Margaret Reynolds
Margaret Reynolds has a long commitment to the peace movement dating back to the Anti-Vietnam Moratorium to current advocacy against militarism as National President of Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.(Australia ) She was a Labor Senator for Queensland 1983-1999 and a member of Bob Hawke’s Ministry 1987-1990. She taught Human Rights and International Relations at University of Queensland 1999-2004 and has worked with a number of international non-government organisations.
Margaret's recent articles
17 March 2025
The Australian War Memorial needs to be removed from the influence of international arms companies
Last week the ABC Four Corners program “Sacrifice“ highlighted the harsh reality that we have lost control of the Australian War Memorial, which is dedicated to remembering the many thousands of Australian lives impacted by war. This investigation exposed the way in which unscrupulous political decision-making has led to a major redevelopment that risks turning this unique national institution into a “Disneyland of war”.
23 January 2025
Truth telling about ceasefire in Gaza
We have all condemned fake news, and the lies continually spread on social media, but do we recognise that our political leaders and responsible journalists fail to promote truth telling in significant political debates which reflect the kind of society we have become?
9 January 2025
Australian minister to fly to Israel to mend fractured relationship?
When I read the Sydney Morning Herald headline about this development, I assumed it must be a typical January “silly season” political beat-up.
5 December 2024
Can Australian political leaders enjoy their holiday season while Palestinians starve?
How much longer can the Australian Government hide from the horrific atrocities that continue in Gaza?
23 November 2024
Will the Prime Minister now assert Australia’s independence and review his foreign and defence policies?
For some time now a considerable number of well-informed Australians have been warning Anthony Albanese and his government not to allow personal flattery and uncertain commitments to allow the United States to gain control of Australian foreign policy and defence policies.
31 October 2024
The Australian Government must impose sanctions on Israel NOW
Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong has finally acknowledged that Israel is in gross breach of international law, and must not ignore the United Nations, as it continues its ruthless military attacks on the people of Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon.
15 October 2024
Australia’s shame
Open Letter to Antonio Guterres on the Australian Government’s failure to publicly defend the office of the United Nations Secretary General.
14 October 2024
What will follow the referendum?
It is not surprising that so many of us believed that after the Voice Referendum 2023 Indigenous people would be recognised in the Australian Constitution and their voices valued.
12 October 2024
Australia, Israel and the United Nations
In 1949 Australia’s Dr H.V. Evatt was described as: “The most brilliant and effective voice of Small Powers - a leading statesman for the world’s conscience.” When will another Australian voice speak up in the name of humanity at the United Nations?
26 September 2024
What has happened to Australia’s commitment to the United Nations?
On the eve on the UN International Day of Peace, I searched ministerial websites for media statements that might reflect the Australian Government’s commitment to this year’s theme “Building a Culture of Peace but I found no indication that the Albanese Government has a vision of its role as a middle power working to support international law and prevent the ravages of militarism. Instead, there were various references celebrating AUKUS and increased military expenditure, but I could not locate any official recognition that the Australian Government marked 21 September as an important day in the UN calendar. Fortunately, we can...
3 September 2024
The Albanese Government has consistently ignored advice about the humanitarian disaster in Gaza
Since the onset of the Gaza War, many Australians have urged the Albanese Government to speak up in condemning the Netanyahu regime’s constant breaches of international law and to act urgently to protect innocent civilians in Gaza and the West Bank.
27 July 2024
Who is responsible for social cohesion in Australia?
What is social cohesion and who is responsible for achieving it?
1 July 2024
Will Senator Payman influence Australian Government decision makers?
Senator Fatima Payman is one of the youngest members of the Albanese Government. Until recently she was unknown to most Australians except in her home state of Western Australia. She first came to attention when she publicly challenged the Prime Minister to be more vocal about genocide in Gaza and this was followed by a Senate debate critical of her and the use of the term From the river to the sea Palestine will be free.
18 June 2024
Why has the Australian Parliament failed to debate the tragedy of Gaza?
A majority of Australians want a ceasefire in Gaza, but the Australian Parliament seems more preoccupied with political brinkmanship than recognition of this tragedy.
27 May 2024
No more fence sitting … the Australian Government must condemn Israeli genocide!
We must make it clear to the current Israeli administration that our nation can no longer accept its actions and certainly do not “share its values “
16 May 2024
How can Australians elect parliamentarians who work for them?
Can Australian citizens break away from the decaying major parties to elect independent MPs that will fight for their constituents, not sectional interests? Former Senator Margaret Reynolds interviews founder of Australian Community Futures Planning, Bronwyn Kelly, in this must watch P&I podcast.
13 May 2024
Palestinian statehood is the only way forward for peace. Our media don't help.
Australia’s recent vote to increase the status of the State of Palestine in the United Nations General Assembly is as welcome as it is historic. The positive vote recognizes that Palestine is qualified to join and recommends to the U.N Security Council that it reconsider the matter favorably.
1 May 2024
Why is violence against Australian women not rated as terrorism?
Weekend rallies highlighted the anger and fear of thousands of women and men about the ongoing violence against Australian women. It is a crisis, and it is occurring day and night in homes and suburbs across the country where police are struggling to keep up with reporting of male violence and too many offenders avoid detection, because our leaders do not rate violence against women as the extreme terrorism it has become.
9 April 2024
Accountability for the deaths of innocent people applies to Australia too
The death of young aid worker Zomi Frankcom in Gaza last week was a tragic reminder that we have all failed to stop this unrelenting violence against the innocent. Many Australians have been horrified that the six months war continues, because governments fail to uphold international law and even our own leaders have hidden from their obligations.
15 March 2024
How well is the Albanese Government communicating with Australians?
Since the 1980s I have been urged by my Labor Party colleagues to keep political messages simple and to listen to the local community.
6 March 2024
Shock as Australian PM learns he is not above international law
Prime Ministers are too often monopolised by people telling them what they want to hear. Most political advisers cant see beyond the latest opinion poll and the Australian bureaucracy has become equally reluctant to offer frank and fearless advice. It appears that the Attorney General, Defence and Foreign Affairs and Trade Departments have each failed to alert the Prime Minister and his government to the risks inherent in ignoring international law when responding to the Gaza crisis.
27 February 2024
Australian Civil Society submits statement on Gaza genocide to the International Court of Justice
As a signatory to the Genocide Convention, Australia is obliged to prevent any action that further risks the survival of the Palestinian people and failure to do so risks complicity in genocide. In the absence of a response from the Australian government to the ICJ ruling, at least 100 groups representing civil society are observing with concern Australias failure to act to prevent genocide in Gaza, and have made the following submission to the International Court of Justice.
12 February 2024
The Australian Parliament fails to uphold international law preventing genocide in Gaza
The Australian Parliament failed to recognise its responsibilities last week when Greens Leader Adam Bandt, responding to the International Court of Justice interim ruling to prevent genocide, initiated a vote for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
28 January 2024
Stark lessons for Australia in ICJ Genocide Ruling: But is anyone listening?
I doubt if any Australia political leader was watching the International Court of Justice President Judge, Joan E Donahue (United States of America) deliver the ruling in South Africas case alleging Israel has committed genocide on Palestinians in Gaza.
15 January 2024
A loyal apologist for Israel: Australia and the Genocide convention
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong is making an official visit to the Middle East this month and will need to convey a clear position to different audiences: the Palestinian Authority, Israel and neighbouring countries. But at home, many Australians are shocked that their government has been a loyal apologist for Israel and failed to condemn the military and political assault on Palestinians.
19 December 2023
Does Gaza ceasefire vote signal a shift in foreign policy?
Since coming to office in 2022, the Albanese Governments foreign policy has been dominated by its enthusiastic embrace of the AUKUS agreement with old allies, the United States and the United Kingdom. However these nations are totally out of step with global opinion about gross breaches of international law by the Netanyahu regime and neither has been able to influence Israel to at least consider alternatives to the ongoing catastrophic war.
11 December 2023
Is this what Australia has become?
On the eve of International Human Rights Day when invited to support the existing international rules-based order the United States leadership failed. Not only did their veto prevent a cease-fire in Gaza, but this powerful nation could not even offer an alternative path to protect humanity. Does the United Nations matter to the Australian Government? Will Prime Minister Albanese have the courage to confront Australia's friend and ally about its diplomatic intransigence?
28 October 2023
Australia left isolated as neighbours demand protection of civilians at UNGA
Many Australians will be ashamed that our nation has failed to speak and vote unequivocally at the United Nations during this crisis. As a nation we cannot continue to pretend that Israel has a right to defend itself while Palestine has no such right and is being systematically destroyed.
8 September 2023
Nuclear submarines are now a core Labor value
Perhaps AUKUS should be renamed MAUKUS - the Morrison, Albanese, United Kingdom and United States agreement - to clearly identify those responsible. Indeed, it is surprising that neither Defence Minister Richard Marles nor Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy invited Australian Labor Party National Conference delegates to support a motion of appreciation to former Prime Minister Morrison for providing a ready-made defence policy for the Labor Government.
16 August 2023
Albo cannot be both a reasoned diplomat and a subservient ally
Australias leader Anthony Albanese is responsible for much more than window dressing at the ALP National Conference. As our elected leader he is required to speak for the nation about how Australia will meet its international obligations to peace and security in our region. In order to re-assert an Australian independent middle power foreign policy advocated by Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong, Albanese must tell the global community that he has not made a secret pact to follow the United States into war with China.
19 July 2023
Robo Debt shows we need an Independent Inquiry into AUKUS
The Royal Commission into Robo-debt has provided significant insights into how a cavalier government can ignore fundamental processes of good governance by ignoring accepted standards of decision making to pursue its ideological agenda.
21 June 2023
A subservient defence policy undermines Albaneses successful first year
There were celebrations and high expectations when Prime Minister Albanese and his talented front bench formed the government in May 2022. The language and style of the national agenda appealed to Australians wanting realistic policies and a two-way conversation about what is in the best interests of our community. There were inspiring speeches and commitments that introduced policies and programs of reform and social justice.
7 June 2023
Australian peacekeeping: our best kept secret?
Why are Australian political leaders so insecure about our capacity to be independent and create a peacebuilding role for our nation when so many Australian military and police personnel have already demonstrated their capacity for strong leadership as peacekeepers?
8 November 2022
How many ABC journalists will report from COP27 in Egypt?
Many loyal ABC supporters were puzzled that our cash strapped public broadcaster could afford the cost of sending 27 staff to London to report on Queen Elizabeths funeral, but at least some of us hoped this may signal a fresh direction in overseas news reporting and analysis.
28 January 2022
Wanted: a role for MPs in waging war and seeking peace
There must be a number of current parliamentarians concerned about the direction of foreign and defence policy, but why are they so silent?
4 May 2021
Tasmanian state election result has important lessons for Labor and Liberal parties
The headlines and bland media commentary about the island states weekend election indicates that the Tasmanias Liberal Government won a major vote of confidence for its policies. But they may end up with just a one seta majority.
11 April 2021
When will Australian political parties professionalise their preselection processes?
The shocking ongoing revelations about men behaving badly in the Australian Parliament has exposed a number of individuals for their misogyny and antiquated attitudes to women generally and their female colleagues in particular. They are discredited dinosaurs who do not belong in any modern workplace ,let alone in the national forum for charting best practice in public policy development .
25 February 2021
Hunger games: is it any wonder that most of the Independents and MPs from small parties are women?
The major parties are largely managed by men who manipulate the choice of candidates to favour men like themselves. I doubt there has been a woman working in Parliament who has not experienced sexual harassment at some time in her career. It is time men in leadership roles faced up to their individual responsibility to eradicate this toxic culture.
28 June 2020
An open letter to the Prime Minister from ABC friends and supporters
Dear Mr Morrison, I write on behalf of many angry Australians who want to know why your government continues to undermine Australian public broadcasting with ongoing funding cutbacks at the same time as the commercial media sector is favoured.
7 April 2020
MARGARET REYNOLDS. Australian Councils Need a Stimulus Too
Australian councils, as the front line in so many areas of public policy, need to be properly funded in order to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
12 November 2019
MARGARET REYNOLDS. Labor Review ignores Centralised Factional Control!
The ALP Reviewers certainly deserve recognition for facing some of the issues which led to its recent Federal election defeat. The Review Team has put on the record the factors contributing to misunderstanding and failure to capture the public imagination. Recommendations are a welcome start in charting new directions. However, the fundamental issue of factional control is not considered as a major factor in community alienation.
17 June 2019
MARGARET REYNOLDS. Queensland A Special Place?
I lived in Queensland for three decades and represented the sunshine state as a Labor Senator for sixteen years. I spent much of my time trying to convince my parliamentary colleagues and the media that Queenslanders are very much like the rest of us. They too are concerned about job prospects for themselves and their children. They want good quality health and education services. They expect governments to listen and respond to their concerns.
6 June 2019
SHARON PARKINSON, DEB BATTERHAM, MARGARET REYNOLDS. Homelessness soars in our biggest cities, driven by rising inequality since 2001 (The Conversation)
Homelessness has increased greatly in Australian capital cities since 2001. Almost two-thirds of people experiencing homelessness are in these cities, with much of the growth associated with severely crowded dwellings and rough sleeping.
19 May 2019
MARGARET REYNOLDS. Where do we go now?
Its a sad day for Australian Politics when national reform is rejected and voter priority is reduced to individual benefit . But why should we be surprised ?
31 March 2019
MARGARET REYNOLDS. New opportunity for Code of Race Ethics supported by 54% of the Australian Parliament in 1998.
Senator Penny Wong considers todays politicians have failed to isolate the extremism of One Nation as effectively as in the 1990s.
5 March 2019
MARGARET REYNOLDS. Ita, the new ABC Chair
It is interesting to ponder the thoughts of the Prime Minister before he decided to make a captains call by appointing Ita Buttrose as Chair of the ABC Board. In doing so he has confounded critics and perhaps even signalled some remorse for the Federal Governments continuous assault on Australian public broadcasting.
13 February 2019
MARGARET REYNOLDS. I love the ABC and I Vote!!
Several public policy issues will be vigorously debated when Australians vote in this years Federal Election. But the one policy area where a vast majority of Australians can agree is that our national public broadcaster- the A B C- must be protected. More than 80 per cent of Australians trust the ABC above all other media and value its services to the community.
30 September 2018
MARGARET REYNOLDS. ABC Friends calls for Australians to rally to defend the independence of our ABC
The firestorm that hit the ABC this week is an opportunity for Australians to demand that all political parties commit to absolute independent governance of the ABC.