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Kevin Bell

On our moral watch

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September 2024, no. 468
‘On our moral watch: The disgrace of homelessness in Australia’ by Kevin Bell

Australia is experiencing a housing disaster that risks turning into a social and economic catastrophe. It is a disaster because all four aspects of the system are extremely stressed and play havoc with the lives and aspirations of millions of people. Home ownership is beyond the reach of many households, even those with two good wages coming in, let alone those with one. Rents have skyrocketed and few affordable rentals are available for ordinary working families. Housing costs are so high as to lower living standards generally. The modern history of social housing is one of deliberate government under-investment, to the point where it is available only to those on income support and with desperate needs. In our land of plenty, homelessness is among the highest in the world and visible to all – a fact reported to our national shame in the international media.

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Everything You Need to Know About the Uluru Statement from the Heart by Megan Davis and George Williams

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July 2021, no. 433
Kevin Bell reviews 'Everything You Need to Know About the Uluru Statement from the Heart' by Megan Davis and George Williams

The Uluru Statement from the Heart was made at a historic assembly of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples at Uluru in 2017. It addresses the fundamental question of how Indigenous peoples want to be recognised in the Australian Constitution. The answer given is a First Nations ‘Voice’ to Federal Parliament protected by the Constitution, and a subsequent process of agreement-making and truth-telling. This process should be overseen by a Makarrata Commission, from the Yolngu word meaning ‘the coming together after a struggle’. Inspired by the values enshrined in the Statement, Victoria has established such a process through the Yoo-rrook Justice Commission. ‘Yoo-rrook’ is a Wemba Wemba/Wamba Wamba word meaning ‘truth’.

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The Land is our History: Indigeneity, law, and the settler state by Miranda Johnson

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May 2017, no. 391
Kevin Bell reviews 'The Land is our History: Indigeneity, law, and the settler state' by Miranda Johnson

Australia’s national identity is as complex as the people who make up the nation and the historical forces by which it was made. Our Indigenous peoples, whose unique histories precede the nation’s by more than fifty thousand years, are central to that identity ...

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It’s Our Country edited by Megan Davis and Marcia Langton & The Forgotten People edited by Damien Freeman and Shireen Morris

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November 2016, no. 386
Kevin Bell reviews 'It’s our country' by Megan Davis and Marcia Langton, and 'The Forgotten People' edited by Damien Freeman and Shireen Morris

Are you part of the non-Indigenous majority? Have you had too little contact with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people? Do you feel that you do not fully comprehend their ...

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