What is the point of power without purpose?
The ALP Conference this week will be carefully managed, but Labor’s deeper problem is a hollowed-out party increasingly driven by factions, polling and caution.
Australia’s China panic keeps colliding with reality
Despite years of China-threat rhetoric, Australia’s trade, infrastructure and consumer markets remain deeply shaped by practical engagement with China.
Israeli embassy attacks Labor’s draft Gaza platform
The Israeli embassy has criticised Labor’s draft Israel-Gaza platform ahead of this week's national conference, warning it places too much responsibility on Israel.
Football brought the world together; FIFA sold the crowd
The World Cup created a rare global community, then FIFA and Trump tried to turn it into advertising inventory, spectacle and political theatre.
Andy Burnham needs more than managerialism as Britain’s new PM
Britain’s new prime minister must tackle regional inequality and build a national narrative explaining England’s place in the UK, Europe and the world.
Bangladesh needs a national movement to care for trees
Bangladesh's future depends not just on roads, bridges and buildings. It needs trees to be planted and nurtured to maturity to ensure the country's resilience.
Australia has served in Africa but failed to learn from it
Australia has contributed to African peacekeeping missions for decades, but that record has rarely translated into sustained policy knowledge or engagement.
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AUKUS is being exposed, but will anything change?
Evidence to the public inquiry into AUKUS is exposing risks around nuclear accidents, sovereignty, jobs, waste and Australia’s role as a US military base.
Our poisoned chalice
Unsafe water already kills millions, while scarcity, PFAS, endocrine disruptors, industrial waste and AI’s thirst are turning clean water into a global crisis.
Trachoma finally on the way out in Australia
Fred Hollows’ trachoma program exposed appalling Aboriginal health conditions and helped drive the growth of community-controlled health services.
The myth they sell and the values they betray
In the second of a two-part series, Robin Brown and Nick Bogiatzis show how it is the politicians most loudly claiming to defend Western values who are among the most dedicated to undermining them.
The handcuff Canberra must not ignore
Phu Nguyen’s immigration case should follow US legal process, but ICE’s treatment of an Australian citizen at Las Vegas airport demands separate scrutiny.
Europe talks tough on China but lacks a plan
Europe is alarmed by Chinese overcapacity, deindustrialisation and US pressure, but remains divided over how to turn tough China rhetoric into policy.
US strike leaves thousands without drinking water in southern Iran
US attacks on Iranian civilian infrastructure have escalated the conflict, with Tehran accusing Washington of violating the Islamabad MOU and suspending its own commitments.
Australia needs a capability state
Australia has immense natural, financial and scientific wealth, but has failed to turn enough of it into productive industries, skills and long-term national capability.
The disappearance of political shame
The Labor party has drifted away from its principles when it comes to funding public education, one of the nation's defining democratic institutions.
AUKUS leaves Australia with the long nuclear goodbye – part two
In the second of a two-part series, Peter Briggs examines the decommissioning, dismantling and waste-disposal risks Australia will inherit from AUKUS reactors.
Multiculturalism is the middle ground Australia needs
In the first of a two-part series, Robin Brown and Nick Bogiatzis argue that the moral values claimed as Western are common human values – and deeply present in the world's oldest continuing culture.
Artists need copyright plus in the age of AI
Copyright law has long served owners and technology companies more effectively than creators. AI licensing now makes the case for stronger protection for artists.
Strengthening Medicare shouldn’t ignore the Australians who rely on private health cover
Before cutting private health insurance rebates, the government should hear older Australians who rely on cover as a safeguard against delay, uncertainty and worsening health.
Climate, not China, is the Pacific’s real security threat
Australia and New Zealand warn about China’s missile test while spending billions on military integration and lagging on the climate threat facing Pacific neighbours.
A new multi-nodal world is taking shape
In remarks delivered to Chinese participants in the Cambridge Executive Leadership Program, Chas Freeman argues that 500 years of Euro-Atlantic dominance has come to an end.
Concentrated power crushing freedom of expression in Cambodia
What an edition of a Siam Reap newspaper reveals about law and politics in Cambodia and constraints on freedom of speech.
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 letters to the editor
Destroying water facilities now a weapon of war
Jenny Goldie — Cooma NSW
Reality denial and western hypocrisy on China
Finn Ryan — Rockingham WA
The need for more Community Independents and Greens
Margaret Callinan — Hawthorn VIC 3122
Rethinking Aukus
john tons — Lenswood SA
Equality is for other people's children
K Southwell — Adelaide
Training is a mess
Peter Bertolus — Kialla Victoria
Fix the system, not the insurance
Les Macdonald — Balmain NSW 2041
Not a mention of Indonesia
Bob Pearce — Adelaide SA
