Budget 2026: The government buckles on fossil fuel tax reform
Sophie Vorrath

Budget 2026: The government buckles on fossil fuel tax reform

In a federal budget that sought to restore intergenerational equity, particularly through reforms to tax concessions that have long favoured Australia’s wealthiest few, the Albanese government is facing criticism for ignoring a golden opportunity to balance the scales on energy and climate.

What does Pentagon chief Hegseth’s presence in China say about Trump’s military agenda?
Amber Wang, Alcott Wei

What does Pentagon chief Hegseth’s presence in China say about Trump’s military agenda?

Donald Trump’s summit with Xi Jinping is expected to focus heavily on military communications, Taiwan, nuclear tensions and crisis management as both sides seek to avoid dangerous escalation between the world’s two largest powers.

Budget 2026: Will this budget really make housing fairer for more Australians? It’s a good start
Aruna Sathanapally, Matthew Bowes

Budget 2026: Will this budget really make housing fairer for more Australians? It’s a good start

This week's budget begins winding back tax concessions that heavily favoured property investors and wealth accumulation, while pairing those changes with new measures aimed at boosting housing supply and long-term budget sustainability.

Also of interest

Listen to our latest Pearlcast Latest from founder John Menadue Latest from editor Catriona Jackson Latest from editor-in-chief David Armstrong Read our latest book reviews Latest on Israel and Palestine
Lifting the secrecy around plans to censor journalists
William Evans

Lifting the secrecy around plans to censor journalists

Australian officials have been briefed by Britain’s Defence and Security Media Advisory (DSMA) Committee about 'D-Notices’. These are ‘advisory orders’ to the media on what the committee considers should not be published in relation to British military and intelligence operations. 

As Trump visits China, Beijing is reshaping the global technology race
Steven Jiawei Hai

As Trump visits China, Beijing is reshaping the global technology race

Donald Trump’s visit to China comes as the country's new Five-Year Plan places technological self-reliance and frontier scientific innovation at the centre of its strategy for long-term economic and geopolitical competition.

Israeli attacks on Gaza surged by 35 per cent since Iran ceasefire
Al Jazeera Staff and Reuters

Israeli attacks on Gaza surged by 35 per cent since Iran ceasefire

Conflict monitors and health officials say Israeli attacks on Gaza increased sharply after the US-Israel bombing campaign against Iran slowed, despite an ongoing ceasefire.

Stubborn inflation in Indonesia could undermine trust in the government
Kurniawan Arif Maspul

Stubborn inflation in Indonesia could undermine trust in the government

As healthcare, education and housing costs rise sharply across Indonesia, public frustration is increasingly colliding with political rhetoric that appears disconnected from everyday economic realities.

John Menadue

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Budget 2026: Responsible, reformist – but still too cautious
Michael Keating

Budget 2026: Responsible, reformist – but still too cautious

This is a responsible budget that responds sensibly to inflation and weak productivity, but it stops short of the deeper tax and climate reforms needed to reshape the economy.

Budget 2026: Leadership means more than keeping campaign promises – Message from the Editor
Catriona Jackson

Budget 2026: Leadership means more than keeping campaign promises – Message from the Editor

The obsession with whether governments have broken campaign promises is shrinking political ambition and discouraging the kind of leadership needed to tackle Australia’s deep structural problems, P&I Editor Catriona Jackson writes.

Budget 2026: The biggest tax reform agenda in a generation
Saul Eslake

Budget 2026: The biggest tax reform agenda in a generation

The government’s Budget reforms on negative gearing and capital gains tax will not solve the housing crisis overnight, but they represent the most ambitious attempt this century to rebalance Australia’s tax system and address intergenerational inequality.

Budget 2026: It pains me to say nice things about politicians, but this is a good budget
Ross Gittins

Budget 2026: It pains me to say nice things about politicians, but this is a good budget

The federal budget takes long-avoided steps to curb housing tax concessions, rein in spending growth and reduce intergenerational unfairness – despite the political risks.

Budget 2026: Clean energy spending grows but gas giants still avoid reform
Tim Buckley, Blair Palese

Budget 2026: Clean energy spending grows but gas giants still avoid reform

The federal budget increases investment in emissions reduction, batteries and clean energy infrastructure, but leaves major fossil fuel tax concessions and gas industry profits largely untouched.

The war on Iran will likely end in American retreat
Jeffrey D. Sachs, Sybil Fares

The war on Iran will likely end in American retreat

The US and Israel expected a rapid collapse of the Iranian regime, but the war has instead exposed the limits of American power, the rising cost of modern warfare and Iran’s capacity to impose regional consequences.

Symbolic empathy is no substitute for tackling homelessness
Fabian Webber

Symbolic empathy is no substitute for tackling homelessness

Fundraising sleepouts may raise awareness, but homelessness is fundamentally a systems failure driven by housing shortages, inadequate support services and political inaction.

Trump’s China visit watched in US for signs of stability – and tangible wins
Teresa Elena Frontado, Lucy Quaggin

Trump’s China visit watched in US for signs of stability – and tangible wins

Donald Trump’s visit to China comes amid mounting tensions over trade, AI, security and the Middle East, but both Washington and Beijing appear determined to prevent the relationship sliding into deeper confrontation.

The rules-based order is breaking down before our eyes
Gillian Triggs

Reclaiming Democracy

The rules-based order is breaking down before our eyes

In an edited version of a speech delivered at the Restoring Democracy launch in Melbourne, Gillian Triggs says that weakening respect for international law, human rights and democratic institutions is placing both global stability and Australian democracy under pressure.

Farrer exposed a political divide the Liberals cannot bridge
Kos Samaras

Farrer exposed a political divide the Liberals cannot bridge

The Farrer by-election revealed a deep political realignment, with One Nation consolidating support in regional Australia while multicultural and younger voters continue to move sharply against it.

Is Australia America’s 51st state in Asia?
James Curran

Is Australia America’s 51st state in Asia?

Both Labor and the Coalition are deepening Australia’s alignment with the United States, even as doubts grow about AUKUS, the rules-based order and the risks of being drawn into a US-China conflict.

The old economics is failing – and the World Bank knows it
Mariana Mazzucato, Lara Merling

The old economics is failing – and the World Bank knows it

By coming out in favour of industrial policy after many decades of advising against government intervention in the economy, the World Bank has taken an important step. But it still has much further to go to translate real-world evidence into better policy advice.

One Nation now represents two of Australia’s best wind and solar regions
Rachel Williamson

One Nation now represents two of Australia’s best wind and solar regions

One Nation’s victory in Farrer places the party at the centre of major renewable energy and transmission projects in regional New South Wales, despite its strong opposition to the clean energy transition.

Labor should be worried about the Farrer result too
Crispin Hull

Labor should be worried about the Farrer result too

The Farrer by-election exposed not only the collapse of Coalition support, but signs that One Nation is also attracting disillusioned Labor voters.

War destroys more than lives – it destroys cultural worlds
Meg Schwarz

War destroys more than lives – it destroys cultural worlds

War, displacement and colonisation do not only destroy lives and communities, but also the cultural worlds, histories and shared meanings that give people a sense of continuity and belonging.

One Nation’s win in Farrer leaves Liberals on the brink
David Solomon

One Nation’s win in Farrer leaves Liberals on the brink

The Farrer by-election result marks a dramatic collapse in Liberal support and signals a broader shift in Australian politics as One Nation surges.

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 letters to the editor
Privatisation curse and NDIS

David Griffiths — Mordialloc, Victoria 3195

The solution to NDIS is not to move from a government to a privatised corporate service. Privatisation philosophy and practice is a curse on NDIS. Provision by NGOs is appropriate but not if they adopt the philosophy of privatisation i.e. maximise profitability, overpaid CEO's and senior managers, high fees for board directors and maximum dividends for shareholders
The NDIS review

Milton Mayes — Adelaide SA

I read with great interest Peter Kent’s recommendations to reclaim the NDIS from the partial wreck it has become. The NDIS is a brilliant concept with amazing potential. I have fundamental disagreement with Peter’s core proposal of creating a corporate body. The concept of meeting a care goal combined with a profit goal will not work in my opinion. There’s a fundamental clash and the profit seekers will win; greed wins over compassion. I can see this in the current model where the private sector provides the services. The NDIS is saturated with greed merchants. I’ve cared for my wife...
No exceptions, no special clauses

Hal Duell — Alice Springs

It's interesting and timely that these women and their children have returned home at the very time that a debate about a Human Rights Act is regaining momentum. Any genuine Human Rights Act would have to ensure that all Australians stand equal before the law. There can be no exceptions, no special clauses. This recent return of the Australian women with their children from Syria offers a good test. Three of these returnees have now been charged with criminal offences. Their alleged offences were established under the Rome Statute which also established the International Criminal Court. This is the same Court...
Australia's MAGA

Les Macdonald — Balmain NSW 2041

The seemingly unstoppable rise of the far right in Australian politics is a simply a pale reflection of what is happening around the Western world. As that world passes its zenith and heads unequivocally for its nadir it is time for reflection by those capable of doing so. The ride up the empire's rise was for many an enjoyable experience with growing living standards, a feeling of exuberance that we Caucasians were the pinnacle of human achievement and a belief, as with every single empire before us that we were indispensable and that our empire would last forever. It's rapidly...
It’s not all antisemitism

John Wallace — Melbourne

This analysis is welcome in recognising the impact of “the devastation of Gaza” on antisemitism. But it fails to recognise that much of what is commonly read as antisemitism can be seen in many cases to be merely an expression of anti-Israel sentiment. The case of anti-Israel graffiti on a wall illustrates the point. When the graffiti is on a wall in a public place, the graffiti is just anti-Israel graffiti. The same applies when it's on, say, an Israeli consulate building. When the graffiti is on a building linked to Israel by religion, it becomes problematic. In terms of...
Cost and competence

Les Macdonald — Balmain NSW 2041

This article enables focus on the systemic failure of the idea that capitalism and private markets produce the best social outcomes. That is due to the focus of capitalism on efficiency covering failures of effectiveness. As capitalism is focused solely upon profitability as the measure of success, the managerialists trained in the business schools, that have proliferated like flies at a barbecue, have taken that to heart and have focused on that to the exclusion of effectiveness. The obsessive concentration has been on minimising costs and maximising profits. We have thus become highly efficient at doing the wrong thing. Efficiency...
Rise in antisemitism?

Brian Bycroft — Evans Head NSW

How can the claim be made that antisemitism is on the rise in the absence of: • An agreed definition of antisemitism; • Actual objective, quantitative data I found much of the publicly reported evidence to the Antisemitism Royal Commission underwhelming, consisting of: • A reflection of fear of antisemitism, e.g., not wearing Star of David, increased security at Jewish schools • Unsupported anecdotal evidence, going back decades in some cases; unfortunately probably reflecting the experiences of any number of minority groups in Australia. We have already seen criminal elements take advantage of the fear of antisemitism for other purposes....
Australia's need for a national Human Rights Act

meg schwarz — Macclesfield

I refer to John Menadue’s article of 4 May advocating for a national Human Rights Act that properly protects basic rights and which is long overdue. We’re often told our Australian system and Parliament are enough, but when we see young Indigenous kids being locked up, or refugees left in limbo for years, I can’t help wondering what human rights they really have in practice. Right now, it feels like rights depend too much on the government of the day. A national Human Rights Act wouldn’t take power away from Parliament, but it would mean governments have to explain and...

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