August 1, 2025

How Trump’s vision of a single-minded China containment has failed

Instead of disengaging to focus on China, Trump’s America is more deeply involved in Europe’s defence and the Middle East than before.

July 26, 2025

EVs and electric hot water can transform cities into 'giant batteries' to slash peak demand

Electrified homes and vehicles could help transform Australian cities into “giant batteries,” a new study has found, where each resident is effectively equipped with around three Tesla Powerwalls-worth of flexible energy storage capacity.

July 28, 2025

To resist injustice in Gaza and the wider world

Egyptian-born Omar El Akkad had studied in the United States and been 10 years a journalist when, in the summer of 2021, he became an American citizen. Covering the War on Terror in Afghanistan and at the U.S. detention centre in Guantanamo Bay exposed him to the “deep ugly cracks in the bedrock of this thing they called “the free world.” Yet he believed the cracks could be repaired – “Until the fall of 2023. Until the slaughter.”

July 21, 2025

No simple solutions for specialist problems

A referral to a specialist doctor should set patients on a smooth path to the care they need. But it can be more like an alpine hike, with steep fees and treacherously long waiting lists. It’s putting lives at risk.

July 11, 2025

US sanctions UN expert Albanese over criticism of Israeli genocide

One critic said Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s “crude effort” to sanction Francesca Albanese “only serves to establish that the US is an international outlaw.”

August 14, 2025

Burning wood for power Is a dangerous step backward

The NSW Independent Planning Commission is currently considering an application to reopen the Redbank Power Station near Singleton.

July 18, 2025

Navigating a bipolar world

The US might yet save us from ourselves by adding conditions to the nuclear submarine agreement that no Australian Government could accept.

July 19, 2025

Tasmania’s snap election 2025: How did we get here and where are we going?

Tasmanians are going to the polls on 19 July as the result of a snap election more than two years early.

July 17, 2025

Australia needs to recognise the rationale for a US-China war has changed

Up until the Trump era, it was understood that the United States might go to war with China to in order to defend democracy in Taiwan.

July 12, 2025

Imperial hypocrisy about 'terrorism' hits its most absurd point yet

The US has removed Syria’s al-Qaeda franchise from its list of designated terrorist organisations just days after the UK added nonviolent activist group Palestine Action to its own list of banned terrorist groups.

August 9, 2025

IDF chiefs break ranks

Israeli military and security chiefs are active participants in Netanyahu’s biblical holocaust on Palestinians.

July 25, 2025

Economic reform must included industrial transformation - Part 2

Going forward, what are some of the key design principles and priorities to consider as building blocks for a comprehensive, evidence-based industrial strategy, which both creates and adapts to the technologies and jobs of the future?

July 22, 2025

Why a surprise jump in unemployment isn’t as bad as it sounds

New figures show Australia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate unexpectedly rose to 4.3% – its highest level since late 2021 – in June this year, up from 4.1% in May.

July 15, 2025

Usman Khawaja: grace under pressure, faith underpinning it all

In Australian sport, few stories echo as deeply as that of Usman Khawaja. He is known for his calm presence at the crease, his graceful technique, and the quiet way he has built a legacy in a game that was not always welcoming.

August 7, 2025

Recognise Palestine? Then free Marwan Barghouti!

The world’s most important hostage must be released. Powerful Western countries have signalled that in the face of the genocide they may recognise the state of Palestine. States need leaders. That’s why Marwan Barghouti — often dubbed the Palestinian Mandela — must be freed.

August 19, 2025

China’s shift to quality is redrawing Southeast Asia’s tech map

On 1 August, China’s state planner announced a crackdown on “herd behaviour” in emerging industries, targeting the surge of capital into hot sectors such as electric vehicles, batteries and solar.

August 8, 2025

Under Trump, 'the federal government itself is a threat': Report details plot to subvert 2026 elections

“The administration is setting the stage for election subversion. This power play poses a grave threat to the future of US election infrastructure. It is also, in many respects, illegal.”

July 14, 2025

Localise relationships of care and responsibility

Continual crises in all the health, education and human services industries are no longer “exceptions”. They are continuous chronic symptoms of what’s wrong with our neoliberalised, marketised “care economy”.

July 31, 2025

An entirely new approach to public policy

At the outset of the second term of the Labor Government, we may reasonably ask: What policy innovations will the prime minister and his colleagues bring forward?

July 17, 2025

Israeli settlers kill, destroy and steal with impunity

This week there was another attack on a religious institution. No, not in Australia but in the ancient Christian village of Taibeh, a Palestinian village in the Occupied West Bank.

July 19, 2017

GEOFF DAVIES. The chasm between the society we are offered and the fair go we want

There is widely perceived to be a gap between our stumbling political system and the wishes of the Australian people. However those who look a little deeper into our Australian hearts see not just a gap but a yawning chasm.

July 16, 2017

MICHAEL KEATING. Why Blame Neo-Liberal Economics: A Response

My previous article on Why Blame Neo-Liberal Economics, which argued that neo-liberal economics was not a main cause of increasing inequality, drew an unusually large and mostly critical response. While it is not feasible to respond to all the detailed points that my many critics have raised, in this response I propose to focus on two big issues: (i) what is neo-liberal economics and how does it influence policy outcomes, and (ii) why has inequality increased since the 1980s. I will also briefly discuss the policy implications that flow from my analysis.

January 25, 2019

JOHN MENADUE. A Repost: What does it mean to be an Australian? Are we still the land of the second chance?

The Macquarie legacy is still with us. It underpins our best instincts togive all residents in this country, whether Australian born, migrants or refugees an equal opportunity in life, a second chance. That ethos of redemption is a core part of our history.

August 9, 2017

John Menadue. Rent-seekers and the hollowing out of democracy (Repost 12/2015)

Rent-seeking is a term understood by most economists. It refers to the ability of powerful groups to extract special concessions and favours at the expense of the wider community.

July 23, 2017

What were we fighting for at Gallipoli, in Palestine and on the Western Front? Part 1 of 5-part series.

To find out what we were fighting for in the Great War we must get past the usual fig-leaf explanation, which is as remarkably effective as it is short on cover in Australian culture.

July 27, 2017

GREG LOCKHART. What were we fighting for at Gallipoli, in Palestine and on the Western Front? (Part 5 of 5)

Part 5: Narrative Overview and Conclusion

The emphasis in our military history and remembrance on asking how we fought does not inherently preclude an interest in what we were fighting for. The two narratives could co-exist and interact. But not effectively in our culture yet. We still lose sight of what our remembrance confirms: the interconnectedness of what we were and still are fighting for.

July 25, 2017

GREG LOCKHART. What were we fighting for at Gallipoli, in Palestine and on the Western Front? (Part 3 of 5)

Part 3. Empire over nation.

In 1914-18, the fight for Empire against Asia minimised independent Australian national interests. Ambiguous, interchangeable use of the terms empire and nation also protected that imperial bias in our political culture.

August 7, 2017

John Menadue. Murdochs Media Tax. (Reposted from 29/12/2015)

Rupert Murdoch complains that he faces unfair competition from a taxpayer funded public broadcaster like the ABC and SBS. Yet in effect, he imposes his own consumption taxes on consumers.

July 26, 2017

GREG LOCKHART. What were we fighting for at Gallipoli, in Palestine and on the Western Front? (Part 4 of 5)

Part 4. A race strategy to save White Australia

Political manipulation of the societys racially inflected anxieties was a major factor in the imperial ascendency over national defence policy in the Commonwealth in 1911. The secret implementation of a race strategy then determined our entry into the Great War. This information was not available to Australians until 1992.

June 9, 2013

It's the tourism product stupid - not marketing! John Menadue

The Australian tourism industry tells us often that we need to spend more in marketing and publicity and that the tourists will come. I have always been sceptical; believing that what matters most is the tourism product itself.

Marketing didnt work with the Oprah Winfrey circus despite the government tipping in $5 million. On top of that, Australian tourism agents provided accommodation and support for 300 of the fans who accompanied Oprah. The Australian dollar was certainly strong at the time but the net result of Oprahs visit seems to have been a drop in tourist numbers not only from the US, but also from the UK and Canada where the Oprah circus was televised.

July 16, 2025

Systematic bias: how Western media reproduces the Israeli narrative

If words shape our consciousness, then the media holds the keys to minds.

August 4, 2025

Deepfake abuse caused a crisis in South Korean schools. How can Australia avoid it?

Australian schools are seeing a growing number of incidents in which students have created deepfake sexualised imagery of their classmates. The eSafety Commissioner has urged schools to monitor the situation.

July 21, 2025

Vive la resistance! The heroes who oppose genocide

Nobody has a bad word to say about the French Resistance in World War II, right? Who would criticise a group confronting fascism, right?

August 11, 2025

Lessons from Aceh's peace agreement

This 15 August marks the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Aceh peace agreement which ended three decades of separatist war in Indonesia’s western-most province.

August 2, 2025

US integration of Pacific allies into war plans must be opposed

The United States is increasing its military footprint on Australia and Pacific and Pacific Rim countries as it prepares for war against China.

July 26, 2025

The future of surveillance tech is already here – in the US, not China

Chinese citizens enjoy public safety in exchange for compromised privacy. In the United States, people are facing an increasingly unchecked state.

August 15, 2025

Labor vulnerable nowhere in particular, everywhere in general

The best attempt at a post-election pendulum was published recently by Dr Kevin Bonham, who also did a terrific job explaining developments during the preference count in the recent Tasmanian election.

July 31, 2025

India tests strategic autonomy in fractured trade order

A flurry of free trade agreements with the UAE, Australia, the European Free Trade Association and the UK signals a more outward-looking Indian trade policy.

August 12, 2025

We need media literacy programs for children, not a ban on social media

Western countries are searching for reasons why the anxiety, neuroticism and introversion of young people are increasing. Social media is being targeted as the major cause. So, Australia has decided to ban social media usage for children under age 16.

July 23, 2025

From ‘Stone Age’ treasury boss to National Party Senator: John Stone 1929–2025

John Owen Stone AO was a legendary leader of the Commonwealth Treasury. He was secretary (departmental head) from January 1979 to September 1984 but was an intellectual driving force before then as deputy secretary from 1971 to 1978.

July 14, 2025

Australia cannot survive unless it switches to a no-growth economy

Big financial institutions have concluded that global warming will not be contained to the limits agreed more than a decade ago and are examining ways of maintaining their profits in such a world.

August 13, 2025

Most of Trump's net worth comes from 'crypto empire': report

According to an investigation by Accountable.US, 73% of Trump’s net worth may now come from crypto, which his administration is working to dramatically deregulate.

August 7, 2025

Interfaith groups come together to call for Gaza action

A coalition of Australian interfaith and community organisations — including leading Muslim, Christian, and Jewish groups — is calling on the Albanese Government to sanction Israel and to urgently recognise Palestine as a sovereign state. Full page advertisements have appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers. The signatories represent a broad spectrum of religious, ethnic and political affiliations, united in an unprecedented show of solidarity. Their joint message is clear. The time for action is now.

August 8, 2025

Middle Australia marches

As fully paid members of Middle Australia, my partner and I had a clear middle row view on Sunday’s March for Humanity.

July 11, 2025

BRICS is sliding towards irrelevance – the Rio summit made that clear

The BRICS group of nations has just concluded its 17th annual summit in Rio de Janeiro. But, despite member states adopting a long list of commitments covering global governance, finance, health, AI and climate change, the summit was a lacklustre affair.

August 18, 2025

1975: The Whitlam dismissal’s smoking gun

The dismissal of the Whitlam Government by Governor-General John Kerr on 11/11/1975 still rankles at the heart of Australian democracy.

July 12, 2025

The greatest irony in our contemporary history

I just read the Sunday Age articles by Chip Le Grand. The writer and The Age have been engaged in a vicious propaganda campaign against the increasing mass protests in Australia that have also involved large numbers of artists, writers, academics and students opposed to the Gazan genocide.

August 1, 2025

‘Are you joking, mate?’ AI doesn’t get sarcasm in non-American varieties of English

In 2018, my Australian co-worker asked me, “Hey, how are you going?”. My response — “I am taking a bus” — was met with a smirk.

July 28, 2025

Gender politics and right-wing politics clash in South Korea

South Korea’s gender divide has become a flashpoint in its democratic evolution. Amid economic stagnation and rising disillusionment, young men increasingly view feminist policies as threats to fairness, fuelling anti-feminist populism. Yet the roots of this divide run deeper — into the Confucian familism embedded in welfare structures, selective workplace norms, and a military culture that reinforces hegemonic masculinity. While women face structural inequalities, young men confront shifting expectations that clash with traditional roles.

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal