Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Binoy Kampmark
Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne.
Binoy Kampmark - Latest News [Page 39]
Serbia Stomps On Rio Tinto’s Lithium Mining Project
Thursday, 27 January 2022, 5:52 pm | Binoy Kampmark
On the face of it, there seems to be little in the way of connection between the treatment of Novak Djokovic by Australian authorities and the cooling of the Serbian government towards Rio Tinto. The Anglo-Australian mining giant was confident that ... More >>
Off To The Supreme Court: Assange’s Appeal Continues
Wednesday, 26 January 2022, 3:07 pm | Binoy Kampmark
With December’s High Court decision to overturn the lower court ruling against the extradition of Julian Assange to the United States, lawyers of the WikiLeaks founder immediately got busy. The next avenue of appeal, strewn less with gold than ... More >>
Surrender, Accommodation And RATs
Friday, 21 January 2022, 3:11 pm | Binoy Kampmark
The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test has been the mainstay of COVID-19 testing. But reliance upon such a regime, which requires the administration of middlingly competent personnel at appropriate testing sites, has caused its fair share of global ... More >>
Arise, Pandemic Profiteers
Wednesday, 19 January 2022, 4:19 pm | Binoy Kampmark
History’s annals are filled with war profiteers and hustlers for the opportunistic return. They come in the form of hoarders, arms manufacturers and wily business folk making a steal on slaughter and mayhem. But the other conflict – that of battling ... More >>
One Drinks Party Too Many: Boris Johnson And Breaching Lockdowns
Tuesday, 18 January 2022, 3:05 pm | Binoy Kampmark
It might not be quite within the bounds of good taste to compare military calculations of a bridge too far – the title used in Cornelius Ryan’s work on the disastrous Allied airborne operation during the Second World War – with the latest foolish, ... More >>
Dangerous Precedents And Hypothetical Threats: The Deportation Of Novak Djokovic
Monday, 17 January 2022, 4:12 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Australia’s treatment of Novak Djokovic, the tennis world number one, has been revelatory. Unintentionally, this has exposed the seedier, arbitrary and inconsistent nature of Australia’s border policies. The approval by the Australian Federal Court ... More >>
Julian Assange: A Thousand Days In Belmarsh
Thursday, 13 January 2022, 4:23 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Julian Assange has now been in the maximum-security facilities of Belmarsh prison for over 1,000 days. On the occasion of his 1,000th day of imprisonment, campaigners, supporters and kindred spirits gathered to show their support, indignation and solidarity ... More >>
Anachronistic Frivolity: Australia’s Recent Tank Purchase
Wednesday, 12 January 2022, 3:12 pm | Binoy Kampmark
The operating doctrine of many a defence ministry is premised on fatuity. There is the industry prerogative and need for employment. There are the hectoring think tanks writing in oracular tones of warning that the next “strategic” change is ... More >>
The Mauling Of Novak Djokovic
Monday, 10 January 2022, 2:32 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Rarely can the treatment of a grand sporting figure by officialdom have caused such consternation. Novak Djokovic, the tennis World Number One, has always had a tendency to get under skin and constitution, creating a large following of admirers and detractors. ... More >>
Voices Of Concern: Aussies For Assange’s Return
Thursday, 23 December 2021, 2:31 pm | Binoy Kampmark
With Julian Assange now fighting the next stage of efforts to extradite him to the United States to face 18 charges, 17 of which are based on the brutal, archaic Espionage Act, some Australian politicians have found their voice. It might be said that a ... More >>
Double Standards: The UK-Australian Free Trade Agreement
Monday, 20 December 2021, 3:36 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Any agreement between governments led by the UK’s Boris Johnson and Australia’s Scott Morrison must be treated with a healthy dose of suspicion. A few minutes with the UK prime minister would lead you to believe that “Global Britain” is a meaningful ... More >>
Forbidden Parties: Boris Johnson’s Law On Illegal Covid Gatherings
Sunday, 19 December 2021, 6:35 pm | Binoy Kampmark
It was meant to be time to reflect. The eager arms of a new pandemic were enfolding a society with asphyxiating, lethal effect. Public health authorities advocated various measures: social distancing, limited contact between family and friends, limited ... More >>
Covid Testing Rackets And Flying Again
Friday, 17 December 2021, 2:30 pm | Binoy Kampmark
The young boy of seven or so was kissing a toy doll affixed with an alarmed face. The doll, no doubt of full Chinese make, was fully tarted up, lips glossy, eyes wide, a blonde with curls. “Stop making out with her,” cried her mother, sitting in ... More >>
Jailing Former Immigration Ministers: Denmark’s Inger Støjberg
Wednesday, 15 December 2021, 12:38 pm | Binoy Kampmark
It’s not the sort of thing you encounter regularly. A member of a government cabinet, responsible for arguably one of the country’s most important portfolios, found both wanting and culpable for their actions after leaving their post. But this is ... More >>
How To Chill Free Speech: Defamation Down Under
Monday, 13 December 2021, 1:02 pm | Binoy Kampmark
The free speech argument in Australia has always been skewed. Lacking the confidence, courage and maturity to have a bill of rights that might protect it, Australia’s body politic has stammered its way to the frailest of protections. The Australian ... More >>
Journalism, Assange And Reversal In The High Court
Saturday, 11 December 2021, 5:11 pm | Binoy Kampmark
British justice is advertised by its proponents as upright, historically different to the savages upon which it sought to civilise, and apparently fair. Such outrages as the unjust convictions of the Guilford Four and Maguire Seven, both having served ... More >>
Ineffectual Boycotts: The Beijing Winter Olympics
Thursday, 9 December 2021, 1:18 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Making moral statements in the blood and gristle of international relations can often come across as feeble. In doing so, the maker serves the worst of all worlds: to reveal a false sense of assurance that something was done while serving no actual ... More >>
Punishing The Unvaccinated: Europe’s COVID-19 Health Experiment
Tuesday, 7 December 2021, 1:46 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Forget any notions of juicy carrots; the stick approach of savage punishment is in vogue with the Greek government in pushing vaccination rates. It is far from the only one. Across a number of countries in Europe, governments wishing to drive up ... More >>
Omicron And The Travel Ban Itch
Monday, 6 December 2021, 12:08 pm | Binoy Kampmark
Stick to the script: owe that duty of care to your population, so the legal experts in government tell you. Self-interest pays, if in small amounts. These rigid, formulaic assumptions have done wonders to harm and deter any spirit of cooperation regarding ... More >>
Backing Horses: Australia’s Solomon Islands Intervention
Saturday, 4 December 2021, 5:19 pm | Binoy Kampmark
The history of humanitarian or policing missions is a history of taking sides, disruptive partiality and the forfeiture of the very object powers claim when intervening in another country. Things become particularly absurd when the individual or government ... More >>
