Letters to the Editor

  • Security Council needs to back up its resolution

    The UN Security Council needs to use its powers to back up the resolution on Gaza if Israel and Hamas do not promptly comply.

  • Tony Abbott and news corp

    Tony Abbott works for News Corp/ Fox Corp.

  • So Ashamed

    I'm so ashamed to be Australian.

  • U.S. ENTRAPMENT OF AUSTRALIA

    We still see ourselves as an appendage of the Anglosphere entrapped in South East Asia with Asians, especially the Chinese, coveting our Continent. We are still obsessed with the fear of encroaching YellowPeril-itis. The response to this irrational view of ourselves and of our neighbours has led our leaders to hysterically cling to; initially Great Britain, which as the fall of Singapore exposed was not Great anymore, then equally hysterically, to the apron strings of the U.S.

  • Why does my tax fund discrimination?

    If religious schools want to discriminate against some pupils and staff, the least we can do is stop subsidising them with public money, money I have contributed to.

  • We can see the future, and it’s bleak.

    Our struggle to maintain a healthy, sustainable environment is forever undermined by those in power who convince the majority that all is well.

  • The Australian threat analysis may be faulty

    What is the security threat that Australia is perceiving for itself?

  • Please, please, please …

    Let us exit from AUKUS as soon as possible.

  • Understanding (some/most) Jewish people

    This could apply to any letter about Palestine/Israel - a film that gives an insight into Jewish thinking.

  • Is Susan Abulhawa’s story a fair assessment?

    While there are multiple opinions about the terrible war in Gaza, I come to Pearls and Irritations because the commentators here are trusted to be fair, as well as quite properly opinionated. I read the article by Susan Abulhawa with horror and sadness, but as I read, I began to wonder how fair this assessment really was an to learn a little more about Ms Abulhawa. I found an article on 'Fresh Air', from the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council which makes some very strong criticisms of Ms Abulhawa.

  • Fear and Wrongdoing

    Years ago, a few days before my Mother died, I was fortunate to spend a lucid hour with her. I asked her for her thoughts on why people do unexplainable things.

  • Old economist wakes up – better late than never

    Economics Nobel Prize winner Angus Deaton has finally woken up to the importance of power, social justice and community. Marx got there 150 years ago.

  • Reflections on P&I

    P&I is without doubt the standout Public Policy publication in Australia and arguably the world. The articles are very informative, current, at times provocative (nothing wrong with that) succinct and meaningful.

  • Albanese Must Lead Boldly

    Ian Dunlop commends the two big ideas for Australia from Ross Garnaut and Rod Sims - a green economy and a carbon price. He then challenges the PM to lead boldly with them.

  • HEU: ANCIENT WISDOM, MODERN LESSONS

    … and ah! Future experience…?

  • We must pay for pollution

    Given the long-standing support for a price on carbon as a solution to climate pollution, it is deeply troubling that the overall reduction in emissions after a carbon pricing scheme has been introduced averages around 0-2 per cent per year. When we acknowledge that the global north now needs to reduce emissions by 11 per cent per year between now and 2030 this fact becomes even more alarming.

  • MH370 – ex airline pilot agrees with your story

    As an ex airline pilot, this incident immediately raised suspicion of deliberate action by a pilot.

  • Alcohol banned in parliaments

    ALCOHOL SERVED IN PARLIAMENT HOUSES - no longer necessary. A hangover from colonial days of a century ago.

  • Danger using Pine Gap in Negotiations with the US

    Labour has already been punished for posing a threat to the continued existence of Pine Gap.

  • The Power of the Dog

    Thank you to Peter Henning for breaking the (self-imposed) Australian media ban on criticising Albanese and his do-nothing government.

  • Will AUKUS Outlast Trump

    Aukus was always a Local Politics Issue

  • Australia responsible for the bleaching of its own reef

    The burning of fossil fuels contributes three-quarters of greenhouse gas emissions which have led to record ocean temperatures and coral reef bleaching around the world. The Australian government continues to approve new coal and gas projects and has even watered down the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority climate change position statement. It cannot be denied - the Australian government is partly responsible for the bleaching of its own reef.

  • Hear me Roar

    I was at the Women's Politics Conference in 1976. It was organised by a male consultancy firm. Needless to say, this caused a lot of anger from many women involved in paid and unpaid positions of advocacy who were, according to Gough Whitlam not able to organise a National Conference for Women on the same scale that men were.

  • The Teals Have Revived Representative Parliament

    Community-based independent MPs are rebuilding the connection between their constituents and government. The major parties must evolve to survive.

  • THE DEPUTY SHERRIF SYNDROME

    Being part of the Anglosphere it is not surprising that our attitudes to what constitutes foreign interference is seen through Anglocentric glasses. Ever since we were surreptitiously torn from the Apron strings of Mother England in the forties we clamoured for any Apron strings in the offing. So when General McArthur seemed like a God sent father figure we embraced him and that embrace continues. Notwithstanding the fawning sentimentality displayed by Menzies when he uttered those cringeworthy words ".....I did but see her passing by..." our fawning was in no uncertain manner from that time on, pointed across the Pacific.

  • Those nuclear submarines

    The Virginia Class submarines will need to be fitted with wheels

  • Well timed article

    Congratulations on tackling this topic.

  • Tensions in a deeply economically linked world

    Much commentary around Australia's possible role (or not) in a conflict over Taiwan, and China's possible attempts to annex it militarily, are missing a key consideration. This is exemplified in the phrase that our navy might need to 'keep the sea lanes open'. Who cares, if the sea lanes are empty any way? The world, to my knowledge, has never in history confronted a hypothetical scenario like this. Possible military action, between major trading partners, that exchange trade in essential commodities. We may not need to keep the sea-lanes open, if the sea lanes are empty.

  • Paul Heywood-Smith issues a clear call

    A road forward for security on the Gaza-Israel border.

  • Joe had the power to prevent it

    Joe Biden could have saved 30, 000 Palestinian lives.

  • Climate action: way too little, way too late

    The climate challenge grows ever greater while government action remains insufficient. This must change.

  • Lithium free ev batteries now in production

    While it's good that the lower price of lithium is likely to make EVs cheaper, the abundance and safety of sodium, together with it's environentally preferable credentials, may mean that EVs with sodium-ion batteries eventually take over. They are already in production in China.

  • Missing in Action: Aaron Bushnell

    I perhaps shouldn't be surprised but I felt sick to my stomach to find out about Aaron Bushnell. More so when I realised it had been 3 days and I didn't see or hear anything about it until this article.

  • US Military advisors

    The Australian Defence Department has hired many retired Officers from the US military as consultants. Is that a cause or effect of Australian allegiance to the USA?

  • Playing in the street

    I so much enjoyed reading Gwenda Beed Davey's article on Street play, sadly a thing of the past.

  • Naval expansion is expensive and unnecessary

    The latest expansion to Australia's military forces follows an additional $38bn to Australia’s defence forces announced in 2022, and the AUKUS cost of up to $368 billion for nuclear submarines. There are more important priorities for our taxes, and alternative ways of defending ourselves and building regional peace and security..

  • What si truth

    What can we believe any more?

  • The moving goalposts of COP

    Jeremy Webb’s “The COP and climate change: a spent force” (21/2) conjures up that sporting metaphor of moving goalposts. With every Conference of the Parties (COP), the “net zero by 2050” target recedes. Every resolution brings a watering-down of goals.

  • Further to Brian Toohey’s letter on the 1975 coup

    The Keating Labor government was apparently uninterested in finding out more about the US role in the November 1972 coup, or in helping the whistleblower.

  • Drifting off course

    When I get up in the morning, I make coffee and invariably read P&I first, something I have done for years. My professional training is in journalism, history and geopolitics, and so I have long valued P&I's access to informed comment. But lately you seem to drifting off course.

  • Getting the message through

    Convincing voters that we have a problem that needs a solution is difficult (Shock as warming accelerates, 1.5°C is breached faster than forecast, 17/2).

  • One cannot be an illegal occupier of his own land: Response Letter

    Given the fact that the Jews have a 3800 years old bond with the Land of Israel, Jews cannot by definition be illegal settlers or foreigners on their own soil and land.

  • The article headed “Israeli female soldiers celebrate the death of 12,300 children” is an appalling misrepresentation

    The heading of this article is an appalling misrepresentation of its content

  • We need climate action sooner than a treaty

    An Earth Systems Treaty would be ideal, but we need strong government leadership on climate sooner.

  • Reading and Public Schools: Parents have a role too

    It is about time that we look to overseas models on how reading programs are done.

  • HAMAS has the blood of Palestinians and Israelis on its hands

    "Israeli exterminations of Palestinians"

  • How did we get so deeply in to the Zionist thrall?

    Conspiracy theories are usually in the realm of the lunatic left or right. To be dismissed and deflated by the well-read and rational amongst us. After reading about the clever propaganda machine set up by the Zionist state of Israel, I'm not sure we can be so complacent about our historical truths.

  • Cost of killing Gazan Palestinians

    What did the US taxpayer get for Joe Biden’s arms sales to Israel bypassing Congress?

  • The beginning of a climate change solution

    Jonathan Page wants federal government-backed action against fossil fuel companies or executives by charging them with criminal responsibility for worldwide deaths and destruction. I advise warning them first and urging them to end their fossil fuels before 2030.

  • US Military aggression

    US military record post WWII

  • Tradies and weekends are safe

    The Coalition specialises in scare campaigns. But a closer look at the government's proposed fuel-efficiency standard proposal reveals that tradies can still purchase the same utes (or even better electric versions) and weekend campers can still get away. Australia must go hard on fuel efficiency if we are to catch up with other countries.

  • The American Disease

    America: just another case of imperial over-reach

  • We must reclaim the common good

    Social cohesion is weakening as inequality grows. We must reclaim our sense of the common good to restore social trust.

  • Engaging with climate solution

    I encourage Pearls and Irritations to follow up the excellent “towards an unliveable planet” series with articles conveying the solutions that might keep the planet liveable. Action is the antidote to fear and it is climate action at individual, local, national and global scales that we need.

  • Israel in contempt of ICJ orders

    The charge of genocide against Israel has yet to be heard and proven. However, Israel is already in contempt of the the ICJ interim orders demonstrating that its government and those governments which continue with unqualified support for Israel have no regard for International law.

  • Rusted-on Labor voters thought they’d elected one.

    This is the most Labor-lite Government possible. . . (so ineffectual as to be referenced disparagingly as Scott Morrison-Lite.) It's a worrying development that they have cut criticism out of their governing process. Peter Henning's accurate critique would come as a shock.

  • Superb expose of US instigation of Pakistan coup

    Imran Khan’s fate offers a dreadful warning to Australia.

  • Pursuing the real criminals

    When crimes are not prosecuted, Courts do not review cases. Public confidence in justice is depressed.

  • Ceasefire essential, but both side must commit to end hostilities

    The article by Kathryn Kelly appropriately recommends support for a ceasefire in Gaza but does not reference the context in which this war is being fought.

  • ICJ orders and suspending UNRWA

    When does it stop being hypocrisy?

  • A dubious line up of speakers resist renewables

    Despite the hottest year on record and scientific analysis showing their electorates are at risk from rampant climate change, three Australian politicians resist the transition from fossil fuels to renewables. The departure of these men from politics cannot come soon enough.

  • ICJ interim decision on genocide in Gaza

    The ICJ decision in South Africa vs Israel is momentous

  • Humanity’s Extinction Beckons

    The risks from global warming are ever increasing, and yet we still do too little, too late.

  • An Idea for Australia Day: Learning from Bali

    A friend of mine once suggested the solution to arguments about Australia day was to keep it on 26 January but adopt the Balinese new year way of celebrating.

  • The Consequences of Western Liberal Failure

    The repercussions of the Gaza genocide will be generational and harm Israel's international role.

  • An Australian Republic should include establishment of a Bill of Rights

    Cavan Hogue makes some good points about the obstacles to Australia becoming a republic.

  • Ralph Evans: “China leads on renewable energy”

    Ralph Evans must live in a fantasy world. China is expanding its coal based energy grid, while the West is effectively exporting it’s emissions to less efficient Chinese operations, and adding to the mix with the cost and emissions of extra transportation.

  • Authoritarian governments have even greater problems than democracies in meeting “net zero” targets

    In 2022 China commissioned 50GW of coal fired power and de-commissioned 4.1 GW.

  • Strengthen Integrity to Save the Climate

    Strengthening government integrity is an essential first step to our democracy addressing climate change effectively.

  • Australia’s options under Labor

    The apparent choices we have in a defence posture under Albanese's Labor.

  • The Jewish lobby or the Zionist lobby? – Words matter

    As a Jewish person who is passionately opposed to the violent dispossession of the Palestinian people from their lives, land, dwellings and infrastructure by the Israeli state, of which the current conflicts in Gaza and the West Bank are the most recent iterations, I am disturbed by the use of the term "the Jewish lobby" in this article. It exacerbates the ever-latent racism in the Australian and other communities that attributes a particular set of beliefs to people on the basis of their ethnicity.

  • ABC failure to uphold journalistic principles

    The article mirrors my view that the ABC can no longer be seen as a source of independent and truthful investigative journalism in the total spectrum of their news output. To (mis)use the 'famous' phrase - 'they have joined the Congo line of suck holes' that being the Western Mainstream Media.

  • Never a Truer Word Spoken!

    Sadly, references to Rule Based Law by politicians is meaningless - because whatever it was is disappearing a-pace.

  • Heartfelt thanks

    A heartfelt thanks for posting the link of the 2008 RN LNL Classic to the original 1999 program of John Menadue and Philip Adams.

  • ABC Impartiality

    The ABC newsroom 1940

  • But this is what we do…

    History is full of times when land has been taken from one group and given to another by the West. Israel believes that it and the US have the right, power wins, and the most powerful grab what they want.

  • NATO, and now EU, efforts to expand into Asia

    The European nations, under the guise of a NATO fresh from illegal but successful bombing attacks on defenceless Serbia and Libya, have long tried to expand into Asia.

  • Australia Day

    National Day of Celebration

  • Incisive analogy

    Incisive analogy!

  • Sacking of ABC journalist

    Sacking of ABC journalist

  • Dreaming of a culture of humanity

    Even though we live in a time of escalating anthropogenic global heating and appalling violence in the Middle East, human strength remains. If enough of us publicly take a stance for peace and equity, and stand up to fossil fuel interests, maybe, just maybe, we can achieve a culture of humanity. That’s a dream and future well worth pursing.

  • Aged Care Overboard

    A marketised aged care system has demonstrated its failure over successive governments. It seems that, despite a Royal Commission, a history of the profit-motive driving the system will continue to be repeated.

  • Climate Chaos

    While concurring with Andrew's article, here I've introduced a local flavour which more readers may be able to relate to.

  • We Must Break The Fossil Fuel Shackles Now

    Julian Cribb paints a vivid picture of humankind's climate folly. We must break free from the fossil fuel industry's shackles to protect our future generations.

  • Holbrook and USUKA

    The belief by many that an expensive purchase of some submarines will benefit Australia needs to be put in perspective. We as citizens of this country greatly benefit two other much larger powers in their purchase and the descriptive acronym should be more honest. Our national inferiority complex is being used to progress the sordid deal.

  • Proposed New Aged Care Act. Shonky deal.

    Recipients of aged care are concerned the proposed new aged care act is not fit for purpose It has been written by consultants based on a very limited understanding of lived experience. A revamped old bomb that will require endless repair.

  • The nuclear option: Peter Dutton’s bid for power

    The Coalition has embarked on a nuclear road to nowhere. Or has it? Despite all the rational, well-argued, fact-filled explanations, all the Gencost reports, all the signs from around the world that the nuclear industry is on its last legs, the Murdoch press continues to back the Opposition’s promotion of nuclear, and demotion of renewables. It is the next wrecking-ball device in their bid for power.

  • November 11, 1975 vs January 6 2021

    These were big events in two democratic countries but there was only one successful revolution; November 11 1975 vs January 6 2021.

  • DVD The Search for the Palace Letters

    Whilst watching the excellent video of the dismissal of Gough Whitllam, the video stopped and I was unable to retrieve it. I searched the ABC archives where possible only to find it was no longer available.

  • People power to the rescue

    It seems that people power in the form of ordinary Australians, their rooftops and batteries are leading the nation's progress to it's 82 percent renewables target.

  • It’s peace USA, UK , France fear most

    Not my children…… Being a relative novice to war games I was astonished to see this article that concludes what my war games research exposed. How Assange has opened the window and let some light in.

  • Shrewd dealings

    "Australians should be preparing to deal shrewdly with an America under (Trump's) ugly tutelage."

  • ABC missed the Genocide

    Jafar Ramini keeps us in touch with what is really happening on the ground in Gaza by publishing a detailed and descriptive letter by Yasmin Petrucci to Senator Penny Wong and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

  • SE Australia Global Warming impacts from 1990s

    It is well-known that global warming is affecting Australia’s climate. Less known is that global warming has accelerated since the 1990s. So have the impacts. Attribution techniques can assist in identifying those climate drivers used in seasonal or longer forecasts of atmospheric variables, for example, rainfall and temperature, routinely provided by national weather agencies such as the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. The attribution techniques help also in eventually pointing to other causes involving complex interaction with the climate drivers, e.g., atmospheric circulation changes. Two examples are presented followed by the current situation where atmospheric circulation changes are important.

  • We must recover the common good

    Through the era of neo-liberalism we have lost our sense of the common good. We must recover it to move forward sustainably.

  • Why was Whitlam not angrier?

    The forces which feared the Whitlam government clearly found a willing political assassin in Kerr. But what became of Whitlam's rage after 1975? Why did he not work to expose the forces which had destroyed both his government and Australia's chance for true independence?

  • The Australian’s ongoing climate disinformation

    It is timely that a former editor-in-chief of The Australian newspaper should publicly support the work of the Bureau of Meteorolgy when in recent months, despite a Senate inquiry into the Murdoch Press, the paper has waged an ongoing and sustained attempt to undermine the work of our two leading climate institutions.

  • Beauty in our world

    Beauty in our lives.

  • Check your facts.

    Fact Check

  • WA GST revenue vs NSW pokies Revenue

    Fairly unbalanced, did not consider any other factors

Contributions to Pearls and Irritations

Your financial contribution will fund quality independent comment and analysis in Pearls and Irritations

Donate
Composition with white envelopes and one yellow envelope on the table.

Letters to the Editor

Read letters from our readers in response to our articles and current issues.