Secret cargo: Inside Australia's covert F-35 parts pipeline to Israel
Peter Cronau

Secret cargo: Inside Australia's covert F-35 parts pipeline to Israel

At least 68 shipments of F-35 fighter jet parts have been flown on commercial passenger planes to Israel from Australia as recently as last month, leaked documents reveal.

Australia faces a looming crisis of older women retiring in poverty. Here’s what we can do
Misha Schubert

Australia faces a looming crisis of older women retiring in poverty. Here’s what we can do

Australia faces a serious challenge. Despite important progress on gender equality over recent decades, a looming crisis now threatens the economic security of older women. Without urgent and bold action, we risk consigning further generations of women to poverty in retirement.

Steerage for the Australian-PNG navy?
Jack Waterford

Steerage for the Australian-PNG navy?

The mutual defence treaty between Australia and Papua New Guinea could be a masterstroke for both countries, if our defence boffins could think laterally. I bet they won’t.

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Rio Tinto flags early closure of Queensland’s biggest coal generator as LNP prepares new energy plan
Rachel Williamson

Rio Tinto flags early closure of Queensland’s biggest coal generator as LNP prepares new energy plan

The clock is now ticking for the ageing Gladstone coal-fired power station after its owners told the Australian Energy Market Operator that they’re bringing forward the closure date of the biggest power plant in Queensland by six years, to March 2029.

‘Ban Israeli football’: Scholars urge UEFA to bar Israel over Gaza horrors
Ali Harb

‘Ban Israeli football’: Scholars urge UEFA to bar Israel over Gaza horrors

In a letter, legal experts have underscored the killing of Palestinian footballers and a UN panel’s finding that Israel is committing genocide.

7 October 2023: shocking yes, surprising no
Peter Rodgers

7 October 2023: shocking yes, surprising no

A new book on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Road to October 7 - a brief history of Palestinian Islamism, by Erik Skare, shows how the seeds of the Gaza war were sown over decades.

World water in crisis
Julian Cribb

World water in crisis

Almost two-thirds of the world’s rivers are in a dire condition, either drying up or supercharged with floodwaters, according to the latest report on the emerging global water crisis by the World Meteorological Organisation.

Charlie Kirk, Andrew Hastie and the 'Christian' West: Some Christian pushback
Geoff Thompson

Charlie Kirk, Andrew Hastie and the 'Christian' West: Some Christian pushback

The horrific assassination of Charlie Kirk is being invested with all sorts of meaning, well beyond the personal tragedy it is for his family.

What are international protests revealing about Palestine, Israel and public opinion?
Meg Schwarz

What are international protests revealing about Palestine, Israel and public opinion?

When I first saw the figures on international protests from October 2023 to September 2025, I was fascinated. I hadn’t realised which countries had been most active and the results surprised me.

Loot boxes are still rife in kids’ mobile games, despite ban on ‘gambling-like’ features
Taylor Hardwick,  Ben Egliston,  Leon Xiao,  Marcus Carter,  Tianyi Zhangshao

Loot boxes are still rife in kids’ mobile games, despite ban on ‘gambling-like’ features

In September 2024, Australia introduced a new classification approach for games with gambling-like content.

7 October 2023: What really happened? Part 1
Eugene Doyle

7 October 2023: What really happened? Part 1

At dawn, on 7 October 2023, Hamas fighters blast over 100 holes in the walls and fences that separate the Gaza Strip from Israel.

Latest on Palestine and Israel

Secret cargo: Inside Australia's covert F-35 parts pipeline to Israel
Peter Cronau

Secret cargo: Inside Australia's covert F-35 parts pipeline to Israel

At least 68 shipments of F-35 fighter jet parts have been flown on commercial passenger planes to Israel from Australia as recently as last month, leaked documents reveal.

‘Ban Israeli football’: Scholars urge UEFA to bar Israel over Gaza horrors
Ali Harb

‘Ban Israeli football’: Scholars urge UEFA to bar Israel over Gaza horrors

In a letter, legal experts have underscored the killing of Palestinian footballers and a UN panel’s finding that Israel is committing genocide.

7 October 2023: shocking yes, surprising no
Peter Rodgers

7 October 2023: shocking yes, surprising no

A new book on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Road to October 7 - a brief history of Palestinian Islamism, by Erik Skare, shows how the seeds of the Gaza war were sown over decades.

What are international protests revealing about Palestine, Israel and public opinion?
Meg Schwarz

What are international protests revealing about Palestine, Israel and public opinion?

When I first saw the figures on international protests from October 2023 to September 2025, I was fascinated. I hadn’t realised which countries had been most active and the results surprised me.

7 October 2023: What really happened? Part 1
Eugene Doyle

7 October 2023: What really happened? Part 1

At dawn, on 7 October 2023, Hamas fighters blast over 100 holes in the walls and fences that separate the Gaza Strip from Israel.

Chris Hedges – Statement by the National Press Club ( 4 October 2025)
National Press Club of Australia

Chris Hedges – Statement by the National Press Club ( 4 October 2025)

Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Chris Hedges' forthcoming address to Australia's National Press Club on Gaza has been cancelled, as revealed in an article published during the weekend. The National Press Club has responded in a media statement.

Palestinians out by 7 October?
Alison Broinowski

Palestinians out by 7 October?

No wonder Israel’s prime minister was grinning. He had his fourth meeting this year with President Trump. He also got what he came for: permission to finish the job.

Hedges Report: NPC Australia caves to Israel Lobby, cancels talk on our betrayal of Palestinian journalists
Chris Hedges

Hedges Report: NPC Australia caves to Israel Lobby, cancels talk on our betrayal of Palestinian journalists

The National Press Club of Australia cancelled my talk on how the media, by amplifying Israeli lies, have betrayed Palestinian journalists, 278 of whom have been assassinated by Israel.

John Menadue's book on Israel's war against Gaza

Israel's war against Gaza

Media coverage of the war in Gaza since October 2023 has spread a series of lies propagated by Israel and the United States. This publication presents information, analysis, clarification, views and perspectives largely unavailable in mainstream media in Australia and elsewhere.

Download the PDF

Latest on China

South Korea’s anti-China protests
Jeffrey Robertson

South Korea’s anti-China protests

This week, South Korean authorities expressed concern regarding the potential impact of anti-China protests during APEC.

Nation's innovation surge continues a long tradition
Christopher Tang

Nation's innovation surge continues a long tradition

Many in the West mistakenly think that China lacks innovation, but this view is outdated.

China’s youth: Between collectivism and the new individualism
John Frew

China’s youth: Between collectivism and the new individualism

On a recent trip through China, I was struck by the contrast between its classrooms and its city streets.

John Menadue

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More from Pearls and Irritations

Message from the editor
Catriona Jackson

Message from the editor

Chris Hedges – Statement by the National Press Club ( 4 October 2025)
National Press Club of Australia

Chris Hedges – Statement by the National Press Club ( 4 October 2025)

South Korea’s anti-China protests
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South Korea’s anti-China protests

This is not a drill: Bravery as strategy in the face of American tragedy
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Palestinians out by 7 October?
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Palestinians out by 7 October?

The malignant minds taking over the American health sector
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The malignant minds taking over the American health sector

Individualism and desire – are we really in control?
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Nation's innovation surge continues a long tradition
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Orwell foresees the 21st century
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Orwell foresees the 21st century

Dementia president: Could it be that Trump has truly lost his mind?
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Hedges Report: NPC Australia caves to Israel Lobby, cancels talk on our betrayal of Palestinian journalists
Chris Hedges

Hedges Report: NPC Australia caves to Israel Lobby, cancels talk on our betrayal of Palestinian journalists

A fresh perspective on climate
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Latest letters to the editor

Whom can I believe – the NPC or the journalist?

Carl Rathus — Brisbane

After reading Chris Hedges’ article in Pearls and Irritations, I was angry and disappointed with the National Press Club. Ready to write an angry letter. Then today I read the response from the NPC. I am now angry and disappointed with Hedges for misrepresenting the situation. I feel like Donald Trump. I end up believing the last person who had my ear. If this disagreement exists over the facts of a fairly straightforward situation — and both parties are considered honest and trustworthy — where does that leave me in deciding what to believe about more complicated and more...
Civilisation’s collapse not the end of the world

Chris Young — Surrey Hills, Vic

Our planet holds far too many people. We are destroying the uniquely stable environment of the past 12,000 years which has enabled civilisations to develop and thrive. We are bringing our civilisation’s collapse through not addressing existential issues now in plain sight. With civilisational collapse, our human population will inevitably shrink. Animal populations must also reduce – since 94% of animals now are domesticated livestock. Some domesticated animals might become feral; predators would thrive; the natural environment would re-establish itself, gradually burying remains of our lost civilisation. Thus life on the planet would rebalance – how much...
Our civilisation’s collapse is not yet inevitable

Chris Young — Surrey Hills, Vic

Julian Cribb argues that civilisational collapse will soon become inevitable. This collapse is focused on the human future, but necessarily includes the future for all life on Earth. Humans live in, and depend on, a healthy, rich ecology, but many societies have lived with the religious belief that they are chosen ones – that the world has been created for their benefit, with the implicit assumption that they are entitled to all that it contains. This sense of entitlement has led to the pillaging of natural resources that has characterised the world since colonial times. Colonising countries enriched themselves...
The lessons of history learned by the smart

Les Macdonald — Balmain NSW 2041

A really interesting and thoughtful article that gives meaning to George Santayana's aphorism that those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it. China, largely due to its 4000-year civilisational history, is not doing what the West is doing. It is learning from the past and creating a culture that is not repeating the mistakes of the past, at least for the last 40 years. Mind you it has also been extraordinarily successful over thousands of years in avoiding foreign military and colonial involvements and that is serving them extraordinarily well. The vast and continuing expenditures...

Catch up on other sections

Arts 129 China 1199 Climate 1422 Commendations 19 Defence 2451 Economy 2831 Education 703
Employment 36 Finance 3 Health 1531 History 57 Immigration 964 Indigenous Affairs 382 Israel Palestine 1359
Media 1851 Podcast 43 Policy 201 Politics 18223 Racism 16 Religion 1232 Review 28
The Human Future 61 Our Top Five Each Week 2160 USA 553 World 1403

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