September 4, 2025

If you really want some subs – try this

While there is no doubt that our acquisition of nuclear subs from the US will either be massively delayed and over budget or binned on some Trumpian whim, what’s worse is that we may never get our multi-billion dollar deposit back if that occurs.

September 17, 2025

Confucius Institute decline signals China’s soft power shift

While Chinese soft power is thriving in the so-called “Global South”, it is waning elsewhere.

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?

August 28, 2025

Death or displacement, ‘Please no more polite language about the Netanyahu evil’

Gazans experiencing 688 days of bombing and killing now face Netanyahu’s latest final solution the destruction of Gaza City and displacement of the surviving population.

September 13, 2025

The long-term damaging effects of COVID

Just as the Great Plague ravaged Europe and changed the course of history, we face a different society and future because of the COVID pandemic. Differing responses to dealing with the virus reveal gaping holes in the social fabric.

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 20, 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 17, 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 26, 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 to give 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 10, 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 24, 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 28, 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 26, 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 8, 2017

John Menadue. Murdoch’s 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 27, 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 society’s 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 10, 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 didn’t 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 Oprah’s 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.

September 23, 2025

The Australian prime minister has little time left to salvage his place in history

For many months now, Australians have been calling for our prime minister to accept his responsibility as the nation’s leader to sanction Israel in response to its military atrocities and ethnic cleansing in Gaza.

September 6, 2025

Speaking terrorism Part 2: Evading reality, atrocities and self-image

When the study of history, politics, and society is policed by regimes which limit, or even discourage, freedom of speech in general and academic freedom in particular — and the current wars in the Middle East, which attract criticisms of Zionism and the policies of Israel, are a few cases in point — the preconditions for quietism and scholasticide – are established.

September 25, 2025

Ghosts in the newsroom: How Abe’s Japan became Trump’s blueprint

Japan had Trump before America did: Shinzo Abe, grandson of a war criminal, muzzled the press, bullied broadcasters, and faked statistics. Now Trump, the GOP, and Disney are replaying the script.

September 17, 2025

Volunteer doctors describe how Israeli troops ‘deliberately targeted’ Gaza children

“How is it possible that, in this small hospital, four children are lying here with gunshot wounds to the head – all admitted within the past 48 hours?” said one US trauma surgeon.

September 19, 2025

Wind energy faces 'existential challenge' as solar and battery hybrids beat it on costs

The Australian wind industry has gathered in Melbourne to confront an uncomfortable but unavoidable truth: The cost of wind turbines has almost doubled from just a few years ago, and the technology is now being beaten on price by the combined forces of solar and battery storage.

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.

September 5, 2025

Gaza’s Christians refuse to abandon churches before Israeli attack

Two of Gaza City’s churches are in areas where Israel has ordered Palestinians to leave before a planned attack.

September 3, 2025

Ishiba’s China policy increasingly contested after electoral setback

In Japan’s July 2025 Upper House elections, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner Komeito suffered a major defeat, while conservative parties such as Sanseito and the Conservative Party of Japan made significant gains.

August 28, 2025

The West’s long struggle against genocide prevention: Obliteration and complicity

Dr. Steinbock’s highly topical new book _The Obliteration Doctrine_ is about the genocide in Gaza, the West’s complicity and long struggle against genocide prevention. In this Q&A with Dr. Steinbock, we will focus on just a few themes of the his highly topical new book.

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.

September 2, 2025

UNGA: Move September meeting to Geneva to allow Palestinians to participate

In response to the US State Department’s decision to deny visas to Palestinian Authority officials ahead of the September UN General Assembly meeting, DAWN issues the following statement:

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.

September 20, 2025

In Gaza, Western colonialism has been unmasked

Through Israel and the ideology of Zionism, Western elites reinvented their ugly, racist system of control and sold it as a “moral” cause. Now the game is up.

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.

September 9, 2025

The State of the ‘State of Palestine’

The upcoming United Nations General Assembly may show whether those nations who have pledged to support a Palestinian state really mean business.

August 26, 2025

The great dying

The heedless march of man has now laid waste to 60% of the planet’s land surface area, putting humanity’s own future at risk, the latest science reports.

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.

October 1, 2025

Air temperatures over Antarctica have soared 35ºC above average. What does this unusual event mean for Australia?

Right now, cold air high above Antarctica is up to 35ºC warmer than normal. Normally, strong winds and the lack of sun would keep the temperature at around –55°C. But it’s risen sharply to around –20°C.

September 26, 2025

Reclaiming illegally granted Indigenous land: An interview with Wiradjuri man Paul Towney

Proud Wiradjuri descendant Paul Towney was out in front of the Federal Court of Australia on Gadigal land on Macquarie Street in Sydney city on 19 September 2025.

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.

September 29, 2025

Labor has a narrow window to effect change

Australia is a quarter of the way into the twenty-first century and stuck on a trajectory that cannot last.

September 22, 2025

Pope Leo is right: Uber-wealthy CEOs like Musk are paid too much

But there’s a solution: The recently introduced Tax Excessive CEO Pay Act would base the CEO-worker pay ratio on five-year averages of the total compensation for a firm’s highest-paid executive and median worker.

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.

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal