August 2, 2017

FRANK BRENNAN. The bi-partisanship shame of refugee policy

What possessed Filippo Grandi, the relatively new United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, to go public last week, having a go at Australia for our governments treatment of unvisaed asylum seekers who arrived in Australia by boat? He repeated UNHCRs demand that Australia terminate offshore processing of asylum seekers on Nauru and Manus Island and that we not outsource our responsibilities to others.

July 27, 2017

TIM LINDSEY. Jokowis dilemma: turning Islamists into civil rights heroes?

Indonesias emergency law, enacted in response to the growing disruptive influence of Islamist hard-liners, could be a blow to the open, liberal democracy that Indonesian reformers have been trying to build ever since the fall of Soeharto in 1998. And it has the ironic result of forcing civil society groups that are usually against the hard-liners into their camp.

July 12, 2017

JOHN AUSTEN. Does Infrastructure Australia understand its ideas for public transport franchising?

A recent report by Infrastructure Australia recommends franchising state public transport services, with Commonwealth incentives for so doing. It claimed that this would realise around $16 bn of financial savings, which could be spent on infrastructure. The report assumed there to be inherent but undisclosed inefficiencies in state government services, without providing evidence of such inefficiencies.

July 23, 2017

CESAR JARAMILLO. Canada's opposition to the nuclear weapons ban treaty has degraded its reputation on disarmament, at home and abroad. An open letter to Justin Trudeau on the banning of nuclear weapons

Dear Mr. Trudeau,

You recently dismissed this years multilateral process to negotiate a legal prohibition of nuclear weapons as useless. Im afraid you were misinformed: it was anything but.

July 26, 2017

IAN MCAULEY. Dutton's new super ministry: will it make us safer?

The Governments proposed Home Affairs mega ministry, if it concentrates resources and public attention on Islamic terrorism, could make us less safe from other threats to our public safety.

July 25, 2017

JAMES O'NEILL. Germanys Ostpolitik in the Modern Era

Germany recognises that there is a fundamental shift in the economic, political and military balance of power to the east. It is now flexing its political muscle to match its economic might.

July 24, 2017

RICHARD WOOLCOTT. Government policies have made us less safe.

The establishment of an enlarged Department of Home Affairs under the ministerial control of Peter Dutton is an unnecessary mistaken policy.

August 6, 2025

US’ deceitful tactic will have wide consequences

Richard Cullen says the Pentagon launched illegal attack on Iran while Trump claimed commitment to diplomacy.

July 25, 2025

The new pricing scam: How surveillance pricing exploits us all

Imagine booking an Uber ride on your shiny new iPhone 16, only to discover it costs $10 more than the same trip booked on your friend’s older Android.

July 23, 2025

Time to clarify the scope for bipartisan cooperation in a new Federal Parliament

It would be wise if the Prime Minister and the new Leader of the Opposition were to meet early in this new Federal Parliament to clarify what they think is the desirable and possible scope for bipartisan cooperation.

July 16, 2025

More than 5800 Gaza children diagnosed with malnutrition in June: UNICEF

“Children’s bodies are wasting away,” the agency said. “This is not just a nutrition crisis. It’s a child survival emergency.”

July 31, 2025

'How Israel defends itself matters'

Remember that declaration? It was a clear assertion from the Australian Government that the Israeli military response to the terrorist attack by Hamas on 7 October 2023 must have civilised limits.

August 18, 2025

A focus on consumption is the wrong way to go

In many countries around the world, from China to the US to Australia, there is concern that people are not spending enough of their money. They are saving it.

July 10, 2017

TONY KEVIN. Hamburg G20 : Much was achieved

Angela Merkels firm and statesmanlike chairmanship steered the Hamburg G20 to a content-rich, global economics and climate change-dominated leaders declaration https://www.g20.org/gipfeldokumente/G20-leaders-declaration.pdf.

August 15, 2025

Recognition of Palestine only a start

Prime Minister Albanese’s announcement on 11 August that Australia will recognise the state of Palestine is a dramatic break with the past.

August 13, 2025

Australian Jewish Association accused of hate campaign: Landmark legal action launched

The Australian Jewish Association and its charity arm, the Australian Jewish Association Tzedakah Incorporated, are facing a landmark legal challenge after more than a year of alleged racial and religious vilification targeting Palestinians and Muslims.

July 17, 2025

Antisemitism and abuse of power

In order to understand that word it is necessary to de-construct it and to understand its origin and history.

July 29, 2025

Is it just biosecurity that should worry us, or is there a much bigger danger?

Having consistently been reassured that “the Albanese Labor Government will never compromise on biosecurity”, we now learn that the government has lifted the ban on imports of beef raised in Mexico and Canada and finished in the US.

August 11, 2025

When war criminals are nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, what does 'peace' even mean?

In 1939, a member of the Swedish parliament nominated Adolf Hitler for the Nobel Peace Prize.

August 14, 2025

The sham of Australia's recognition of Palestine: Hope, but light on glory

Australia’s recognition of Palestine, like that of other Western countries, is a step in the right direction, but it remains a sham.

August 2, 2025

Worst-case scenario of famine unfolding in the Gaza Strip

According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a worst-case scenario of famine is unfolding in the Gaza Strip.

August 1, 2025

The politics of kindness and fairness

Aside from cheering and the long list of thank yous that accompanied Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s 2025 election victory speech, the quote that really cut through was: “…the Australian voters have voted for fairness, aspiration and opportunity for all, for the strength to show courage in adversity and kindness to those in need”.

July 24, 2025

Will Labor take Australia further from the global core?

As Anthony Albanese opens a new term and Treasurer Jim Chalmers signals a renewed focus on “abundance,” Australia stands at a pivotal juncture. Will Labor seize the opportunity to lead the nation into a high-value, sovereign economic future—or simply double down on the market-led path that has kept us stranded in the semiperiphery?

July 28, 2025

How’s my lippy? Polishing up impression management and memes

Nearly half a century ago Neville Wran, the gravel voiced powerbroking NSW Labor Premier from 1976-86, perfected the art of orchestrating TV press conferences. If a pesky journalist shoved a microphone in his face and asked a difficult question, Wran would just turn away from the offending mike and camera, using his eyes to invite someone else to ask their question. No sound, no visual, no story. Pretty Nifty indeed.

August 4, 2025

The rise of totalitarianism – 12 similarities between 1930s Germany and 2020s America - Part 1

The parallels between today’s America and the Germany of a century ago are profound – and are becoming more relevant with each passing day. Sadly, what was considered inconceivable a few years ago has now become a possibility: the development of a totalitarian state in America.

July 30, 2025

International law not only abused – but abandoned

As the world watches the destruction of Gaza unfold in real time, the legitimacy of international law faces a crisis more profound than any it has seen since its post-WWII codification.

July 19, 2025

Israel's final Gaza solution

Reports of a shocking Israeli Gaza “solution” that aims to ethnically cleanse Gaza of all Palestinians by establishing so-called Humanitarian Transit Areas or concentration camps has surfaced in Israeli and other media.

July 27, 2017

STEPHEN LEEDER. Comparing health systems in 11 countries

A new report comparing health systems in eleven countries gives Australia a pat on the back but not for equity. Whats going on?

August 8, 2025

The shabby and ludicrous politics of provocation, self-defence and divine right

As with other wars, questions of provocation, self-defence and divine right or entitlement are central themes of what the Western mainstream media have had to say about the war in Ukraine, the genocide in Gaza, and the attacks on Iran by the US and Israel in June 2025.

August 5, 2025

The rise of totalitarianism – 12 similarities between 1930s Germany and 2020s America - Part 2

August 9, 2025

Gaza doesn’t need another gesture, it needs real action

Like many Australians watching the unfolding devastation in Gaza, I read about Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s recent announcement of $20 million in additional humanitarian aid with mixed emotions.

July 18, 2025

The geopolitical context of Albanese's China visit

Prime Minister Albanese and I have a few things in common. We were both born on 2 March and we have both been in car accidents, and as I write this, we are both in the People’s Republic of China.

August 3, 2017

JIM COOMBS. What Economic Policy should be about

The idea that government economic policy should only be about making capitalist enterprise easier is just plain wrong. It should be trying to make it better for the nation.

July 22, 2025

Yousef Aljamal: The war on memory and writing through a genocide

Sitting opposite me in my black leather captain’s chair, looking more like a bouncer than a writer, was Yousef Aljamal, co-author of Displaced in Gaza – stories from the Gaza Genocide.

July 11, 2025

The ANU School of Music: Requiem for a Dream?

On 20 September this year, the School of Music at ANU (formally the Canberra School of Music) should be celebrating its 60th anniversary.

August 12, 2025

Eleven opportunities for Australia

The Pacific Peace Conference was held in Brisbane on 2 August 2025.

August 1, 2017

PAUL BUDDE. Mid-year NBN assessment.

The rollout of the NBN has been gathering pace, but many problems remain. Most of the issues mentioned below have been addressed by me at various Senate Inquiries over the last decade. The fact that they have not been addressed and/or resolved is an indication that politicians have so far failed to deal with them.

August 16, 2025

Recognition of Palestine: A neocolonial, feel-good gesture

Recognition of Palestine is a “feel-good” gesture that will not achieve any tangible benefits for the Palestinian people and amounts to a neocolonial denial of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.

August 7, 2025

Algal bloom: first peoples ngamath-sea country

A civilisation that proves incapable of solving the problems it creates is a decadent civilisation. – Aime Cesaire.

August 2, 2017

LINDA SIMON. A crisis approach to reform in the VET sector

M_any of us who write about vocational education and training (VET) are asked not to use the word crisis as it undermines confidence in the system. Unfortunately it will take a lot more than a change of language to restore consumer confidence, as private training providers continue their financial collapse and students are left stranded._

July 16, 2017

PETER DAY. Show me the money!

Crickets two most powerful bodies have reached an impasse over pay. The enmity between the two runs deep blinking first aint an option. Thus, all our elite players (230+) are currently unemployed. HOWZAT for a dilemma?

July 12, 2017

ALLAN PATIENCE. The failure of Australian conservatism.

Tony Abbott has announced his intention to stay in politics in order to protect and promote what he calls liberal conservative values. He claims his values are at the very heart of Liberal Party philosophy. Meanwhile Cory Bernardi seeks to trump this by asserting that his new party is the one true home of Australian conservatism. What this latest ideological imbroglio points to is the fact that the Australian Liberal Party has always been an unconsummated marriage between liberalism and conservatism. Perhaps Liberal Party supporters need reminding that nearly all unconsummated marriages end up in bitter divorce.

July 23, 2017

MARGARET O'CONNOR. Reforming the Catholic Church: it's up to the laity

The task of reform of the Catholic Church has to fall to the Church’s laity. This work is too important to be led by media figures and personalities with their twitter accounts, large public platforms and endless opinions.

July 24, 2017

MUNGO MacCALLUM. Greek Wisdom.

The Greeks said it succinctly: the system of tyranny is only as good as the worst man who can become a tyrant. Step forward, Peter Craig Dutton, Master of the Universe.

July 10, 2017

GEOFF MILLER. Kim Jong Un - Forcing the pace, or forging a peace?

Kim Jong Uns continual provocation of the United States can probably be best explained as a considered strategy to bring about negotiations between the two.

July 20, 2017

JIM COOMBS : Bean Counters Stand Up and Be Counted

Budget problems arise for governments who dont control spending. Where are their financial advisers when gross overspending takes place. No business could survive the profligacy of our governments spending.

July 30, 2017

WILLIAM GRIMM. Why have US Catholics turned right? And Paul's epistle to the Fallopians

American Catholics have traditionally supported the Democratic Party, but a combination of episcopal intransigence, Democratic abortion policies and a primitive cast to US society have brought about a change.

August 6, 2017

ANDREW FARRAN. Afghanistan in the wake of the Pakistan Prime Minister's dismissal

President Trump must decide soon whether the US should remain in a holding pattern in Afghanistan. As Trump has little personal skin in the war to this point he may decide that enough is enough leaving everyone to ponder what it was all about. Is the recent dismissal of the Pakistani Prime Minister a further complication?

August 2, 2017

DOUGLAS NEWTON. The Centenary of the Third Battle of Ypres

On 31 July 1917, one hundred years ago, Britain launched the Third Battle of Ypres on the Western Front. It would climax in the Battle of Passchendaele in November. During this centenary, will the Australian people be showered with stories of special valour? Or will there be more clear-eyed commentary? The catastrophe that unfolded in Flanders is an object lesson in what happens when an Australian government allows our Allies to dominate in the high diplomacy of war, exposing our own troops to horrific suffering for dubious goals.

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal