Prison islands feature heavily in Australia’s post-invasion history. From the imprisonment of convicts on the islands of Sydney Harbour to the forced removal of Indigenous people to Rottnest Island and Flinders Island, Australian governments have a long tradition of punishing deviance – be it criminal, racial or both – offshore. Those deemed guilty of ‘wrongdoing’ have been kept out of sight and away from scrutiny – a tradition that lives on in the inhumane detention centres of Christmas Island, Manus Island and Nauru.

Long story very short, the objections over her airplay on triple j arise from the notion that her integrity comes not in the form that some triple j listeners recognise as valid for the station’s gambit, and their own standards; different justifications can be made, but any reasoning to object lies somewhere within a pop/commercialism/wealth-race-gender axis, and in more or less ugly permutations therein. As such, the question has to be asked: who is triple j for, and what does that exclude?

In the context of the census as a piece of national infrastructure, trying to raise a boycott doesn’t resemble a reasonable personal protest; it’s more of a distortion, and the ramifications can be severe. After all, to be not counted is to go underrepresented. That might be alright if you’re a North Shore libertarian, but selling a boycott to people who might have needs that require enumeration so services can be better provided tends towards the plain irresponsible.

The reading list these days is not merely a personal mental shopping list, but a social meme – something we not only apply in our own lives, but can transmit outwards to signify what it is we intend to learn to value.

Let’s forget for a moment that Sharri Markson’s stint undercover at UTS and USyd was more or less an extremely unethical Never Been Kissed. The real kicker about her research into the way media is taught at Australian universities is that it betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of what media education is and needs to be in a liberal democracy – a misconception that is gaining traction.

Though Melba Recordings declares itself to be a ‘label of fragrant distinction’, it’s smelling pretty iffy at the moment. At a time of widespread cuts to the arts sector, the continued propping up of the classical music imprint feels like an ugly confluence of privilege, prestige, access and entitlement – just the kind of mix that’s been endemic to the Abbott government.