The man who did everything right
The story of a voter who did everything Australia once told working people to do: work hard, buy a home, raise a family and keep faith. Now, after years of lost jobs, debt and broken promises, his look towards One Nation is not loyalty but a warning.
Hannah Arendt and the creation of Israel
Hannah Arendt warned in 1948 that a Jewish state built without Jewish-Arab agreement would live by permanent war, fear and exclusion – a warning that now reads less like idealism than realism.
One umbrella, many stories: Why a "monocultural" Australia misses the point
After Pauline Hanson’s National Press Club call for a “monocultural” Australia, Suzan Wahhab writes from her own family’s journey from occupied Palestine to Sydney to show that the fair go is strengthened, not weakened, by multicultural belonging.
Getting out of the Iranian quagmire
Trump wants to end the war with Iran. That involves protecting Lebanon from Israel.
The tragedy of AUKUS
In his submission to the AUKUS Public Inquiry, Joe Camilleri argues revoking AUKUS must be part of wider reassessment of Australia’s place in the world.
The questions Hanson was not made to answer
Pauline Hanson’s National Press Club address gave the media a chance to test One Nation’s claims on racism, public broadcasting, nuclear power, AUKUS, defence spending and foreign policy – but too many of the hardest questions went unasked.
Inequality in Australia is growing
To address inequality and the social problems it gives rise to, Australia must return to a robust mixed economy with essential services in public control.
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China fear is weakening Australian research
Australia needs to manage research security risks, but exaggerating the threat of collaboration with China could weaken national security by cutting Australian science off from leading researchers, global expertise and crucial STEM talent.
Normally, I’m a friend of the taxman. But now ...
The Tax Office has a duty to collect what is owed, but rising complaints show the system risks becoming heavy-handed, opaque and too hard to navigate for taxpayers trying to do the right thing.
Are the government's NDIS plans real reforms or just blunt cuts?
The NDIS needs reform, but the government risks using blunt short-term cuts to meet Budget savings targets before the harder work of building fairer assessments and foundational supports is in place.
Don't destroy public education in the name of reform
Save Our Schools rejects the idea that fully funding private schools would achieve equity. What is needed is proper support for public education.
Peace needs funding and commitment, not lip service
Australia’s defence budget is set to nearly double over the next decade, while peace research, diplomacy and conflict prevention remain underfunded despite being essential to reducing the risk of war.
Who will release the next pandemic?
The next pandemic may emerge from wildlife trade, intensive farming, land clearing, laboratories, global travel or antibiotic resistance, as human behaviour continues to multiply the risks of another major disease outbreak.
Why Indonesia’s protests won’t shake Prabowo yet
Student protests against Prabowo Subianto’s militarised style of government have exposed anger over prices, corruption and civil liberties, but without broader public support or elite pressure they are unlikely to threaten his hold on power.
Gotcha, or getting tax right?
As the government’s hearing on its tax changes enters its second day, tax reform will be harder to defend if capital tax changes are left standing alone, and Labor should link them directly to bigger income tax cuts for wage and salary earners struggling with the cost of living.
The Albanese government and the lobbying scourge
Declining trust in government is helping fuel One Nation’s rise, and the failure to properly regulate lobbying has left powerful insiders in gambling, defence and fossil fuels with too much influence over public policy.
When the sky falls and the Chinese cars invade (again)
Australia’s media coverage of China too often collapses the distance between capability and intent, turning commercial activity and military assessments into a climate of threat that weakens rather than strengthens strategic judgment.
The Iran deal exposes the futility of Trump’s war
A fragile US-Iran agreement may end a war that failed to topple Tehran or destroy its nuclear capacity, leaving Iran with greater regional leverage, Israel exposed and Washington facing hard questions about what the conflict achieved.
AUKUS and democracy: why both matter
A Commissioner on the Public Inquiry into AUKUS responds to Waleed Aly's view that the inquiry will have no impact.
Stateless people need protection, not removal to Nauru
As the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee prepares to report tomorrow, Australia’s latest Nauru arrangement should be terminated because it deflects obligations to refugees and leaves stateless people facing prolonged legal limbo without durable protection.
Decolonising democracy – part eight
In the final part of this series, John Keane asks whether democracies will have the resolve to stand up to the USA and to find remedies for the maladies of representative democracy.
The case against the AUKUS submarine project
In a submission to the public inquiry into AUKUS, former foreign minister Gareth Evans argues the submarine project is not in Australia’s national interest, warning that doubts over delivery, excessive cost and loss of sovereign agency demand an urgent Plan B.
Australia cannot fix housing without more density
Housing costs account for much of Australia’s cost-of-living crisis, and affordability will not improve unless governments increase housing supply where people need to live, including through greater urban density.
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 PDFLatest letters to the editor
Message from the Editor
Jani Brodie — Melbourne
Outsourcing responsibility
Bob Pearce — Adelaide SA
The Empire's fall is accelerating
Les Macdonald — Balmain NSW 2041
Set housing in context of population policy
Jenny Goldie — Cooma NSW
Time to reconsider Hugh Stretton's critique
Bruce Wearne — Ballarat
The Shape of Things To Come (©HG Wells)
Leigh Bunting — Adelaide
People are very angry
K Southwell — Adelaide
AUKUS and the case for submarines
Shay O’Brien — Melbourne VIC
