Ali MC
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Articles by Ali MC
Opportunity knocking for young Mob
By ALI MC First delivered in 2022, the Fullaship program supports young First Nations adults to strengthen their own self-determination and explore holistic wellbeing practices, while emphasising the importance of connection to culture, community and Country. During the program, participants receive a range of support through virtual and in-person sessions, share their lived experiences and build connections.
Australia’s post-Bondi crackdown accused of targeting pro-Palestinian voices Original
Melbourne – Human rights groups have slammed the Australian government’s new “hate speech” laws, saying they will have a “chilling effect” on those who support the Palestinian cause. Most recently, two activists were arrested and charged for chanting the slogan “From the river to the sea”, a phrase that, along with “Globalise the Intifada”, is now illegal in Australia’s northern state of Queensland. Anyone arrested under the new law is faced with a maximum penalty of two years’ imprisonment.
‘A comedy show’: Myanmar youth in exile slam military-run ‘sham’ election
Mae Sot, Thailand – On the outskirts of this small Thai town on the border with Myanmar, a tattoo artist’s gun buzzes alongside a blaring punk music soundtrack. “Punk means freedom,” says Ng La, his face and body covered heavily in tattoos. “It’s more than just music or fashion – it’s a way of life,” he tells Al Jazeera while tattooing a fellow Myanmar national-in-exile at the back of his “punk bar” in Mae Sot, in Thailand.
Q&A: ‘Nauseating hypocrisy’: East Timor’s Ramos-Horta on Gaza and the West
Dili, East Timor – On the 50th anniversary of Indonesia’s invasion of East Timor, longtime independence advocate and now the country’s President Jose Ramos-Horta reflected on the last half-century of politics and diplomacy in his country. Ramos-Horta was serving as the foreign minister of the newly declared Democratic Republic of East Timor in the days leading up to Indonesia’s invasion in December 1975.
East Timor still searches for justice, 50 years after Indonesian invasion
East Timor - It is a quiet afternoon in Lospalos. Just the clucking of chickens, the grunt of a pig and in the distance, a transistor radio playing Portuguese reggaeton; a typical small-town soundtrack in this country of 1.4 million people situated in the Timor Sea between Indonesia and Australia's northern territories. In the living room of her home, Berta dos Santos recalled the day in December 1975 when the Indonesian army brutally breached Lospalos's tranquillity.
Australian mother vows to be voice for slain daughter
Melbourne, Australia - Lee Little recalls the phone call with her daughter in December 2017; it was just minutes before Alicia was killed. "I spoke to her 15 minutes before she died," Little told Al Jazeera. Recommended Stories "I asked her, was she OK? Did you want us to come up to pick you up? And she said, 'No, I've got my car. I'm right, Mum, everything's packed.'" Alicia Little was on the verge of finally leaving an abusive four-and-a-half-year relationship.
Abused, exploited: How two Africans became trapped in a cyber-scam in Laos
Bokeo province, Laos – Khobby was living in Dubai last year when he received an intriguing message about a well-paying job working online in a far-flung corner of Southeast Asia. The salary was good, he was told. He would be working on computers in an office. The company would even foot the bill for his relocation to join the firm in Laos – a country of 7.6 million people nestled between China, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Myanmar.
Lebanese Australians reminded of past wars as Israel attacks Lebanon again
Melbourne, Australia - Israel's devastating bombing of Lebanon has reverberated around the world, reaching as far as the suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne. In Sydney's Bankstown neighbourhood and Coburg in Melbourne, where Australia's vibrant Lebanese community is visible in the local shops, restaurants and places of worship, Israel's latest war on Lebanon has ignited a new wave of trauma.
‘It gets hold of you’: Crystal meth from Myanmar floods Australia streets
Australian police estimate about 70 percent of the highly-addictive drug on the streets comes from the war-torn country. Melbourne, Australia – Myanmar’s remote jungle hills may be a world away from sun-soaked Australia, but the two countries share an insidious bond – crystalline methamphetamine. Otherwise known as “ice” or “crystal meth”, crystalline methamphetamine is a highly addictive substance which has permeated Australia’s suburbs.
The art project aiming to keep Australia’s Indigenous people out of jail
Melbourne, Australia – More Indigenous people are behind bars in Australia than ever before, making them the world’s most imprisoned people. Despite making up 3.8 percent of the national population, Indigenous Australians make up 33 percent of the prison population and are 17 times more likely to be jailed than non-Indigenous people.
Australia challenged on ‘moral failure’ of weapons trade with Israel
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Australia challenged on ‘moral failure’ of weapons trade with Israel
Melbourne, Australia – Israel’s continued assault on Gaza has highlighted a hidden yet crucial component of the world’s weapons manufacturing industry – suburban Australia. Tucked away in Melbourne’s industrial north, Heat Treatment Australia (HTA) is an Australian company that plays a vital role in the production of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters; the same model that Israel is using to bomb Gaza.
Beyond Australia’s failed referendum: Truth, treaty and voice in Victoria
Melbourne, Australia – In October this year, a referendum to establish an Indigenous “Voice to Parliament” in the Australian Constitution was heavily defeated at the polls. Had the vote passed, an advisory group would have been established to make recommendations to the federal government to alleviate the social and economic inequalities experienced by Indigenous people.
Forget Australia’s referendum. Indigenous people make strides on their own
Shepparton, Australia – Brad Boon gestures towards the towering mural, one of many that dot the small rural town of Shepparton in Australia’s southeastern state of Victoria. The faces of Indigenous heroes William Cooper and Sir Douglas Nicholls stare defiantly across the smattering of shops under the glare of the midday Australian sun.
Detainees walk free after Australian High Court’s ‘life-changing decision’
Melbourne, Australia – Dozens of people have been walking out of immigration detention in Australia after the High Court ruled indefinite detention was illegal. While the arbitrary detention of asylum seekers and refugees is a breach of international law, successive Australian governments have continued to detain refugees arbitrarily since a 2004 decision found it legal under Australian domestic law.
Q&A: NUG’s first Rohingya minister says Myanmar in ‘unified revolution’
It has been more than two years since the Myanmar military staged a coup to overthrow the democratically elected National League for Democracy and jail civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The power grab in February 2021 has only pushed the country deeper into crisis, with the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project ranking Myanmar as the top conflict area in 2023 and home to the highest number of non-state armed groups.
Australia votes in referendum on giving voice to nation’s Indigenous people
Australians are voting on whether their nation’s constitution should be amended to enshrine a mechanism for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to advise parliament on policies that affect their lives. ‘The Voice’ referendum, as it has become known, would establish a board of Indigenous peoples who would provide advice to the federal government on issues affecting their communities.
Australian state suspends human rights law to lock up more children
The government of Australia’s northeastern state of Queensland has stunned rights experts by suspending its Human Rights Act for a second time this year to be able to lock up more children.
H: A Love Story by Ali MC
Publisher : STANLEY BARKER 2022 | 88 pages While at grad school in the early 1970’s Henry Horenstein would attend Speedway races, in New England to see his brother in law compete. In front of his camera the drivers would fly around the track in beat-up cars customised for racing at break neck speeds in the hopes of small town glory.
Australians to vote on Indigenous ‘Voice to Parliament’ in October
Melbourne, Australia – Retired Indigenous football star Michael Long has set out on a 650km (403 miles) walk from Melbourne to Canberra in support of the upcoming referendum on Indigenous rights. The vote will take place on October 14, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Wednesday. If successful, the vote will see Australia’s Constitution amended to acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and create an all-Indigenous advisory board within the federal government.
Australian Aboriginal children sing their way back to language
Marking the United Nations International Decade of Indigenous Languages, an Aboriginal community in remote Central Australia is working on a ground-breaking new children’s album. Ampe-mape Alyelheme (Kids Sing) is a collection of songs performed and recorded in the endangered Arrernte language.
Australian Aboriginal children sing their way back to language
Marking the United Nations International Decade of Indigenous Languages, an Aboriginal community in remote Central Australia is working on a ground-breaking new children’s album. Ampe-mape Alyelheme (Kids Sing) is a collection of songs performed and recorded in the endangered Arrernte language.
Myanmar’s NUG negotiates ethnic differences as crisis deepens
Melbourne, Australia – Aung Myo Min, the human rights minister of Myanmar’s parallel National Unity Government (NUG), has urged the world to hold the military to account for possible war crimes since seizing power more than two years ago. Visiting Australia, where he met advocacy groups and NGOs, and spoke at universities, the minister also aimed to win support for the civilian government’s movement to overthrow the military regime.
Myanmar aid convoy attack raises stakes for under-fire ASEAN
The deepening crisis in Myanmar looks to be a heightened priority as members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meet in Indonesia after an aid convoy carrying diplomats from the region came under fire in the troubled country’s east. The officials escaped unharmed, and no group has claimed responsibility for the unprecedented attack in Shan State. Indonesian President Joko Widodo, the current chairman of ASEAN, immediately condemned the incident, saying, “Stop using force.
Indigenous leaders demand apology, reparations from King Charles
Melbourne, Australia – On the eve of King Charles’s coronation, Indigenous leaders from around the globe have called on the British monarch to apologise and make amends for what they call ‘genocide’.
Pushback in Australia against increasingly draconian protest laws
You rely on Al Jazeera for truth and transparency We understand that your online privacy is very important and consenting to our collection of some personal information takes great trust. We ask for this consent because it allows Al Jazeera to provide an experience that truly gives a voice to the voiceless.
How Behrouz Boochani is changing the narrative on refugees
You rely on Al Jazeera for truth and transparency We understand that your online privacy is very important and consenting to our collection of some personal information takes great trust. We ask for this consent because it allows Al Jazeera to provide an experience that truly gives a voice to the voiceless.
The racist killing of teen Cassius Turvey that shocked Australia
Melbourne, Australia – Australia was again forced to confront what experts say is “deeply entrenched” racism this year after the alleged murder of a 15 year old Indigenous boy, Cassius Turvey, shocked the nation. Cassius – of the Noongar Nation people of Western Australia – was walking home from school with friends in October when he was assaulted with a metal pole in an unprovoked and vicious attack. After being placed in an induced coma, he died of injuries 10 days later.
‘I want to go outside’: First Nauru refugees finally find freedom
Auckland, New Zealand – After a nine-year ordeal in Australia’s immigration detention system, six refugees are preparing for a new life in New Zealand after being granted permanent residency. The six are among more than 4,000 people who travelled to Australia by boat to seek asylum over the past decade and were sent instead to the remote Pacific island of Nauru as part of a hardline immigration policy operated by Australia.
‘One of our own’: Australia plans referendum on monarchy
Melbourne, Australia – The recent death of Queen Elizabeth II has reignited a simmering republican debate in Australia, where the United Kingdom’s monarch is head of state, with Anthony Albanese’s government planning to put the issue to a vote. Already committed to a referendum for a constitutionally enshrined Indigenous ‘Voice to Parliament’, the government plans to hold a similar vote to test Australians’ appetite for a republic.
Australia committed to military cooperation with Indonesia
Melbourne, Australia — Australia says it will continue to provide military training, conduct joint exercises and export weapons to Indonesia despite increased violence and allegations of human rights abuses in West Papua, in the far east of the archipelago, where conflict has been rumbling for decades.
A letter to … the HIV that is in my bloodstream Original
Dear HIV, I’ve been living with you since 1998 – that’s 24 years now. In many ways, you have radically changed me. But funnily enough, in many other ways you have not. These days, you are only one aspect of my identity, of which there are many parts: I’m a fair-skinned, Aboriginal gay man who hails from Nganarunga and Kaurna country in south Australia with Scottish and Finnish heritage. I’m a ‘westie’ – I grew up in the western suburbs of Melbourne.
Australia moves to give Indigenous people a voice to parliament
Melbourne, Australia — The Australian government is planning a historic referendum which, if successful, would see Indigenous people permanently represented in government. Termed a “Voice to Parliament”, a “yes” vote in the referendum would constitutionally enshrine an advisory group to government made up of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders.
Who represents Myanmar? UN faces credentials pressure at assembly Original
Impasse over country’s representation at global body is hampering efforts to end the crisis caused by the 2021 coup. Published On 16 Sep 202216 Sep 2022 Myanmar’s National Unity Government (NUG), established by the democratically-elected politicians removed from office in last year’s military coup, is calling for official recognition at this month’s 77th United Nations General Assembly.
Heterosexual marriage definition a concern for gay Singaporeans Original
Singapore’s LGBTQ community worries a government move to “safeguard” the institution of marriage could perpetuate discrimination in the conservative city-state, even as a colonial-era law criminalising sex between men is finally repealed. At the same time as Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced the clause in the penal code known as Section 377A would be repealed, he reiterated that the institution of marriage would remain between a man and a woman.
South Sudanese Australians find ‘sense of belonging’ in sport Original
With the Commonwealth Games set to begin in the British city of Birmingham, Australian runner Peter Bol is bringing both his record-breaking pace and a fresh new face to the team. Bol is part of a new wave of South Sudanese Australian sportspeople challenging what it means to be ‘an Aussie’. The athlete shot to international fame during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where he became the first Australian in 53 years to reach the final of the men’s 800 metres.
‘Through our own eyes’: Rohingya refugees stage photography show Original
A virtual exhibition by ethnic Rohingya photographers has been launched to document life inside Kutupalong, the world’s largest refugee camp, in southern Bangladesh, in an attempt to further understanding of the lives of hundreds of thousands of mostly Muslim Rohingya who were forced to flee Myanmar five years ago.
The Indigenous people killed by police in Australia Original
Warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that the following article contains the names of deceased persons. The response to the murder acquittal was as disparate as the distance between them. Outside the Darwin courtroom in Australia’s far north, a stony-faced – yet relieved – white police constable was flanked by his defence lawyer and police union officials.
Refugees freed on six-month Australian visas live ‘life in limbo’ Original
Melbourne, Australia – After years of being held captive – first on remote immigration detention centres on Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island and the Pacific island nation of Nauru, and then in suburban hotels in Melbourne – dozens of refugees who had tried to get to Australia by boat have finally been freed. But while they have been free to move about the community since April, they are on borrowed time.
Veterans face off in final round of East Timor presidential poll
The second and final round of presidential elections in East Timor – officially known as Timor-Leste – is under way, with the region’s newest nation facing a generational crossroads. Since independence in 2002, after a brutal 25-year occupation by Indonesia, the country of 1.3 million people has seen years of political upheaval and hotly-contested elections involving a small cohort of familiar faces.
A letter to … the future of DR Congo Original
I am writing this letter for my daughter. Elizabeth is eight years old, just a child, still studying at primary school. She loves singing at church – her voice is beautiful, high and cheerful. It makes me proud to be her Papa when I hear her sing. This morning we went to church together with her Mama. We were lucky to be able to go there and return home safely. Recently others have not been so fortunate. Recently, in a nearby church, 11 people were killed while they prayed. Why? We do not know.
How a gay man from Singapore found acceptance in Australia
Melbourne, Australia – “I knew something was different from the time I was very young,” said Ian Row from his home in Melbourne, Australia. “There was that consciousness and awareness that I felt differently to boys than I did to girls. I knew I was different.” Originally from Singapore, 54-year-old Row is a gay man who has been living in Australia – a country where the LGBTIQ community recently acknowledged the 40th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality – for nearly 20 years.
World accused of ‘sitting and watching’ as Myanmar slides to war
One year since the military coup in Myanmar, calls for international action are growing louder, notably from the National Unity Government (NUG), made up of elected politicians who were thrown out of office by the generals. “The world is doing nothing but just sitting and watching,” NUG Foreign Minister Zin Mar Aung told Al Jazeera. “In the past year, we have seen extreme brutality and atrocity against the population.
‘We can be the change’: Indigenous bikers lead Australia protests Original
Black Death spokesperson Mark, left, and club leader Mulla Sumner, right. Sumner attended the original Aboriginal Tent Embassy in 1972 and rode more than 500km to attend the 50th anniversary. The clubs are a vital support network for Indigenous men. [Ali MC/Al Jazeera] Published On 31 Jan 202231 Jan 2022 Canberra, Australia – Four Indigenous motorcycle clubs joined forces to lead a protest in the Australian capital Canberra and commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy.
‘Turning off the machine was the most gut-wrenching thing’
The river runs gently by, just as it has for millennia. Native birdlife sings melodiously overhead. A gentle breeze whispers through the gum trees as if passing on secrets from the distant past. And the tender fragrance of yellow wattle tinges the evening air. This is the Yarra River, home of the Wurundjeri Indigenous peoples for thousands of generations. Today, the area is an affluent suburb of the city of Melbourne known as Warrandyte.
PNG caught between COVID and vaccine sceptics in pandemic battle
International concerns are mounting as COVID-19 continues to sweep through unvaccinated Papua New Guinea (PNG) where, according to Our World in Data website, only 1.7 percent of its population has been fully vaccinated. The vaccination rate remains abysmally low, despite adequate vaccine supplies and aid from the Australian government and international organisations such as the Red Cross.
How Melbourne’s lockdown exposed the city’s ‘gender gap’
Melbourne, Australia – When the world’s longest lockdown began in her hometown in March 2020, Shemsiya Waritu knew she was in for a challenge. With her husband overseas, she would need to manage the burden not only of work and daily home duties for four children but homeschooling too. An Oromo woman from Ethiopia with little schooling herself and few formal English literacy skills, she told Al Jazeera she was “actually nervous”. “I don’t have the skills to teach them,” she said.
How has COVID-19 affected Australia’s homeless?
Melbourne, Australia – When Melbourne went into lockdown between March and October last year, the city’s rough sleepers were considered to be at high risk. Without a secure and isolated place in which to lock down, the concern was that they could easily catch and transmit COVID-19. The Victorian government responded by providing funding for people experiencing homelessness to access hotel rooms across the city, which were empty due to the lack of tourists.
Australia’s far right gets COVID anti-lockdown protest booster
Melbourne, Australia – Recent anti-lockdown protests in Melbourne have exposed the rise of the far-right movement over fears stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, unemployment, and continuing lockdown measures. The most recent — and arguably most violent — protests were sparked by the state government’s decision to suspend work on building sites for two weeks and make vaccination mandatory for construction workers.
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