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.

January 26, 2026

Trump, Greenland and Australia’s alliance reality check

Trump’s behaviour towards Greenland is a warning sign for alliances, values and Western credibility. Australia may need to weigh ANZUS more hard-headedly and build greater strategic autonomy.

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.

February 13, 2026

Grace Tame, free speech and the return of political punishment

Calls to strip Grace Tame of her Australian of the Year award over her protest speech highlight a troubling slide towards political punishment and selective free speech.

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 20, 2026

Greenland is why Rudd’s DC replacement must be a diplomat

Trump’s Washington runs on proximity, power and unpredictability. Australia’s next ambassador must be chosen for clarity, skill and seriousness.

February 26, 2026

Foreign fighters for Israel – beyond the reach of Australian law?

While the government vows to block the return of Australian women and children from Syria, hundreds of Australians who have served with the Israeli Defence Force face little scrutiny on their return – despite serious allegations of war crimes in Gaza.

February 12, 2026

Is Hanson planning to copy Trump on mass deportation?

One Nation’s promise to deport 75,000 undocumented migrants echoes Donald Trump’s approach, but the logistics, costs and risks of such a policy are far greater than the rhetoric suggests.

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.

February 21, 2026

Bring these Australian children home, PM. They did not make their own beds

Dozens of Australian women and children remain trapped in dangerous detention camps in north-east Syria, despite Australia’s legal obligations, available security powers, and repeated international requests for repatriation.

February 15, 2026

Dragged from prayer – how Muslim belonging became conditional in Australia

The police pulling Muslim men from prayer during protests against Isaac Herzog’s visit exposes how fragile Muslim belonging has become in Australia. Shaymaa Elkadi argues this was not a failure of judgment, but a political choice.

January 29, 2026

What Labor’s review reveals about tactical voting and the Teals

New figures from Labor’s post-election review shed light on a long-suspected pattern – extensive tactical voting by Labor supporters in Teal and independent contests, with implications for future elections.

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

February 23, 2026

Could old rivalries spur Albanese to act on human rights?

Kevin Rudd had the groundwork, the evidence and the political moment for a Human Rights Act – and still walked away. Anthony Albanese now has the same opportunity, and no obvious excuse not to take it.

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.

February 20, 2026

The three big challenges facing Angus Taylor

Angus Taylor has assembled his shadow ministry, but unresolved tensions with the Nationals, policy baggage from the last election and doubts about his own authority leave his leadership exposed.

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.

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 21, 2025

Holding on to hope – a Christmas reflection

In the shadow of the Bondi massacre, Christmas and Hanukkah sit side by side this year. Acts of courage and faith remind us how light is kept alive in dark times.

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.

January 25, 2026

Trump’s 'Peace Board' is imperialism in a new suit

Trump’s proposed “Board of Peace” is framed as a peace initiative, but it centralises authority, sidelines the vulnerable and rewards coercion. Australia should reject it rather than lend it legitimacy.

January 9, 2026

Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke should reject a visa application for Israeli President Herzog

Australia’s visa laws allow exclusion on grounds of character and incitement of discord. Those tests raise serious questions about whether Israel’s president should be welcomed while the killing in Gaza continues.

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 18, 2025

Looking for the wrong things: peace, power and the meaning of Christmas

As another bruising year ends, Christmas offers a reminder that peace is not found in power, wealth or spectacle, but in inner integrity, humility and care for others.

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.

January 31, 2026

Greenland and western hypocrisy over the rules-based international order

Western leaders defend the rules-based international order when it suits them, but remain largely silent as those same rules are breached by the United States and Israel. The result is a system that shields the powerful and abandons the vulnerable – most starkly in Palestine.

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal