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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Comment
George Newhouse and Duncan Fine

What kind of country are we that treats children in prison with such cruelty and brutality?

Prison Banksia Hill Australia
A protester with chained hands and a sign which reads
A protester at a Perth rally against the transfer of Banksia Hill youth detection centre inmates to an adult prison. Photograph: Richard Wainwright/AAP

Australia likes to imagine itself as a decent, open society underscored by a sense of fairness for all.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Our colonial history began as a convict settlement and the culture of punishment and cruelty has not changed.

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