In a scene almost lifted from the U.S., a local Australian council faces pressure for using taxpayer funds to organise a “drag storytime” for children at a Melbourne library. On April 26, a Monash City Council meeting in Melbourne’s east was met by angry community members who chanted slogans against the event and expressed frustration…

It has been alleged that New Zealand (NZ) police have directly contacted Australian authorities for information that enabled Immigration NZ to deny Australian Rebel News journalist Avi Yemini entry to NZ to report on a protest critical of the Labour government. While attempting to board a plane to New Zealand on Aug. 22, Yemini’s passport…

Two years of government-mandated lockdowns has left a permanent mark on how suburban and regional Australians approach elections, with voters disillusioned with the major parties and keen for change, according to live streamer Rukshan Fernando. Fernando was a permanent fixture during months-long protests against COVID-19 regulations in Melbourne in 2021. His live streams of the…

For Rukshan Fernando, something simply didn’t add up—it didn’t make sense. News outlets portrayed the “government as doing great, the police are doing great, and that everything was great” in Victoria’s handling of the pandemic. But at the same time, protesters were portrayed as fringe elements of society, “extremists” and “anti-vaxxers.” “It didn’t gel with…