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Elysium – The Future of Human Rights is Now
Like Gattaca, the movie Elysium paints a picture of a dystopian future. Both movies explore questions of human rights and exclusion. That’s pretty much where the similarities end. Elysium’s Social Justice Message Elysium is unashamedly a sci-fi action flick in mainstream Hollywood tradition. It’s heroes and villians ride in guns blazing. If that’s your thing, then you’ll enjoy the ride. If not, underneath the hero myth, it’s a movie with a serious message. It deals with economic and social extremes in our world today. The future is just a mirror to help us see the present more clearly. In that sense, its science fiction doing what science fiction does…
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Crossing Over: does immigration policy discriminate?
Does immigration policy discriminate? The White Australia policy is gone – so we might conclude that it doesn’t. And indeed Australia would be unrecognisable to those who created the White Australia policy at the end of the 19th century. Times change and such racist practices are now a condemned part of the past. Today Australia celebrates the diversity and strength of its people: actively creating pathways and welcoming individuals and families from around the world into its community. Race is not relevant. That’s not the full story of course. Currently a human rights inquiry is investigating the treatment of children in Australian immigration prisons. These are children from families, or…
