Fight the Power: Defamation as a Weapon Against Systemic Racism?
The media's the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power. Because they control the minds of the masses. Malcolm X
Throughout my legal career, I have worked with and for, and socialised with, many Indigenous Australians. Without exception, each person has expressed in one way or another that they felt that Australian society did not value their lives in the same way that white Australians' lives were valued. These feelings were often felt most acutely in the context of the legal system.
Consequently, it appears to me that Indigenous people feel they are more likely than white people to suffer at the hands of the punitive side of the law, and less likely than white people to benefit from the protective and remedial side of the law. On top of that, based on my experience, it is much easier for white Australians to access and
