Top 5
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Replacing Dutton’s bottom of the barrel ideas about leadership
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton seems bereft of the qualities required in a leader, so it’s worth pondering how he and those who support him could show leadership. Continue reading »
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Dutton’s psychological projection
I write as a child of Holocaust survivors because I am disturbed by the demagoguery engaged by the leader of the Opposition, Peter Dutton, labelling hapless Palestinian refugees as potential terrorists. Continue reading »
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Militant, independent unions can tame the concrete jungle of the building industry
Only a fool would think that removing the union from the equation will rid the building industry of criminality. Continue reading »
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Accusations of US regime-change operations in Pakistan and Bangladesh warrant UN attention
The very strong evidence of the U.S. role in toppling the government of Imran Khan in Pakistan raises the likelihood that something similar may have occurred in Bangladesh. Continue reading »
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The military Americanisation of Northern Australia
The headline in the Weekend Australian said it all: NT Bases Key to American War Plans. Republican Congressman Michael McCaul, the Chair of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, told The Australian, after a ten day visit to Australia that our geography offered key advantages to the US “as it sought to deter Chinese Continue reading »
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Albanese’s impotence gives Dutton undue credit
One of the first things Tony Abbott did soon after becoming Prime Minister of Australia in 2013 was to abandon the fibre-to-the-premises model that had been the hallmark of the previous Rudd Government’s National Broadband Network rollout. Shortage of labour and supplies had bedevilled the rollout under Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, but it promised a Continue reading »
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Melbourne Symphony Orchestra strikes the wrong note on Gaza
A well-known Australian band, The Cat Empire, has decided not to perform three shows scheduled with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra over the treatment meted out to Australian-British classical pianist Jayson Gillham. Continue reading »
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Is peaceful cooperation a hopeless pipe dream?
According to Matt Pottinger, ‘a China expert and deputy national security adviser in the Trump White House…anyone who has entertained the idea of stable ties with Beijing is really smoking dope.’ If that’s what it takes, it might be time to light up. Continue reading »
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Comparing Palestine’s prospects for independence and peace
In trying to Palestine’s prospects of independence and peace with Israel, one is reminded of Tolstoy’s observation that ‘All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way’. This is to say that, successful claims to independence share common features, but the circumstances of Palestine’s aspiration for independence are distinctively its Continue reading »
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Greens blast new conditions set by US and UK for AUKUS deal
The revelation that the US and UK have imposed additional conditions for their being part of the tripartite AUKUS deal with Australia has not gone down well in some quarters. Continue reading »
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While the world discussed the Games, Israel was focused on rape
In the second and last week of the Paris Olympics, most of the world was discussing sporting performances and medal tallies. Continue reading »
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AUKUS: The worst defence and foreign policy decision our country has made
Defence Minister Marles’s love for the the US is so dewy-eyed as to defy parody. Foreign Minister Wong is far more beady-eyed, and instinctively wary of over-commitment to America’s view of itself, but has been unwilling to rock the boat. Continue reading »
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Israel’s pattern of bombing schools and shelters in Gaza
American supplied Israel bombs killed at least 100 people as they stood while performing Fajr (dawn) prayers at the Al-Tabin school in the Daraj area of Gaza City on August 10th. This is the latest of numerous schools attacked in the last month, illustrating a clear pattern of killing and maiming. Continue reading »
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The global collapse of parenting and the rise of the device
Over ten years ago, I wrote an article for the Guardian that argued it was time to slay a sacred cow: that the internet is a force for good. Many advised me against writing it, saying it would be read as the views of a laggard, but it became one of the most-read articles published Continue reading »
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Politicians browbeaten and brainwashed by Zionism
Duly browbeaten by Zionists and Zionism, many Australian politicians fear to question Israeli terror. Evidence for that assertion has accumulated over years but was displayed last week in the lukewarm regrets expressed when an estimated 100 Palestinians were killed by Israeli bombs dropped on a school in northern Gaza. Continue reading »
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How Rupert Murdoch helped create a monster – the era of Trumpism – and then lost control of it
You can’t help but feel sorry for Rupert Murdoch. Continue reading »
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Nancy Pelosi: ‘Pot calling the kettle black’
Nancy Pelosi said of my recent 7.30 interview ‘it is not in the security interest of the Asia-Pacific region for people to talk that way’ – that is, of my remarks in respect of Taiwan. Continue reading »
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America is the most violent, aggressive country in the world
Of the international intelligence information that comes to Australian agencies from the Five Eyes, 90% comes from the CIA and related US intelligence agencies. So in effect we have the colonisation of our intelligence agencies These agencies dominate the advice to Ministers writes John Menadue. Continue reading »
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A timid PM, frozen in the glare of the Keating headlights
When the former Prime Minister, Paul Keating, recently claimed that Australia was losing its “strategic autonomy” and turning into “the 51st State of the United States”, the current Prime Minister froze in the headlights. Continue reading »
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Shocking news: China is kicking more global goals
Is China mired in economic misery while bogged down by old habits- or very successfully developing its exceptional manufacturing prowess as it expands and consolidates its influence across the Global South (and well beyond)? Never mind any apparent contradiction, one leading global weekly answers yes and yes to these two questions. Continue reading »
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Will the real Olympic cheats please stand up
Because they are no longer the top dog in the Olympics, the US now wants to expand its kinetic and trade wars into the sporting arena, or at least the anti-drugs section of the sporting arena. Continue reading »
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The Americanisation of our public policy, media and national interest
John Menadue AO eminent former public servant, ambassador and businessman – now independent founder, publisher and Editor in Chief of the online public policy journal ‘Pearls and Irritations‘ – offers an in depth conversation about how Australian public policy is making us more vulnerable in dangerous geopolitical times, by compromising pursuit of our sovereign interests, Continue reading »
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The military control of Australia
The Albanese government with their policy is likely to turn Australia into the 51st state of the United States, writes former Prime Minister of Australia, Paul Keating. Continue reading »
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Team genocide walks out on Nagasaki commemorations
In an astonishing “Fuck you” to the survivors of the 1945 US nuclear bombing of Nagasaki, several Western countries including the US, Australia, Canada, France, Italy and the UK have just dropped a bombshell: reportedly announcing their ambassadors are shunning this week’s commemorations in solidarity with Israel. Continue reading »
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The cost of living crisis is really a housing crisis
The evidence shows that the only households whose living costs have risen faster than their incomes are those homeowners with a mortgage. For the other two thirds of households, their incomes have risen faster than their living costs. Policy should therefore focus on why mortgage costs have risen so dramatically. Continue reading »
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Australia needs to hear its tone of voice in our conversations more than ever
Pearls & Irritations needs support at a critical time and when Australia needs to hear its tone of voice in our conversations more than ever. Continue reading »
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China’s six unseen struggles, and triumphs
Western media analysts often fail to grasp the significance of the reforms initiated at the Third Plenary Session of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Beijing (CPC), which recently concluded in Beijing. Continue reading »
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Who caused the Ukraine war?
The question of who is responsible for causing the Ukraine war has been a deeply contentious issue since Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022. Continue reading »
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Israeli MP condones sexual abuse of Palestinian prisoners
What democracy would accept a member of parliament agreeing that it was permissible and acceptable for it’s solders to sexually abuse political prisoners Continue reading »
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Is the government fair dinkum? Response to the Royal Commission
I am not surprised by the disappointment felt by people with disability and their advocacy groups concerning what appears to be the Commonwealth Government’s limp-wristed and overly cautious response to the Disability Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability. Continue reading »
