THE BEACON | SINCE 2024 | THINK FOR YOURSELF
Housing: the government is responsible
HOUSING: THE GOVERNMENT IS RESPONSIBLE HOUSING FOR ALL, NOT JUST THE SPECIAL FEW It remains the responsibility of government to ensure that every person has access to suitable accommodation. This responsibility, which cannot be avoided or evaded, requires the government of the day to regulate the property market. In doing this, the government will recognise that our national housing stock is a precious resource that must be protected from economic predation. Whilst also recognising that houses and apartments are for living in. To suitably accommodate everyone, the government must have a plan of action that is practical, realistic, and accounts…
Wild west property market fails to deliver
WILD WEST PROPERTY MARKET FAILS TO DELIVER GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION URGENTLY NEEDED An assessment of the Australian housing market leads to four important observations. Firstly, many Australian cities and towns currently host properties that have remained unoccupied for many years. Some of these properties are boarded up; others are surrounded by wire mesh fencing; others still sit within unkempt jungle gardens. Likewise, many abandoned properties appear structurally sound and therefore ready for refurbishment or a direct return to market, but for some unknown reason continue to remain vacant. The salient point being that no person or family presently resides within any…
Human need above all else
HUMAN NEED ABOVE ALL ELSE MORAL DECENCY OVER GREED The current chronic shortage of available accommodation options, alternately described as the national housing crisis, is a shameful scenario for any country to experience, and is not the product of some wild force of nature that remains beyond our control. Rather, the property famine that plagues our cities and towns and which compels the most vulnerable to sleep on the streets, is largely, if not entirely, the product of unrestrained property speculation. This lack of restraint is perhaps best described as a severe diluting of moral principle. What was once thought…
Melbourne’s street dwellers
MELBOURNE’S STREET DWELLERS HOMELESS SLEEP ROUGH IN CAPITAL CITY The real world effects of the national housing crisis are stark in appearance and cruel in nature. The droves of homeless that now inhabit our city streets attest to this. In a first world country like Australia, it seems absurd that human beings are compelled to “camp out” whilst hundreds of properties sit empty. But this is how it is. State and federal governments are either out of ideas or out of money. Perhaps both. Religious organisations, a once traditional source of charity, now mostly focus on operating a chain of…
Fuel supplies linger but for how long?
FUEL SUPPLIES LINGER BUT FOR HOW LONG ? SERIOUS PLANNING IS NEEDED TO CURTAIL SHORTAGES Consider this, petrol is needed to power the family car that is used to drop off the kids at school. Petrol is also needed for the drive to work and the trip to the shopping centre. The supermarket where the weekly shopping is purchased relies on trucks that operate on diesel fuel. The fresh produce that originates from Australian farms and pastures also require diesel to make their vehicles work. Kerosene, otherwise known as jet fuel, powers the fleet of aircraft that transports us through…
Melbourne: shops shut as economy weakens
MELBOURNE: SHOPS SHUT AS ECONOMY WEAKENS THE AESTHETICS OF ECONOMIC DECLINE The most noticeable thing about MELBOURNE high streets is the sheer abundance of shops that are empty and remain disused. Many stand out because they are tightly boarded up, the yellow-brown plywood sheets having been carefully fitted together to erase any sign of glass but somehow maintaining a reflective quality, a dull golden glow that recalls the winter sun. Whether or not a plywood barrier is erected is of no concern for those seeking visual space on the high street. Soon after a shop discontinues business and its tenants…
Why squat empty properties?
WHY SQUAT EMPTY PROPERTIES? WHY SQUAT? • Squatting utilises existing social resources that are presently misused • Squatting recycles abandoned properties and reduces environmental waste • Squatting ensures that empty properties service the local community • Squatting empowers the individual to reverse disadvantageous circumstances • Squatting is a fast-paced learning experience that eclipses the prepper craze • Squatting develops the mind of the individual and costs far less than university • Squatting pushes back against unhealthy and antisocial capitalist exploitation • Squatting challenges existing property relations and does so without violence • Squatting can provide a visual example of genuine…
How will I ever find a home?
HOW WILL I EVER FIND A HOME? PROPERTY SPECULATORS • Intentionally leave some properties vacant and underutilised • Sit on empty properties for years at a time to realise profit through land banking • Often prefer Airbnb short term rentals to long term renters HOMELESS PEOPLE • Wander the streets during the day to avoid being “moved on” by police • Sleep rough at railway stations and bus stops after dark • Often cannot receive government assistance if they have no fixed address UNDER 21s • Are stuck with youth wages until the age of 21 • But must pay…
Squatters turn empty houses into homes
SQUATTERS TURN EMPTY HOUSES INTO HOMES SQUATTERS RECYCLE EMPTY PROPERTIES By the mid-1980s poverty had become rampant throughout Australia. As jobs moved overseas and mortgage rates skyrocketed above 15%, many people suffered under this unbearable weight. Some lost their homes and had to start again as renters in a new suburb. Others, overwhelmingly young people under 30, working with a handful of experienced squatters, took control of their destiny and moved themselves into vacant properties in large numbers. The residential properties had sat empty for years prior to these actions. They stood in forlorn clusters and were therefore highly visible,…
Cold war turns hot
COLD WAR TURNS HOT VIDEOS | The unipolar moment | before & after VIDEOS These videos help explain the rise and fall of the unipolar moment, and include a sneak peek into the emerging multipolar world. A range of perspectives are included. / 01 THE FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL / 02 PRESIDENT GEORGE H.W. BUSH ANNOUNCES PERSIAN GULF WAR 1-16-91 / 03 NEWS AUGUST 24, 1991 – ABC NEWS SPECIAL REPORT ON SOVIET COUP AFTERMATH / 04 FROM 2003: COLIN POWELL ADDRESSES UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL ON IRAQ / 05 PRESIDENT BUSH ANNOUNCES START OF IRAQ WAR / 06…
From unipolar to multipolar
FROM UNIPOLAR TO MULTIPOLAR US HEGEMONY DWINDLES AS NEW POLES EMERGE THE COLD WAR American cultural and political leadership, on an international scale, began its ascendency in the aftermath of World War One. United States global power was further solidified after World War Two as much of Europe lay in ruins and was largely bankrupt. A cold war between East and West emerged soon after the defeat of the Nazis in 1945. The victorious Allies, which included Britain, France, Australia, the United States, and the Soviet Union, and which had successfully collaborated to defeat nazi Germany and imperial Japan, split…
Museum of the Vietnamese Revolution
MUSEUM OF THE VIETNAMESE REVOLUTION Hanoi (Ha Noi) | Vietnam The Vietnam National Museum of History was established in 2011 and amalgamates the National Museum of Vietnamese History with the National Museum of the Vietnamese Revolution. As of 2026, both museums continue to have their own building – they sit across the road from one another – and maintain unique and distinctive collections. This review and commentary will focus solely on the former National Museum of the Vietnamese Revolution. “The building at 216 Tran Quang Khai street (the former National Museum of the Vietnamese Revolution) was constructed in 1917 as…
War Remnants Museum
WAR REMNANTS MUSEUM Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) | Vietnam The collection of the War Remnants Museum does more than simply catalogue the effects of war in Vietnam and promote peace. The museum provides a living example of how a collecting institution may approach the subject of war after victory. The War Remnants Museum was established on 4 September 1975 and “specializes in researching, collecting, preserving and displaying evidence of crimes and consequences of the war of aggression against Vietnam, thereby calling for awareness against unjust wars, protecting peace and promoting solidarity between nations.” The first thing that a visitor…
Towards a new philosophy of housing
TOWARDS A NEW PHILOSOPHY OF HOUSING HOUSING FOR ALL A philosophy of housing that seeks to satisfy the accommodation needs of the entire population, that rejects class privilege and racial prejudice where they may act as barriers to housing, that accepts that all people require suitable shelter, comfort, and privacy on an ongoing basis, and that delivers housing solutions at all links within the housing market chain, is precisely the new philosophy of housing that is now desperately needed. Such an approach draws upon the longstanding principle that appropriate housing is a fundamental human right. Which means that everyone receives…
Thirteen years of something else
THIRTEEN YEARS OF SOMETHING ELSE There are times in life when things change at a record pace. During the thirteen years that transpired between 1962 and 1975, something fundamentally decent about Australia and Australians emerged. A genuine cultural unity materialised, one that rallied around a shared vision for a just Australian society. It was a time when the Australian nation had sought to overcome its horrid past of white slavery and black exclusion. It was also a time when Australia finally understood its place within and connection to world history. Indeed, it was a flowering, a coming of age, a…
Building an empty properties register
BUILDING AN EMPTY PROPERTIES REGISTER What is an empty properties register? • An organised list of all the properties that currently remain empty • A survey of housing assets within an identified area • Such as a local council electorate, local catchment area, or a local conurbation • An empty properties register can be a national database Why produce an empty properties register? • To capture evidence of empty properties • To manifest a data pool which can serve further research • To help generate an honest public discussion about housing and homelessness • To provide coherent information related to…
Shut out of the housing market
SHUT OUT OF THE HOUSING MARKET Plywood boards, corrugated sheeting, barrier fences, chains with padlocks • Are utilised to keep people out of properties rather than inside them • Exclude all human life from these once vibrant places • Demonstrate who has power and who does not Broken fences, disconnected gas meters, missing windows • Indicate the property is an investment in land and not a home for people • Highlight how core human needs are being wilfully ignored by government • Represent the aesthetics of a society in decline Empty houses, vacant buildings, abandoned warehouses, disused premises • Are…
Frontline reshaped as key cities change hands
FRONTLINE RESHAPED AS KEY CITIES CHANGE HANDS Seversk, Mirnograd, Pokrovsk, Hulyaipole | January 2026 Like knots on a piece of string, the vast frontline that bisects Ukraine consists of a series of key cities that interconnect and serve as critical Ukrainian military nodes. Within each city significant defensive fortifications have been constructed and these military positions are staffed with armed combatants. Until very recently, running NE to SW, the frontline could be identified as consisting of Kupyansk, Lyman, Seversk, Kostyantynivka, Mirnograd, Pokrovsk, Hulyaipole, Orikhiv. But this is no longer the case. The frontline has been significantly reshaped. Multiple fortress cities…
Without petrol, things will get much harder
WITHOUT PETROL, THINGS WILL GET MUCH HARDER If petrol becomes so expensive that most people cannot afford to operate a vehicle, certain specific changes will occur within our society. For example, tradespeople and mobile professionals, who pay for their own means of transportation, including petrol, will be forced to restrict their driving. Over time, these workers will seek to consolidate work appointments into time blocks to save on petrol expense, which in practice means they will opt to work part-time. Within three to six months, many will wind up their business enterprises, unable to strategise around price inflation and the…
The scent of fresh cut grass
The scent of fresh cut grass SYNOPSIS THE SCENT OF FRESH CUT GRASS / BY KEITH SALTER In a world devoid of moral restraint, the new normal offers the ruling elite the opportunity to simply tell us their plans. Which is precisely what RexPark, a business corporation and private military contractor, has presently accomplished with the publication of its ideological essay and business plan.The Bastard Country, The Entity, and The Proxy is undoubtedly a tour-de-force of maniacal lunacy. Which will see mercenaries recruited to go hunting on human safari within overseas territories. Whilst the victims of these shooting wars will…
The Department of Squatting
The Department of Squatting and the news media reaction CHAPTER EXCERPT FROM THE NOVEL THE SCENT OF FRESH CUT GRASS / BY KEITH SALTER 0 DAY ZERO … | The scenario • After learning some frightening details regarding a local business entity• Squatters take over a building located at 242 Tessington Rd, Mooreville• A modern day civil disobedience and direct action campaign gets underway• What follows is an account of the media transmissions published daily by the Department of Squatting. A similar account is provided for the mainstream media. 1 DAY ONE … Morning | The Department of Squatting WHERE…
The bastard country
THE BASTARD COUNTRY SPEECH EXCERPT FROM THE NOVEL THE SCENT OF FRESH CUT GRASS / BY KEITH SALTER 0 CONTEXT: The speech below is delivered by Marchman Killeen of RexPark corporation, primarily known for its business activities within the private military contractor sector. They participate in wars for profit. After listening to this “promotional” speech, local activists and squatters decide to take on the evil corporation of RexPark. Together, they squat and occupy the local premises of RexPark, locking the front and rear doors of the building and hanging banners from the windows situated above the ground floor. The squatters…
Punk is a state of mind
PUNK IS A STATE OF MIND, AN ATTITUDE, A WORLD VIEW Punk is a state of mind. Mental conformity is out and originality and freedom of expression are in. Punk is an attitude. Which is a shrewd social awareness that critically analyses our own society on the one hand, and that values integrity, fairness, and decency, and despises injustice on the other. Punk is a world view. It is a way of understanding the world amidst the ongoing chaos of economic collapse and forever wars. Punk isn’t shy about speaking out. Punk calls out colonialism, militarism, police violence, and class…
500+ Sydney properties remain empty
500+ SYDNEY PROPERTIES REMAIN EMPTY by Keith Salter The Empty Properties Register is the result of active research field work that has sought to document the widespread practice of leaving properties empty at a time when over 120,000 people nationally within Australia continue to experience homelessness. The research found 500+ empty and abandoned properties – overwhelmingly domestic dwellings – situated within the greater Sydney region. The survey encapsulated one or more visits to more than 160 suburbs across a period of 21 months. Many of these 500+ properties are locked up for the longer term. Anti-human enhancements have been added…
The fight for Palestine on home soil
THE FIGHT FOR PALESTINE ON HOME SOIL WITH MILITANT UNIONS MIA, NEW ORGS ARE NEEDED NOW TRADE UNION PARALYSIS The most glaring and galling feature of our present-day trade unions is the complete lack of militancy. Australian unions have almost universally adopted a “tame cat” stance, both in relation to pressing industrial matters and the genocide of the oppressed Palestinians. The utter failure of any militancy to emerge from within union ranks at a time when a livestreamed genocide is occurring is quite astonishing, to say the least. Moreover, as this genocide unfolds within the historical lands of Palestine, not…
Any war with China will arrive with costs
ANY WAR WITH CHINA WILL ARRIVE WITH COSTS by Keith Salter This article examines what might occur within the Australian tertiary education sector should Australia pursue a war with China. In the scenario that Australia embarks upon a war with China, whether that be a shooting war or a series of sea piracy acts, we should expect a considered response from China. Any war with China will arrive with costs for Australians. One such cost may be long term damage to profitability due to a withdrawal of Chinese investment. Once war breaks out the Chinese government will ban future students…
Fate of two cities may signal collapse of frontline
FATE OF TWO CITIES MAY SIGNAL COLLAPSE OF FRONTLINE Pokrovsk and Kostyantynivka | August 2025 Two cities located on the frontline are currently facing immense pressure from an unremitting Russian advance. From west to east, these frontline cities are Pokrovsk and Kostyantynivka. Both cities are located within the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR). Pokrovsk is a metallurgical and mining hub and remains a critical junction for road transport. Kostyantynivka forms the southern tip of a significant Ukrainian defensive formation, running northward through Kramatorsk and Slavyansk. Each city is presently under the control of Ukraine and both function as supply bases for…
The long colonial war on Palestine
THE LONG COLONIAL WAR ON PALESTINE by Keith Salter The latest iteration of the long colonial war fought to displace the Palestinians from their homeland is perhaps the most sustained and barbaric phase yet. Israeli bombs persistently rain down upon Palestine. The Israeli Defence Force has hit and destroyed all manner of infrastructure, from apartment blocks to tent encampments, the latter made necessary by the cruel destruction of the former. Within Gaza, food is scarce. Due to the absence of important civilian infrastructure like administrative buildings that accommodate food distribution hubs, and markets and supermarkets with produce for sale, the…
Myth of Camelot
MYTH OF CAMELOT looking elsewherenew world, manifest destinymonroe doctrine, red scarenew deal, lend leasered scare reduxkoreavietnamlooking elsewheremyth of camelotbay of pigsforget the pasta brand new day dawnsgoing all the way with locally bought justicelooking elsewhereafghanistanstar warsserbia911 at homeafghanistan reduxiraqguantanamolooking elsewheremyth of Camelot reduxcan’t we just drone this guy?deplorables900 offshore military baseslooking elsewheregenocideage related dementiagenocidereturn to past glorygenocideit hurts to look closer to homegenocidethe mirror doesn’t lielooking elsewhere, ukrainelooking elsewhere, palestinelooking elsewhere, syrialooking elsewhere, yemenlooking elsewhere, iranlooking elsewhere, venezuelalooking elsewhere, burkina fasolooking elsewhere, chinalooking elsewhereahoy matey, pirates starboard!nazi gold, looted artworks, trafficked artefactsplundered riches, purloined resourcesoil, gas, lithium, cobalt, wheatnothing left…
World Turned Upside Down
WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN Punk Human Art Exhibition 2025 A JOURNEY INTO THE UNDERBELLY OF SYDNEY Over the course of one year, I have documented Sydney’s deepening accommodation crisis. This has involved visiting numerous homeless encampments around Sydney. Where I often discussed the causes of homelessness with those living on the streets. Causes identified included fleeing from domestic violence, having little to no money following eviction, experiencing a sudden crisis or misfortune, being without family or friends who could temporarily accommodate, likely mental illness, and no access to useful and appropriate social services. To complement this social inquiry, I have…
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Punk Human 