April 17, 2025

Xi pushes for fair trade after Trump tariffs land

After President Donald Trump’s decision to exempt selected electronic goods from tariffs, the gloves are temporarily off between Washington and Beijing. However, though some sanity has returned to the White House, the damage has already been done.

April 8, 2025

Would an Iranian nuke really be so terrible?

Since the Iranian people overthrew the US-backed despotism of the Shah in 1979, Washington’s 4½-decade campaign of maximum pressure has been couched in terms of countering the Islamic Republic’s “destabilisation” of the region.

June 12, 2025

Genocide by starvation

This is the end. The final blood-soaked chapter of the genocide. It will be over soon. Weeks. At most.

July 8, 2025

Boomers bashing again: Change the rules

A departing editor-at-large from The Australian Financial Review, off to head the IPA, warns of an “intergenerational tragedy” facing young Australians.

June 27, 2025

Japan’s economic security strategy looks beyond the United States

In the face of increasingly uncertain global economic headwinds, Japan is redefining its economic security strategy.

June 19, 2025

The evil phoenix: Quenching the fire of its rebirth

This is a $5 billion scam hurting honest Australians.

May 2, 2025

It’s time for politics to grow up

Politics is nothing like parenting. But there are similarities between the two. I parent two stubborn children and, whether it is the last slice of cake or the smallest serving of vegetables, neither will give way. Ever.

April 16, 2025

The waning of empire: A dispatch from the American decline

In the early months of 2025, the United States of America, once the unchallenged steward of the liberal international order, has taken an abrupt and distinctly operatic turn inward.

April 7, 2025

Where is the 'mature debate' about the health impacts of nuclear power? Informed consent matters

There is a clear disconnect between the claims of the nuclear lobby and the real-world adverse consequences of nuclear energy. Communities, workers and indeed all Australians need accurate information about the health impacts.

May 1, 2025

The key lesson from the US: ‘Merit’ really is the most important public service value

Perhaps the most repeated message at the recent ASPA national conference, in the face of attacks on the civil service by the Trump administration, was the importance of merit-based employment.

April 22, 2025

Silence is no response to slaughter, so at least recognise Palestine

Death, destruction and ethnic cleansing in Gaza and on the West Bank continues. Israeli savagery, lying, and disdain for international law display the depths of inhumanity, but when challenged to show courage by supporting life for Palestinians, the Australian Government remains silent.

June 5, 2025

We must confound the Zionist Lobby

The recent article by John Menadue recounts how far the Zionist Lobby has managed to exercise the leverage — and it is undeniably powerful leverage — of the malignant scourge of antisemitism to further its geopolitical strategy of creating Eretz Israel and thus grasping the rewards that would flow from it.

June 11, 2025

Australia and Japan must link energy and emissions strategies

As the US retreats into industrial protectionism, Australia faces a sobering truth: our most reliable ally may now be our biggest source of volatility.

June 18, 2025

New research shows native forest logging industry going up in smoke

New research published in the leading international journal Nature Communications has added to the growing evidence that native forest logging in Australia is exacerbating wildfire risks.

July 1, 2025

The obscenity of American preaching

One way to get a robust, comparative fix on how obscene American global preaching about human rights has become is (borrowing a vivid image from Caitlin Johnstone) to imagine what the world might think about a scorching lecture from a Taliban leader on the Western oppression of women and women’s rights.

June 24, 2025

Trump’s disruption in Canada leaves the G7 at a crossroads

It could have been worse – much worse. US President Donald Trump’s early exit from Kananaskis and the G7 Summit — that he declared was necessary to deal with the Israel–Iran war — left Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney with his summit largely intact.

April 25, 2025

If I were minister for employment services: No more bastardry dressed up as policy

If I were minister for employment services, I’d begin by stating what should already be obvious: Australia’s employment services system is not fit for purpose.

June 5, 2025

Thames Water disaster drags on

The Macquarie Thames Water saga may be coming to an end albeit at great cost – but not, of course, to Macquarie which has reinvested the billions it took out into other things.

May 23, 2025

Why isn’t the UN doing more than talking about Gaza?

You’re not the only one wondering why the United Nations keeps releasing statements while people in Gaza — and other conflict zones — are being killed, starved or displaced. It’s easy to feel like all the UN does is express concern, make speeches and hold meetings….but shouldn’t it be doing something tangible by now?

June 13, 2025

Two remote islands with a common purpose

After a decades-long fight, Prime Minister Starmer in late May gave up Britain’s possession of the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean, while Australia keeps the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, our most distant Indian Ocean territory. The United States military has continuing use of both.

April 10, 2025

Build, baby, build! But that won’t fix it all

Australia is spending billions trying and still failing to get people into decent homes they can afford. Some more radical options could be on the table.

May 6, 2025

'This ship changes the game': World’s largest all-electric ferry launches in Tasmania

The world’s largest 100% battery electric ship has been officially launched at a shipyard in Hobart and is almost ready for service in South American waters, where it will ferry up to 2100 passengers and 225 vehicles between Argentina and Uruguay.

May 1, 2025

Who holds the better cards – China or the US?

The mainstream Western media and global, alternative media outlets have been delivering a remarkable converging stream of blistering commentary since 2 April on what is now widely called, even by The Economist, Trump’s tariff tantrum.

April 26, 2025

Housing affordability: Which party has better policies?

The housing policies announced in this election by both the Labor and Coalition Parties are seriously flawed.

July 3, 2025

I'd rather a bloodied shark than AI

Until recently, I regarded AI as just another technical assist, a natural enhancement of Google where one finds the perfect word to complete a sentence, or to expand on the broad brush of Wikipedia info.

April 24, 2025

The uniform public utterances of our days

British scholar Leonard Schapiro, writing on Stalinism, observed that “the true object of propaganda is neither to convince nor even to persuade. But to produce a uniform pattern of public utterances in which the first trace of unorthodox thought reveals itself as a jarring dissonance." And it seems that in the current sanctioned discourse, the jarring dissonance is speaking up against a genocide streamed live on our phones.

May 24, 2025

Israeli officials explain balancing act between overt genocide and maintaining Western support

One of the talking points Israel apologists like to regurgitate is that Israel can’t possibly be acting with genocidal intent in Gaza, because if they had wanted to exterminate the Palestinians they could have easily done so in a matter of days.

June 20, 2025

Australian net-zero projects to be rated to prevent greenwashing

Environmental projects will be analysed and rated in Australia in a move experts say could prevent greenwashing and encourage international investments.

May 29, 2025

Whether due to indifference or disinterest, the media colludes with Gaza genocide

Clearly, the Australian media has little interest in reporting on any local reaction to the catastrophe in Gaza.

April 30, 2025

China’s not-so-quiet energy revolution: Towards the world’s first industrial electrostate

In 2023, China increased its deployment of solar and wind energy three-fold. This trend accelerated in 2024, with China installing nearly 65% of the world’s new low emission energy electricity generation.

May 31, 2025

Fiji politics: Generational change is neither optional nor easy

As Fiji inches toward the 2026 general elections, the nation stands at a pivotal juncture.

July 10, 2025

Empathy, morality, civilisation and resisting tyrants

Are we just selfish brutes who need to be civilised into social, moral behaviour? If not, where do our decency and altruism come from? Can we resist the tides of fear and control rolling over us and cultivate more compassionate and peaceable societies?

July 5, 2025

The magic of the mandate: Now you see it, now you don’t

In 2003, then prime minister John Howard committed Australia to the US-led invasion of Iraq.

May 29, 2025

China-US trade deal: The 'win' belongs to globalisation

In a breakthrough for global trade, China and the United States concluded ice-breaking talks in Geneva with a deal to temporarily roll back tariffs and create a new bilateral consultation mechanism.

July 8, 2025

The Empire has accidentally caused the rebirth of real counterculture in the West

Everyone’s still talking about Bob Vylan, and rightly so. A crowd full of Westerners happily being led through a chant of “Death, death to the IDF” at the 2025 Glastonbury Festival was a historical landmark moment for the 21st century, and the group’s persecution at the hands of Western governments is once again highlighting the way our society’s purported values of free thought and free expression go right out of the window wherever Israel is concerned.

April 17, 2025

Humanitarian data drought: The deeper damage wrought by US aid cuts

“We have to be extra honest, this is a challenge; it’s not easy to find a solution.”

April 25, 2025

Vote with Palestine

Find out how the major parties have responded to Israel’s genocide in Gaza during the past 18 months, and then see how your local candidates stack up when it comes to Palestine.

May 28, 2025

ACTU statement on Gaza May 2025 'including the use of targeted sanctions'

The Australian Union movement is a movement of peace and solidarity. We continue to be horrified by the humanitarian catastrophe facing Palestinians in Gaza.

June 13, 2025

NACC ambiguity on Robodebt investigation 'worrying', says KC

Three months have passed since the National Anti-Corruption Commission promised an “impartial and fair investigation” into Robodebt. Nothing has been heard since.

May 1, 2025

Beyond a consumer boycott: We need to divest US brands from our language

The other day, I asked my ride-share driver which platform offered him the best deal. He told me Didi gives more back to the driver, but he has to use the Uber app because “everyone knows Uber. It’s the first thing they think of”.

June 20, 2025

Job and the point of a good life

Job is not a manual for how to live well. It’s a reflection on why one would want to.

July 9, 2025

Punishment, proportionality and principle

The reaction to the fire bombing on a Jewish establishment in Melbourne has been sadly predictable.

July 2, 2025

Courage needs to be shown in politics – Israel is no longer above the law

In the past weeks, an estimated 500 more Gazans have been killed, bombed out of existence by the IDF or killed while queuing for food.

June 25, 2025

The legacy of Pope Francis in an unjust world – Part 1

Pope Francis endeavoured not just to evaluate the burning global issues; he strove to mobilise decisive action to transform our world to improve living standards and well-being for everyone. He spoke as a voice from the Third World, challenging the conscience of the richer countries.

June 18, 2025

The West’s war on Iran

I have visited Iran twice. Once in June 1980 to witness an unprecedented event: the world’s first Islamic Revolution. It was the very start of my writing career.

April 24, 2025

Feeding the beast: The use of private consultants by public universities and its implications for tertiary education

Global consulting partnerships are not only reshaping public sector organisations along corporate lines and hollowing out government expertise in the process, but they have also been responsible for a significant decline in tertiary education quality and standards, including billions of dollars in wasteful expenditure on non-core business.

July 4, 2025

'Watershed moment': Big battery storage prices hit record low in huge China auction

The price for big battery storage modules have hit a record low in the latest giant auction in China, where more than 70 bidders competed for 25 gigawatt hours of capacity in what is being described as a “watershed moment” for the industry.

June 12, 2025

Ministerial responsibility and cabinet solidarity: Are they misaligned?

When Tony Abbott brought Malcolm Turnbull back into his shadow cabinet as communications spokesman in 2010, the then Opposition leader mocked Turnbull by calling him the inventor of the internet.

April 15, 2025

Building peace through contemplation, compassion and our common humanity

We acknowledge respectfully the Boonwurrung people and the elders and people of the Eastern Kulin nation who have traditional connections with, and responsibility for, the land on which we meet.

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal