Australia: A sovereign continent not for Marles to gift away
Paul Keating

Australia: A sovereign continent not for Marles to gift away

Yesterday’s statement by Defence Minister Richard Marles that Australia’s geography and continent would be crucial to any United States prosecution of a war against China will go down as a dark moment in Australia’s history.

The bamboo ceiling is still very much in place Down Under
John Menadue

Australia in Our Region

The bamboo ceiling is still very much in place Down Under

Our business sector lacks the skills to do business in Asia. And instead of improving, the situation is getting markedly worse.

Hugh White: Why the AUKUS ‘dream’ was never realistic and is likely to die
Hugh White

Hugh White: Why the AUKUS ‘dream’ was never realistic and is likely to die

The first clear sign the Trump administration was taking a long hard look at AUKUS came two weeks ago, when US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth gave his first major speech on US strategic policy in Asia at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.


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Australia’s defence and intelligence agencies are US outposts
Richard Broinowski

Australia’s defence and intelligence agencies are US outposts

More than ever, Australia should have the objective capacity to determine its own defence and intelligence requirements, instead of being heavily influenced by American interests and perspective.

Albo's steady-as-she goes strategy – will it work?
Michael Keating

Albo's steady-as-she goes strategy – will it work?

Anthony Albanese has made it clear that we cannot expect a more ambitious government strategy in future, despite the size of his election win.

Social media takes over as main source of news as trust falls
Sora Park,  Caroline Fisher,  Jee Young Lee,  Momoko Fujita

Social media takes over as main source of news as trust falls

A major global survey reveals that social media has overtaken news sites as Australians' main source of news amid falling trust in news, growing concern over misinformation, and rising news avoidance.

Israel uses Iran's enrichment program as pretext for regime change
BA Hamzah

Israel uses Iran's enrichment program as pretext for regime change

The war against Iran is a chance to bolster Netanyahu’s fledging right-wing credentials. Tehran’s response to Israel’s offensive in the last two days has been muted.

New research shows native forest logging industry going up in smoke
David Lindenmayer

New research shows native forest logging industry going up in smoke

New research published in the leading international journal Nature Communications has added to the growing evidence that native forest logging in Australia is exacerbating wildfire risks.

The West’s war on Iran
Eugene Doyle

The West’s war on Iran

I have visited Iran twice. Once in June 1980 to witness an unprecedented event: the world’s first Islamic Revolution. It was the very start of my writing career.

Addressing our wicked problems
John Tons

Addressing our wicked problems

If there is one thing that the literature agrees on it is that wicked problems …are particularly challenging as they transcend the borders of traditional policy domains, involve a wide variety of actors across different scale levels and resist our attempts to solve them.

The illegal attack on Iran
Vijay Prashad

The illegal attack on Iran

Israel’s consistent attacks on Iran since 2023 have all been illegal, violations of the United Nations Charter (1945).

Latest on Palestine and Israel

Imposing meaningful sanctions against Israel is not difficult
Margaret Cassar

Imposing meaningful sanctions against Israel is not difficult

For decades, the Israeli Government has revealed itself impervious to pressure from international bodies like the United Nations and the International Criminal Court of Justice.

Why targeted measures on Israeli officials won’t stop the war in Gaza
Raghid Nahhas

Why targeted measures on Israeli officials won’t stop the war in Gaza

On 14 June 2025, five Western nations — Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Norway, and the United Kingdom — jointly imposed sanctions on two senior Israeli ministers: Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.

Australian society and the conflict for Palestine
Bob Bowker

Australian society and the conflict for Palestine

Australia’s symbolic actions on Palestine may not change the course of the conflict, but they matter deeply at home.

Sanctioning Ben-Gvir and Smotrich is but a tiny, sad step in ending the Gaza massacre
Gideon Levy

Sanctioning Ben-Gvir and Smotrich is but a tiny, sad step in ending the Gaza massacre

Alas and alack! Woe be unto us, for we have sinned: Five countries have imposed sanctions on Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. The war in Gaza will now stop immediately, and maybe the occupation, too, certainly the apartheid.

A naval force to escort humanitarian aid is an act of peace
Stuart Rees

A naval force to escort humanitarian aid is an act of peace

In honour of a brave Gazan fisherwoman Madleen Kulab, the international aid boat of the same name was turned back to an Israeli port.

Why does international justice fail to prosecute war criminals in Gaza?
Refaat Ibrahim

Why does international justice fail to prosecute war criminals in Gaza?

Is documentation enough to achieve justice? Since the onset of the Israeli war on Gaza in October 2023, human rights organisations have relentlessly documented severe violations.

Genocide by starvation
Chris Hedges

Genocide by starvation

This is the end. The final blood-soaked chapter of the genocide. It will be over soon. Weeks. At most.

Palestine and the gravitational politics of erasure
Ghaith Krayem

Palestine and the gravitational politics of erasure

What we are witnessing in Gaza is not only a genocide of lives, but a systematic campaign to obliterate a people’s cultural identity, memory and future.


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

Australia’s defence and intelligence agencies are US outposts
Richard Broinowski

Australia’s defence and intelligence agencies are US outposts

More than ever, Australia should have the objective capacity to determine its own defence and intelligence requirements, instead of being heavily influenced by American interests and perspective.

China is increasingly present in US Latin American backyard
John Queripel

China is increasingly present in US Latin American backyard

From the time when US President James Monroe announced what has become known as the Monroe Doctrine in 1823, warning European states to stay out of the hemisphere, the US has considered Latin America to be its backyard.

Prefab collaboration between Australia and China could help tackle housing shortages
Zijian Qi

Prefab collaboration between Australia and China could help tackle housing shortages

Imagine a Lego city, swiftly assembled yet unshakeably strong, its steel modules secured to solid foundations and reinforced with seismic bracing, expertly engineered for both speed and strength.


John Menadue

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Latest letters to the editor

Trump is capitalism personified

Bob Pearce — Adelaide SA

As strange as it may seem, Donald Trump may be our saviour if we learn. Trump is capitalism personified. While the world watches on alarmed as the body count rises in Gaza, Trump sees it as an opportunity to build a hotel/resort, an opportunity to make a dollar for himself and his mates. He has shown that he cannot be trusted. Despite attempts to control freedom of information, regulators and the media there have enough examples of capitalistic corruption uncovered — GFC, wars, pharmaceuticals, banking royal commission, consultants and defence spending — for all to understand that the...
Corporate law needs to factor in environmental damage

Robert Hinkley — Berry, NSW

It is a mistake to allow corporations to be formed with a directive that their directors should only “act in the[ir] companies' best interests” (as the corporate law now does). Nearly all of Australia’s corporations make money without severely harming the environment. It’s time for Australia’s Parliament to impose an obligation on directors of all companies to make sure their company doesn’t cause severe harm. This can be achieved by adding just 11 words to their existing duty “to act in the best interests of the corporation. Those words are, “but not at the expense of severe damage to...
Can we believe this man?

Geoff Taylor — Karratha

Stewart Sweeney’s article is extremely timely. Just look at the ABC news today: “Shortly after Israel's strikes on Friday, US President Donald Trump said: 'The US had nothing to do with the attack on Iran'. Nothing, that is, except it was forewarned, and that central to Israel's military capability is US funding, US hardware, US intelligence and US technology.” That highlights the seeming perfidy surrounding the US-Iran nuclear and sanctions talks. There is a a further cost to the lives of many innocent people, and the real threat of an expansion of the conflict, drawing in yet...
Right to peaceful protest essential for democracy

Peter Sainsbury — Darling Point

John Menadue’s recommendations for a more robust, more transparent, more participative rather than heavily (allegedly) representative democracy are all sensible, reasonable and much needed. It’s a tragedy and shameful that we cannot rely on either of the major political parties to advance these reforms. In fact, we can be confident that the two major parties will conspire together to avoid most of them or render all but ineffective any that they are dragged kicking and screaming to legislate. Absent from John’s list, although it may be implied in his bill of rights, is enshrining in legislation the right...



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What is the Casey report on UK grooming gangs – and why did Labour U-turn?
The report addressed the UK's institutional failure to protect children and teenage girls from sexual exploitation.
Hezbollah watches on as Iran and Israel battle, for now
The Lebanese group is depleted after fighting Israel last year, but may intervene if the Israel-Iran conflict continues.
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Suspect Vance Boelter has been charged with murder over the shooting deaths of a Minnesota Democrat and her spouse.
Brazil’s Bolsonaro accused in spy agency case as coup trial is ongoing
The far-right former president is accused of using Brazil's intelligence agency to conduct illegal spying.
Clashes injure 10 as Kenyans protest death of blogger in police custody
Demonstrations against police violence erupted after 31-year-old Albert Ojwang died in custody.
Clashes injure 11 as Kenyans protest death of blogger in police custody
Demonstrations against police violence erupt after 31-year-old Albert Ojwang dies in custody.