This has been a bad week. An overwhelming majority of Australians have voted to deny First Nations people an advisory body in the Constitution; to retain parliament’s power to make laws about First Nations people without giving them a say. Israel is bombing, and cutting food and water from, civilians in Gaza. Invasion is seemingly imminent.
Honi editorials, at this time of the year, are often about the trials and tribulations of editing the paper. That feels inappropriate. They sometimes offer optimism — or defiance — in the face of a world hostile to young people. That feels difficult.
As hard as it may be, though, I think it is important for young people to stay engaged, to keep on pushing for a better world. Because the tragedy of the Voice defeat is not defeat itself, but because First Nations people will continue to be imprisoned at the highest rates in the world, go without adequate education, and die young. Because Israel disregards civilian lives with Australia’s support. And because these facts are not evidence that Australia has changed, but because it has not changed at all.
This edition attempts to grapple with those issues and many others. Our editorial on the Voice referendum can be found on page 4 with coverage of pro-Palestinian protest on page 6. I hope that Honi this week can keep students engaged; I hope that it can provide a different perspective in the context of a total failure of the media to inform and moderate debate.
The feature (p. 11) grapples with the state of anti-protest law in Australia and beyond. Unfortunately, it could not have been published at a better time, with the government’s hostility to peaceful protest on full display earlier this week.
Also in this edition, Simar Batra (p. 15) and Harrison Brennan (p. 8) discuss the housing crisis which continues apace. Maeve Hopper (p. 12), Angus McGregor and Jayden Nguyen (p. 7) keep an eye on life at the university. James Wiley (p. 19) tries to single-handedly keep Arts revue alive.
I hope you enjoy.
