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Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal
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Letters
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”.

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

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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 5, 2025

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.

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.

October 29, 2025

Trump’s risky American economy

Trump’s tariffs, migration and fiscal policies are endangering the American economy, and risk destroying American claims to global leadership.

December 1, 2025

Australia's strategic choices in a fragmenting global order

With Trump 2.0, the global order is changing and changing rapidly.

November 22, 2025

A calculated plot, an ambush, a coup

Five decades on from the dismissal of the Whitlam government, Australia is seeing a notable shift in the narrative that now recognises it as a calculated coup, and an assault on the conventions of government.

October 24, 2025

Albo, Trump and China: No one likes a loser

The first obvious takeaway is that our prime minister has been wise not to heed the Austral Americans urging him to get to Washington as soon as possible.

December 6, 2025

China’s challenge is explaining why it succeeded

Western commentary often dwells on China’s problems while overlooking the cultural and historical foundations of its extraordinary achievements. Understanding both is essential to informed judgement.

December 3, 2025

America’s justification for attacking Venezuela: Part 1 – a calculated insult to us all

The United States’ escalating actions against Venezuela reveal more about imperial power, criminal methods and strategic denial than any genuine concern about drugs or rule of law.

November 18, 2025

Gaza winter catastrophe repeating in tents that resist neither wind nor rain

The seasons change, but for those fighting for survival through wet winters and baking summers in Gaza’s tents, the suffering remains.

October 30, 2025

Gunboat hypocrisy in the Caribbean

Even as Donald Trump crisscrosses the globe, bringing his purported peacemaking skills to parts of the world that did not even know they were at war, his administration has openly been preparing for militarised regime change in Venezuela. Neighbouring Colombia too isn’t safe.

November 17, 2025

How did Australian universities go from free education to $50,000 arts degrees in 50 years?

Australians think students are being asked to pay far too much for their degrees. Just under half (47%) of Australians  surveyed by YouGov in June 2025 believe a worker on an average income should be able to pay off the debt for a standard three-year degree within five years. When it comes to the cost of a degree, 58% believe a student should pay $5000 or less per year – less than a third of what arts students now pay.

November 2, 2025

Prince Andrew’s ‘one peppercorn’ lease exposes how little is known about royal finances

In announcing that Prince Andrew would no longer use his title or honours, Buckingham Palace hoped to shift the spotlight away from his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, and the accusations of sexual abuse he has faced (and denied).

October 18, 2025

Mr Albanese goes to Washington

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is scheduled to meet President Donald Trump in Washington on 20 October.

November 26, 2025

Why the trauma community must break its silence on Gaza

As Gaza reels from unimaginable physical and psychological harm, the global trauma healing community has remained largely silent. Breaking that silence is essential if therapeutic work is to remain honest, ethical and grounded in the reality clients bring into the room.

December 13, 2025

How to navigate the Support at Home maze

Australia’s revamped aged care system was supposed to streamline access and improve support. Instead, older people are confronting long waits, rising costs, confusing assessments and opaque rules that too often leave them without the help they need.

December 7, 2025

Ceding the future to China

Delivered as remarks to Brown University’s Watson School during its “China Chat” series, Chas Freeman reflects on China’s return to global prominence and the United States’ accelerating retreat from the international order it once led – and asks what coexistence looks like as power shifts in the 21st century.

October 13, 2025

Lack of China capability can only do harm to society: Our current situation is a disgrace

In March 2023, the Australian Academy of the Humanities sounded the alarm on the decline in our understanding and knowledge of China through a report on “ Australia’s China Knowledge Capability”.

January 17, 2019

KIM WINGEREI. Brexit chaos - the failures of Westminster

As the Brexit chaos continues, it is worth reflecting on the background that led Britain to where it is today - with no ending in sight. The root cause lays in how the Westminster system is failing to serve the people.

February 23, 2018

Emma Alberici’s now more critical tax cuts ‘analysis’ reposted by ABC

After a bitter dispute between ABC management and their star chief economics correspondent,  Emma Alberici, the ABC today reposted her ‘analysis’ of the Turnbull government’s plan for big corporate tax cuts.

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