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It’s a major issue that impacts the lives of tens of thousands of Australians — but no one is talking about it. More than 61,000 people have some aspect of their lives controlled by state government public trustees and public guardians, which manage $14.7 billion in assets, charging huge fees for their services. This week, Crikey released my 11-part investigative series Kidnapped by the state, shining a light on the experiences of just some of the families and individuals whose lives have been upended. It’s not an easy read… but I believe it’s an important one. And since we began publishing, dozens more people have reached out to share their stories. Elsewhere this week, Bernard Keane gave his take on Christian Porter’s semi-resignation, Georgia Wilkins ran the numbers on more than $1 billion in secret political donations, and Cam Wilson chronicled the rise of the content creator who has become the hero of Melbourne’s anti-vaccine, anti-lockdown protests. |
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Thanks for your support,
Amber Schultz
Associate editor
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Real Rukshan: the live streamer who took Melbourne’s protest to the world stage
CAM WILSON 8 minute read The wedding photographer-turned-journalist has become the unlikely hero of Melbourne's anti-vaccine, anti-lockdown protests. |
Has Hillsong breached charity rules? Houston’s resignations open up new front
DAVID HARDAKER 3 minute read Under Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission rules, the megachurch's senior pastor could be called on to resign. |
Keating zeroes in on the incoherence at the heart of AUKUS, but can Labor do better?
BERNARD KEANE 4 minute read The difference between Paul Keating and contemporary Labor and the Coalition is rooted in a coherent vision of Australia's economic and strategic place in the world. It's not a vision we're likely to see again. |
Kidnapped by the state
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Guardianship orders are there to protect the vulnerable. But victims of the system have accused state governments of profiteering, using clients as cash cows. |
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Alice* lost her grandparents Joe* and Sarah* to the control of the Queensland government in two months. She describes the situation as 'hell on earth'. |
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After Alice* lost her grandparents to the control of the Queensland government, she and her mother turned to the courts. The ordeal has cost them thousands, and it isn't over yet. |
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Reporting on those under a guardianship order is exceedingly challenging because it is illegal to publicly identify them. But this also means it can be difficult to hold bad actors to account. |
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Janine* thought she'd be in hospital for a few nights. She had no idea she might never go home and could face losing her assets to the state. |
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State offices of the public trustee have been accused not only of mismanaging funds but of having a profit-raising agenda, charging wealthier clients high fees to sustain themselves. |
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Karla* blames a guardianship order for preventing her from having a say in the end-of-life care for her 90-year-old mother, Anna*. |
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Jack's* parents decided to place him in the care of a public guardian to help better manage his autism and epilepsy. It's a decision they say they now deeply regret. |
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Getting a guardianship revoked is extremely rare, with lawyers telling Crikey there have been just a handful of successful appeals in each state. This is one of those rare success stories. |
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John Munroe signed up for the Queensland public trustee’s free will service so his partner Tania and son Ethan would be looked after. But 13 years after his death, Tania tells us 'they’ve taken his $600,000 estate and turned it into nothing'. |
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Across this series we have identified major problems with the states' administration and guardianship systems. But does this mean they should be scrapped altogether, or can they be reformed? |
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Christian Porter is still breaching the rules. He needs to ’fess up or leave Parliament
BERNARD KEANE 3 minute read Christian Porter might no longer be a minister, but he remains in breach of the requirements Parliament imposes about disclosing interests. |
Dear voters, you don’t deserve me and my awesome genius. I’ll be off
MADONNA KING 3 minute read One day you'll regret how you've lost my phenomenal talents — but by then it will be too late. |
$1b in secret political donations is a plague on both parties
GEORGIA WILKINS 2 minute read Christian Porter's anonymous donation from a blind trust is just one more example of how donors' largesse is hidden in Australian politics. |
A new kind of special relationship
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The 'special relationship' between the US, UK and Australia is grounded in shared ethnicity and cultural traditions that's more branding than reality. |
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Few in positions of power or authority are asking questions, raising doubts or voicing objections about the imperial alliance in which Australia is entangling itself. |
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Sussan Ley pulls the old ‘one mine won’t matter’ trick on the Federal Court and kids
MICHAEL BRADLEY 4 minute read The environment minister's decision to approve the extension of NSW's Vickery coalmine is ideological vandalism at its worst. |
The seedy rise and fall of John Elliott’s tottering empire
ADAM SCHWAB 5 minute read While the 'colourful identity' has been remembered as a larger-than-life business titan, his empire was studded with mishaps and misdeeds. |
Question Time: Civil unrest, submarines and seismic shifts
CHARLIE LEWIS 1 minute read How closely have you been paying attention to the news this week? Play our quiz and find out! |
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Real Rukshan: the live streamer who took Melbourne’s protest to the world stage
Has Hillsong breached charity rules? Houston’s resignations open up new front
Keating zeroes in on the incoherence at the heart of AUKUS, but can Labor do better?
Christian Porter is still breaching the rules. He needs to ’fess up or leave Parliament
Dear voters, you don’t deserve me and my awesome genius. I’ll be off
$1b in secret political donations is a plague on both parties
Sussan Ley pulls the old ‘one mine won’t matter’ trick on the Federal Court and kids
The seedy rise and fall of John Elliott’s tottering empire
Question Time: Civil unrest, submarines and seismic shifts
