Charting Trump's decline
New polling reveals a clear and sustained decline in public approval of Trump and his policies that is already reshaping US electoral prospects, with significant implications for Congress and beyond.
Recent articles in Politics
2 December 2025
Rising student visa refusals clash with plans to boost enrolments
After encouraging universities to expand overseas enrolments, the government has overseen a sharp fall in student visa approval rates – leaving institutions uncertain and applicants frustrated.
2 December 2025
Why our government protects gambling apps but bans TikTok
Australia’s social media restrictions on children were sold as decisive action on harm. But the policy risks becoming symbolic, unenforceable, and ultimately counterproductive.
2 December 2025
We’re not about to go full Trump no matter what the culture warriors say
Strains on social cohesion cannot be dismissed as the embrace of multiculturalism has made the task of defining what holds the community together more challenging.
2 December 2025
Indonesia’s Gaza peacekeeping bid raises more questions than answers
Indonesia has offered to send up to 20,000 troops to Gaza as part of an international peacekeeping force. The proposal highlights shifting regional politics – and unresolved concerns about military power, credibility and human rights.
2 December 2025
AI and the news: how it helps, fails, and why that matters
AI is reshaping the news ecosystem in the fields of search, fact-checking and personalised feeds. If used well, it can support journalism and strengthen democracy.
2 December 2025
Tough talk, weak evidence: the myth of a youth crime crisis
Governments across Australia are responding to perceived youth crime “crises” with harsher laws. But national data tell a very different story – one that raises serious questions about punishment, politics and evidence.
2 December 2025
Selective humanity: Gaza’s donkeys or its children?
International law requires equal protection for civilians in war. Yet recent actions by Western states reveal a troubling pattern in how humanitarian principles are applied – selectively, politically, and at devastating human cost.
2 December 2025
Australia’s selective justice on international law is indefensible
Australia has pledged to uphold humanitarian law and protect aid workers. But in the face of an ICJ ruling on Gaza, its own anti-terror and accountability laws remain selectively unenforced.
2 December 2025
With Trump's support, Netanyahu requests pardon for corruption charges
“There is no such thing as a pardon request without an admission of guilt and without resignation,” said one journalist. “This is a demand for the surrender of the rule of law in Israel.”
1 December 2025
Australia's strategic choices in a fragmenting global order
With Trump 2.0, the global order is changing and changing rapidly.
1 December 2025
Message from the Editor
I was lucky to speak with a room full of young people at the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering this week, at an ‘ask me anything’ session. So many of them were worried that the university system was not delivering, and that, for students, fear of debt was making them think twice about further education and distorting subject choices.
1 December 2025
Corruption isn’t just a moral failure – it’s built into our political system
Corruption in politics is not an accident or an exception. It is a predictable outcome of a system that rewards loyalty, access and survival over accountability, transparency and the public interest.
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New architecture, old assumptions: Australia and the China question
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