June 6, 2025

Ali Kazak and the transformation of the politics of Palestine in Australia

It was with great sadness that we learned of the passing on 17 May of Ali Kazak, at the age of 78. Over five decades, Ali dedicated his enormous energy to building understanding and support for Palestine, the land of his birth.

June 30, 2025

A distracted world marches steadily towards catastrophe

As the nations bicker, squabble and fight among themselves, their ultimate disintegration becomes more certain and more imminent with each passing day.

May 28, 2025

Cultural institutions are policing Palestine solidarity. Karen Wyld is just the latest target

Last week, Martu writer Karen Wyld was stripped of a literary fellowship just hours before she was due to receive it, not because of the quality of her work, but because of her expressions of solidarity with Palestine.

May 11, 2025

In the age of the influencer, does the political backing of News Corp matter anymore?

This year’s federal election demonstrated that Australia’s media landscape has changed. Big players are no longer “kingmakers” in politics.

April 24, 2025

AUKUS is more than nuclear submarines and that's a problem

When we think of AUKUS, most people picture the dangerous $368 billion gamble on a handful of nuclear submarines. The truth is AUKUS is a lot more, and a lot more dangerous, than these submarines.

June 26, 2025

Palestine will remain the issue

Israel and the US can bomb us, assassinate our scientists, starve our children, imprison our leaders, change our governments… and Palestine will remain the issue.

June 20, 2025

The FICAC Commission of Inquiry fiasco in Fiji

What started out as a trivial story barely worthy of public attention has grown into a full-blown crisis for the Sitiveni Rabuka-led government in Fiji.

June 18, 2025

Hugh White: Why the AUKUS ‘dream’ was never realistic and is likely to die

The first clear sign the Trump administration was taking a long hard look at AUKUS came two weeks ago, when US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth gave his first major speech on US strategic policy in Asia at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.

July 3, 2025

From globalisation to AI: Why history is about to repeat itself

When globalisation loomed on the horizon in the late 20th century, governments around the world faced a choice: open the economy fully or manage the transition strategically.

June 23, 2025

Chalmers hints at more tax reform – What should we do first? Part 2

In the second of a two-part series Saul Eslake looks at what the top priorities for tax reform should be.

June 19, 2025

Jason Clare's monumental task in education

The Labor Government has promised a rethink in education policy and a better future for all children.

June 14, 2025

Israel's attack on Iran: Nothing good will come of it

Israel has been itching for years to attack Iran, citing its nuclear facilities as an existential threat.

June 12, 2025

In Trump’s America, the shooting of a journalist is not a one-off. Press freedom itself is under attack

The video of a Los Angeles police officer shooting a rubber bullet at Channel Nine reporter Lauren Tomasi is as shocking as it is revealing.

May 19, 2025

Even once reluctant scholars now agree on Israel's Gaza assault: It's a genocide

“Can I name someone whose work I respect who doesn’t consider it genocide?” said one researcher. “No.”

May 8, 2025

Thirteen things on Labor’s climate and energy must-do list to change the system

The thumping victory for Labor in the weekend’s poll means that it is likely to be in power for at least another six years.

June 1, 2025

Thirty-five richest Republicans set to 'line their own pockets' while taking food, healthcare from millions

“The Trump tax scam is a grift for the ultra-rich, including those who are in charge of passing this legislation themselves, and a betrayal to hardworking Americans everywhere,” said the head of Accountable.US.

June 4, 2025

Merchants of death

In extending the life of Australia’s North West Shelf gas project till 2070, the federal and WA Governments have knowingly signed the death warrants of four million human beings.

June 5, 2025

When education funds genocide: students raise their voices in defiance

For more than a year, the world has been witnessing the genocidal massacres committed by Israel against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where tens of thousands have been killed, including university students and teachers, and academic institutions have been completely destroyed.

June 2, 2025

Labor's climate talk a lot of hot gas

The North West Shelf Extension is the textbook example of everything wrong with Australia’s gas policy. Its approval comes off the back of a dangerous myth that more gas means cheaper prices for Australians.

April 25, 2025

ANZAC Day: Honour the dead, spurn the myths and militarism

ANZAC Day is an occasion to honour those who died fighting for Australia.

May 30, 2025

Green light for gas: North West Shelf gas plant cleared to run until 2070

In a decision surprising very few people, Australia’s new environment minister Murray Watt has signed off on an extension for the gas plant at Karratha, part of the enormous North West Shelf liquefied natural gas project.

April 14, 2025

The RBA should not be giving support to the Centre for Independent Studies

In February, I and eight others from around Australia wrote to the Reserve Bank board to “urge the RBA to sever its relationship with, and support of, the Centre for Independent Studies”.

July 8, 2025

Engulfed in a moral panic about childcare assaults

_The moral panic enveloping Australia and the ABC over the existence of child molesters in the childcare system will do this nation no good.

July 4, 2025

Saving the NDIS doesn’t need to cost more money

The Albanese Government has a lot hinging on the successful delivery of savings earmarked from the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

May 20, 2025

The US Supremes, not its critics, are trashing the rule of law

The American Chief Justice, John Roberts, has complained that judges are being trashed, and has warned that the rule of law is being endangered.

May 15, 2025

From nuclear to nature laws, here’s where Ley stands on four energy and environment flashpoints

Sussan Ley has been elected Liberal leader after defeating rival Angus Taylor in a party room vote on 13 May. Now the hard work of rebuilding the party can begin.

May 26, 2025

Netanyahu’s endgame: Isolation and the shattered illusion of power

It remains uncertain how long Benjamin Netanyahu will remain in power, but his political standing has significantly deteriorated. He faces widespread domestic opposition and international condemnation.

May 23, 2025

Outrage after Israeli occupation forces shoot live rounds at foreign diplomats in West Bank

Among those shot at were representatives of three nations that threatened “concrete actions” if Israel doesn’t end its assault and siege on Gaza and others that support a genocide case against the country.

April 7, 2025

‘Adolescence’, misogyny and the power of television

Rarely does a television series stop you in your tracks, through the heartbreaking power of its content and the creative process employed in its making. Such is the Netflix series from the UK titled Adolescence.

July 2, 2025

As heatwave grips Europe, coalition says 'no to a climate law for polluters'

“Will the European Commission propose a climate law that ends fossil fuel use and reflects the EU’s fair share of climate responsibility? Or will it choose political convenience?”

April 13, 2025

Environment: Adopt a tapeworm. Love your lice. Give a leech lunch

Parasites need our help, not our disgust. Electricity usage increases with the temperature, but the price falls as renewables increase. Cyanobacteria’s sliding door moment.

April 23, 2025

Jeffrey Sachs on the source of the Syrian tragedy

Jeffrey Sachs on the role of the US and the CIA in the tragic events in Syria, direct from the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Türkiye earlier this month.

July 9, 2025

The disastrous consequences of an epidemic of misinformation about the safety of vaccines

None of the “Ship of Fools” Donald Trump appointed to head his major government departments was qualified for their new roles.

July 1, 2025

Bunker busters shook us all

Iran’s grievance, moral or legal, against Israel and the United States over the bombing of nuclear sites is not assisted by the fact that Israel itself is an outlaw with nuclear bombs produced outside the system.

June 10, 2025

Political parties are failing to attract new members. Not only women

Government is getting more difficult. Many voters have turned off. They are scathing of politicians and deeply cynical about their honesty and motives.

May 1, 2025

Palestine is an election issue – Australians for Humanity

The genocide in Palestine is the moral issue of our time and a key election issue.

April 9, 2025

AUKUS on track? No, Australia needs Plan B now

Last Monday’s AUKUS Security forum at the National Press Club heard arguments of those seeking to support the status quo. It was argued that criticism undermines AUKUS and risks turning the possibility that the US will not be able to spare Virginia class SSNs for sale to Australia from an ‘if’ to certainty.

April 14, 2025

Language abuse in Trump’s second term: Why peace, compassion, and empathy matter more than ever

To cement their control, authoritarian leaders have to claim and empty the meaning out of terms such as “peace”, “compassion”, and “empathy”, just as they do when they label other people “fascists”, “radical Marxists”, “tyrants”, “terrorists” or “antisemites” – a trend spotted, for example, by Professor Timothy Snyder and Professor Noam Chomsky.

May 12, 2025

Shell-shocked voters of US allies choose stability over disruption

Rather than left- or right-leaning political parties, citizens in Singapore, Australia and Canada chose “steady hands” to navigate geopolitical turbulence.

May 2, 2025

Why are political parties allowed to send spam texts? And how can we make them stop?

Another election, another wave of unsolicited political texts. Over this campaign, our digital mailboxes have been stuffed with a slew of political appeals and promises, many from the new party Trumpet of Patriots (backed by Clive Palmer, a veteran of the mass text campaign).

June 16, 2025

The public service under Albanese Mark 2: The good news and the bad

The appointment of Steven Kennedy to PM&C and Jenny Wilkinson to Treasury is welcome news for several reasons.

June 6, 2025

Inequality in an age of weather extremes

“In tropical climes there are certain times of day When all the citizens retire to tear their clothes off and perspire. It’s one of the rules that the greatest fools obey, Because the sun is much too sultry And one must avoid its ultry-violet ray…”

May 6, 2025

What the hell just happened?

What the hell just happened? Well, the first obvious thing is that Labor just won a massive record-breaking landslide election. The majority might get trimmed back a bit as further counting occurs but it suggests a third term is possible.

April 16, 2025

The Trump effect is a wrecking ball, and we’re in the blast zone

As the US president declares victory at every turn, he will leave behind a changed world. The implications for Australia are profound.

April 15, 2025

The effect the Greens will have as a ginger party

The Greens no longer aspire to be a party of government. They have become what is best described as a “ginger party”, a political party that tries to influence the direction and policies of the Labor Party.

April 8, 2025

Strong can be wrong

Are voters really influenced by their view of which of the party leaders is the stronger? Peter Dutton obviously thinks so; for a year and more he has been attacking Anthony Albanese in almost every speech and utterance as being “weak” and trying to persuade voters that he himself was strong.

October 14, 2018

The road to 2oC and beyond: IPCC warnings of extreme global warming.

Scientists of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicate that global temperature rise of 1.5C above pre-industrial temperatures would constitute a threshold the planet cannot cross without suffering the worst effects of climate change. Yet according to the U.N. report, mean global land-sea temperatures have already risen above 1C and the planet could pass the 1.5C threshold as early as 2030 if greenhouse gas emissions continue at the current level and no effective CO__2 down-draw measures takes place. These projections underestimate what is happening in the atmosphere-ocean-land system since, due to amplifying feedbacks from desiccating land, warming oceans, melting ice, methane release and fires, no temperature limit can be specified for global warming. The Paris agreement, which focuses on limits to emissions, hardly acknowledges the essential need to down-draw atmospheric carbon which has already reached >450 ppm CO__2 + Methane equivalent.

May 27, 2025

Why we need our economists to try a lot harder

For most economists, their view of how the world works is virtually unchanged from one decade to the next. They’ve already found the truth, so nothing needs changing.

May 16, 2025

Political parties can recover after a devastating election loss. But the Liberals will need to think differently

Australia has just had its second landslide election in a row. In 2022, there was a landslide against the Liberals, but not to Labor, which fell over the line (as a majority government) by three seats and with just more than 32% of the primary vote.

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal