Independent Commentary > Sydney Criminal Lawyers >

Renewed Calls to Ban Chokeholds Highlights the Colonial Nature of Australian Policing

Renewed Calls to Ban Chokeholds Highlights the Colonial Nature of Australian Policing

The choking to death of 27-year-old Gunggari man Steven Lee Nixon-McKeller by Queensland police in 2021 is being given fresh attention as a result of his mother, Dr Raylene Nixon, having launched a campaign to have chokeholds banned in that state, as well as the fact that many are only learning of the details of this death right now. This renewed ...
Will Australian Blindness Towards Rising Domestic White Terrorism Continue?

Will Australian Blindness Towards Rising Domestic White Terrorism Continue?

Two white Australian men were recently charged with terrorism offences in Western Australia. This marks a significant shift in how authorities are willing to categorise white nationalist violence, and this may be seismic, depending on not only the outcomes of the alleged culprits’ trials, but more so on whether decisions being made now are treated as ...
“Coercion Dressed Up as Harmony”: Shaykh Wesam Charkawi on the State’s Growing Divide

“Coercion Dressed Up as Harmony”: Shaykh Wesam Charkawi on the State’s Growing Divide

The attack by New South Wales police officers upon pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered on Gadigal land in Sydney on 9 February 2026 to show their opposition to the official visit of Israeli president Isaac Herzog, as his nation continues to conduct a 29-month-long genocide upon the Palestinians of Gaza, was unprecedented in living memory, in terms ...
Banning Political Slogans: The Absurd New Way to Stamp Out Pro-Palestinian Support

Banning Political Slogans: The Absurd New Way to Stamp Out Pro-Palestinian Support

The nation was stunned when at a small protest march on Wednesday, 11 March 2026, Queensland police arrested a man for explaining the phrase “from the river to the sea” to a rally in Magan-djin-Brisbane, and also took a woman into custody for wearing a singlet displaying the slogan. Meanwhile, Sydneysiders gathered before state parliament on Tuesday, ...
Sydney Criminal Lawyers® Weekly Rundown – Articles from 9 to 15 March 2026

Sydney Criminal Lawyers® Weekly Rundown – Articles from 9 to 15 March 2026

In case you’ve missed any of them, here’s a rundown of the past week’s articles: Drug Offence Appeal Highlights Difficulties in Establishing Parity in Sentencing The defendant took a stand, appealing his sentence for being harsher than his co-offender’s. Was justice served? Click here to read the article “Actively Increasing the Divide”: ...
The Australian Polity’s Descent into the Absurd Is a Sign of Rising Authoritarianism

The Australian Polity’s Descent into the Absurd Is a Sign of Rising Authoritarianism

Two protesters were arrested in Magan-djin-Brisbane on 11 March 2026, for the completely absurd crime of publicly using the just prohibited slogan, “from the river to the sea”. A 33-year-old male is now facing 2 years in prison for using and defining the phrase, during a rally opposing the new law, whilst an 18-year-old woman wearing a shirt emblazoned ...
US Administration Says It’s Bringing on Second Coming of Christ with War on Iran

US Administration Says It’s Bringing on Second Coming of Christ with War on Iran

The US and Israel began their war of aggression on Iran on 28 February 2026, justified on a variety of grounds that don’t add up. But what hasn’t been used as a justification in the media but is definitely influencing key figures in the Trump administration, and in particular, US secretary of war Pete Hegeseth, is that this conflict is about bringing ...
US Monitors Migrant Crime in Australia and Asks Why Our Jews Aren’t Armed

US Monitors Migrant Crime in Australia and Asks Why Our Jews Aren’t Armed

During a visit to the United States on the week commencing 2 March 2026, Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin met with US antisemitism envoy Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, along with other Trump administration officials to discuss the state of Australia’s Jewish community post-Bondi Beach massacre, and a chief concern appeared ...
“Hey Commissioner, Stop Running Drug Dogs Through Pubs and Clubs”, Demand NSW Greens

“Hey Commissioner, Stop Running Drug Dogs Through Pubs and Clubs”, Demand NSW Greens

New South Wales Greens MLC Cate Faehrmann quizzed NSW police commissioner Mal Lanyon on the practice of running drug dogs through bars in Sydney. And as the local member pointed out to the top cop, during a 27 February 2026 budget estimates hearing, when this occurs it’s often one dog accompanied by a dozen officers and patrons are, at times, made to ...
Albanese Plants Australian Bodies on the Ground in Illegal US-Israeli War on Iran

Albanese Plants Australian Bodies on the Ground in Illegal US-Israeli War on Iran

Prime minister Anthony Albanese announced on 10 March 2026, that Australia was entering the US-Israeli 28 February-launched illegal war of aggression against Iran, but only on a defensive basis. This followed ten days of Albanese trying to put to the public that the nation was not involved in the conflict, despite some Australian troops embedded in the ...

Renewed Calls to Ban Chokeholds Highlights the Colonial Nature of Australian Policing

Renewed Calls to Ban Chokeholds Highlights the Colonial Nature of Australian Policing
The choking to death of 27-year-old Gunggari man Steven Lee Nixon-McKeller by Queensland police in 2021 is being given fresh attention as a result of his mother, Dr Raylene Nixon, having launched a campaign to have chokeholds banned in that state, as well as the fact that many are only learning of the details of this death right now. This renewed ...

Will Australian Blindness Towards Rising Domestic White Terrorism Continue?

Will Australian Blindness Towards Rising Domestic White Terrorism Continue?
Two white Australian men were recently charged with terrorism offences in Western Australia. This marks a significant shift in how authorities are willing to categorise white nationalist violence, and this may be seismic, depending on not only the outcomes of the alleged culprits’ trials, but more so on whether decisions being made now are treated as ...

“Coercion Dressed Up as Harmony”: Shaykh Wesam Charkawi on the State’s Growing Divide

“Coercion Dressed Up as Harmony”: Shaykh Wesam Charkawi on the State’s Growing Divide
The attack by New South Wales police officers upon pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered on Gadigal land in Sydney on 9 February 2026 to show their opposition to the official visit of Israeli president Isaac Herzog, as his nation continues to conduct a 29-month-long genocide upon the Palestinians of Gaza, was unprecedented in living memory, in terms ...

Banning Political Slogans: The Absurd New Way to Stamp Out Pro-Palestinian Support

Banning Political Slogans: The Absurd New Way to Stamp Out Pro-Palestinian Support
The nation was stunned when at a small protest march on Wednesday, 11 March 2026, Queensland police arrested a man for explaining the phrase “from the river to the sea” to a rally in Magan-djin-Brisbane, and also took a woman into custody for wearing a singlet displaying the slogan. Meanwhile, Sydneysiders gathered before state parliament on Tuesday, ...

Sydney Criminal Lawyers® Weekly Rundown – Articles from 9 to 15 March 2026

Sydney Criminal Lawyers® Weekly Rundown – Articles from 9 to 15 March 2026
In case you’ve missed any of them, here’s a rundown of the past week’s articles: Drug Offence Appeal Highlights Difficulties in Establishing Parity in Sentencing The defendant took a stand, appealing his sentence for being harsher than his co-offender’s. Was justice served? Click here to read the article “Actively Increasing the Divide”: ...

The Australian Polity’s Descent into the Absurd Is a Sign of Rising Authoritarianism

The Australian Polity’s Descent into the Absurd Is a Sign of Rising Authoritarianism
Two protesters were arrested in Magan-djin-Brisbane on 11 March 2026, for the completely absurd crime of publicly using the just prohibited slogan, “from the river to the sea”. A 33-year-old male is now facing 2 years in prison for using and defining the phrase, during a rally opposing the new law, whilst an 18-year-old woman wearing a shirt emblazoned ...

US Administration Says It’s Bringing on Second Coming of Christ with War on Iran

US Administration Says It’s Bringing on Second Coming of Christ with War on Iran
The US and Israel began their war of aggression on Iran on 28 February 2026, justified on a variety of grounds that don’t add up. But what hasn’t been used as a justification in the media but is definitely influencing key figures in the Trump administration, and in particular, US secretary of war Pete Hegeseth, is that this conflict is about bringing ...

US Monitors Migrant Crime in Australia and Asks Why Our Jews Aren’t Armed

US Monitors Migrant Crime in Australia and Asks Why Our Jews Aren’t Armed
During a visit to the United States on the week commencing 2 March 2026, Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin met with US antisemitism envoy Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, along with other Trump administration officials to discuss the state of Australia’s Jewish community post-Bondi Beach massacre, and a chief concern appeared ...

“Hey Commissioner, Stop Running Drug Dogs Through Pubs and Clubs”, Demand NSW Greens

“Hey Commissioner, Stop Running Drug Dogs Through Pubs and Clubs”, Demand NSW Greens
New South Wales Greens MLC Cate Faehrmann quizzed NSW police commissioner Mal Lanyon on the practice of running drug dogs through bars in Sydney. And as the local member pointed out to the top cop, during a 27 February 2026 budget estimates hearing, when this occurs it’s often one dog accompanied by a dozen officers and patrons are, at times, made to ...

Albanese Plants Australian Bodies on the Ground in Illegal US-Israeli War on Iran

Albanese Plants Australian Bodies on the Ground in Illegal US-Israeli War on Iran
Prime minister Anthony Albanese announced on 10 March 2026, that Australia was entering the US-Israeli 28 February-launched illegal war of aggression against Iran, but only on a defensive basis. This followed ten days of Albanese trying to put to the public that the nation was not involved in the conflict, despite some Australian troops embedded in the ...