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
17 November 2025
How did Australian universities go from free education to $50,000 arts degrees in 50 years?
Australians think students are being asked to pay far too much for their degrees. Just under half (47%) of Australians surveyed by YouGov in June 2025 believe a worker on an average income should be able to pay off the debt for a standard three-year degree within five years. When it comes to the cost of a degree, 58% believe a student should pay $5000 or less per year – less than a third of what arts students now pay.
17 November 2025
Message from the editor
Thanks to all for the terrific response to our new venture Pearlcast which, if you haven’t caught it yet, focused on the Dismissal of the Whitlam Government.
17 November 2025
Israeli settler attack on West Bank mosque draws international condemnation
Calls for justice grow as Israeli settlers set Hajja Hamida Mosque ablaze in latest attack on Palestinians in West Bank.
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We continue to see powerful interests shape the headlines and spread misinformation faster than facts in current times. This year, Pearls and Irritations has again proven that independent media has never been more essential. We have continued to push the issues ignored by mainstream media, building our voice as a trusted source for local and global issues. We ask you to support our plans for 2026.
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17 November 2025
'A national humiliation': Australia at bottom of new renewables ranking
As the Coalition abandons net zero, Andrew Forrest has quietly moved on not just to net zero, but to real zero.
17 November 2025
Mines over water: Melbourne’s largest and most important water supply catchment at risk
On 21 October 2025, the Victorian Government announced plans to protect Melbourne’s water supply catchments – the systems that deliver clean water to over five million people. It was welcome news for Australia’s largest and fastest growing city.
17 November 2025
Victoria’s ‘adult time for violent crime’ reforms will not solve the youth crime problem
The Victorian government has announced a new youth justice reform package. The package is punitive in its nature, focused around an “adult time for violent crime” measure for several offences.
17 November 2025
If we don’t control the AI industry, it could end up controlling us, warn two chilling new books
For 16 hours last July, Elon Musk’s company lost control of its multi-million-dollar chatbot, Grok. “Maximally truth seeking” Grok was praising Hitler, denying the Holocaust and posting sexually explicit content.
17 November 2025
Forecasting the impact of Sino-Indian relations on changing world order
Geopolitics is in shock. Agile strategic thinking must acknowledge and respond to qualitative changes to the world order. A new “New World Order” is emerging.
17 November 2025
Banning nuclear weapons will require love to triumph over fear
Australia joining the majority of nations and signing the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons would build trust with our Asia-Pacific neighbours and strengthen the country's credibility as a peacebuilder.
17 November 2025
Violence in prisons isn’t a surprise: It’s inevitable
In recent months, we’ve seen prisons across Australia buckle under the weight of the very system they were built to uphold.
16 November 2025
Trump’s ploy at the UN is American imperialism masquerading as a peace process
The Trump administration is pushing an Israeli-crafted resolution at the UN Security Council aimed at eliminating the possibility of a State of Palestine.
Latest on Palestine and Israel
17 November 2025
Israeli settler attack on West Bank mosque draws international condemnation
Calls for justice grow as Israeli settlers set Hajja Hamida Mosque ablaze in latest attack on Palestinians in West Bank.
16 November 2025
Trump’s ploy at the UN is American imperialism masquerading as a peace process
The Trump administration is pushing an Israeli-crafted resolution at the UN Security Council aimed at eliminating the possibility of a State of Palestine.
15 November 2025
Gaza woman blinded in Israeli strike opens bakery to subsist and hope
Despite her injury, Warda Abu Jarad has started baking cookies and bread to help provide for her family.
15 November 2025
Recovering moral imagination in a time of war
There is a moment in every conflict when language collapses. Words like justice, revenge, and security are repeated so often they lose their meaning.
14 November 2025
The boy who cried antisemitism
For two years, we’ve been told Australia is drowning in antisemitism. Every protest for Palestinian human rights, every mural, every chant criticising Israel has been hauled up as “evidence.”
14 November 2025
Building a strategic movement for Gaza
I’ve spent the past two years deeply involved in actions, campaigns and community organising for Gaza. But as the so-called ceasefire begins and talk of ‘peace plans’ fills the headlines, I find myself asking a harder question: what now?
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.
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.
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15 November 2025
China-phobia in Australia is endangering the country’s security
The toxic roots of China-phobia are deeply embedded in modern Australia’s cultural history. It has a firm grip on the minds of many of Australia’s policy wonks, politicians, media commentators, and the general public.
14 November 2025
China’s new climate targets show progress but lack ambition
On 24 September 2025, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced China’s updated targets for combatting climate change at the UN Climate Summit.
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.
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