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10 December 2025
2025 in Review: immigration policy turns back toward dog whistles and drift
2025 marked a turning point in Australian immigration policy, as long-term planning was abandoned and discriminatory rhetoric returned to the political mainstream.
10 December 2025
Australia’s social media ban puts free speech on the chopping block <pic>
Australia’s social media ban for under-16s is being sold as a protection for children, but it raises serious questions about free speech, democratic participation and the perverse effects of prohibition.
10 December 2025
Jobs for mates, by design: the government rejects its own integrity review
The government’s response to the Briggs review abandons legislated reform and leaves ministers wide discretion over appointments across the commonwealth.
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
10 December 2025
Too many states, too little nation: time to fix the federation
Australia’s federal system was designed for the nineteenth century. Today it produces duplication, dysfunction and state parochialism that frustrate national governance and reform.
10 December 2025
Governments are hiding data and threatening democracy
From being custodians of public knowledge, governments are turning to architects of manufactured ignorance. Amid disappearing evidence, citizens are struggling to hold power to account.
10 December 2025
Nationalists play to the crowd in Japan–China relations
A warning from Japan’s prime minister about Taiwan has triggered a sharp exchange with Beijing, revealing how nationalism is reshaping diplomacy.
10 December 2025
Ellen Hansen: At 75, UNHCR is needed more than ever – but its funding is being cut
As global displacement reaches record highs, UNHCR marks its 75th anniversary facing deep funding cuts that threaten its ability to protect refugees and save lives worldwide.
10 December 2025
Victoria government unfussed by Grand Prix debt
Victoria’s Grand Prix continues to post record losses, quietly adding to state debt while public services are cut and financial scrutiny is avoided.
10 December 2025
Israel and police polarise Sydney Mardi Gras
Sydney’s Mardi Gras is facing a defining struggle over its purpose and identity. As corporate sponsors and political interests push for a safer, apolitical parade, grassroots activists are fighting to keep the event rooted in protest, solidarity and free expression.
10 December 2025
Trump’s Ukraine peace deal would leave the country vulnerable to future Russian attacks
A US-backed peace proposal negotiated with Moscow but excluding Ukraine risks entrenching Russian gains and leaving Kyiv dangerously exposed.
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.
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