Pearlcasts
As we review 2025, the temptation is to look for neat summaries and settled conclusions.
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11 February 2026
Capital gains tax reform could reshape Australia’s housing market
As debate over capital gains tax returns to parliament, longstanding concessions are again under scrutiny for their role in driving housing speculation, inequality and intergenerational imbalance.
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.
11 February 2026
Why Australia should consider boycotting the World Cup
International sport is never separate from power. When nations participate in global tournaments, they confer legitimacy on the political and institutional arrangements that make those events possible.
10 February 2026
Best of 2025 - Message from the editor
Off the back of last week's huge protests for Palestine in Australia, the global movement to end the genocide continues to grow.
10 February 2026
Antisemitism laws, double standards and Australia’s unfinished reckoning
Proposals to legislate new antisemitism definitions raise hard questions about identity, equality before the law, and why Australia continues to avoid confronting its most entrenched forms of racism.
10 February 2026
Why higher taxes make more sense than higher interest rates
Rather than cutting public spending to restore the budget balance and reduce inflationary pressures, it would be better to increase taxation.
10 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.
10 February 2026
Cruelty as policy only works until the public recoils
Trump’s immigration crackdown reveals how governments test public tolerance for cruelty exercised in the name of order – a lesson with clear echoes in Australia’s own recent history.
10 February 2026
Giving billionaires a voice: 2025 election donations
New donation data shows how wealthy individuals and well-funded campaigning organisations sought to shape Australia’s 2025 election through money, messaging and pressure politics.
10 February 2026
India’s submarine deal shows what due diligence looks like
India’s decision to buy conventionally powered submarines from Germany highlights a sharp contrast with Australia’s AUKUS pathway on cost, capability and planning.
10 February 2026
One Nation surges to new high as Coalition slumps to record low
Multiple polls place One Nation ahead of the Coalition, raising the prospect of an historic realignment on the Australian right.
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Latest on Palestine and Israel
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.
10 February 2026
Antisemitism laws, double standards and Australia’s unfinished reckoning
Proposals to legislate new antisemitism definitions raise hard questions about identity, equality before the law, and why Australia continues to avoid confronting its most entrenched forms of racism.
9 February 2026
The Zionist lobby, antisemitism and Herzog
Australia’s political and media response to Gaza, including the invitation to Israel’s president, reflects the influence of pro-Israel lobbying and the shrinking space for lawful criticism.
8 February 2026
What Australia’s past might teach Israel about its future
President Herzog’s visit might be useful if he could be persuaded to ponder the lessons Australia might offer.
7 February 2026
Isaac Herzog is accused of inciting genocide in Gaza. He shouldn’t be welcomed to Australia
Writing in the Guardian on Thursday UN Commissioner Chris Sidoti laid out the reasons Isaac Herzog should not be welcome in Australia, and urged the Prime Minister to correct his terrible mistake in inviting him.
7 February 2026
Australian doctors protest Israel’s destruction of health rights in Gaza
Israel’s deregistration of international health providers in Gaza makes legally mandated care increasingly impossible, raising serious questions about compliance with international law.
6 February 2026
Don't mention the war
Australia is struggling to respond proportionately to violence, fear and political pressure in the wake of the Bondi attacks, October 7 and Israel’s war in Gaza. The result has been a contraction of democratic debate, heavy-handed political responses and an unwillingness to confront the scale of civilian suffering now unfolding in Gaza.
5 February 2026
Like a gambler who lost his fortune, Israel wants another war
Despite a declared ceasefire and the return of hostages, large-scale killing has continued in Gaza. The war has become self-perpetuating, leaving Israel morally, politically and strategically diminished.
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
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.
7 February 2026
Australia unlikely to follow US downgrade on China threat
The US National Defense Strategy signals a softer, more pragmatic approach to China. Australia’s silence on the shift exposes how detached its defence posture has become from both reality and its own national interests.
6 February 2026
The China AI panic misses what history keeps teaching us
Warnings that China must be cut off from advanced AI chips echo a familiar pattern. History suggests technology bans rarely slow China down – and often do the opposite.
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Latest letters to the editor
Cheers for Chandran Nair
Wendy Hoy — Brisbane, Queensland
Herzog visit a monstrous misjudgement of policy
Richard Llewellyn — Colo Vale
A National Day to unite, not divide
Mary Edwards — KILSYTH
Tactical voting by Labor voters
Gilbert Elliott — Canterbury NSW