UN at 80 – Rome is burning, governments are fiddling and the UN is ailing
Joseph Camilleri

THE UN AT 80

UN at 80 – Rome is burning, governments are fiddling and the UN is ailing

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the signing of the UN Charter. During these eight decades, much has been accomplished that calls for celebration. Yet, there is no denying that the United Nations is facing perhaps the greatest crisis of its 80-year history.

Flawed Hero, flawed decision: The War Memorial’s institutional cowardice
Peter Stanley

Flawed Hero, flawed decision: The War Memorial’s institutional cowardice

The Australian War Memorial remains one of Australia’s most cherished national institutions, attracting a million visitors, mainly tourists, to Canberra each year.

Blaming China won’t keep the lights on – or pay the power bill
Fred Zhang

ANTI-CHINA MEDIA WATCH

Blaming China won’t keep the lights on – or pay the power bill

Sky News is back on the beat with a familiar headline: “The $20,000-per-person climate tax: Cost of Australia's green agenda to become astonishingly clear this week when new emissions targets are set.”


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Australia’s modest climate target: This is what collective failure looks like
Giles Parkinson

Australia’s modest climate target: This is what collective failure looks like

Federal climate and energy minister Chris Bowen was right about one thing: Not many people would be happy with the federal government’s newly announced 2035 emissions target. Some would think it too high and others too low.

Gaza: Where displacement is slow death
Refaat Ibrahim

Gaza: Where displacement is slow death

Forcing 1.2 million people to leave their homes in Gaza is not merely a move from one place to another, it is a death sentence carried out slowly.

UN genocide finding makes global obligations clear
Sydney Peace Foundation

UN genocide finding makes global obligations clear

The international community has been waiting for this moment of moral clarity.

Wind energy faces 'existential challenge' as solar and battery hybrids beat it on costs
Rachel Williamson

Wind energy faces 'existential challenge' as solar and battery hybrids beat it on costs

The Australian wind industry has gathered in Melbourne to confront an uncomfortable but unavoidable truth: The cost of wind turbines has almost doubled from just a few years ago, and the technology is now being beaten on price by the combined forces of solar and battery storage.

Occupying to end the genocide
Janet Rice

Occupying to end the genocide

I was arrested on Monday (15 September) for the first time in my life, for occupying the office of my local MP, the Labor member for Fraser, Daniel Mulino.

Five ways to keep kids safe in Australia’s health system
Jeffrey Braithwaite

Five ways to keep kids safe in Australia’s health system

One in five Australians is a child, but too often kids' healthcare is inconsistent, fragmented, and not designed with their needs front and centre.

FOI Amendment Bill: Not what Faulkner or Allan Hawke wanted
Andrew Podger

FOI Amendment Bill: Not what Faulkner or Allan Hawke wanted

The Explanatory Memorandum for the government’s Freedom of Information Amendment Bill 2025 claims it implements or responds to certain recommendations from previous reviews and inquiries, citing in particular the late Allan Hawke’s 2013 review of the legislation.

‘It is clear’: UN Commission finding confirms Israel committing genocide in Gaza
Julia Conley

‘It is clear’: UN Commission finding confirms Israel committing genocide in Gaza

“To do nothing is not neutrality,” said the head of the commission. “It is complicity.”

Latest on Palestine and Israel

Gaza: Where displacement is slow death
Refaat Ibrahim

Gaza: Where displacement is slow death

Forcing 1.2 million people to leave their homes in Gaza is not merely a move from one place to another, it is a death sentence carried out slowly.

UN genocide finding makes global obligations clear
Sydney Peace Foundation

UN genocide finding makes global obligations clear

The international community has been waiting for this moment of moral clarity.

Occupying to end the genocide
Janet Rice

Occupying to end the genocide

I was arrested on Monday (15 September) for the first time in my life, for occupying the office of my local MP, the Labor member for Fraser, Daniel Mulino.

‘It is clear’: UN Commission finding confirms Israel committing genocide in Gaza
Julia Conley

‘It is clear’: UN Commission finding confirms Israel committing genocide in Gaza

“To do nothing is not neutrality,” said the head of the commission. “It is complicity.”

Gaza City under relentless bombardment as Israel launches ground invasion
Caolán Magee

Gaza City under relentless bombardment as Israel launches ground invasion

UN chief calls situation in Gaza horrendous as a UN inquiry concludes that Israel’s nearly two-year war on Gaza amounts to genocide.

Israel’s failure: From the claim of 'existential threat' to genocide and global isolation
Refaat Ibrahim

Israel’s failure: From the claim of 'existential threat' to genocide and global isolation

In the history of human wars, outcomes are always measured by the degree to which predetermined objectives are achieved.

Islamophobia reports are not enough
Shaymaa Elkadi

Islamophobia reports are not enough

For decades, Muslims in Australia have been asked to give evidence, to share their trauma, and to trust that government inquiries will bring change.

Volunteer doctors describe how Israeli troops ‘deliberately targeted’ Gaza children
Brett Wilkins

Volunteer doctors describe how Israeli troops ‘deliberately targeted’ Gaza children

“How is it possible that, in this small hospital, four children are lying here with gunshot wounds to the head – all admitted within the past 48 hours?” said one US trauma surgeon.


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

Confucius Institute decline signals China’s soft power shift
Jocelyn Chey

Confucius Institute decline signals China’s soft power shift

While Chinese soft power is thriving in the so-called Global South, it is waning elsewhere.

The rise of China and learning the correct lessons from history
EAF editors The Australian National University

The rise of China and learning the correct lessons from history

Given that the only certainty in international affairs these days is uncertainty, we should probably be circumspect about projecting how the world might look decades down the track — let alone how our current moment might be portrayed in the rearview mirror of history.

China’s giant military parade didn’t surprise just the West
Geoff Raby

China’s giant military parade didn’t surprise just the West

China’s recent display of its newly acquired military might surprised not only international observers, but also its own seasoned diplomats.


John Menadue

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Latest letters to the editor

Just another technology

Bob Pearce — Adelaide SA

There was a time when I was at the forefront of installation of technology at a plant that operated 24/7 and employed more than 20 people. The shift workers manually penned in readings every four hours and very expensive paper chart recorders recorded data 24/7, information that was seldom looked at unless something went wrong. I'm told now that one person attends weekly to collect samples to deliver to an accredited lab and have a look around. All the data can be accessed in real-time anywhere in the world and, instead of boxes of expensive charts and paper,...
Fascism again!

Les Macdonald — Balmain NSW 2041

It is difficult to conceive of the sheer depravity of a culture that can be so deprived of a moral conscience that it could take nearly two years of open and massive genocide of a people and vast destruction of the place in which they lived, for that culture and its people to just begin to emerge from their moral degeneracy. Yet that is where we in the West stand, again it should be said not for the first time. The vast bulk of humanity, that we in the West have exploited, oppressed, colonised and debased for several hundred...
Guillotines to guns... that's progress!

Margaret Callinan — Hawthorn VIC 3122

I don't know what they called it in Marie-Antoinette's day, but in our day it's called neoliberalism and in the US we are seeing its natural endpoint, the implosion of a nation. When the top 1%, or even .1% garner so much of the common wealth unto themselves so that in their wealthy nation people are homeless and starving, then society becomes unstable. The greater the inequality, the greater the instability. And then .... whoosh! .... look what happens! It's not like history hasn't warned us.
AUKUS versus sanity

Les Macdonald — Balmain NSW 2041

An excellent summary by Nick Deane of the cunning, dissimulation and double-dealing encompassed by the scheme dreamed up by the Dodgy brother Scott Morrison to wedge the ALP on national security and the enthusiastic promotion of it by the gormless chicken-hawk Marles. Indeed, so successful is the scheme designed to wedge the ALP by that boneheaded and imbecilic fraudster Morrison that the ALP have allowed itself to be captured by it and have swallowed the bait of an impossible and vastly expensive fraud of an idea, that it will be held responsible for failing to achieve. Can anyone...



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