As Keating advised, it's time for Australia to seek its security in Asia
Duncan Graham

Australia in Our Region

As Keating advised, it's time for Australia to seek its security in Asia

The world America made for us is passing away. Its place is being taken by a new and harder post-American world, and we are at a loss to know what to make of it.

Six more giant gas projects could join Labor's latest carbon bomb
Samantha Hepburn

Six more giant gas projects could join Labor's latest carbon bomb

While Woodside's North West Shelf gas plant approval has led to a chorus of protest, there are at least half a dozen more projects in the pipeline that could add to Australia's emissions.

Political parties are failing to attract new members. Not only women
Jack Waterford

Political parties are failing to attract new members. Not only women

Government is getting more difficult. Many voters have turned off. They are scathing of politicians and deeply cynical about their honesty and motives.


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US unlikely to be able to hold its own against China
Les MacDonald

US unlikely to be able to hold its own against China

Were the US to come up against China in a war in the Pacific, indications are that Washington would have the worse of the exchanges.

Weaponising the Department of Justice: echoes of the Star Chamber
Garritt Van Dyk

Weaponising the Department of Justice: echoes of the Star Chamber

Instead of acting as a guardian of the law, the Justice Department will use judicial power to pursue political vendettas and silence dissent.

‘Deadly’ sports diplomacy: why Australia’s Indigenous people must be a part of our sports strategy
Stuart Murray,  Narelle Bedford

‘Deadly’ sports diplomacy: why Australia’s Indigenous people must be a part of our sports strategy

The fact that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have practised sports diplomacy for more than 60,000 years is a powerful story.

What Trump is building is the problem, not the man himself
Daryl Guppy

What Trump is building is the problem, not the man himself

We treat Donald Trump as the primary obstacle to a smooth trade order but he is not the problem. What he is building is the problem because it replicates the rising mechanisms of democratically elected political fascism.

Decommissioning rates show gas heating could be gone by 2032, but oil exec bonuses might suffer
Tristan Edis

Decommissioning rates show gas heating could be gone by 2032, but oil exec bonuses might suffer

While Peter Dutton lost the election and with it his plan to force gas exporters to reserve a portion of their gas for domestic Australian consumers, concerns around availability of gas are not going away. According to AEMO, Victoria, NSW and South Australia are on the verge of gas shortages by around 2028 to 2029.

More than 600 Australian Jews say 'no' to war in Gaza
Oz Jews say No

More than 600 Australian Jews say 'no' to war in Gaza

More than 600 Jewish Australians have signed a statement calling on Jewish community and religious leaders to speak out against the atrocities of the Netanyahu Government in Gaza.

Message from the editor
Catriona Jackson

Message from the editor

One of the things I love most about this job is the reading and listening (to radio).

China takes a softly-softly approach to diplomacy in the US
Shi Jiangtao

China takes a softly-softly approach to diplomacy in the US

China’s ambassador to Washington, Xie Feng has adopted a less assertive approach than some of his predecessors.

Latest on Palestine and Israel

Palestinian genocide gets some big-screen time
Hall Greenland

Palestinian genocide gets some big-screen time

Films and the internet are proving to be a valuable way for the message of the Palestinian struggle to be publicised.

Gaza conditions 'worse than hell on Earth': Red Cross chief
Julia Conley

Gaza conditions 'worse than hell on Earth': Red Cross chief

We cannot continue to watch what is happening, said Mirjana Spoljaric. It's surpassing any acceptable legal, moral, and humane standard.

Talk of a two-state solution may not go much further
Andrew Thomas

Talk of a two-state solution may not go much further

A two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian problem has not been mentioned for ages, but was revived recently. However, it may end with just that – talk.

Media shortcomings in covering terrorist Netanyahu’s daily Gaza mass murders
Ralph Nader

Media shortcomings in covering terrorist Netanyahu’s daily Gaza mass murders

Opposition by former high officials in Israeli’s military and national security establishment and Israeli allies – France, England, and Germany – to the aimless killing of civilian families in Gaza is increasing.

Ali Kazak and the transformation of the politics of Palestine in Australia
David Spratt

Ali Kazak and the transformation of the politics of Palestine in Australia

It was with great sadness that we learned of the passing on 17 May of Ali Kazak, at the age of 78. Over five decades, Ali dedicated his enormous energy to building understanding and support for Palestine, the land of his birth.

Bogus charges of antisemitism are the new McCarthyism
Jeremy Rose

Bogus charges of antisemitism are the new McCarthyism

The word antisemitism has become so debased that depending on who is using it, I might well take it as a sign that the accused is worth listening to.

'These could be our children': Israeli women opposing the war, an interview
Ibrahim Quraishi

'These could be our children': Israeli women opposing the war, an interview

Not only abroad, but also within his own country, Israel's Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu is finally facing growing and substantial protests against his war in Gaza.

When education funds genocide: students raise their voices in defiance
Refaat Ibrahim

When education funds genocide: students raise their voices in defiance

For more than a year, the world has been witnessing the genocidal massacres committed by Israel against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where tens of thousands have been killed, including university students and teachers, and academic institutions have been completely destroyed.


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 on China

US unlikely to be able to hold its own against China
Les MacDonald

US unlikely to be able to hold its own against China

Were the US to come up against China in a war in the Pacific, indications are that Washington would have the worse of the exchanges.

China takes a softly-softly approach to diplomacy in the US
Shi Jiangtao

China takes a softly-softly approach to diplomacy in the US

China’s ambassador to Washington, Xie Feng has adopted a less assertive approach than some of his predecessors.

‘Strategic clarity’ over Taiwan is just so much American bombast
Alex Lo

‘Strategic clarity’ over Taiwan is just so much American bombast

china politics usa world

Ally or not, no one with a decent sense of self-preservation can afford to take a security guarantee by the United States at face value nowadays.


John Menadue

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More from Pearls and Irritations


Latest letters to the editor

When critique sounds suspiciously like conspiracy

Adam Slonim — St Kilda East

John Menadue’s platform has become a staging ground for increasingly toxic screeds masquerading as foreign policy critique. Two recent pieces — Weaponisation of Antisemitism... and We Must Confound the Zionist Lobby— cross the line from criticism into crude conspiracy. The claim that antisemitism is “weaponised” to silence debate collapses under scrutiny. Israel is one of the most criticised nations on earth – by the UN, media, academics, and NGOs. If there is a Zionist conspiracy to suppress criticism, it’s doing a remarkably poor job. Every cause has its advocates, but only Jewish advocacy is routinely framed as shadowy...
US won’t stop the murders of the hungry in Gaza

Geoff Taylor — Perth

A great article from Ralph Nader, a man who ran four times to be US president himself. We watch on in utter disbelief as UN Ambassador to the UN Dorothy Shea votes against a ceasefire in Gaza, knowing that that means more mass murders by Israeli forces, because US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says he wants Hamas totally eliminated, so there is “not an ember”.
Pre-1978 progress in China

Les Macdonald — Balmain NSW 2041

Firstly, I should say that I agree with Jocelyn about the guidance that Sun Tzu's The Art of War could give to the West as it already does to China. A very good article that summarises well the issues confronting China and the region. One area that I think may need further exploration is the progress that China made prior to opening up. Whilst it is undoubtedly true that Mao made some massive mistakes, I think it is also important to recognise the successes of that period. In 1949, China's life expectancy was 35 years. That put it...
One month in, the honeymoon is over

Bob Pearce — Adelaide SA

I could not agree more with this letter. Unfortunately, less than two weeks into the new government, we are finding out why so many people had difficulty deciding whom to vote for and left it until the last minute to choose the best of a bad bunch. The speed with which the WA gas contract was approved tells a story of how the WA votes were bought. With more to come, unfortunately. Sadly, the old saying in politics — You can’t make changes if you're not in government — only applies if you're prepared to do something once...



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