Writer
John Menadue
John Menadue is the publisher of Pearls & Irritations. He has had a distinguished career both in the private sector and in the Public Service.
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If I were the Minister for Health
I would progressively wind back and eliminate the $14b pa taxpayer subsidy for Private Health Insurance and use that very large sum to fund the inclusion of dental care within Medicare and increase the funding to the states for expanded specialist services in outpatient clinics at public hospitals. Continue reading »
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If I were the Minister for…Guidance for the new government on important policies – a series of articles
Many of us have been very disappointed about the lack of serious policy discussion in the election campaign. Politicians and the media are more concerned about ‘small targets’, personality and ‘gotcha’ questions. Continue reading »
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The Murdoch media has gone rogue again in the 2022 election (Updated repost from 27 Oct, 2017)
Denis Muller puts it this way in The Conversation Continue reading »
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The repeated lie that Morrison stopped the boats. An updated repost from March 11, 2021
Our corporate media will not acknowledge that Tony Abbott and Scott Morrison did not stop the boats. Despite clear evidence, the Canberra Press Gallery fell for the spin. With a tame media and cooperation by the military, the big lie was repeated time and time again and became accepted as fact. This was all before Donald Trump Continue reading »
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Privatisation and the hollowing out of Medicare by the Morrison Government
The Coalition has for years been undermining Medicare. Bob Hawke was correct at the last election when he said that the Coalition was aiming to privatise Medicare. It was not a scare tactic as some unthinking journalists keep saying. The Coalition has been privatising by stealth for years our universal health care system. Continue reading »
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Brett Wilkins: Jimmy Carter says that the US is the ‘Most warlike nation in the history of the world’
The only US president to complete his term without war, military attack or occupation has called the United States “the most warlike nation in the history of the world.” Continue reading »
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Our democracy is decaying from within. A repost from 16 September 2021
We need a summit of community leaders to help chart democratic renewal. Continue reading »
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The Saudi involvement in 9/11
The FBI has quietly revealed further evidence of Saudi government complicity in the September 11 attacks. But the full story is yet to be told. Continue reading »
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A tale of two hospitals in Iraq and Ukraine
Until lions have their own historians, their history will be that of the hunters Continue reading »
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Changes at Pearls & Irritations
From Tuesday 15 February Michael West Media and Pearls & Irritations will be going separate ways. Continue reading »
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Russian Congress of Intellectuals..An Open Letter to the Russian Leadership.February 4, 2022
Our position is simple: Russia does not need a war with Ukraine and the West. Such a war is devoid of legitimacy and has no moral basis. Continue reading »
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Society has to create the framework in which business works — not the other way around
Business leaders — and the politicians that enable them — must be put on notice that they must serve society, not the other way around. Continue reading »
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Big Media’s diet of deceit and diversions
A small group of elites determines what ordinary people do not see or hear. Continue reading »
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White Man’s Media: Legacy media in the US and UK frames and conditions our thinking and actions
Most political colonies have come to an end. But a colonial mind set continues in the media .That colonial media mind set in turn promotes a ‘colonisation of the mind’. Continue reading »
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What a shambles: a tangled net for Scott Morrison and Novak Djokovic
The debacle surrounding the tennis ace is good media fodder. Chiefly, it shows that Morrison’s right hand does not know what the left hand is doing. Continue reading »
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Lobbyland: The scourge of powerful special interests and lobbyists
Lobbyists have exceptional access to our Parliament and politicians, and they’re not acting in the public interest. Continue reading »
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The United States empire is almost always at war
The US empire is addicted to a belief in its exceptionalism, grounded in aggression both at home and abroad, and finding it hard to admit mistakes. Continue reading »
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Through US base at Pine Gap, Australia is complicit in US war crimes
As Australia locks itself into the US military machine, we increase the risks of retaliatory attacks on Pine Gap in the Northern Territory. Continue reading »
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Arrogant US resents China for resisting its ‘right’ to interfere
What the US most resents about China is that it is successful in delivering results for its own people and resists US interference. Continue reading »
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Andrew Podger- Public servant Angie McKenzie as FOI act delegate has no right to anonymity from Senator Rex Patrick
Senator Rex Patrick may have gone too far in personalising his criticism of Angie McKenzie but, as the delegate making the decision regarding his request for documents under the FOI Act, she has no right to anonymity. Continue reading »
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White Man’s Media propaganda multiplier; the three global news agencies
Legacy media in the US, UK and Europe frames and conditions our thinking and actions. They frame and condition the stenographers in the Australian media. Continue reading »
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Wang Huning, the Chinese Communist who understands America
But does anybody in Washington DC understand China like Wang Huning understands America? Continue reading »
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Our White Man’s Media again hides important Australian news about China
China has just signed two major LNG contracts with US companies at the expense of Australia. There has been little mention of it in any Australian media. Continue reading »
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Housing should be for use value, not exchange value
Housing policies should reflect the sort of society we want to live in, not the quest for wealth accumulation.A home is not a commodity. Continue reading »
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Paul Keating’s speech is a teaching moment in a fraught relationship with China
Former prime minister Paul Keating’s National Press Club address showed just how badly awry Australia’s policies on Asia have gone. Continue reading »
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China/US sign a mega LNG deal at Australia’s expense.
What a relief to know that the US has our back in our trade dispute with China! First it was agricultural products, Now LNG. Our great “mate” is stealing our lunch again. The Chinese and Americans must be both laughing at us. Continue reading »
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America’s never-ending war on the world
Driven by its military-industrial complex the United States depends on continual war. As the War on Terrorism peters out a new enemy is invented — China. Continue reading »
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What is going on in China?
How China made ‘common prosperity’ a major political issue for Xi Jinping and his government. Continue reading »
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The Australian retreat from Asia is becoming a rout.
Nine years ago I gave the speech below. I was then pessimistic about our understanding of Asia. The situation has got markedly worse since then, writ large in the unremitting attacks on China stemming from ignorance and parochialism, particularly in our White Man’s Media. Continue reading »
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Scott Morrison shames Australia with abdication to the National Party
Scott Morrison has abdicated any pretence of leadership on climate change, allowing the National Party — which has turned its back on farmers — to hold Australia to ransom. Continue reading »
