Launching Pearlcasts
The 50th Anniversary of the Dismissal of the Whitlam Government
We kick off with a topic close to our hearts, the 50th anniversary of the Dismissal of the Whitlam Government. We have three of the best sources in the nation taking part: our editor-in-chief John Menadue – the living link to the scandal and the nation’s top public servant at the time; Jenny Hocking, author of The Palace Letters and Australia’s pre-eminent Dismissal historian; and Brian Toohey, the journalist who has dug deepest into the darkest elements of the events.
Go to Pearlcasts
13 November 2025
‘Extraordinary and reprehensible circumstances' - Part 4
Malcolm Fraser was a conservative in terms of the constitution. His view was the Senate was primarily a house of review – and apart from exceptional circumstances should not frustrate, certainly not on a purely obstructionist basis”
13 November 2025
Another RSL dope wants to draw us into a major war
It beggars belief that the outgoing head of the RSL, Greg Melick, has abused the quiet solemnity of Remembrance Day to lecture and berate the Albanese government on its defence policy.
13 November 2025
ASIO's Mike Burgess and a lust for the limelight
In succumbing to a lust for the limelight, the ASIO director, Mike Burgess, is not making it easier for the government and citizens to retain confidence in him and the organisation he’s trying to run.
Support our independent media
Pearls and Irritations is funded by our readers through flexible payment options. Choose to make a monthly or one off payment to support our informed commentary
Donate
13 November 2025
After 50 years, it’s time we called it a coup
Fifty years ago today, an elected government was ousted by a representative of a hereditary monarchy. Broadly, Australian society has still not grappled with these events.
13 November 2025
Mamdani’s victory bought hope to Gaza
Zohran Mamdani is a Ugandan-born Muslim American politician, outspoken supporter of Palestine, and the new Mayor of New York City. His victory there is a symbolic moment that reflects a deeper shift in American awareness toward global justice, especially the Palestinian cause.
13 November 2025
Burn it all down movements
When a 34-year-old democratic socialist defeats a political dynasty in the nation's largest city, we're witnessing more than another electoral upset.
13 November 2025
Lame duck syndrome emerging
Reality finally starts to bite in the US and it hasn't come in a misspelt all-capital letters post Truth Social.
13 November 2025
Only Arabic: When 'multicultural' media turns to racial profiling
I recently noticed something troubling while watching a British drama on SBS On Demand. Between episodes — over two full seasons — I kept seeing advertisements about Victoria’s new bail laws.
13 November 2025
Nuclear arms control and the Asia-Pacific
Since the end of the Cold War, the world has become complacent about the danger of nuclear war.
13 November 2025
Stealing the breath of life
When you suffocate or drown, every fibre of your being cries out for the breath of life, oxygen. It is the body’s ungovernable response to the extinguishing of your flame.
12 November 2025
What Washington really thought of Whitlam before the dismissal
The cloud of American involvement in the events of November 1975 is unlikely to ever clear. Especially while US presidential libraries continue to block access to critical documents that might shed light on the shenanigans.
Latest on Palestine and Israel
8 November 2025
10,000+ Palestinians buried beneath Gaza rubble in ‘world’s largest mass grave’
“We call on the world to send international teams to recover the bodies of the missing,” said the member of one civil society group. “We call on the world to provide the necessary equipment to recover the bodies.”
8 November 2025
Making them pay: Wielding influence in a world with no shame
One of the upshots of US support for Israeli criminality over the past two years has been the cowardly position adopted by US supplicant states who feel wedged by realpolitik and morality.
7 November 2025
OFFICIAL – Israel’s proposed death-penalty law is a war crime
Not satisfied it seems with the continued genocide of Palestinians, Israel is now looking to execute Palestinian prisoners by introducing a death penalty law.
6 November 2025
Lancet study shows more than 3m years of human life lost in Israeli assault on Gaza
“To speak of three million years of human life erased is to confront the true scale of this atrocity – generations of children, parents, and families wiped out,” said the head of a US advocacy group.
6 November 2025
Palestine’s future: Australians are outraged
At an Australia-wide webinar on 31 October, David Spratt paid tribute to the late Ali Kazak, Palestine’s first ambassador to Australia.
6 November 2025
Israel, lies and videotape
We have heard a lot in the last two years and one month about Jewish Australians feeling unsafe or intimidated.
5 November 2025
108 years since the Balfour Declaration – a promise written in ink, fulfilled in blood
On 2 November 1917, Britain wrote with the ink of politics what it had no right to write with the ink of history.
4 November 2025
The West’s double game on Gaza
In the aftermath of the attacks of 7 October 2023 and for months afterwards, Western governments that have been long-standing supporters of Israel — including the Australian Government — invoked “self-defence” to justify the severity of Israel’s response.
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 on China
11 November 2025
After Trump goes home
If anyone had any lingering doubts about the change in the world order, the sight of President Trump pumping his fist into the air at the doorway of Air Force One, before turning his back on Asia to fly home, they should be put to bed now.
11 November 2025
Australia-China policy: Guardrails, not walls
An industry networking day in Canberra this week laid bare a simple truth: politics is still beating economics in Australia’s China policy.
10 November 2025
‘Hawkish’ interpretations rise as US-China discourse gets lost in translation
In an echo of the Cold War, mistranslations are testing already strained nerves in Washington and Beijing.
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.
DonateMore from Pearls and Irritations
Latest letters to the editor
Whitlam dismissal
Darryl Halden — ORANA
An adroit Albanese?
Peter Henning — Melbourne
What can be done?
Fiona Colin — Melbourne
Security services and government allegiance
Geoff Taylor — Borlu (Perth)