18 December 2025
Looking for the wrong things: peace, power and the meaning of Christmas
As another bruising year ends, Christmas offers a reminder that peace is not found in power, wealth or spectacle, but in inner integrity, humility and care for others.
18 December 2025
Climate hot takes for 2025
Scientific evidence in 2025 showed global warming accelerating faster than expected, while emissions continued to rise and climate policy lagged dangerously behind physical reality.
18 December 2025
What Australia’s gun law response means for New Zealand
Australia is moving toward its biggest overhaul of firearms regulation since Port Arthur. For New Zealand, the lessons may be uncomfortable – and unavoidable.
18 December 2025
India and China in deep water over Himalayan hydropower
India and China are racing to build vast hydropower projects in the Himalayas. Framed as clean energy, the dams are also about territorial control, data sovereignty and strategic power in an AI-driven world.
18 December 2025
Niki Savva’s Earthquake is a damning account of the election that shook Australia
In 'Earthquake: The Election that Shook Australia', Niki Savva dissects a federal election result that all but erased the Liberal Party from metropolitan Australia and exposed a deep crisis of purpose, leadership and relevance.
18 December 2025
Cutting the Internet in Afghanistan is gender-based violence
The Taliban’s September Internet blackouts were not a technical disruption but a deliberate act of control. By cutting digital access, Afghan women were stripped of education, income, connection and voice – extending gender apartheid into the online realm.
18 December 2025
AI policy is stuck on productivity – and democracy is paying the price
Artificial intelligence is increasingly framed in terms of efficiency and growth. But that framing sidelines harder questions about power, choice and democratic governance.
18 December 2025
2025 in Review: What this year taught us about life, loss and shared humanity
Amid violence, war and deepening polarisation, 2025 has shown that despair and passivity are choices too – and that human survival depends on rejecting dehumanisation in all its forms.
17 December 2025
A beautiful mosaic: celebrating multicultural Australia
Multicultural Australia has enriched the nation’s cultural life, creativity and global standing. These achievements deserve recognition and defence at a time of growing hostility to migration.
17 December 2025
How gun ownership works in Australia – and what may change
In the wake of the Bondi shootings, attention has turned to how firearms are licensed and regulated in Australia, and whether proposed reforms would address the risks they are meant to prevent.
17 December 2025
Conflicts of interest: defending the indefensible
Evidence to a parliamentary inquiry has raised serious questions about conflicts of interest and how they are being managed.
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Latest on Palestine and Israel
16 December 2025
Blame, grief and responsibility after Bondi
In the aftermath of a devastating attack on Sydney’s Jewish community, political leaders must resist the urge to weaponise grief or assign blame.
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.
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.
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14 December 2025
Book extract: Understanding China: governance, socio-economics, global influence
China’s rise has reshaped global economics, lifted millions out of poverty, and challenged Western assumptions about governance. This extract from 'Understanding China, Governance, Socio-Economics Global Influence' argues that engagement, not confrontation, offers the only viable path forward.
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.
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