Nepal’s catastrophe demands more than climate silence
As climate-fuelled disasters intensify, political leaders should stop treating discussion of their causes as untimely and confront the consequences of continued inaction.
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PEARLS AND IRRITATIONS
John Menadue’s Public Policy Journal
What are we missing about Helen of Troy?
Debate over who can play Helen of Troy misses something more interesting: in Homer, she emerges as a rare figure capable of questioning fate, power and her own responsibility.
Britain’s security establishment has discovered the ecological crisis
A UK national security assessment warns that ecosystem collapse threatens food, water, health and geopolitical stability – and that no country will escape the consequences.
Performance Politics: how Australian politicians write themselves into history
Joshua Black's 'Performance Politics' traces how Australian politicians have used memoirs, publishing and television to shape public personas and secure their political legacies.
Reflections of a migrant's daughter
The death of Dutch migrant Dick Van Teulingen at 101 closes a chapter in Australia’s post-war migration story, shaped by those who left war-torn Europe to build new lives here.
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Australia cannot deny its share of the climate catastrophe
Bob Brown says Australia cannot keep expanding fossil fuel production while denying its share of responsibility for the mounting human toll of climate change.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is becoming harder to ignore
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) now represents 3.4 billion people and a quarter of global GDP, as its members seek a greater role in shaping a multipolar international order.
The danger of not knowing what you don’t know, part one: How Trump dismantled the US Institute of Peace
In the first of a two-part series, the destruction of the US Institute of Peace shows what is lost when decades of conflict-resolution expertise are discarded.
China’s AI boom is reviving Marxist economics
China’s use of AI in industrial production is reviving Marxist ideas about labour and value – and raising the possibility of an economy less dependent on capitalist accumulation.
Australia must break the link between alcohol, schools and sport
Alcohol-related deaths and harms are rising, yet schools and organisations associated with them still promote drinking. Education should help break the cycle, not reinforce it.
Big Tech knows what its algorithms are doing. Australia should too
Australia’s public sphere is increasingly shaped by privately controlled algorithms, yet researchers and regulators still lack the independent access needed to see how those systems work.
EVs outsell petrol and diesel as Australia’s car market shifts
Battery EVs took a record 24.9 per cent of Australia’s new-car market in August, outselling both petrol and diesel as electrified vehicles continued their rapid rise.
The major parties collapsed. Why didn’t the Greens rise?
As Labor and Coalition support has collapsed, the Greens have remained stuck around 12 per cent – constrained by geography, culture and a changing generational base.
The pieces I can't shake – message from the Editor
Some articles do more than inform. They challenge assumptions, expose uncomfortable truths and stay with us – which is why independent journalism needs room to publish them.
The world will overshoot 1.5°C. That is not a reason to give up
The world is likely to pass 1.5°C of warming around 2030, but rapid emissions cuts and carbon removal could still make the overshoot temporary and avoid far worse damage.
House prices are falling. Now we’ll find out who really wants affordability
Australia cannot make housing more affordable while protecting homeowners from falling prices. The current downturn may reveal how serious politicians really are about fixing the system.
Do forests really stop growing after 25 years?
Claims that forests stop growing after 25 years are contradicted by field evidence showing old forests continue storing carbon, while dead trees and burned forests retain vital ecological value.
From Myanmar to India, a generation is testing South Asia’s politics
Youth-led uprisings are reshaping South Asia, but similar frustrations have produced radically different outcomes depending on whether political institutions repress, adapt or give way.
We want to know what China wants. Or at least we say we do
Debate over China too often treats growing military power and authoritarian rule as proof of hostile intent. Australia should prepare for risk without assuming the conclusion in advance.
Australia has one chance to get data centre energy policy right
Data centres could consume 13 per cent of National Electricity Market power by 2036. Australia should require them to bring new firmed renewable energy rather than add pressure to the grid.
‘Economic D-Day’ against Iran is unlikely to deliver victory
Washington hopes unprecedented sanctions will force Iran into submission. China and Pakistan are already refusing to comply, while retaliation could deepen the economic damage for the US and its allies.
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
Federal Labor needs vision and narrative
David Griffiths — Mordialoc, Victoria 3195
The Albanese government is risk-averse
Ken Russell — Redcliffe, Qld
Medical and dental costs could be a game-changer
Meg Schwarz — Macclesfield, South Australia
Migration is neither bad nor good but size matters
Jenny Goldie — Cooma NSW
TAFE barriers
neil hauxwell — Moe Vic
Transparency in the Catholic church
Kieran Tapsell — Stanwell Park
Carbon offsetting has become greenwashing
Ken Russell — Redcliffe, Qld
Unaccountable and untrustworthy
Les Macdonald — Balmain NSW 2041
