Cricket Australia postpones T20 series against Afghanistan over human rights record
A second Australian men’s cricket series against Afghanistan in as many years has been postponed due to the country’s poor record on human rights for women and girls.
Australia had already cancelled a one-day international series last year due to “a marked deterioration” in the treatment of women and girls.
An improvement in the situation was anticipated since then and it was hoped a three-match T20 series would be given the green light to take place in August this year. But Cricket Australia on Tuesday said the conditions were getting worse rather than better and decided to again call off the series.
CA made its decision after consulting with the Australian government.
A statement read:
The government’s advice is that conditions for women and girls in Afghanistan are getting worse. For this reason, we have maintained our previous position and will postpone the bilateral series against Afghanistan.
CA continues its strong commitment to supporting participation by women and girls in cricket around the world and will continue to actively engage the International Cricket Council and work closely with the Afghanistan Cricket Board to determine what actions could be taken to support the resumption of bilateral matches in the future.
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Public Interest Advocacy Centre calls on Labor to keep promise to protect LGTBQ+ students and teachers
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre has called on the Albanese government to keep its promise to protect LGBTQI+ students and teachers and not shelve two draft bills on changes to religious discrimination laws.
Earlier today, the prime minister threatened to shelve the two draft bills, citing concerns about divisive debate amid heightened Islamophobia and anti-semitism unless the opposition agrees to its “balanced” approach.
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has refused to offer any commitment before seeing the proposed legislation, describing the move on Tuesday as a “set-up” to allow Labor to dump its election commitment.
The director of policy and advocacy at the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, Alastair Lawrie, said:
Labor went to the May 2022 federal election with clear commitments to remove the special legal privileges that allow religious schools to discriminate against students and teachers on the basis of their sexual orientation and gender identity.
The Albanese government must fulfil their promise to protect LGBTQ students and teachers in religious schools against discrimination, rather than give a veto to Mr Dutton.
LGBTQ teachers, and especially students, have waited far too long already to enjoy their rights to teach and learn free from the fear of mistreatment on the basis of who they are.
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