Johann Hari about his new book, Lost Connections, on depression and solutions to it. ABC TV Australia aired portions of the event.
Public statement in support of justice for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange
The following public statement was published today after I was asked by John Pilger to write a comment in support of Julian Assange: Antony Loewenstein, a prominent… independent Australian journalist, author and documentary filmmaker, issued the following endorsement of demonstrations and vigils… demanding freedom for Julian Assange.… The Socialist Equality Party has called a rally in defense of…
ABC Radio Pacific Mornings interview on journalism, the Middle East and disaster capitalism
ABC Radio Pacific Mornings program, broadcast across the Pacific, interviewed me this morning about my work as an independent journalist over the last 15 years. From the Middle East to disaster capitalism and Australia enabling corruption in Papua New Guinea to tackling faith, it was a wide-ranging discussion: 290518 Pacific Mornings – Antony Loewnstein
ABC Radio Pacific Morning interview on Papua New Guinea and disaster capitalism
Despite being Australia’s closest neighbour, Papua New Guinea (PNG) rarely receives coverage in the media. I investigated the reality in the PNG province of Bougainville, when mining company Rio Tinto exploited the area with its polluting copper mine in the 1970s and 1980s, in my Disaster Capitalism book and film. NGO Jubilee Australia recently released…