November 16, 2025

Trump’s ploy at the UN is American imperialism masquerading as a peace process

The Trump administration is pushing an Israeli-crafted resolution at the UN Security Council aimed at eliminating the possibility of a State of Palestine.

October 11, 2025

Celebrate the ceasefire, but don’t forget: Gaza survived on its own

Western leaders now claim credit for “peace”, but Gaza’s survival belongs to its people alone.

December 9, 2025

Australia’s cost-of-living crisis has a housing problem

Cost-of-living pressures dominate political debate, but the sharpest strain is not falling incomes. It is housing costs, particularly for first-home buyers, fuelled by stagnant productivity and chronic undersupply where people want to live.

November 23, 2025

The UN embraces colonialism: the Security Council and the US Gaza plan

The Security Council’s backing of the Trump plan for Gaza ignores international law, punishes the Palestinians, and rewards those responsible for genocide.

January 15, 2026

I cannot be party to silencing writers, which is why I resigned as director of Adelaide writers’ week

Cancelling the Australian Palestinian author Randa Abdel-Fattah weakens freedom of speech and is the harbinger of a less free nation.

November 21, 2025

Working with PM Fraser - a country divided - Part 3

John Menadue stayed on as the most senior public servant in the land, after the trauma of the Dismissal. In this 5-part series he details what life was like working with PM Fraser. Given his closeness to Whitlam, some of his conclusions are surprising.

December 11, 2025

2025 in Review: Bullies and sycophants, cowardice on high, courage from below

A year defined by bullying power politics, media cowardice and moral failure – alongside rare but vital acts of courage that point to a different future.

October 10, 2025

Trump says Israel and Hamas sign off on first phase of Gaza ceasefire plan

Mediator Qatar said more details of the agreement would be announced at a later date.

December 4, 2025

Australia’s immigration 'debate' is rhetoric, not policy

Australia is awash with immigration rhetoric, but little of it is grounded in evidence, clear definitions or serious policy alternatives. Rather than an informed public debate, Australians are being offered slogans, blame and ambiguity.

October 19, 2025

Was the gospel preached at Charlie Kirk's memorial service?

It is now more than a month since Charlie Kirk’s murder (10 September) and memorial service (21 September).

November 1, 2025

Australian Palestinian farm in the occupied West Bank raided by Israeli settlers

Australian citizen, Palestinian farmer and vigneron Sari Kassis, whose family company Domaine Kassis wines sells both locally and overseas, has reported that over the past two weeks there has been a rapid increase in destructive raids on his farm by the Israeli “Hilltop Youth”.

December 19, 2025

A better symbol

After the Bondi massacre, grief was swiftly overtaken by politics. Public mourning and the misuse of symbols raise hard questions about solidarity, power and what genuinely brings light.

November 30, 2025

New architecture, old assumptions: Australia and the China question

Foreign Minister Penny Wong speaks of balance, equality and a new regional order – yet Australia’s China policy still carries Cold War assumptions that risk strategy, prosperity and peace.

November 10, 2025

‘Mr Whitlam’s style’ – Part I

“I had no contemporary political heroes. I preferred Labor values to Liberal ones. I believed in a mixed economy. I disliked the people who’d got us into the Vietnam war. I was grateful to those who’d got us out. I admired Gough Whitlam, but not as much as he did.”

November 15, 2025

Keating on the malevolence and brutality of The Dismissal

Paul Keating had just been appointed to his first ministry when the governor-general brought it all crashing down on November 11. The former prime minister is interviewed by Niki Savva.

November 20, 2025

Working with PM Fraser - the business view - Part 2

January 10, 2026

Francesca Albanese and the lonely road of defiance

The UN special rapporteur investigating Gaza is sanctioned, blacklisted and treated as a criminal. The response reveals how power reacts when accountability is applied to the powerful.

October 7, 2025

Secret cargo: Inside Australia's covert F-35 parts pipeline to Israel

At least 68 shipments of F-35 fighter jet parts have been flown on commercial passenger planes to Israel from Australia as recently as last month, leaked documents reveal.

October 6, 2025

7 October 2023: What really happened? Part 1

At dawn, on 7 October 2023, Hamas fighters blast over 100 holes in the walls and fences that separate the Gaza Strip from Israel.

January 16, 2026

Banning slogans won’t build social cohesion

After Bondi, New South Wales politicians want to ban words and slogans. But rushed laws could punish political speech, not protect the public.

October 15, 2025

Ceasefire sparks fresh calls for global media access to Gaza

Press groups are also demanding justice for the more than 200 journalists slaughtered in Palestinian territory over the past two years.

January 12, 2026

Grief, proximity and the failure of moral judgement

After Bondi, intense grief and fear shaped public response. But emotional proximity can distort moral judgement, narrowing debate and crowding out the analysis needed to prevent future violence.

November 11, 2025

The Second Dismissal

In an extract from The Double Dismissal, Emeritus Professor Jenny Hocking, distinguished fellow of the Whitlam Institute within Western Sydney University, and Dr Matt Harvey, senior lecturer at Victoria University of Technology, describe the chaos that led to two dismissals on 11 November.

January 6, 2026

Bondi, Christchurch and what a Royal Commission can – and can’t – do

After four ideologically driven attacks in six years, Australia is again asking how to respond. The Christchurch Royal Commission offers a nearby example of how inquiry, grief and prevention can be approached.

October 12, 2025

Is this the moment that will define cricket's future?

On 8 October, what may turn out to be a huge moment for the game of cricket hit the news: Australian Test captain Pat Cummins and all-format Australian player Travis Head were reported to have been offered nearly $10 million each a few months ago to join cricket’s international T20 circuit.

December 20, 2025

Bondi demands answers – and a Royal Commission

Revelations about overseas training, intelligence failures and police responses raise urgent questions that cannot be left to internal reviews.

December 16, 2025

Blame, grief and responsibility after Bondi

In the aftermath of a devastating attack on Sydney’s Jewish community, political leaders must resist the urge to weaponise grief or assign blame.

December 5, 2025

Fear versus facts: why migrants strengthen Australia

Australia’s multicultural society is not a modern experiment or a social crisis. It is the product of shared effort, grounded in First Nations custodianship and strengthened by generations of migrants who have helped build the nation’s economy, culture and community life.

November 24, 2025

Juvenile crime is a very complex issue

When governments resort to ‘adult crime, adult time’ sentencing, they are shifting the blame onto children for the failure of adults to come to grips with the necessary policies and programs to tackle youth crime.

November 8, 2025

Murdoch, the Dismissal and my job in Japan

Rupert Murdoch played a critical role in the Dismissal. He knew how to bring pressure on Kerr and provided strong support for Malcolm Fraser.

October 22, 2025

On Israel, Zionism and being Jewish

No political conflict contains as many journalistic minefields as that between Israel and Palestine.

November 7, 2025

The Prince and the Dismissal

Anthony Albanese recently told us with bated breath from Balmoral Castle that Charles “is someone who is very interested in Australia”. “Interested “would be an understatement.

November 5, 2025

The second Dismissal – the loans affair and meetings with Kerr

The second part in a series of first-hand accounts of the Dismissal, from the man who was there: John Menadue.

January 7, 2026

Rethinking the call for a royal commission after Bondi

After initially calling for a federal royal commission into the Bondi attack, Greg Barns and Kym Davey explain why they have changed their minds – and why existing legal processes may offer greater accountability without inflaming division.

December 15, 2025

A beginners guide to Australian aged care policy in 2025

Stereotypes about wealthy baby boomers are skewing aged care policy. New fees, the shift to Support at Home, and pressures on community services risk leaving many older Australians without affordable, safe support. The consequences will be felt across families, hospitals and future generations.

October 26, 2025

New Australian national intelligence chief faces a people challenge

At a time in our history when the US tells us that Australia is valued mainly for the sacrifice we are expected to make in joining its strategy against China, our Prime Minister is undermined by intelligence that is incapable of dealing with the bifurcated risk now emerging starkly.

December 12, 2025

What didn't happen in 2025

As leaders promised change at home and abroad, 2025 was shaped less by decisive action than by stalled reforms, broken assurances and opportunities left untouched.

October 31, 2025

Gaza under siege: The continuation of Zionist demographic cleansing policies since the 19th century

Israeli propaganda tries to present the war on Gaza as a “defensive reaction.” Yet the historical record tells a very different story: systematic genocide, the destruction of civilian life and deliberate attempts to uproot entire populations. All of this is a direct continuation of Zionist colonial policies that began in the late 19th century.

October 14, 2025

Israel’s response to the International Court of Justice

The ceasefire plan in Gaza has dominated our news in recent days and weeks. One aspect of the plan is the obligation of Israel in the first phase to release a number — a large number — of Palestinian prisoners.

December 14, 2025

Would Donald Trump pass an Australian Values test?

As the Coalition considers adding an Australian Values test to the Character Test, Abul Rizvi asks a simple question: what happens when you apply it to someone whose behaviour is extensively documented – like Donald Trump?

November 4, 2025

Ambush and deceit

The first in a series of first-hand accounts of the Dismissal, from the man who was there: John Menadue.

January 13, 2026

There must be an accounting when the music stops

After Bondi, public anxiety, political pressure and rising criticism of Israel have collided. As definitions of antisemitism are contested, government judgement, media influence and social cohesion are under strain.

January 5, 2026

Best of 2025 - Furious Modi rejects Trump’s phone calls – Asian Media Report

In Asian media this week: India turns its attention to Japan and China. Plus: Trump wants US to own land used for bases in Korea; Despair turning young refugees to armed insurrection; Beijing pushing AI as next growth-engine; Manila ramps up its anti-China stance; The wounds that time cannot heal.

January 5, 2025

Best of 2025 - Furious Modi rejects Trump’s phone calls – Asian Media Report

October 28, 2025

The three core myths driving Israel’s war on Palestine

Israeli journalist Gideon Levy, one of the most outspoken moral critics within Israel itself, once summarised what he called the “three core values of Israeli society”: the belief that Jews are the chosen people; that they are the world’s ultimate victims; and that Palestinians are not equal human beings.

October 8, 2025

7 October not a day to abuse protesters

When it comes to the domestic political fallout from the Gaza conflict, there are no more reliable and uncritical friends of Israel than Victoria’s Premier Jacinta Allan and her New South Wales counterpart Chris Minns.

November 27, 2025

The inflation myth propping up private school privilege

Private schools regularly blame inflation for rising fees, yet funding arrangements mean they are largely compensated for cost increases. Their fee-setting power widens the resource gap while feeding back into inflation itself.

October 17, 2025

Stark contrasts in health of returning hostages

Peter Slezak has been keeping a watching brief on the both harrowing and joyous scenes as prisoners and hostages from Palestine and Israel were freed this week. He has gathered sources for P&I readers and observes the following.

January 11, 2026

The USA today: a derangement threatening the World

The response to events in Venezuela exposes how breaches of international law are absorbed, reframed, and normalised – and what that reveals about power, decadence, and global silence.

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal