Laura Ealing

  • Circumcision and the rights of children

    On May 28, it was reported that the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists was considering allowing a certain form of female circumcision, involving “ritual nicks”. RANZCOG later said it was a misrepresentation, and that “anyone suspected of performing such genital mutilation should be reported to authorities”, the Sydney Morning Herald said the same day. But if we reject all forms of female circumcision, why is it that male circumcision remains so acceptable?

  • Good health care and 'parental rights'

    The prescription of oral contraceptives to a 14-year-old without her parents’ knowledge has triggered a debate over adolescents’ access to confidential health care. The student of Bellarine Secondary College in Victoria was taken by a school nurse to a doctor, who prescribed the medication.

  • A younger, greener council for Newcastle

    When you see the line-up of candidates running for Newcastle council in the September 13 elections, you notice the average demographic is seriously out of whack with that of the region.

  • NUS tailors policy to suit ALP

    A number of student organisations have responded angrily to the revelation that the National Union of Students (NUS) has reneged on agreements to advocate that the government lower the age of “independence” to 18-years-old immediately.

  • Hillsong's miracle make-up cure

    The conservative Christian group Hillsong has launched a controversial new youth program “Shine”, aimed, it says, at “promoting self-esteem” in teenage girls considered to be “at risk”, due to personal problems or behavioural issues.

  • Politics of Justice

    Yesterday Sergeant Chris Hurley
    Walked smooth hair and broad-shouldered from the courtroom.
    His stride was confident but his nostrils
    flared ever-so-slightly
    his face flushed the crude red of triumph
    by the all-white jury.
    But Mulrunji is dead.
    Left to bleed his severed vessels
    into his own body until
    his life ebbed away
    in the red flow.
    Did you hear the low sobs of past thousands
    echo in the island watchhouse?
    And are you watching, Australia?
    (What a clever trick)
    Because we all got off
    when Hurley got off.
    @auth poem = by Laura Ealing

  • 'Hands off Venezuela'

    By Fred Fuentes & Laura Ealing Hundreds of people attended pickets, protests, film screenings, public meetings and other events across Australia from April 11 to 17 to develop solidarity with the people and government of Venezuela. The week of