Who will better manage the economy: Labor or the Coalition?
Michael Keating

Who will better manage the economy: Labor or the Coalition?

economy politics

People are being asked to vote for the Coalition on the grounds that it is better at managing the economy. But the current evidence does not back up that claim.

Message from the editor-in-chief: Genocide is not newsworthy in The Australian
John Menadue

Message from the editor-in-chief: Genocide is not newsworthy in The Australian

Our mainstream media have manufactured public consent to the genocide.The Australian has become a parody of a newspaper.

From welcome to jeering: How disrespect spreads
David O'Halloran

From welcome to jeering: How disrespect spreads

Norms do not sustain themselves. They are shaped, modelled, and sometimes destroyed – publicly, rhetorically, politically.


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

Voters looking at the least bad option
Noel Turnbull

Voters looking at the least bad option

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has a very big problem this coming Saturday, election day; he is the most distrusted political leader in Australia according to an April 2025 survey by Roy Morgan.

The election and the social determinants of health
Tim Woodruff

The election and the social determinants of health

The Social Determinants of Health are the conditions in which we work, live, and play. We, as a society, choose these conditions and/or choose not to change them. They play at least as important a role in health outcomes as access to care.

Whither national urban policy?
Robert Freestone,  Bill Randolph

Whither national urban policy?

Urban policy in Australia, despite our historically high level of urbanisation, has made only on-off appearances at the federal level of government.

The Fall of Saigon 1975: Quiet mutiny – the US Army falls apart - Part 2
Eugene Doyle

The Fall of Saigon 1975: Quiet mutiny – the US Army falls apart - Part 2

Vietnam is a conflict from which we should have learnt – but never did – about the immorality, folly and counter-productivity of imperial war.

A peace reflection after Easter, remembering Pope Francis and Anzac Day
Philip Huggins

A peace reflection after Easter, remembering Pope Francis and Anzac Day

After resurrection, Jesus gives peace to those who are anxious about their lives. [John 20.19] This divine peace is a beautiful gift and one to be shared.

China’s not-so-quiet energy revolution: Towards the world’s first industrial electrostate
David Glynne Jones,  Derek Woolner

China’s not-so-quiet energy revolution: Towards the world’s first industrial electrostate

In 2023, China increased its deployment of solar and wind energy three-fold. This trend accelerated in 2024, with China installing nearly 65% of the world’s new low emission energy electricity generation.

If I were foreign minister...
Alison Broinowski

If I were foreign minister...

I don’t want to be Australia’s foreign minister, and here’s why: I would not be good at promoting Australia’s current foreign policy to the world. That’s also why I stopped being a diplomat in 1996.

Six Easter days, 2025
Morag Fraser

Six Easter days, 2025

Monday Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the man who became Pope Francis, died just after the Roman dawn. The news reached Australia as the evening newscasts began. His death dominated every bulletin. It seemed anomalous, a rent in time, even though rationally expected.

Latest on Palestine and Israel

The Fall of Saigon 1975: Fifty years of repeating what was forgotten - (Part 1-3)
Eugene Doyle

The Fall of Saigon 1975: Fifty years of repeating what was forgotten - (Part 1-3)

The first demonstration I ever went to was at 12, against the Vietnam War. The first formal history lesson I received was a few months later when I commenced high school.

'Never again' not only for Jews, but for Palestinians and all humanity
John Menadue

'Never again' not only for Jews, but for Palestinians and all humanity

Israel has no right of self-defence against resistance in lands that are illegally occupied.

The resilience of Gazan writing: Resisting temporal closure
Norman Saadi Nikro

The resilience of Gazan writing: Resisting temporal closure

One particular aspect of Palestinian resilience during Israel’s ongoing besiegement and genocide in the Gaza Strip concerns a prodigious amount of creative writing that, besides bearing witness to circumstance and personal experience, engages cultural resistance.

Vote for humanity: Caring for Palestine
Margaret Reynolds

Vote for humanity: Caring for Palestine

As Australians hear the repetitive, carefully scripted announcements of the two major parties, voters are turning away from the blatant bribery of millions of dollars for marginal electorates and personal promises of tax cuts and cheaper petrol.

On ‘moral panic’ and the courage to speak: The West’s silence on Gaza
Ilan Pappé

On ‘moral panic’ and the courage to speak: The West’s silence on Gaza

Palestinians do not have the luxury to allow Western moral panic to have its say or impact. Not caving in to this panic is one small, but important, step in building a global Palestine network that is urgently needed.

If Einstein spoke today, he would be accused of antisemitism
Aisya A. Zaharin

If Einstein spoke today, he would be accused of antisemitism

In 1948, as the foundations of the Israeli state were being laid upon the ruins of hundreds of Palestinian villages, Albert Einstein wrote a letter to the American Friends of the Fighters for the Freedom of Israel, condemning the growing Zionist militancy within the settler Jewish community.

Even in sickness, Pope Francis reached out to Gaza's Christians
Aaron Boxerman

Even in sickness, Pope Francis reached out to Gaza's Christians

For months, the pontiff spoke by telephone almost every night with people sheltering in a Catholic church in the battered enclave, a ritual he tried to keep up in the hospital.

The uniform public utterances of our days
Sawsan Madina

The uniform public utterances of our days

British scholar Leonard Schapiro, writing on Stalinism, observed that “the true object of propaganda is neither to convince nor even to persuade. But to produce a uniform pattern of public utterances in which the first trace of unorthodox thought reveals itself as a jarring dissonance. And it seems that in the current sanctioned discourse, the jarring dissonance is speaking up against a genocide streamed live on our phones.


John Menadue

Support our independent media with your donation

Pearls and Irritations leads the way in raising and analysing vital issues often neglected in mainstream media. Your contribution supports our independence and quality commentary on matters importance to Australia and our region.

Donate


Latest on China

China’s not-so-quiet energy revolution: Towards the world’s first industrial electrostate
David Glynne Jones,  Derek Woolner

China’s not-so-quiet energy revolution: Towards the world’s first industrial electrostate

china politics

In 2023, China increased its deployment of solar and wind energy three-fold. This trend accelerated in 2024, with China installing nearly 65% of the world’s new low emission energy electricity generation.

Framing the future: Australia’s China policy in the lead-up to the 2025 election
Elena Collinson

Framing the future: Australia’s China policy in the lead-up to the 2025 election

In the lead-up to the Australia election, new research examines the ALP and Coalition messaging and policy on the People’s Republic of China.

A hillbilly White House and the wisdom of peasants
Richard Cullen

A hillbilly White House and the wisdom of peasants

In 2016, US Vice-President J.D. Vance published a best-selling memoir titled Hillbilly Elegy. Curiously, he explained on the Fox News network recently that China’s pivotal influence on American consumption was due to the US borrowing “money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture” (YouTube link here). Let’s consider the sort of individuals in question.


More from Pearls and Irritations


Latest letters to the editor

If I were mentor to Albanese or Dutton...

Donald Clayton — Bittern Victoria 3918

Alison Broinowski succintly offered a heartfelt picture of clarity and courage related to Australia's alternative posture in the world. Meanwhile the voters, more or less resigned to reactive mediocrity from our leaders, will munch on their democracy sausages on Saturday and vote indifferently for Tweedledum and Tweedledee. Where has the Australian vision gone Albo and Dutto? Can you pick a single onshore item related to climate, generational inequality and student debt, long-term power generation, real housing solutions or future disaster management goals that anyone will remember you for after you cash in your super? After the speeches...
Trump can stop one war today

Geoff Taylor — Perth

John sums up the issue of Palestine deftly Yesterday, Donald Trump made another forlorn plea to Vladimir Putin to stop the war in Ukraine. Yesterday also saw a young Palestinian boy flung through the air by an Israeli bomb on his house, killing everyone in his family but him and his mother. He was seen sitting shellshocked mere minutes later in the rubble that had been his house. This is the war that Trump does have the power to stop today. What is it about him that makes him unable to be moved by the sight of...
John's passion and scrupulous honesty!

Les Macdonald — Balmain NSW 2041

My respect for John Menadue continues to grow daily as his transparent honesty, compassion and courage evident in speaking the truth are a beacon of light in an ever darkening world!!!
World trade rules need fixing

Neil Hauxwell — Moe Victoria

Freer world trade and rules to support it have lifted hundreds of millions of people out of dire poverty on the Asian side of the Pacific. Freer trade has benefitted millions of Australians by way of cheaper prices, but it has also reinforced the view that the planet’s resources are unlimited, and we have some sort of human right to consume far more than other people. On a planet with eight billion others, we are resource greedy in our energy use, in our habitual waste of materials, and in our ability to look the other way when natural environments...



Latest from Al Jazeera

At least three killed in Sweden shooting: Police
This is a breaking news story, more details to follow.
At least 22 people killed in restaurant fire in northeast China
Three others were injured in blaze that engulfed a multi-storey building in Liaoyang, authorities say.
Israel releases Gaza paramedic who survived deadly attack on health workers
Assaad al-Nassasra freed from detention after surviving Israeli 'massacre' of 15 Palestinian medics in Rafah.
How much revenue has the US earned from Trump’s tariffs?
While 'reciprocal tariffs' have been paused for 90 days, there are still some tariffs in place.
Japan, Philippines pledge to deepen security ties amid China tensions
Japan's Ishiba and Philippines's Marcos meet in Manila as nations confront China's assertiveness in South China Sea.
Japan, Philippines pledge to deepen security ties as China tensions simmer
Japan's Ishiba and Philippines's Marcos meet in Manila as nations confront China's assertiveness in South China Sea.