http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/anna-greer/ Anna Greer is a Sydney-based journalist, researcher and online producer. Anna spends a lot of her time writing about human rights and social justice issues and worrying about the state of the world. Her current heroine is Afghan activist Malalai Joya who should have won the Nobel Peace Prize. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/burqa-ban-is-about-our-fears-not-their-oppression/ No matter what you think of Islamic veiling one thing is for sure – criminalising the women who wear the burqa or niqab is only going to render them more invisible. France looks set to pass legislation that bans Islamic face covering. The discussion over how this law could be enforced has centred around punishing the veiled woman. She will be taken home, or fined. This belies the true intentions of those calling for a ban – banning the burqa is less about liberating oppressed muslim women and more about making white people feel more comfortable. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Anna Greer) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/burqa-ban-is-about-our-fears-not-their-oppression/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/burqa-ban-is-about-our-fears-not-their-oppression/#item2393 Sun, 14 Feb 2010 19:35:25 +0000 Anna Greer | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/twitter-news.-at-the-speed-of-light/ I was a late Twitter convert, only joining up at the behest of a friend who regularly spoke of its virtues in connecting with her fellow poets and Gertrude Stein enthusiasts. I am a bit ambivalent about contributing to conversations surrounding the latest social networking fads but the other day I had a realisation that I get most of my news from Twitter. The realisation came to me as a bit of a shock, when I was talking to my housemate about the Liberal Party leadership woes. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Anna Greer) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/twitter-news.-at-the-speed-of-light/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/twitter-news.-at-the-speed-of-light/#item1893 Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:15:42 +0000 Anna Greer | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/fear-and-loathing-down-under/ One of my all time favourite arguments against allowing asylum seekers into this country is ‘this is a Christian nation.’ To which I say, What Would Jesus Do my Christian friend? As the full scope of Australia’s fear and loathing is on display after Indonesian authorities opened fire on a boat full of Afghan asylum seekers and Courier Mail readers responded with applause, I think it’s time we reflect on what was done to asylum seekers in our name in the years between 2000 and 2008. I doubt this will have any effect whatsoever on those who cheer the shooting of Afghans who have fled the tyranny in their homelands, but that’s because there are two types of people in this world - those on the side of human rights and those who would pick up a gun against their fellow humans and carry out acts of cruelty. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Anna Greer) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/fear-and-loathing-down-under/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/fear-and-loathing-down-under/#item1778 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:40:25 +0000 Anna Greer | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/australias-world-standing-slipping-on-gender-equality/ The World Economic Forum recently released their 2009 Global Gender Gap Report, and unfortunately Australia has slipped markedly in the ranks over the past couple of years. The report measures how equally the resources and opportunities of a nation are divided up between genders. In 2006 Australia was ranked fifteenth. Now we are twentieth out of the 134 countries included in the report. The Nordic countries topped out the list with Iceland coming first, Finland second and Norway and Sweden were third and fourth respectively. New Zealand retained their position in fifth place. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Anna Greer) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/australias-world-standing-slipping-on-gender-equality/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/australias-world-standing-slipping-on-gender-equality/#item1705 Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:50:10 +0000 Anna Greer | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/counterpunch-the-figures-on-refugees-tell-the-story/ Immigration has held a special place in the fears of many Australians but the figures tell a different story to that told by Liberal MP Kevin Andrews in his recent post on The Punch. The data on asylum seekers and refugees in particular provides some much needed perspective on the current national debate. When Mr Andrews informed Punch readers of the latest migration figures of 173,290 permanent migrants, he neglected to mention that in the last year of the Howard Government the number of permanent migrants to Australia reached 184,438. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Anna Greer) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/counterpunch-the-figures-on-refugees-tell-the-story/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/counterpunch-the-figures-on-refugees-tell-the-story/#item1595 Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:45:33 +0000 Anna Greer | Author bios | The Punch