Justice

The machinery of justice and who it actually serves. Surveillance powers and their missing reckonings, court secrecy and who can afford it, and the gap between the system's promises and its ledger.

Fig. 01 / On this desk · the cases running on this beat

Victoria PoliceSTATE POLICE FORCE · 2 HERE NSW PoliceSTATE POLICE FORCE · 2 HERE Metadata RetentionMECHANISM · SURVEILLANCE · 2 HERE Suppression OrdersMECHANISM · COURTS · 2 HERE GoogleACTOR · PLATFORM · 2 HERE Sydney AirportCOMPANY · INFRASTRUCTURE · 1 HERE The INSLMFEDERAL WATCHDOG · 1 HERE The eSafety CommissionerFEDERAL REGULATOR · 1 HERE

Fig. 01Source: beat desk · cases assembled from the archiveAs of 2026‑07‑06Auto-assembled

Fig. 02 / The evidence · every file on this beat

The Surveillance Rort · 3

01The sunset that won't setThe five year sunset on Australia's police hacking powers was built to force a reckoning: the reckoning arrived, the government's own watchdog found the system wanting…02The order that replaces the warrantNSW is detaching compelled phone-unlocking from the search warrant, selling the change as a gangland measure while the offence list runs far wider, and wiring toll cam…03The internet asks for IDThe under-16 ban was the wedge: within roughly a year, every layer of the Australian internet asks adults to prove who they are, an age-assurance industry holds a legi…

The Smear · 2

02The writThe most decorated living soldier used the biggest defamation case in the country’s history to call reporters liars. A court found four murders.04The patternAn old machine turns again in Australian politics: reputation is currency, and the writ and the smear are its transactions. Four recent cases, one currency, and it cut…

The Suppression Rort · 2

01The secrecy you can buyVictoria's pledge to strip suppression orders from convicted rapists aims at the one moment the system already handles; the secrecy that matters is assembled earlier, …02The order the Act cannot reachRalph Carr can now be named, and the way his suppression order ended, abandoned rather than overturned, confirms the interim phase is where the real decision is made. …

The Compliance Machine · 1

01Two machines, two clocksTwo welfare compliance powers are due to restart on 26 October 2026, if DEWR's assurance work is complete, and neither of the two Commonwealth Ombudsman investigations…

The Prison Contract Rort · 1

01Every failure listed, none pricedA statutory monitor reports on the privately run prison every year, and the report reaches the public as a bulleted list of notice types and months with no amount agai…

Fig. 02Source: article scan · grouped by the case each file belongs toAs of 2026‑07‑06Auto-assembled

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