Our retreat from Asia has become a rout
On almost every measure, Australia has gone backwards on engaging with our region, and particularly with China, and it is time to do something about it.
Recent articles in Politics
28 May 2025
Australia still doing little as the Gaza genocide gets worse
Australia doesn’t mind imposing sanctions on nations or groups it regards as being deserving of punishment for their nefarious activities, Russia, Iran and Zimbabwe to name a few.
28 May 2025
Cultural institutions are policing Palestine solidarity. Karen Wyld is just the latest target
Last week, Martu writer Karen Wyld was stripped of a literary fellowship just hours before she was due to receive it, not because of the quality of her work, but because of her expressions of solidarity with Palestine.
28 May 2025
I will always remember you, Ali Kazak!
I first met Ali Kazak soon after he arrived in Australia in the early '70s when I was in my early twenties.
28 May 2025
Indonesia remembers the coming of democracy, 27 years later
The shadow of Soeharto's past now seems to loom over the nation, threatening the civilian supremacy we fought so hard to establish.
28 May 2025
Ley’s impossible task – Leading a party at war with its future
The future of the centre-right in Australia may depend on whether Sussan Ley can weather the current storm.
28 May 2025
Trump's second term is taking the US back to the bad old days
“Words mean just what I say they mean, Humpty Dumpty
28 May 2025
ACTU statement on Gaza May 2025 'including the use of targeted sanctions'
The Australian Union movement is a movement of peace and solidarity. We continue to be horrified by the humanitarian catastrophe facing Palestinians in Gaza.
27 May 2025
The cost of conscience in post-October 7 Australia
Over the past 18 months, it has become harder and harder to speak publicly in this country if you are Muslim, brown, and pro-Palestinian.
27 May 2025
China’s calm response to US’ impulsive tariffs gets noticed
Shortly after China and the United States announced tariff adjustment measures in Geneva, Switzerland, Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist Aron Solomon argued in a Newsweek article that the US now has an administration that “governs not with strategy, but with impulse”.
27 May 2025
Why we need our economists to try a lot harder
For most economists, their view of how the world works is virtually unchanged from one decade to the next. They’ve already found the truth, so nothing needs changing.
27 May 2025
Not many splashed in the short-lived teacup revolt
The squall in the great teacup of the Liberal and National Parties, and the (almost certainly temporary) suspension of the Coalition has been very diverting but will probably not matter much as the political year, or term of parliament progresses. A scrap between a badly beaten pair of parties may seem damaging in the short term, but is unlikely to change any immediate outcomes.
27 May 2025
Trump inflicts cruelty on the disadvantaged – and seems to enjoy it
Perhaps the most despicable of the character flaws of Donald Trump is his cruelty and his apparent enjoyment of the same!
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