Exclusive by Jarni Blakkarly and Pat McGrath –
Victoria’s Health Department is investigating whether a patient-sharing deal between The Royal Melbourne Hospital and a private clinic headed by the hospital’s urology chief is in breach of Medicare billing rules.
Full article – http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-25/victorian-government-investigates-royal-melbourne-hospital-deal/7785704
Malaysian artist Fahmi Reza has been charged with violating Malaysian media laws for depicting Prime Minister Najib Razak as a clown on social media. He explains why he thinks artists have a duty to tackle controversial subjects.
Listen here from the 15:30 mark – http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0405c50
While millions around the world marked the end of the holy month of Ramadan last week, a cloud hung over celebrations in Japan. Muslims here say they feel they are constantly under the ever-watchful eyes of the police.
Otsuka Mosque in Tokyo usually hosts around a few dozen Muslims for morning prayers, but hundreds packed the small prayer rooms last Wednesday on Eid al-Fitr, the holiday that signals the end of Ramadan.
“We had to hold the prayers four separate times so all the people lining up could fit in,” explains Haroon Qureshi, secretary-general of the mosque’s Japan Islamic Trust organization. “There must have been 1,000 people waiting to pray.”
Full article – http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2016/07/13/issues/shadow-surveillance-looms-japans-muslims/#.V4z9hRV97IX
Back in 2007, Ken was really keen to vote in the Australian federal election. Ken was a swinging voter. But after 11 years of John Howard’s coalition government, he was excited to see change, and he wanted to see what the opposition could do in power.
The problem was, Ken couldn’t just go down to the local primary school on Election Day, because he was in prison. So instead, he told the guards that he was on the electoral roll and wanted to arrange a postal vote. It wasn’t anywhere near as easy as you’d think.
Listen here – http://www.wheelercentre.com/notes/housekeeping-5-locked-out-do-prisoners-have-the-right-to-vote
Melbourne, Australia – Nauru is a tiny, 34 square kilometre island of barren land in the heart of the Pacific Ocean. Despite the palm trees and picturesque blue waters, the island, home to around 10,000 people, is far from a tropical paradise.
The history of detention centres on Nauru is brief, but the island has been central to Australia’s asylum policies.
Full article – http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/05/nauru-detention-centre-suicide-160517120527051.html
In the second episode of Housekeeping – the Wheeler Centre’s five-part mini-series of short podcast features on Australian democracy – Jarni Blakkarly looks into the practice of multiple voting. Should voters be required to present photo ID on Election Day?
Listen here – http://www.wheelercentre.com/notes/housekeeping-2-ID-who-votes-more-than-once
The family of a man who died in Villawood Detention Centre last month say they do not believe he died of a heart attack, as the Immigration Department said, and have accused the Department of covering up the circumstances surrounding the death.
Watch the ABC 730 investigation by Sarah Whyte and with research by Jarni Blakkarly here –http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-13/detainee-given-visa-released-after-villawood-bashing/7407484
Artist Tiriki Onus is reviving the traditional Aboriginal craft of possum skin cloaks. The cloaks were important cultural artefacts for his ancestors and his is the first in over a century to be made only from entirely traditional techniques.
Listen here from the 20:30 mark – http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03tbwc9
Still and video cameras are not allowed inside these detention centers, however, as FSRN’s Jarni Blakkarly reports, one Sydney-based artist has found a way around the rules and is telling the stories of those in detention through graphic novels.
Listen here – https://fsrn.org/2016/05/profile-artist-uses-graphic-novels-to-illustrate-realities-of-australian-immigration-detention/
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