So often in our society we tell people to ask for help. But what happens when no help is offered, when doors are closed in the face of suffering? That is the story of many Jehovah’s Witnesses who have tried to blow the whistle on child abuse. Our INQ series continued this week, revealing that the human rights commission met with survivors from this sect but has not yet investigated the alleged crimes.

Elsewhere, we turned to the myriad ways consumers, especially women and children, are being targeted: by big pharma, by Woolworths and by Afterpay.

As always, write to boss@crikey.com.au to let us know what you thought of the week’s news.

GUY RUNDLE 4 minute read

Make your choice: it's either total abandon, or commitment to collective action. There is now no middle space to hide in.

JON FAINE 4 minute read

Jon Faine has a message for all Australians: it's time to get your hands dirty.

CHRIS WOODS 4 minute read

A welfare recipient has been asked to provide 10 months of financial transactions. Is it a new front in the welfare war, or another symptom of a broken system?

AMBER SCHULTZ 3 minute read

Crikey examines the motivations and missions of the two most prominent figures in this new inquiry.

AMBER SCHULTZ 3 minute read

Australia is in love with the the idea of interest-free payments. But is it worth the risks?

REBEKAH HOLT 4 minute read

Lawyers for Biloela's young Tamil family are trying to find a legal loophole that will allow them to pull a rabbit out of the hat.

BERNARD KEANE and JENNINE KHALIK 4 minute read

The man who once ran media for the Immigration Department says Coalition governments are increasingly imposing regimes of silence over their departments.

BERNARD KEANE and JENNINE KHALIK 3 minute read

Behind the scenes in Canberra, an army of taxpayer-funded media advisers pump out information that serves their parties’ agendas — and obscure information that doesn’t.

KEVIN YAM 3 minute read

We must all be careful of xenophobia and witch-hunts, but it's foolish to dismiss allegations of CCP influence as mere 'racism'.

KIRSTEN DRYSDALE 4 minute read

Promising that Ooshies can be recycled has helped Woolworths make a lot of money off its latest child-bribery campaign. But what are the chances that they actually will be?

ALAN DAVIES 3 minute read

The NSW government’s planned Aerotropolis is spinning to residents of western Sydney. It's more about useful politics than plausible policy.

CHARLIE LEWIS 4 minute read

Crikey looks at all the ways a normal person, on a normal day, is subjected to minute surveillance by government and giant corporations.