Pearlcasts
As we review 2025, the temptation is to look for neat summaries and settled conclusions.
Go to Pearlcasts
17 February 2026
Ley's by-election to test Coalition
The looming by-election in Farrer is shaping as a four-cornered contest that could reveal how vulnerable the Coalition has become.
17 February 2026
‘It’s my government’: Robert Reich's short note to Kristi Noem
To a current US cabinet secretary from a former one.
17 February 2026
A government without an effective opposition is a danger to democracy
The Coalition’s internal decay has left Australia without an effective opposition at a time when scrutiny, debate and accountability are more necessary than ever. The result is not just a party in trouble, but a democratic failure.
17 February 2026
UN defends Rapporteur after coordinated European pressure campaign
UN warns of attacks on independent experts after European states target rapporteur over disputed Gaza remarks and sanctions.
17 February 2026
Sobriety, friendship and the quiet power of Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous has helped millions of people stop drinking. Drawing on his long friendship with Barry Humphries and the experience of Anthony Hopkins, Ross Fitzgerald reflects on sobriety, friendship and what sustained recovery makes possible.
17 February 2026
How Iran’s current unrest can be traced back to the 1979 revolution
Repeated waves of protest show Iranians have lost faith in the promises of the 1979 revolution. But history suggests ideology can fail long before a regime does.
17 February 2026
When both sides chant 'lower tax', the country pays in division
As the Coalition reasserts “lower tax” as political identity and Labor rushes to deny the high-tax label, Australian politics is losing the language needed to fund shared purpose, rebuild trust and sustain public life.
16 February 2026
Whose rights and liberties I respect
In the wake of the Bondi attack and the visit of Israel’s president, governments claimed to be defending social cohesion. What followed instead were expanded police powers, legislated language, and a narrowing of democratic rights – exposing how conditional Australia’s freedoms can be.
16 February 2026
Global growth in 2026 will be led overwhelmingly by Asia
China and India are set to account for more than 40 per cent of global GDP growth in 2026, with the Asia-Pacific region responsible for nearly 60 per cent. The data confirms a long-term shift in economic power that Australia’s politics and media remain slow to recognise.
16 February 2026
Playing deputy sheriff on Taiwan comes with costs Australia will wear
Calls for Australia to take a more forward-leaning stance on Taiwan repeat a familiar pattern – moral symbolism paired with strategic vagueness. Past experience suggests the applause is loud, but the economic consequences are real and largely borne alone.
16 February 2026
John Mitchell, David Lindenmayer and Bruce Chapman: Keeping the farm in the family can come at a high cost
As Australia’s farming population ages, poorly planned succession can destroy wealth, fracture families and leave no one better off.
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Latest on Palestine and Israel
17 February 2026
UN defends Rapporteur after coordinated European pressure campaign
UN warns of attacks on independent experts after European states target rapporteur over disputed Gaza remarks and sanctions.
13 February 2026
Iran’s comprehensive peace proposal to the United States
A regional peace settlement grounded in Palestinian statehood, international law and mutual security guarantees offers a real alternative to perpetual conflict.
12 February 2026
The Herzog visit and the Israelisation of antisemitism
Inviting Israel’s president to Australia in the wake of the Bondi attack has blurred the line between antisemitism and legitimate criticism of Israel, weakening rather than strengthening social cohesion.
12 February 2026
Cowardice dressed up as authority on Sydney’s streets
The violence surrounding protests against the visit of Israel’s president was not an accident of crowd control. It reflects a deeper political failure – where authority suppresses dissent rather than confronting uncomfortable truths about Gaza, protest rights and democratic responsibility.
11 February 2026
When peaceful protest is allowed to work, democracy works
Melbourne’s mass protest against the visit of Israel President Isaac Herzog showed how large, diverse crowds can assemble peacefully when police exercise restraint and common sense. Sydney’s response points to a deeper failure of judgment about protest, power and democracy.
11 February 2026
Salt, light and the visit of Isaac Herzog
As controversy surrounds the visit of Israel’s president, Frank Brennan reflects on how Australians might respond with moral seriousness, legal clarity and a commitment to justice for all.
11 February 2026
Herzog greeted by mass protest despite limits on marching
Denied permission to march, thousands still gathered in central Sydney to protest the visit of Israel’s president. The demonstration revealed both the scale of public anger and the state’s increasingly fraught response to dissent.
11 February 2026
Inviting a foreign president to Bondi’s commemoration divides rather than unites
Inviting a foreign head of state to commemorate an Australian tragedy blurs citizenship, religion and geopolitics – and risks undermining social cohesion at a moment that demands unity.
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
16 February 2026
Playing deputy sheriff on Taiwan comes with costs Australia will wear
Calls for Australia to take a more forward-leaning stance on Taiwan repeat a familiar pattern – moral symbolism paired with strategic vagueness. Past experience suggests the applause is loud, but the economic consequences are real and largely borne alone.
15 February 2026
A loneliness crisis is the price China is paying for rapid modernisation
China’s Spring Festival masks a deeper social problem. Beneath the world’s largest annual migration lies a growing crisis of loneliness shaped by migration, inequality and institutional design.
9 February 2026
Confucianism, not coercion – China’s long export of a governance philosophy
Claims that China is exporting authoritarianism rest on a shallow reading of both Chinese political tradition and how governance ideas actually travel. A longer historical view points instead to Confucianism – a philosophy that has shaped governance across East Asia for centuries.
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16 February 2026
Handshake diplomacy with Prabowo won’t secure shared values
15 February 2026
Who will prosecute Geoffrey Robertson's peerless plan for peace?
Latest letters to the editor
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Terry Constanti — Sydney
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Ravin Nair — Canberra, ACT
Thoughtful article with important insights
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Social coersion
M Bulluss — UnAustralian