Letters to the Editor
Why add more years of governmental failure?
May 16, 2025
The evidence is out there that government makes a really deficient, and sometimes outright harmful, substitute parent. Children brought up in the foster system need the best parenting in order to live with and hopefully overcome early childhood trauma. Instead of which they receive some of the worst, usually not the fault of the foster carer. An average of seven, yes seven, placements in their first year in care, the focus on reunification when parents never get the support they need in order to become good enough parents. The lack of vital background information to foster carers about the...
Maggie Woodhead from Perth. W.A
In response to: Is government a good 'parent' to foster kids?
We need people like Sawsan Madina in media
May 15, 2025
Sawsan Madina – I wish, oh how I wish, you were still head of SBS Television. Your open letter to The Greens was superb. Instead, in the television and radio space, we have propaganda puppets, ex-CEOs of Newscorp and advertisers pretending to be journalists. As consumers, we must demand more of our media. Call them to account, via feedback on social media, via email, via whatever channel you can. The only way we can change the system is to demand better.
Alyssa Aleksanian from Hazelbrook
In response to: An open letter to The Greens
A gift of nuclear waste for our descendants
May 15, 2025
In 2021, the Federal Court found Sussan Ley, as environment minister, owed a duty of care to future generations to avoid causing climate harm through her decisions. And here she is stating nuclear is a zero-emission option. Who is Sussan Ley kidding? Let’s debunk this myth once and for all. Nuclear is the most toxic form of energy. We will be leaving our descendants with a poison cocktail which has no answer. The Coalition’s implied stance of , Oh, we’ll let the future generations work that out is pure negligence. Kicking the can down the road has been...
Alyssa Aleksanian from Hazelbrook
In response to: From nuclear to nature laws, here’s where Ley stands on four energy and environm
Lib policy indecision seems to be continuing
May 15, 2025
If last night's [14 May] ABC 7:30 report interview of Liberal Deputy Leader Ted O’Brien is any indication, the Liberals have learnt nothing from their heavy election defeat. They will definitely have their policies available and costed ready for the week before the next election. For the sake of the viewing public and ABC ratings, 7.30 presented Sarah Ferguson should never have him back
Bob Pearce from Adelaide SA
In response to: From nuclear to nature laws, here’s where Ley stands on four energy and environment flashpoints
The light has finally dawned on the mainstream press
May 14, 2025
Caitlin Johnstone reports today that certain key newspapers have now swung on Gaza. Great credit to Pearls and Irritations, Caitlin Johnstone and the authors of some other Substacks for the courageous role they have played over the 19 months since it became clear there was a disproportionate Israeli response to the sad event of 7 October. And our thoughts are with those held hostage on both sides of the conflict, as well as those facing massive odds in Gaza.
Geoff Taylor from Perth
In response to: At the ICJ, only US and Hungary back Israel starving Gaza
Reading Trump
May 14, 2025
The first thing Labor should do is scrap AUKUS. The very fact that Donald Trump played dumb when questioned about the deal at an early press conference should have rung alarm bells. He knows a dumb deal (dumb for us) when he sees one. He also knows a “nice“ deal (read sucker) when he sees one. That he didn’t scrap AUKUS at the beginning of his term should ring alarm bells for many Labor voters. Keeping Richard Marles as defence minister, and dumping two others to appease the factions, indicates it’s going to be another long do-nothing...
Bob Pearce from Adelaide SA
In response to: What should Labor do with its majority?
Sawsan Madina nearly said it all
May 14, 2025
As a member of the Greens, I wholeheartedly support Sawsan Madina's article in which she grieves over their losses in the House but applauds their excellent policies, not least on the environment and in trying to end inequality. Yes, may the Greens come back stronger next election and, in the meantime, hold the Labor Government to account in the Senate in which they will alone hold the balance of power. If there is one criticism to be made of them, however, it is their blinkered approach to mass immigration. They failed to acknowledge that the blowout (over half...
Jenny Goldie from Cooma NSW
In response to: An open letter to the Greens
What democracy?
May 14, 2025
I questioned if the US was a democracy during Donald Trump's first term. I’ve seen nothing in this term to indicate the great defender of democracy, the land of the free and the home of the brave, the US, even vaguely resembles a democracy.
Bob Pearce from Adelaide SA
In response to: The US war on science
Mass political murder is not genocide
May 14, 2025
Duncan Graham writes, In the 1965 coup, an estimated 500,000 were slaughtered in a military-organised genocide against real or imagined communists.... Absolutely not. His wrong-headed assertion is based on Jess Melvin's The army and Indonesian genocide, which deliberately misinterprets the Convention and seeks to expand the legal definition of genocide to include mass political murder. The Convention is clear: genocide is the intentional destruction of a national, ethnical, religious or cultural group, not the mass murder of political groups, ie, the PKI. Do you really imagine that the same Western governments, that had laid waste to German...
Rick Pass from Home Hill
In response to: Indonesia's old guard wants its old world back.
Thanks to Sawsan Madina
May 14, 2025
Thanks to Sawsan Madina for her article today. I could not agree more with her feelings. She has hit the nail on the head. Her arguments are flawless. Like her, I am deeply disappointed in the fact that we will not have a Greens presence in the House of Representatives after the recent election. Australia will be poorer for it. I am hoping many more people will read her outstanding article today and in the days to come. Thanks also, Pearls and Irritations, for being a breath of fresh air in our impoverished media scene. Stay...
Rebeca Ugarte from Naremburn
In response to: A letter to the Greens
The Israel vote
May 14, 2025
After a redistribution in 2024, the seat (Melbourne) was influenced by the Jewish vote. Labor won the seat in the recent 2025 election. The Jewish population in the Kooyong area is a growing presence and the seat was won by Dr Monique Ryan financed by billionaire Simon Holmes à Court. Dr Ryan said: I have real concern about rising antisemitism since 7 October, it has been 'awful' and 'distressing' to witness.
Ian Curr from Magandjin
In response to: there-is-no-jewish-vote-in-australia-nor-is-supporting-israel-a-vote-winner
Playground antics
May 13, 2025
From the disrespectful heckling and intimidation in parliament when certain MPs are speaking, to the factional infighting and manoeuvering, tell me how this is different from a school playground? I’ve worked in the latter for more than 20 years, and in all that time I haven’t seen children behave as badly as our politicians. No wonder teachers are reticent to put forward any of our leaders as societal role models.
Alyssa Aleksanian from Hazelbrook
In response to: Exclusion of Ed Husic from the Albanese Ministry Statement
National day of action needed
May 13, 2025
I read with interest the article, “There is no Jewish vote in Australia nor is supporting Israel a vote winner”. I agree it was apparent that the election result indicated underlying support for the Palestinian people. It would be a shame for this support to hibernate until the next election. It seems to me that there is a forthcoming opportunity – the UN 2 to 4 June conference on the two-state solution. There is an urgent need to mobilise the various bodies who have expressed support for the Palestinian cause into some kind of non-partisan national day of protest...
Brian Bycroft from Evans Head NSW
In response to: There is no Jewish vote in Australia nor is supporting Israel a vote winner
Bring back the whip
May 13, 2025
Whenever I hear of productivity improvement, I think of slavery and the whip. Improved productivity assumes equality and, like slavery, improvement is always at the expense of the least equal in our society, be it the slavery of old or the wage slaves of today. The whip, the loss of employment or the value of wages and conditions all are part of the productivity improvement story. Those benefitting most from productivity improvement are not the ones most affected by our latest round of crises. They are the ones out of low-paid jobs, the homeless and those over-represented in...
Bob Pearce from Adelaide SA
In response to: Productivity with purpose: Roy Green, structural reform and Australia’s place in the world
Labor 2025: purpose or puppetry?
May 12, 2025
Labor’s first term in office was risk-averse. As Peter Sainsbury observes, if Anthony Albanese’s primary aim was to stay in office he was very successful. But to what end? If Labor’s second term will deliver essential major reforms, these should include vital environmental reforms detailed by Sainsbury, and reforms to taxation, gambling advertising, and more. The environmental reforms are critical because without substantial reinforcement of current regulations we shall see accelerating environmental degradation. Should Labor do nothing on this — and continue to support new oil and gas and not make substantial tightening of our environmental protection laws...
Chris Young from Surrey Hills, Vic
In response to: Environment: Will Labor now protect our environment? If not now, probably never
Was it a strategic mistake to sack Husic?
May 12, 2025
I am wondering if the ALP has made a strategic mistake in removing Ed Husic (who I have always found to be a reasonable politician). In saying this, I look to Senator Fatima Payman, who has started a new party after resigning. My reason for wondering is the tendency these days to split issues instead of being inclusive. In my personal judgment, I feel the person who should go is Richard Marles, who I have never been fond of. I feel he is not a particlarly effective politician, so give someone else a go at the Defence portfolio,...
Doug Foskey from Tregeagle
In response to: Dreyfus leaves little legacy
Greg Barns is spot on about Mark Dreyfus
May 12, 2025
I am a barrister in Western Australia. I spent three years working as an adviser to the WA Attorney General, John Quigley, MLA, who recently retired. I do not always agree with Greg Barnes. But his article on Mark Dreyfus KC is well thought out and an analysis that I hope our prime minister reads. It is almost certainly too late to change his pick for the next AG. I just hope he has it right this time. We are all failing when it comes to incarcerating children. And the Legal Aid budgets are shameful. Obviously, as a...
Marion Buchanan from White Gum Valle, WA
In response to: Dreyfus leaves little legacy
Legacy media is losing its influence
May 12, 2025
Thanks to Edward Hurcombe for his clear analysis. Legacy media have less relevance in affecting the flow of information, and subsequent opinion moulding, than before. Most certainly. But those who want to play the game of sensationalist click-bait headlines will still get their stories published on Yahoo! news et al, especially if in the Chris Lorax league (Mad As Daily Telegraph character). They still get to the 40-60-year-old bracket of disengaged-from-politics voters who make up their minds based on not very much. Moreover the weighting of what constitutes the centre is heavily influenced by the extremists...
Dave Young from North Queensland
In response to: In the age of the influencer, does the political backing of News Corp matter any
How to save ourselves and our planet
May 12, 2025
Mark Diesendorf explains clearly and succinctly how we can save ourselves and our planet. If you skipped over it, I urge you to go back and read it in its entirety. Central to it is the fundamental fact that green growth is and will remain impossible – at best a well-intentioned myth, at worst a malevolent lie. The essay should be compulsory reading for all members of our new government, speaking as it does to every decision they will make. Perhaps it could be given a permanent place in the Pearls & Irritations Top five.
Richard Barnes from Melbourne
In response to: The steady-state economy: Why we need it and how it could be progressed
Journalistic integrity
May 12, 2025
This superb article cut through all the trash hesitancy and denial of our Australian mainstream media and their political lapdogs. We must finally debunk the conflation of antisemitism and anti-Zionism. Even momentary intelligent application shows they are not one and the same. This article shows the power that journalism has when wielded with integrity and courage. Bravo, Michelle Berkon.
Alyssa Aleksanian from Hazelbrook
In response to: Zionist lawfare comes for Australian journalist
Sainsbury said it all
May 12, 2025
Peter Sainsbury said it all. I share his scepticism that Labor will get the job done, not just on climate but on preservation of nature as well. The only hope are the 11 Greens' senators who may be able to hold Labor to account and force stronger action on both climate and environment. We should remember that Labor never was an environmental party. Yes, Bob Hawke saved the Franklin, but possibly only because he read the mood of the national electorate. Almost always, however, if there is conflict between saving jobs and saving environment, Labor will go with the...
Jenny Goldie from Cooma NSW
In response to: Environment: Will Labor now protect our environment? If not now, probably never
Dan Duggan's imprisonment is a great disgrace
May 12, 2025
Greg Barns' article of May 10th 2025 titled Dreyfus leaves little legacy is very much to the point. As he points out, Dreyfus took the relatively uncontroversial step of ending the persecution of Bernard Collaery while allowing other egregious injustices to continue. The most shameful of these would surely be the continued incarceration of Dan Duggan, a US-born Australian citizen and father of six, who has been held in maximum security since October 2022 despite having committed no offence under Australian law. Outrageously, Duggan now faces the threat of deportation to the US and the possibility of spending...
Andrew Fullarton from Naarm/Melbourne
In response to: Dreyfus leaves little legacy.
Can Anthony the unready change his spots?
May 12, 2025
Peter Sainsbury’s summing up of the Albanese Government’s number one, two and three priorities, to get re-elected and from the box seat, keep the horses calmed, is a strategy that, if pursued, promises Australia will be totally unready for the impact of the looming climate upheaval. A Labor hero after his bone-crushing, come-from-behind election win, inaction on climate will leave him reviled by future generations. Having spent a lifetime earning a living dependent on the seasons, I have seen changes over more than seven decades that, quite frankly, terrify me. Apart from the geo-physical science so clearly explained in...
John Mosig from Kew, Victoria
In response to: Environment: Will Labor now protect our environment? If not now, probably never
Dreyfus has let Australia down
May 12, 2025
Greg Barns is, perhaps, rather too gentle in his assessment of Mark Dreyfus. It is not often that I disagree with anything Paul Keating says, but on the Dreyfus affair, I feel he also has ascribed rather more honour to the man than he warrants. I fail to understand how an attorney-general — no matter what his heritage may be — can blatantly ignore the messages coming from the ICJ and the ICC and still allow his government to claim that it operates within the international rules-based order, that chimerical being that appears every day (if our government is...
Richard Llewellyn from Colo Vale
In response to: Dreyfus leaves little legacy
Judaism and Zionism
May 12, 2025
What an excellent article by Sara Dowse. It's about time someone differentiated between the two. The Zionists are the violent extremists who must be condemned for their actions and intentions. A Semite, per se, is your average peace-loving Jew who, for the most part, is appalled by Netanyahu's regime. The same can be said for Hamas who don't actually have a social licence with the average Palestinian that just want to live in peace. However the actions of Israel against the Palestinians must be called out for what they are: apartheid and genocide. The Israel Zionists...
Sidney Seiden from Exmouth
In response to: Judaism and Zionism are not the same
Very helpful interpretation of the steady-state economy
May 9, 2025
Thank you to Mark Diesendorf for this very helpful piece. It stands as a clarification of many of the misunderstandings and poor interpretations of SSE in Daniel Susskind's recent (2024) book advocating economic growth, Growth- A History and A Reckoning.
Len Puglisi from 1 Balmoral Court Burwood East
In response to: The steady-state economy: Why we need it
The leopard can’t change its spots
May 9, 2025
As Ross Gittens colourfully describes, the Coalition “is like that person driving a Holden Commodore”. Gender, age and the small matter of climate change should be crucial concerns for any party. Yet Liberal values remain the same: the party “limits its intrusion into people’s lives”, is for lower taxes and keeps the nation “secure and safe” (Christopher Pyne, The Age, 7 May). And therein lies a problem: faced with the existential crisis of climate change, governments need to be at the centre of both our energy transformation and the mitigation strategies when disasters inevitably arrive. Pyne suggested that “For...
Fiona Colin from Melbourne
In response to: The climate won’t change for the Liberals without more women and fewer oldies
Essential clarity from Sara Dowse
May 9, 2025
Sara Dowse's article is to be treasured. Please read and absorb it (and the writer's courage as well as clarity). Don't stop there, though. If each of us makes it our business to send it on, either through social media or via email, to at least 10 other people, we will have contributed something toward pushing back the relentless propaganda that is suffocating debate, silencing dissent, and excusing the grotesque elimination of the Palestinian people. Zionism is not Judaism, nor vice versa. Refuting Zionism and its supremacist claims is not antisemitic. It is an assertion of...
Stephanie Dowrick from Darwin 0800, NT
In response to: Judaism and Zionism are not the same
Tim Beal's articles in need of corrections
May 8, 2025
Tim Beal has had a number of articles republished here, wherein he attempts to propagate pro-Kremlin disinformation regarding the North Korean troops who have been fighting alongside Russian forces against Ukraine. Given that Russia recently admitted the North Korean involvement is true, should Beal not be asked to issue an apology and should his articles not be corrected to reflect the fact that his rhetoric appears to not be guided by the facts? Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, has said. I want to point out the participation of servicemen from...
Craig Thomas from North Sydney
In response to: A contrived myth? North Korean troops battling the Ukrainians in Kurskdid-north-
Will the election deliver good governance?
May 8, 2025
Two-thirds of Australians did not vote for Labor as their first preference. It’s clear that Australians want more from their leaders. Strong and healthy leadership protects the weakest, respects differences and importantly fosters an atmosphere of collaboration – in the hope of promoting innovation and inspiring the population. True leadership is guided by foundational collective principles that transcend ego and personal point-scoring. Anthony Albanese’s disparaging comments about the Independents and the Greens, post-election, are the opposite of these principles. Narrowing the collective voice in Parliament, strategising, through opaque election preference deals, to put power in the hands...
Alyssa Aleksanian from Hazelbrook
In response to: Will Labor live up to the values of Australians?
It’s not about sex, it’s about type
May 8, 2025
We all think we like a musician, movie star or sports star. We think we know them. Often, it’s their choice to represent themselves for their own advancement and we believe the good guy, bad guy image they portray. The same applies to our politicians and, like our influencers, we seldom know them at all. For example, if you believe his wife and what's sometimes written about Peter Dutton, he “is no monster“. But it turns out many Australians don’t like him and won’t vote for him as their front man. When it comes to our politicians, we...
Bob Pearce from Adelaide SA
In response to: the-coalition-is-killing-the-liberal-party
My enemy’s enemy is my enemy
May 7, 2025
There’s no doubt that the preference strategies of both Labor and the Coalition were to reinforce the two-party system that’s preventing Australia from facing the challenges of the 21st century: the economic and social disruption of climate change. The Greens are a progressive force neither major party wishes to face. After losing ground in 2022, both clawed back ground before the new political funding model designed to hobble independents and minor parties comes into play. The reality is that the Greens, and Teal and orange Independents, have taken electorates from Labor and the Coalition by winning the confidence...
John Mosig from Kew, Victoria
In response to: What just happened to theGreens?
The Greens: Neoliberalism or MMT?
May 7, 2025
I agree with Louis Devine. But the Greens have also lost ground due to another reason: they have not summoned up the political courage to educate the public on the economics of Modern Monetary Theory. The Greens have largely excellent policies. However, they have tried, regrettably, to embed those same policies within an economically flawed neoliberal lens, which renders them as ridiculously unaffordable to a very large percentage of the population. The policies, of course, are not ridiculously unaffordable. They sit perfectly comfortably within a superior MMT lens. I would encourage the Greens to spend the next three...
Terry Gibson from Canberra
In response to: What just happened to the Greens?
Can Labor defy the fossil fuel lobby?
May 7, 2025
Yes, “What an opportunity Australia has before it”. But many hearts and minds are yet to be won in an environment where cost of living and our energy transformation (as Jim Chalmers describes it) are disconnected. Labor must convince many Australians that our smallish contribution to global CO2 emissions is worth the effort. They must communicate the advantages to national security, productivity and the forward-looking idea of a renewables superpower. Deep-pocketed forces are ranged against our transformation. International climate change-denying groups like the Atlas Network, and its offshoot Advance, will, no doubt, double down on lobbying for fossil...
Fiona Colin from Melbourne
In response to: Australia lays out red carpet for rapid green energy transition
Useful information about China's role
May 7, 2025
Jocelyn, thank you for this useful addition to our collection of thoughts for understanding China's role in our area. Personally, I receive considerable information from the US site — Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology — especially items and talks by Professors Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim. These two make multiple trips to many cities in China, and speak to very enthusiastic audiences. Their talks include such topics as ecological civilisation – a perspective largely absent from our public forums, but a concept included since about 2018 in the Chinese Constitution.
Len Puglisi from 1 Balmoral Court Burwood East
In response to: Who's afraid of big, bad China?
Albo, how does it feel to be the best of a bad bunch?
May 7, 2025
What happened to the Greens? They maintained their primary vote, which is no reason to be pleased and slightly less reason to be pleased than Labor. But they had considerably more reason to be pleased than the Libs. After the big three/four have finished analysis of the results and decided that it was all someone else’s fault (Trump will do), collectively patted themselves on the back and shifted the Parliamentary furniture, they should have an independent Parliamentary inquiry. This inquiry should look into what’s so wrong with our democracy that the best of a bad bunch should win...
Bob Pearce from Adelaide SA
In response to: what-just-happened-to-the-greens
Dodgy election deals
May 7, 2025
More needs to be exposed about these three major election scandals that were, by design, allegedly targeted to deliberately unseat the Greens and Independents and narrow our collective voice to parliament: The redrawing of electoral boundaries and abolishing of an independent seat for MP Kylea Tink. The deceptive preference deals made between Labor and Liberals to pool their votes to unseat Independent and Green candidates. The doubling of election funding for major parties and virtually nothing for the other minor candidates. These were strategies deliberately and deployed to concentrate power in one of the two...
Alyssa Aleksanian from Hazelbrook
In response to: What just happened to the Greens?
The Greens vote
May 7, 2025
If you look at the raw numbers, the drop in the Greens vote was only marginal, although given the preferential system, it had an impact. I suspect part of the reason for the drop in the Green vote was, based on pre-election polling, the perceived closeness of the contest between Labor and the LNP. In such circumstances, it is not uncommon for voters to play it safe and opt for a major party. I suspect, given it is unlikely that Labor will lose the next election, there will be a surge in the Greens vote.
Brian Bycroft from Evans Head NSW
In response to: What just happened to the Greens?
An activist crossbench?
May 6, 2025
It was certainly an uninspiring campaign. But why has Jack Waterford not complained about that which will stop the crossbench being the activist crossbench [which] can supply the pressure to do more, better that he would like? I refer, of course, to the dishonesty that has been used by the Liberals and their associated entities to peg back Community Independents. Policies, you can discuss. But it's all too true that mud sticks. Nearly 40 Community Independents stood in 2025. As I write, some old Community Independents have been returned, others wait on a knife edge. We will have...
Margaret Callinan from Hawthorn
In response to: Dutton defeated in unexciting and uninspiring battlefield scrap
It's not war
May 6, 2025
Genocide is taking place in Palestine and Australia is showing moral cowardice. Calling for a ceasefire is water off a duck's back to Netanyahu. Recognising Palestine infuriates him to the extent we try to placate him. Treading gently in the name of community cohesion is to be complicit and allows the supporters of genocide to remain comfortably complicit also. The press is guilty. No protest at the targeted murders of their fellow journalists. Printing errors of fact in news, opinion and letters pages enables further killings. Australia must act. We actively supported BDS when South Africa was an...
Margaret Callinan from Hawthorn
In response to: P&I authors expose Israeli atrocities, but with what effect?
We cannot be bystanders
May 6, 2025
Should we merely continue to do the same for another year, another year? asks Stuart Rees in his passionate, timely (past time) article, writing of the ethnic cleansing in Gaza and beyond. He then suggests, correctly in my view, An alternative is to push P&I towards being mainstream. In that way, a confident prime minister might feel obliged to display his much-vaunted Australian kindness to all the people of Palestine. This push self-evidently requires a renewed and consistent effort beyond the pool of P&I writers, however accomplished, and beyond those who bring us P&I day in and out....
Stephanie Dowrick from Darwin 0800
In response to: P&I authors expose Israeli atrocities, but with what effect?
Where are Australia's religious leaders?
May 6, 2025
I am deeply disturbed by an item I saw on SBS’s news service this week concerning the plight of the people in Gaza and the effects of the Israeli Government’s blockade of all relief to them, including food, water and medicines. The report showed several severely emaciated children with sunken eyes, matchstick-like limbs and clearly visible rib-cages, suffering from severe starvation and malnutrition. That such suffering by innocent children should be the result of the deliberate and illegal (under international law) actions and policies of the Israeli Government outraged me. The Netanyahu Government is clearly an immoral and...
John Annison from Victoria
In response to: The Israeli blockage of aid to Gaza
Dutton was considered unfit to be leader in 2018
May 6, 2025
In 2018, Peter Dutton engineered Malcolm Turnbull's exit as leader. He and his supporters went out for a long night of Chinese food, 12 hours before the vote. Next day Dutton was completely surprised by Scott Morrison. The reason is now well-known – most Liberal MPs did not consider Dutton as an electoral winner. He never changed! He was a divisive policy-free player in 2018 and nothing changed for the 2025 election, except that he chose to imitate some of the worst aspects of Trump, and then ran a shocker of a campaign, now being blamed on the...
Bill Brown from Holt, ACT
In response to: A Campaign with Only One Contender
Fewer from the entitled class will want to enter politics
May 5, 2025
As David Solomon writes, one of the main reasons for the “thumping” of the Liberal Party was its “negativity” and failure “to present and defend its policies in time.” On ABC radio, Liberal Senator Hollie Hughes criticised the party’s leadership and lack of policy development, noting that despite submitting draft proposals in October, “we never heard anything about anything back from anybody”. As Solomon notes, this echoes past failures. Major policy documents like Hewson’s Fightback! and Howard’s Future Directions also lacked internal consultation with the parliamentary party or even the party’s own policy committee. The role of...
Ray Peck from Hawthorn
In response to: Libs on life support after thumping
Kooyong shenanigans
May 4, 2025
As Sonia Randhawa writes, we need to re-imagine and strengthen our democracy. It is certainly needed in Kooyong. We’ve had legal battles between the Boroondara City Council and the Liberal Party over signage; neo-Nazis and Brethren trying to pass themselves off as Liberal Party volunteers; and one male Liberal voter taking a Monique Ryan handout from an elderly, female volunteer, tearing it up in front of her face, and throwing it on the ground. He refused to apologise. After taking the prized Liberal seat in 2022 from the previous Coalition Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, the Libs have had Ryan in...
Ray Peck from Hawthorn
In response to: It's time for politics to grow up
A working vision for Australia
May 4, 2025
Gareth Evans has joined with other P&I contributors in lamenting a lack of vision for Australia. He concludes with an ambition for Australia to be seen as a good international citizen – as a decent country. I think this is too vague to be effective. I recommend Australia: a trusted, respected and independent middle power in a healthy and peaceful world”. This is a vision statement that Australia can be proud of. It's an open statement allowing a wide spectrum of political contest and community behaviour. It is a simple statement that provides a guide for evaluating political...
Robert Crewdson from Melbourne
In response to: Being a good international citizen in a Trumpian world
A balanced economy, not a balanced budget
May 4, 2025
Both the major parties (and even the Greens) embrace economic neoliberalism. This sees the federal government acting like a household, with household-like budget constraints. And on this view, budgets should therefore be balanced, or even in surplus. This, however, causes private debt to increase, which in turn causes the cost-of-living crisis, such as we have now. We need instead to change focus and to balance the economy, not the budget, with carefully targeted deficits, even deficits in perpetuity, if necessary. Despite neoliberal scaremongering, it is a fact that our currency-issuing federal government is not like a household. It...
Terry Gibson from Canberra
In response to: Who will better manage the economy? Neither.
Civil courage
May 4, 2025
A significant Australian who attended the funeral of Pope Francis was Julian Assange. Francis wrote to him and offered him asylum in the Vatican. Gutsy.
Michael Breen from Robertson NSW
In response to: John Menadue's article on Pope Francis
A new display of courage for the Labor Government
May 4, 2025
The YouGov poll prediction has been right, with a stunning majority for Labor. The party must not squander the opportunity to do some of the hard things while they have the political capital: recognise Palestine and stop aiding the murders in Palestine, phase in property tax changes, go for a step change in efficiently produced prefab housing, work on an ATSI treaty, move from a monarch, ensure an ombudsman who properly balances their access to expensive legal advice against the legal deficit of most appellants, a more effective and open NACC, end remaining multinational tax avoidance, and inadequate resource royalties....
Geoff Taylor from Perth
In response to: Major YouGov poll has Labor easily winning a majority of seats in election