Looking for the wrong things: peace, power and the meaning of Christmas
George Browning

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.

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Climate hot takes for 2025
David Spratt

A year in review

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.

What Australia’s gun law response means for New Zealand
Alexander Gillespie

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.

India and China in deep water over Himalayan hydropower
Jianli Yang

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.

Cutting the Internet in Afghanistan is gender-based violence
Bree Benbow,  A Mira Gunawansa,  Isabelle Zhu-Maguire

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.

AI policy is stuck on productivity – and democracy is paying the price
John H Howard

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.

2025 in Review: What this year taught us about life, loss and shared humanity
Stephanie Dowrick

A year in review

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.

A beautiful mosaic: celebrating multicultural Australia
Jocelyn Chey

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.

How gun ownership works in Australia – and what may change
Suzanna Fay

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.

Conflicts of interest: defending the indefensible
Kerry Breen

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.

The long consequences of forgetting
Robert Macklin

The long consequences of forgetting

As climate breakdown, war and institutional failure converge, the comforts of forgetting no longer shield us from the consequences of our own history.

Can AI help save local journalism without hollowing it out?
Kristy Hess,  Angela Ross

Can AI help save local journalism without hollowing it out?

As local news outlets shrink and news deserts grow, artificial intelligence could deepen the crisis or, if used carefully, help sustain public-interest journalism at the community level.

Prabowo’s first year: all power, no accountability
Duncan Graham

Prabowo’s first year: all power, no accountability

A year after Prabowo Subianto’s election, Indonesia’s democracy is under strain as power centralises, dissent is curtailed and the military’s influence grows.



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