Letters to the Editor
Reader responses and commentary
Rebelling against inequality?
May 31, 2026
Kos Samaras, ever-enlightening on the complexities of public opinion and political change, provides some startling figures: “The top 10 per cent of households hold over half the nation’s wealth. The top 1 per cent hold somewhere between 15 and 20 per cent. The bottom 40 per cent hold essentially nothing, many, on net, hold less than nothing once debts are accounted for”. Voters are rebelling against inequality, and “aligning themselves with the bloc that reflects their economic experience”. Curiously, One Nation supporters do not object to a leader who is heavily backed by the billionaire elite class in the form...
Fiona Colin from Melbourne (Dear editor, please disregard my letter of 29/5)
In response to: Three Australias: new polling shows deepening divide
Chinese youth support their government
May 31, 2026
Contrary to the negative image conveyed by this article of the levels of satisfaction of Chinese youth the facts seem to find the opposite. Chinese College Student Tracking Survey (PSCUS) found that Chinese university students have a positive and healthy political value orientation and a strong sense of national and institutional identity. It also noted that students' government satisfaction has significantly improved, especially regarding the government's anti-corruption efforts. A review of multiple academic studies concluded that even though younger people might show slightly lower support compared to older generations, young people who hold positive views towards the CCP regime still...
Les Macdonald from Balmain NSW 2041
In response to: Why are China’s young people fed up?
Undermining democratic rights and a fair trial
May 31, 2026
Women and children trapped in squalid conditions in the Al Roj internment camp in Syria returned to Australia to a media and government witch hunt. One member of the group and her daughter are stranded in the Middle East. This family is barred from re-entry to Australia violating the democratic right to return home. Labor’s operations to block women and children constitute an attack on the democratic right of citizenship. Citizens have the right to not only reside in their country but to challenge government decisions to deny entry and arbitrary detention without trial. We continually hear that “any breaches...
Andrea Coney from Port Fairy
In response to: Australia’s ISIS cases test law, politics and fairness
Questioning AI
May 31, 2026
Adrian Rosenfeldt raises a very timely issue. I just hope this encyclical does not go the way of Laudato Si, on ecology. My recommended further reading on AI would be Prof. Nick Bostrom's 12 year old book Superintelligence. What is most unfortunate is that the political response to AI should have started then.
Geoff Taylor from Borlu (Perth)
In response to: The grandeur of humanity: Pope Leo on AI
NACC reset must reverse presumption of secrecy
May 31, 2026
It would be easy to call promoting Army Reserve officers to important positions as evidence of the old 'Psychology of Military Incompetence' applying. A chest full of chocolate medals and undecipherable campaign ribbons is no guarantee of excellence – that has been shown in recent times to be axiomatic, to the point where it may well be more of a red flag than a recommendation. However, rather more necessary than just a properly rigorous selection exercise is a total re-alignment of the fundamental principle that sustained the formation of a completely useless NACC in the first place: the obfuscation of...
Richard Llewellyn from Colo Vale
In response to: How to pick a new, better anti‑corruption commissioner
Work culture, not One-Child Policy, stalls births
May 31, 2026
Yi Fuxian’s analysis of China’s demographic crisis relies on flawed comparisons and standard neoliberal blind spots. Comparing China’s 49-hour enterprise work week to OECD averages is comparing apples to oranges. OECD figures include casual and part-time labour which artificially depress their averages, whereas Chinese data focuses on full-time enterprise employees. More importantly, blaming the One-Child Policy ignores the broader East Asian reality. South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan all share ultra-low fertility without ever experiencing a one-child mandate. The root of the issue has little to do with the author's macroeconomic complaints and everything to do with a hyper-competitive...
Chris Hermann from Australian father living in Shandong, China.
In response to: Why are China’s young people fed up?
Conservative Catholics in Australia
May 31, 2026
Warhurst's article is timely if very depressing. Here in Adelaide the Church and its leadership especially the Cathedral Diocese are to the right of Franco. Murdoch's The Australian is the paper of choice for most of the clergy especially the Latin Mass lot who have it delivered to the steps of the church where their presbytery is. And if you are unlucky enough to be engaged in conversation by the aged Mass attenders they will parrot back ad nausem Murdoch's line or that of Sky News. And lo the Catholic paper even had Sheridan over as a guest. And they...
K Southwell from Adelaide
In response to: Australian Catholics
Commercialisation of sport
May 31, 2026
Great article by Chas and John. Commercialisation of sport leads to rule changes as well. With AFL, advertisements appear every time a goal is scored. The television stations contracts with the AFL demand a minimum number of goals per game. Rebates payable to TV stations if not met. Hence, rule changes to speed the game: kick off from full back no longer within the square, but outside the square; A ball kicked out of bounds is no longer a throw-in, but a free kick. The recent reduction of score reviews is consistent with this, because from an advertiser's perspective, the...
Peter Kent from Melbourne Vic
In response to: Sport, community and the commodification of belonging
Is the devil in the detail?
May 31, 2026
Greg Barns moots the likes of David Pocock not ruling out a new political party, presumably with like-minded Independents. With a far lower profile than Greg, I too left the Liberal Party when in Queensland it decided to consummate its relationship with the National Party. Talk about the Bride of Frankenstein. Refreshingly there is a tribe of us, who I take the liberty of labelling broad-minded Centrists who would be interested in such a movement. This evidenced in my experience of witnessing the rapid growth of some social media platforms, simply started by individuals doing no more than considered research...
John Devaney from Townsville
In response to: It is time for a real liberal party
Bread and circuses, profits and bad models
May 31, 2026
Thank heavens for a great piece about the most sacred and unexamined Oz sacred cows. Apart from the monetising of tribal belonging: Two things: 1 the major winter sports in Australia rely on one person physically downing another person using physical strength. Meanwhile we have an epidemic of domestic violence with physical solving as a method of solving problems. And 2: sports stars once posed as role models for the young are often well short of the mark in greed or behaviour.
Michael Breen from Robertson NSW
In response to: Sport, community and the social offshoots.
Tax and the 'fair go'
May 28, 2026
The current opposition’s hasbaric apoplexy on long overdue tax reforms introduced by the Australian government does them no credit but places them and their media cheer squad squarely as supporters of the wealthy few at the expense of the vast majority of Australians. The question that the media should be putting to them is: 'The broad consensus among Australian economists is that wealth derived from capital growth is taxed more favourably than income from wages and salaries. This circumstance disproportionately favours wealthy people who have surplus funds to invest, and it increases generational and gender inequality. How do you justify...
John Curr from MANLY QLD.
In response to: Why the criticisms of Labor's tax changes are mostly wrong - Michael Keating
Catholic Social Theory
May 28, 2026
Magnifica Humanitas is an important contribution to Catholic Social Teaching which has a consistent focus on the common good and human dignity. The mass media response to this encyclical has a focus on AI - tending to ignore the broader and historic analysis. There is, for example, an analysis of the culture of power and the normalisation of war with force as an instrument of international power. Putin and Trump are prime examples of this might is right but, then, the enablers of war are complicit. Australia, for example, has decided not to condemn the illegal attack on Iran by...
David Griffiths from Mordialloc VIC 3195
In response to: Deep fakes, doctrine and dunces hats: can the Pope school all of us on AI?
Mr Barnes' potted history of centrist politics
May 27, 2026
I would like to draw your attention to Mr Barnes failure to mention the role of the Australian Democrats in national politics in the 1990s and early years of this century. It is also typical of commentary from former and current members of the two party state (ALP and LNP) to overlook the importance of the Democrats centrist position. By and large, they delivered Howard and Costello's tax reform, ie GST, yet were socially progressive. Is it possible their centrist policies empowered the LNP conservatives?
Robert Barber from Mudgee
In response to: It is time for a real liberal party
Restrictive laws drive increasing authoritarianism
May 27, 2026
Paul Heyward-Smith's article is a necessary wake-up call to the incessant growth of pernicious legislation that corrodes society's rights. I cannot recall any ever relaxation of 'emergency' legislation responding to some infringement of freedom of dissent, expression, association etc. of our rights as citizens. Once enacted, that legislation becomes foundation for increasing restrictions - and rinse and repeat. We have the example of the perversion of the US Supreme Court as a reminder that we must always resist abuse of our fundamental rights as citizens. Give the proto-fascists an inch and they will take every scrap of power they can...
Richard Llewellyn from Colo Vale
In response to: The chilling effect of recent legislation
Minns and social and economic conservatism
May 26, 2026
This article delivers a harpoon to the whale of misinformation that underlies the comments of Minns. Why is that so. Minns has a record, as a supposedly Labor Premier, of leaning strongly to the very conservative side of Catholicism on a range of social and economic issues. His stands on freedom of speech, gender issues, the levelling effects of taxation and racial politics are all in the zone that would be expected of those occupying the more conservative ranks of the Coalition. That is exemplary of the gradual but consistent drift of the Labor Party to the right of the...
Les Macdonald from Balmain NSW 2041
In response to: The facts about Australia's income tax system
Is Donald Trump simply a boomer-era grifter?
May 26, 2026
The article mentions Trump's need to safeguard his own and his family's investments, and that need influencing how he brings to an end the war he and Netanyahu started against Iran. It is possible to come to the view that, for all his protestations of grandeur, Donald Trump is simply a boomer-era grifter, the spoiled son of a rich man from New York City. The Greek myth of Icarus comes to mind. The gift of a Wedgetail reconnaissance aircraft was likely to compensate the US forces in West Asia for the loss of their ground-based radar systems to Iranian missile...
Hal Duell from Alice Springs
In response to: War games behind the Iran Curtain
Replace the greed with the common good
May 26, 2026
Geoff Davies asks why we have ignored Attenborough’s warnings that our industrial-economic system is destroying the living world. Perhaps it is because humans are too stupid, as Gaia founder James Lovelock suggested in 2010. I would add too greedy. Davies links this greed to the “financialisation of productive activity” and the pressure on companies to “maximise shareholder returns ahead of all other considerations”. That is capitalism treating nature as an infinite, free storehouse of raw materials. There are, however, some encouraging exceptions, including banks and super funds identified by market forces as ethical and sustainable. So what is the alternative?...
Ray Peck from Hawthorn Vic
In response to: Why have we not heeded Attenborough’s warnings?
Down in the last shower on tobacco tax cuts
May 25, 2026
Alex Wodak offers no argument beyond those noticeably in lockstep with arguments used by all major tobacco companies. If tobacco tax was cut to 2020 levels, budget cigarettes would cost $30 a pack. If all tax went, they’d cost $11. Today they cost $7 if bought by the carton. In Cambodia a major illicit tobacco transit hub, taxed cigarettes sell for as low as 34 cents a pack. That’s how much criminals have up their sleeves to drop prices further. And I’ve now heard it all. In what universe would most budget-conscious smokers say “I really hate not paying tax,...
Simon Chapman from Sydney, NSW
In response to: Australia abandoned harm minimisation on smoking – and fuelled a black market
Illegal vapes opened door to black market tobacco
May 25, 2026
The massive trade in illegal cigarettes was preceded by a widespread illegal trade in vapes. Criminals importing illegal vapes saw that enforcement was weak and the profits large. The next step was obvious: flood the market with cheap smokes. Alex Wodak was a strong advocate for vapes to be sold in at least as many outlets as tobacco, ignoring the historical lessons of unrestricted tobacco retailing. He now blames public health advocates for facilitating the flood by supporting tax increases which he concedes “helped reduce smoking rates for decades”. In Victoria, where enforcement against illegal tobacco has been glacial, criminals...
Sam Egger from Sydney NSW
In response to: Australia abandoned harm minimisation on smoking – and fuelled a black market
Not worth a penny
May 25, 2026
Make no mistake, those who were part of the flotilla showed bravery, courage and a strong sense of justice. The response of the Australian government was the correct one, albeit a bit flaccid. What is less heartening is that the responses by the relevant ministers were more strongly articulated for the dozen Australians kidnapped by the IDF than for the 75,000+ Palestinians slaughtered by the IDF. Claims made by the Australian government regarding breaches of International Humanitarian Law hold very little water when compared to the ongoing and flagrant breaches permitting the export of military componentry, finance and aid to...
Graeme Drysdale from Ballarat
In response to: Ben-Gvir's flotilla humiliation exposes Australia’s selective human rights langu
Tom Uren’s collective spirit
May 25, 2026
Thank you, Martin Flanagan (Tom Uren-no ‘woke warrior, May 24, 2026), for such a moving account of Tom Uren. I only knew Tom briefly through his support for East Timor’s liberation from invasion and barbarity. Tom joined several prominent political figures at the launch of the anti-Timor Gap oil petition campaign at the University of Melbourne in 1994. I believe, if here today, Tom would share the same solidarity for the liberation of West Papua. No people deserve barbarity, unlawful invasion, dispossession, abandonment, and decades of crimes against humanity. Leaving the crowded lecture theatre back then, Tom remarked on the...
Jim Aubrey from Ipswich QLD
In response to: Tom Uren – no 'woke' warrior
Thanks for P&I
May 25, 2026
I have just had time to read through your article on anti semitism and Fred Zhang's urging us to be more proactive than just reactive especially in our relations to China, USA, .... THANKS! In depth and informative. If only our own newspapers and media would publish such rather than regurgitate US and lobbyist propaganda. Tony PS As a pensioner I do donate a little when I can.
Tony Hamilton from Erskine Park, Sydney
In response to: The weaponisation of antisemitism by the Zionist lobby hides the genocide
UN gives more weight to climate litigation
May 25, 2026
In December last year, Ernst Willheim, honorary professor of Law at ANU, asked: “What the ICJ’s climate law decision means for Australia?”. Five months earlier, the International Court of Justice issued a unanimous advisory opinion that states have an obligation to protect the environment from greenhouse gas emissions because “a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is a precondition for the enjoyment of many human rights”. In 2023, the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu, inspired by the youth group Pacific Island Students Fighting Climate Change, secured UN General Assembly support to seek the advisory opinion. Willheim concluded the ICJ opinion would...
Ray Peck from Hawthorn Vic
In response to: What the ICJ’s climate law decision means for Australia?
Dead brain cells? Where is critical thinking?
May 25, 2026
In my letter of May 18 (Community independents as the next opposition), I challenged Kos Samaris' idea that PHON is the Opposition of the future. To my horror, now the AFR suggests that if an election were held today (23 May), the Nationals and Greens would be wiped out, a Liberal rump would remain, and PHON, winning 59 seats, would indeed become the Opposition. In my opinion of 18 May, I was obviously giving more credit to Australians than many deserve. I understand a protest vote, I've made a few of those. But we seriously have to question the capacity...
Margaret Callinan from Hawthorn VIC 3122
In response to: Farrer exposed a political divide the Liberals cannot bridge
Selective cant
May 25, 2026
Australia has joined other countries in condemning Israel's National Security Minister for taunting Flotilla prisoners. Most of the same countries have not condemned the Israel genocide and torturing of Palestinian. Shame - and shame Australia.
David Griffiths from Mordialloc, Victoria 3195
In response to: US condemns Israel’s Ben-Gvir while sanctioning Gaza flotilla organisers
Antisemitism is real - but not as weaponised
May 25, 2026
In over 70 years of my life, with many, many wonderful Jewish friends of the family, I was made aware of antisemitism in perhaps a handful of instances. But there is an invasive armada of Zionist protagonists seeking advantage who weaponise antisemitism for their advantage. They declare 'antisemitic' actions vociferously and we - including the Commissioner of Inquiry into Antisemitism - are expected to uncritically accept their assertions. The 'Jewish Lobby' groups - those who seek to bend Australia's social cohesion to their will - number a declared 200 by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, that declares itself with...
Richard Llewellyn from Colo Vale
In response to: Catch 22? A problematic definition of antisemitism
Foreign aid should match the need
May 25, 2026
Stephen Howes is right to argue that Australia’s aid budget failed to reflect the scale of the current global crisis. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia recognised that instability across our region required a serious humanitarian response. Yet despite the economic and humanitarian fallout from the Iran war, this year’s increase to foreign aid was minimal once inflation is considered. As a university student involved with The Borgen Project, I find it frustrating that aid is still treated as politically expendable, despite its role in supporting food security, healthcare, and long-term regional stability. Rising fuel and food prices are already affecting...
Aaliya Naqvi from Sydney NSW
In response to: The aid budget ignored a deepening global crisis
Subjective and objective realities
May 25, 2026
Mr Menadue is to be applauded for this article. I only wish my own submission were half as good. My main point concerns statements such as: We are told to heed the hurt feelings of Zionists, some on university campuses, who support genocide or have wilfully chosen to ignore it. They should be protected. To what extent, and how, should fears and hurt feelings be protected? Post traumatic stress is understandable for the immediate Holocaust generations. But we're hearing of these 'injuries' from quite young people. Subjectively, I don't doubt them. But are they confronted by anything that objectively justifies...
Margaret Callinan from Hawthorn VIC 3122
In response to: The weaponisation of antisemitism by the Zionist lobby hides the genocide
Pity you've been captured by the Islamist lobby
May 25, 2026
Just ask yourself how many Gazans would have been killed if Hamas had not conducted their pogrom on 7 October and then hidden in their tunnels when the obvious response from the IDF followed, leaving their population in harm's way among the rocket launchers in the middle of civilian centres.
Philip Benjamin from Pomona Qld
In response to: The weaponisation of antisemitism by the Zionist lobby hides the genocide
A comment the weaponism of antisemitism
May 25, 2026
A brilliant and important essay which should be in the main media so that a wider spectrum of Austrians could access the wisdom and clarity it expresses. In a intellectual world in which news and information has become intentionally dishonest and propagandistic, Pearls is a rare journal of intelligent rigour.
christopher baker from manly 2095
In response to: The weaponisation of antisemitism by the Zionist lobby hides the genocide
Truth and the "memory hole"!
May 25, 2026
As always with John a principled and uncompromising exposing of truths that our fundamentally racist white Caucasian society seeks to bury in Orwell's memory hole. Indeed it is hard not to believe that the Zionist lobby have taken their strategy straight from Orwell. Double-think has been the weapon of the Zionists to get us to believe two fundamentally opposing ideas at the same time. Those are that anti-Zionism is antisemitism is racism, but Islamaphobia and indeed hatred of any other group based on their race, is perfectly fine! Sadly as John points out our political and media classes have...
Les Macdonald from Balmain NSW 2041
In response to: The weaponisation of antisemitism by the Zionist lobby hides the genocide
Zionism and antisemitism are Jewish
May 25, 2026
The emerging disaster of antisemitism is only now coming into focus. It affects all of us who live in the western world, especially those of us living in the Anglosphere. I don't know how Zionism has managed to sink its claws so deeply into the very fabric of our lives, but it has. Our governments seem unwilling to face it and powerless to protect us from it. But the true scope of the emerging disaster can only be understood by considering the effect it is having on world Jewry. Yes, antisemitism is on the increase. The videos are there for all to see. In them...
Hal Duell from Alice Springs
In response to: The weaponisation of antisemitism by the Zionist lobby hides the genocide
Look up
May 20, 2026
Julian Cribb likens our destruction of earth systems to the catastrophic reshaping of life wrought by a comet 66 million years ago. The idea finds echoes in the 2021 film Don’t Look Up, in which scientists warn the US government about an approaching comet – an allegory illustrating the absurdity, vanity and ignorance of those who could make far-reaching decisions to reverse our determined march into global destruction, but don’t. Burning of fossil fuels has ramped up, in part due to the enormous influence of Trump, whose stance gave license to fossil fuel investors globally to “drill baby drill”. Land...
Fiona Colin from Melbourne
In response to: A man-made comet is striking the Earth
Time to revisit Ehrlich's formula
May 20, 2026
In Julian Cribb's article, he mentions ...a billion farmers in a billion fields.... Had there been a mere million farmers in a million fields the story might have been different. Groundwater would have been replenished at a rate faster than it was extracted and the global axis would not have shifted by 78 centimetres. It is worth revisiting the formula developed by Paul Ehrlich and John Holdren in the early 70s: I=PAT. It says that total environmental impact (I) equals the number of people (P) multiplied by how much each person consumes (A) multiplied by the environmental damage caused per...
Jenny Goldie from Cooma NSW
In response to: A man-made comet is striking the Earth
Albo not listening to voters
May 18, 2026
Sophie Vorrath’s article raises the rationale for a sensible rate of taxation on exported LPNG. Albanese supplicates the gas extraction industry. His obduracy is contemptible: 75 per cent of Australians (who vote, Anthony) want the proposed tax; the voting power of the gas industry is miniscule. Albanese’s judgement that Australians (who vote, Anthony) will ignore that he sells them out for a mess of pottage will come back to bite him spectacularly. The argument for the tax generally quote a loss of revenue to Australia of around $19 billion annually. Few commentators have taken a deep dive into the impact...
Richard Llewellyn from Colo Vale
In response to: Budget 2026: The government buckles on fossil fuel tax reform
Buget for social division
May 18, 2026
I agree with the need of a broad vision for social cohesion but this not reflected in the Federal Budget. Approximately $600 million has been allocated to fight antisemitism. What is defined as antisemitism is to be determined but the indication from the Royal Commission is worrying i.e. criticism of Israel is antisemitism. There was no funding in the budget to fight Islamophobia. The Special Envoy to combat Islamophobia submitted a report to the Federal Government in September last year. The Government is giving it careful consideration. Presumably priority careful consideration was given to the $600 million. According to the...
David Griffiths from Mordialloc, Victoria 3195
In response to: Australia needs a broader vision of social cohesion
Ideology or a response to electorate demographics?
May 18, 2026
The positive and negative reactions to this budget suggest that it represents ideological changes in the government and a sign of changing wealth distribution to workers and active earners instead of passive earners with established liquidity. I'm not sure how cynical it might be to suggest this is actually more simply just a realpolitik reaction to demographic shifts in the electorate. As the boomer has always been the primary target audience because of their purchasing power. The grandfathering of the tax reforms suggests that there will still be a status quo and a gradual change over the course of time,...
Benjamin Jones from Tuggerah NSW
In response to: Budget 2026: It pains me to say nice things about politicians, but this is a goo
Community independents as the next opposition
May 18, 2026
Kos Samaras' description of migrant family situations taught me, a fifth generation Australian, much. I also saw from a new angle what I've known for a long time: career politicians via family connections, party think tanks, or volunteering/staffing from a young age, are less than they could and should be because of their narrow experience. However, I challenge the idea that PHON is the Opposition of the future. Parties are not required by the constitution. Why not a coalition or consensus of Community Independents? They, along with the cross bench, were the effective opposition in the 47th Parliament, not that...
Margaret Callinan from Hawthorn VIC 3122
In response to: The second-last budget reply – delivered by a Liberal MP
Help turn climate anxiety into climate action
May 18, 2026
I was saddened to read that a 2021 survey of 10,000 young people aged 16–25 across ten countries found 59 per cent were very or extremely worried about climate change and governments’ responses, while 75 per cent agreed the “future is frightening”. The countries surveyed were Australia, Brazil, Finland, France, India, Nigeria, the Philippines, Portugal, the UK and the USA. Unsurprisingly, concern was highest in the Philippines (84 per cent) and India (68 per cent), where communities are already experiencing severe climate impacts. Since 2021, with an even hotter planet and the election of a climate-wrecking US president, eco-anxiety has...
Ray Peck from Hawthorn Vic
In response to: Children's eco-anxiety can be a foundation for action
Keating on the budget
May 18, 2026
I always like reading Keating's articles as he always provides measured comments to the political issues of the day. His statement about resources companies paying little or no tax particularly resonates with me. These companies should be made to pay much higher taxes now. They deplete Australia's natural resources to their advantage depriving the opportunity of ordinary Australians enjoying a much higher standard of life – such as free universities, public housing and the rejuvenation of our cities which is urgently needed. I think what remains of Australia is one big farm that is being exploited by foreign multinationals. I...
Vikein Mouradian from Melbourne Victoria
In response to: Budget 2026: Responsible, reformist – but still too cautious
Human rights act for Australia not needed
May 18, 2026
I am totally opposed to a human rights act for Australia. Human rights do not come from a piece of paper written by lawyers and interpreted by the courts. They come from instituting better welfare provision. Such as a UBI universal basic income and the building of public housing. Abolishing work for the dole the job network. Expanding the NDIS and taking it away from private hands making all of its employees federal public servants. Stopping the privitisation of government services. I figure the legal profession as it is presently constituted is slanted towards the protection and preservation of private...
Vikein Mouradian from Melbourne Victoria
In response to: Is the renewed push for a Human Rights Act worth the effort?
Brilliant analysis
May 18, 2026
Chris Hedges can be seen as a modern day exemplar of the parade of great civilisational thinkers from Polybius in Ancient Rome to Oswald Spengler in the 19th Century to Peter Turchin and Jarad Diamond in the Twentieth Century who have set out the inevitability of civilisational decline. Hedges' wonderfully analytical mind has distilled this line of intellectual thought into a coruscating prediction of the currently evolving fall of the US empire. Nearly all of these prophets have focused upon severe economic inequality, weakened social cohesion, unchecked elite competition, unsustainable resource use and a loss of the ability to adapt...
Les Macdonald from Balmain NSW 2041
In response to: America’s suicide pact
Fuel to the fire
May 18, 2026
This is an excellent article combining a range of highly significant and useful numbers that inform and contribute to the pressure for urgent action on climate change. We ignore such warnings at the expense of our civilisation and our planet.
Les Macdonald from Balmain NSW 2041
In response to: Renewables have won the electricity battle but not the climate war
Only half the story on Taylor's Budget reply
May 18, 2026
It was most disappointing that Kos Samaras didn't provide the whole accurate story on Taylor's Budget reply. Taylor's cuts will all be 'grandfathered' so not affect those currently who are PR non-citizens. By so obviously telling only half the story his credibility has been undermined by misrepresenting the complete situation. What a pity.
Lorna Tomkinson from GLOUCESTER NSW
In response to: Budget 2026: Responsible, reformist – but still too cautious
CO2 pollution of the air we all breathe
May 18, 2026
CO2 pollution of the air all of us, and all creatures, breathe is an issue just as urgent as climate change. The “debate” on climate change has become so toxic and divisive that it has become easy for many people to switch off, put the issue in the too-hard basket and rationalise concerns away by thinking “that it probably won’t affect me or my children much”. What can’t be ignored or rationalised away is the affects that increased CO2 in our inhaled air is having on the chemistry of everybody's blood gas balance in the lung alveoli. This puts increased...
Guy Hammond from Leumeah NSW
In response to: Renewables have won the electricity battle but not the climate war
A "peaceful, borderless world" before Trump?
May 15, 2026
Joseph Stiglitz summarises some of the disasters caused by US President Donald J Trump. But his sentence, “Yet another nail has been added to the coffin of the peaceful, borderless world that our forebears sought to build after the Second World War”, needs comment. Unfortunately, it glosses over the fact that, since World War 2, the USA has been almost continuously at war and has covertly helped to overthrow many governments, including democratically elected ones, e.g. Iran (1953), Guatemala (1954), Brazil (1964) and Chile (1973). Under Trump, covert subversion became overt. Here are several books exposing the USA's covert and...
Mark Diesendorf from Sydney, Australia
In response to: Trump’s tragedy of errors
Presidential elections
May 15, 2026
Charles is not my king either. When the referendum is held on Australia becoming a republic, the method of electing a president should certainly not follow the example of the USA. Germany has a system which is the most democratic. There is maximum representation of all voters in the electoral college. This system should be explained clearly before the referendum is held.
Elizabeth Sprigg from Glen Iris, Victoria
In response to: Charles is not my King
We don't need more US voices here
May 15, 2026
Rachel Maddow? I thought P&I addressed Australian public policy?
John Forrest from WA
In response to: New partner, new voices: message from the Editor
Taxing gas exports
May 15, 2026
In response to Michael Keating's question ... is Albo being like Trump and not listening to contrary advice?, if you don't listen to your department at all but just to the gas lobby, then there is no contrary advice. As with so many other areas where he has failed to act in Australia's best interests (AUKUS, anyone?), Albo continues to wimp out. And if he doesn't like that description of him, maybe he should look in the mirror.
Erik Hoekstra from Leura
In response to: The PM is wrong: gas exports can and should be taxed
Farrer's devastating result
May 15, 2026
Reading Jordi Nugent's article the day after the Farrer by election, it's hard to credit her assertion that the voters of Farrer have the best interests of this country in mind given that the PHON candidate won so easily. If Nugent's statement is true, then we must question those voters' skills of discernment and judgement. All that is bad about PHON has been on display forever, from its racism, its instability, its elected members abandoning the party, to its leader's support for Rinehart and Trump, and infrequent appearances in the House, never mind a lack of policies and history of...
Margaret Callinan from Hawthorn VIC 3122
In response to: Farrer by-election - who’ll win and what does it all mean?
Addressing antisemitism
May 15, 2026
I'm perturbed that Meg Schwartz refers to Gaza being not the only factor, one of several factors and not the only cause in the rise of antisemitism. Yes, latent antisemitism is real, as is ignorance. Education must help but in different ways. History needs to be addressed more broadly but in the current context the more important factors are the difference between a government and its people, the situation of Jewish people not resident in Israel, the faith system that is Judaism, the ideology of Zionism. Regrettably, the phrases I have quoted serve to minimise the role of Gaza, and...
Margaret Callinan from Hawthorn VIC 3122
In response to: Antisemitism is rising and we’re not being honest about why
What is and is not antisemitism
May 15, 2026
The transcript of the first public hearing in Sydney on 4 May 2026 is revealing. The Commissioner is rigid on the Israel sponsored IHRA definition of antisemitism, does not accept that it is controversial and implicitly dismisses the alternative Jerusalem Declaration which does not equate criticism of Israel as antisemitism. Witnesses have described disgraceful examples of antisemitism – personal attacks on Jews. Witnesses have also claimed that protests lead to increasingly dangerous antisemitism and a banner proclaiming Sanction Israel is claimed to be antisemitic. There is concern about protests at synagogues but no reference to Israel's destruction of 1000 mosques...
David Griffiths from Mordialloc, Victoria 3195
In response to: Antisemitism is rising and we’re not being honest about why
Improved productivity in the Parlimentary system
May 15, 2026
My experience in a government department with regional depots spanning a large state and a central main office tells me that technology provides simple solution to this problem . When the Parliamentary system was set up in the time of telegraph and train travel, there was a need for the Parliament to gather regularly in one location Canberra or the state/territory capital cities. With present day technology that is not so . Parliament could be held from local electoral offices via the Internet with quarterly or even yearly trips to the central Parliament house. Apart from the obvious advantages of...
Bob Pearce from Adelaide SA
In response to: The two-party system is breaking under the weight of capitalism
Sophisticated and determinative
May 15, 2026
The article by Kos has developed an analysis that is both sophisticated and determinative. It digs far deeper into the mindsets of the differently aged, locational, language and ethnicity groups with a depth rarely seen in the normal Australian political analysis class. This is the best explanation I have read of the factors that determine voting behaviours. Thank you for the clarity and sound reasoning Kos!
Les Macdonald from Balmain NSW 2041
In response to: Farrer exposed a political divide the Liberals cannot bridge
The Budget's excluded people
May 15, 2026
The debate about losers and winners from the Budget ignores 14.2 per cent of Australia's people – the percentage identified by ACOSS in its poverty and inequality survey 2025. According to ACOSS 1 in 7 adults and 1 in 6 children live in poverty. For those aged 65 plus who are renting, then, 39.4 per cent are in poverty. Any government that ignores the most vulnerable people is indulging in cant and hypocrisy. For the 14.2 per cent a caring and compassionate government would increase social security payments to above the poverty line and increase the rental and energy subsidies.
David Griffiths from Mordialloc, Victoria 3195
In response to: Budget 2026: Leadership means more than keeping campaign promises – Message from
Good for some but not for all
May 15, 2026
The Budget is good for some and the changes to negative gearing, capital gains tax and trusts is a necessary redistribution of wealth but the government has failed to assist those most impacted by cost of living – the 14.2 per cent of the population that ACOSS concluded were in poverty in 2025. These redistribution changes will not help the 14.2 per cent! The measure of a government is what it does for the most vulnerable and in this Budget the government is doing nothing. Might as well be a LNP government!
Griffiths David from Mordialloc, Victoria 3195
In response to: Budget 2026: It pains me to say nice things about politicians, but this is a goo
When humans get in the way of law
May 15, 2026
I was deeply moved by Professor Emerita Gillian Triggs AC’s article on the collapse of the rules-based international order. Her analysis of weakening institutions, international law and democratic norms is compelling, but it may understate one uncomfortable reality – institutions are only as strong as the people willing to uphold them. International law has always been fragile because, unlike domestic law, it relies largely on voluntary restraint, common values and mutual interest. The post-war order emerged from the trauma of fascism, genocide and world war, when countries declared “never again”. However, memory fades, fear returns and human beings don't always...
Meg Schwarz from Macclesfield, South Australia
In response to: The rules-based order is breaking down before our eyes
Response to David Griffiths and Milton Mayes
May 15, 2026
I thank David Griffiths and Milton Mayes for their letters criticising my article NDIS: the way forward on the grounds of 'privatisation, profit and corporate entity'. These were never my intent. I am not suggesting privatisation or profit at all. The comments reflect a misunderstanding of my article which means the article was not sufficiently well written in the first place. What I was endeavouring to convey was a corporate mindset through which the NDIA maintains close control over its business (not currently the case), and use of 'the tools' corporations use (advanced systems, extensive, real time data collection) to achieve...
Peter Kent from Melbourne Vic
In response to: NDIS: the way forward
Opposition for opposition's sake
May 15, 2026
END opposition for opposition's sake would be a good place to start. Change question time so any elected representative from either house can ask any other elected representative from either house a question – a job for the speakers. Above all the questions should be ANSWERED with penalties for inadequate answers (questions on notice accepted private questions in private) notified to the speaker. END the media reporting quotes from the person who wrote the Australian handbook on opposition for opposition sake – T Abbott (trained by J Howard).
Bob Pearce from ADelaide SA
In response to: Budget 2026: Leadership means more than keeping campaign promises – Message from
Privatisation curse and NDIS
May 12, 2026
The solution to NDIS is not to move from a government to a privatised corporate service. Privatisation philosophy and practice is a curse on NDIS. Provision by NGOs is appropriate but not if they adopt the philosophy of privatisation i.e. maximise profitability, overpaid CEO's and senior managers, high fees for board directors and maximum dividends for shareholders
David Griffiths from Mordialloc, Victoria 3195
In response to: NDIS: the way forward
The NDIS review
May 12, 2026
I read with great interest Peter Kent’s recommendations to reclaim the NDIS from the partial wreck it has become. The NDIS is a brilliant concept with amazing potential. I have fundamental disagreement with Peter’s core proposal of creating a corporate body. The concept of meeting a care goal combined with a profit goal will not work in my opinion. There’s a fundamental clash and the profit seekers will win; greed wins over compassion. I can see this in the current model where the private sector provides the services. The NDIS is saturated with greed merchants. I’ve cared for my wife...
Milton Mayes from Adelaide SA
In response to: NDIS: the way forward
No exceptions, no special clauses
May 12, 2026
It's interesting and timely that these women and their children have returned home at the very time that a debate about a Human Rights Act is regaining momentum. Any genuine Human Rights Act would have to ensure that all Australians stand equal before the law. There can be no exceptions, no special clauses. This recent return of the Australian women with their children from Syria offers a good test. Three of these returnees have now been charged with criminal offences. Their alleged offences were established under the Rome Statute which also established the International Criminal Court. This is the same Court...
Hal Duell from Alice Springs
In response to: Australia’s ISIS cases test law, politics and fairness
Australia's MAGA
May 12, 2026
The seemingly unstoppable rise of the far right in Australian politics is a simply a pale reflection of what is happening around the Western world. As that world passes its zenith and heads unequivocally for its nadir it is time for reflection by those capable of doing so. The ride up the empire's rise was for many an enjoyable experience with growing living standards, a feeling of exuberance that we Caucasians were the pinnacle of human achievement and a belief, as with every single empire before us that we were indispensable and that our empire would last forever. It's rapidly...
Les Macdonald from Balmain NSW 2041
In response to: One Nation’s win in Farrer leaves Liberals on the brink
It’s not all antisemitism
May 8, 2026
This analysis is welcome in recognising the impact of “the devastation of Gaza” on antisemitism. But it fails to recognise that much of what is commonly read as antisemitism can be seen in many cases to be merely an expression of anti-Israel sentiment. The case of anti-Israel graffiti on a wall illustrates the point. When the graffiti is on a wall in a public place, the graffiti is just anti-Israel graffiti. The same applies when it's on, say, an Israeli consulate building. When the graffiti is on a building linked to Israel by religion, it becomes problematic. In terms of...
John Wallace from Melbourne
In response to: Antisemitism is rising and we’re not being honest about why
Cost and competence
May 8, 2026
This article enables focus on the systemic failure of the idea that capitalism and private markets produce the best social outcomes. That is due to the focus of capitalism on efficiency covering failures of effectiveness. As capitalism is focused solely upon profitability as the measure of success, the managerialists trained in the business schools, that have proliferated like flies at a barbecue, have taken that to heart and have focused on that to the exclusion of effectiveness. The obsessive concentration has been on minimising costs and maximising profits. We have thus become highly efficient at doing the wrong thing. Efficiency...
Les Macdonald from Balmain NSW 2041
In response to: The NDIS has transformed lives – but profit is distorting its purpose
Rise in antisemitism?
May 8, 2026
How can the claim be made that antisemitism is on the rise in the absence of: • An agreed definition of antisemitism; • Actual objective, quantitative data I found much of the publicly reported evidence to the Antisemitism Royal Commission underwhelming, consisting of: • A reflection of fear of antisemitism, e.g., not wearing Star of David, increased security at Jewish schools • Unsupported anecdotal evidence, going back decades in some cases; unfortunately probably reflecting the experiences of any number of minority groups in Australia. We have already seen criminal elements take advantage of the fear of antisemitism for other purposes....
Brian Bycroft from Evans Head NSW
In response to: Antisemitism is rising and we’re not being honest about why