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9 December 2025
Australia’s cost-of-living crisis has a housing problem
Cost-of-living pressures dominate political debate, but the sharpest strain is not falling incomes. It is housing costs, particularly for first-home buyers, fuelled by stagnant productivity and chronic undersupply where people want to live.
9 December 2025
Pearls and irritations is growing and changing – and needs your support
We need your financial support to raise an additional $58,500 to meet our $250,000 fundraising target by Monday 16 December.
9 December 2025
Patronage over principle: why Katie Gallagher’s ‘flexibility’ betrays good government
Labor once promised to end cronyism in public appointments. The government’s rejection of enforceable rules instead entrenches discretionary power, weakens accountability and undermines confidence in good governance.
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
9 December 2025
Writing as resistance in a year that refused to slow down
After a dizzying year of global upheaval, this reflection looks back on writing as resistance – against war, media failure, imperial power and silence – and why truth-telling still matters heading into 2026.
9 December 2025
Australia’s social media age ban is days away. Here is what it really means
Public debate about Australia’s social media age ban has focused on parents and children. But the burden sits with platforms, and the deeper risks lie in what replaces young people’s online communities.
9 December 2025
‘This will be my dream project’: How we got Frank Gehry to design the UTS ‘paper bag’
“I’m up for it” was the response of arguably the most famous architect in the world to our hesitant inquiry. “This will be my dream project,” he said.
9 December 2025
Make NDIS billions go further for people with psychosocial disability
Reform of the NDIS is focused on slowing growth, but neglecting one of the biggest pressure points. Without proper psychosocial supports outside the scheme, unmet need will keep driving costs and harm alike.
9 December 2025
Gaza and the unravelling of the post-war world
The war on Gaza exposed deep cracks in international law, Western power, and the institutions meant to enforce them. From global protests to shifting alliances, a different world order is now taking shape.
9 December 2025
The problem of biblical “Israel” in 2025
Words that once spoke of ancient hope now land in a world shaped by war and grief. What does it mean to sing “Israel” in Advent in 2025?
9 December 2025
The pecking order: how class blindness governs Australian schools
Australia prides itself on fairness and opportunity, yet an unspoken pecking order shapes who advances and who is blamed for falling behind. In schools and public institutions, structural inequality is dressed up as personal failure, with shame doing much of the work.
8 December 2025
Marles’ Defence overhaul raises an awkward question: why AUKUS at all?
Australia’s new Defence Delivery Agency may finally expose an uncomfortable truth – that Australia already has formidable deterrent capabilities through the Royal Australian Air Force and emerging drone systems, making the AUKUS submarine commitment both risky and unnecessary.
Latest on Palestine and Israel
5 December 2025
Book Review: Selling Israel: propaganda, history and contested narratives
Harriet Malinowitz’s Selling Israel examines how Zionist ideology has been promoted through propaganda, history and selective memory, and why separating Judaism from Zionism matters in confronting antisemitism.
3 December 2025
Global campaign amplifies call for the release of jailed Palestinian leader Barghouti
An international campaign is calling for the release of Palestinian political figure Marwan Barghouti, arguing his freedom could reshape Palestinian politics and revive peace efforts.
3 December 2025
What charges does Benjamin Netanyahu face, and what’s at stake if he is granted a pardon?
Benjamin Netanyahu has requested a pardon while still on trial for corruption. The move raises serious questions about legal accountability, judicial independence and political survival.
1 December 2025
‘Genocide is not over,’ Amnesty leader says as Israel keeps bombing Gaza
“So far, there is no indication that Israel is taking serious measures to reverse the deadly impact of its crimes and no evidence that its intent has changed.”
29 November 2025
Gaza’s true death toll could be 126,000 or even higher
New research suggests Gaza’s death toll may be far higher than widely reported, with devastating implications for life expectancy, poverty and accountability.
25 November 2025
The ceasefire that isn’t: 400 violations in 40 days
Israel has violated the ceasefire in Gaza hundreds of times since October, using vague or unverified justifications to carry out strike in a recurring pattern of escalation and impunity.
23 November 2025
The UN embraces colonialism: the Security Council and the US Gaza plan
The Security Council's backing of the Trump plan for Gaza ignores international law, punishes the Palestinians, and rewards those responsible for genocide.
21 November 2025
UN Members complicit in genocide
UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine Francesca Albanese discusses why, in her most recent report, she called out more than 60 nations for their collective-crime roles in the ongoing genocide in 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 PDFLatest on China
7 December 2025
Ceding the future to China
Delivered as remarks to Brown University’s Watson School during its “China Chat” series, Chas Freeman reflects on China’s return to global prominence and the United States’ accelerating retreat from the international order it once led – and asks what coexistence looks like as power shifts in the 21st century.
6 December 2025
China’s challenge is explaining why it succeeded
Western commentary often dwells on China’s problems while overlooking the cultural and historical foundations of its extraordinary achievements. Understanding both is essential to informed judgement.
6 December 2025
Hong Kong high-rise renovations a murky, greedy industry – Asian Media Report
From Hong Kong’s deadly tower fire and surging renovation graft, to climate-fuelled floods across Asia, record weapons sales, a massive Korean data breach and collapsing Chinese tourism in Japan, this week’s Asian media coverage reveals the region’s mounting pressures and political tensions.
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Latest letters to the editor
Moral and intellectual vacuity personified
Les Macdonald — Balmain NSW 2041
Rogue actors
Hal Duell — Alice Springs
Silence expands under pressure
Peter Henning — Melbourne
Moral silence or deliberate obfuscation?
Richard Llewellyn — Colo Vale