Austin Mackell

Austin is a freelance journalist who began reporting professionally during the 2006 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, where he was studying on exchange. Since then he's reported from all around the Middle East and Australia including during the turbulent 2009 presidential elections in Iran, the remote Northern Territory, and for two turbulent years from Egypt following the 2011 uprising, during which time his close attention to the labour movement, the abuses of the army and police forces and dissenters from within their ranks earned him the ire of Egypt's traditional authorities, who brought bogus charges against him and his colleagues, which were only dropped after pressure from friends, family, the MEAA and the Wikileaks community forced the foreign minister to take action. He now lives in Quito Ecuador with his wife Aliya and their cat, Assad (which means lion in Arabic).

Articles by Austin Mackell:

13 June 201317 June 2013 · Politics

The second-biggest wheelchair in Ecuador

Austin Mackell

At the age of 26, Xavier Torres Correa was made a quadriplegic as he attempted to shield his young nephews from the murderous rage of their father, his brother in law. His sacrifice was in vain, though. His sister’s husband killed both boys before taking his own life. That was in 1990. Xavier left Ecuador and spent two years in Cuba, where he regained use of his hands.

11 September 201211 September 2012 · Politics

The alliance with the Brotherhood is over

Austin Mackell

After reading through the debate between Tad Tietze and Michael Brull about whether leftists should ever join with Islamist forces, it’s clear that Brull is indulging in the worst kind of ivory tower abstractionism.