Grattan on Friday: Christine Holgate gets her own bully pulpit – and uses it to effect

By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra

Queensland Nationals Senator Matt Canavan, juggling a couple of committee engagements, hadn’t planned to attend Tuesday’s hearing at which former Australia Post CEO Christine Holgate appeared.

But party elder Ron Boswell was insistent, telling Canavan he must be there, in the room, fighting for Australia Post’s small business licensees.

Boswell, himself a former senator, retains one of the best political “noses” in the business. He’d spoken to Canavan soon after the Holgate affair blew up last October, warning the issue was trouble and needed to be fixed.

Canavan…

Read complete article

~	Hong Kong ranks low on global press freedom index as watchdog cites ‘unprecedented’ setbacks

~	Media coverage of campus protests tends to focus on the spectacle, rather than the substance

~	The good news is the government plans to cancel $3 billion in student debt. The bad news is indexation will still be high

~	Albanese government to wipe $3 billion in student debt, benefitting three million people

~	The Indigenous Peoples Camp that calls for rights every April in Brazil

~	Pillay: Israel is helped by ‘powerful States’ in violation of Palestinians’ rights

~	Debates on campus safety in response to Palestine solidarity activism show we need strategies to navigate discomfort

~	El Salvador: Constitution “à la carte” could deepen human rights crisis in coming years

~	Arrest Warrant Issued for Former Central African Republic President

~	With eyes on Gaza, violations against West Bank journalists multiply