Greg Barns's profile photo

Greg Barns

Hobart

Freelance Contributor at Freelance

Barrister and writer. Columnist with Hobart Mercury and Pearls and Irritations. Author of The Rise of the Right (Hardie Grant Publishing 2019)

Featured in: Favicon theguardian.com Favicon abc.net.au Favicon nikkei.com Favicon smh.com.au Favicon sagepub.com Favicon scmp.com Favicon stuff.co.nz Favicon theconversation.com Favicon theage.com.au Favicon businessinsider.com.au

Articles

  • 1 week ago | johnmenadue.com | Greg Barns

    Australia doesn’t mind imposing sanctions on nations or groups it regards as being deserving of punishment for their nefarious activities, Russia, Iran and Zimbabwe to name a few. But Israel, the nation that is currently starving men, women and children, and which is committing genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, is not on the list. It is unconscionable and demonstrates the moral cowardice of a nation that once led the world in opposing another form of evil – apartheid South Africa.

  • 4 weeks ago | johnmenadue.com | Greg Barns

    In his term as attorney-general, Mark Dreyfus failed to address many big issues. Dreyfus’ legacy as attorney-general is, at best, very modest. In fact, come to think of it, he was perfectly suited to the style of the Albanese Government. Incremental change and a refusal, post the Voice referendum loss, to embark on any of what the great former Labor Prime Minister Paul Keating called “big picture” initiatives.

  • 1 month ago | counterweights.ca | Greg Barns

    GREG BARNS SC. HOBART, MELBOURNE, BRISBANE, PERTH, AUSTRALIA. MONDAY, MAY 5, 2025. Newly minted Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and his Liberals have something in common with the winner of Australia’s national election on Saturday, Anthony Albanese and the Australian Labor Party (ALP). Both brought their governments back from the brink of defeat partly because of the Trumpian tinge of the conservative opposition parties.

  • 1 month ago | johnmenadue.com | Greg Barns

    If I were attorney-general of the Commonwealth after Saturday’s election there is one person I would seek to emulate, the Whitlam era’s Lionel Murphy. Murphy, the most reformist attorney-general in Australian history. Think legal aid, the Family Law Act, trade practices legislation and an attempt to pass a human rights act. His brief period in office, 1972 to early 1975, when he took up a seat on the High Court, was impressive in its scope.

  • 2 months ago | johnmenadue.com | Greg Barns

    Israel’s slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza, and now its seizing of their land is the worst example of genocide since the horrors of the genocides of Darfur in Sudan in 2003 and Rwanda in the 1990s. Candidates running in the 2025 federal election, particularly those in marginal seats, must be held accountable for their actions and attitudes concerning the conduct of one of Australia’s closest allies.

Contact details

Socials & Sites

Try JournoFinder For Free

Search and contact over 1M+ journalist profiles, browse 100M+ articles, and unlock powerful PR tools.

Start Your 7-Day Free Trial →

X (formerly Twitter)

Followers
18K
Tweets
98K
DMs Open
Yes
Greg Barns SC
Greg Barns SC @BarnsGreg
21 May 25

RT @BenGlenHuon: So apparently what’s “best for Tasmania” is a deal signed without any community involvement, for an unnecessary and ruinou…

Greg Barns SC
Greg Barns SC @BarnsGreg
21 May 25

RT @counterweights: LIB + NDP + GRN = 54%. Whatever else Canada right now does have a progressive majority in Parliament !

Greg Barns SC
Greg Barns SC @BarnsGreg
21 May 25

RT @LyrebirdDream: @SenatorWong Speaking out against genocide peacefully and by myself in a public space got me targeted by the Australian…