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Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal

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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 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.

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 15, 2026

Australians for Humanity – Demand that the invitation to the President of Israel to visit this country be immediately withdrawn

A call to withdraw President Herzog’s invitation, uphold international law, and defend free speech and the right to protest.

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.

January 9, 2026

Best of 2025 - Recognition of the Palestinian State without halting the genocide: A meaningless decision

Since the occurrence of the war in October 2023, which shocked the conscience of the world, bringing the Palestinian question back to the forefront of international attention, much more legitimacy has accrued to the rights of the Palestinians.

January 12, 2026

Best of 2025 - Mr Albanese goes to Washington

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

January 16, 2026

Iran in the vortex: what's really happening

As protests unfold in Iran, Israeli and US figures openly talk of regime collapse. Foreign interference risks worsening violence and derailing change from within.

January 6, 2026

Best of 2025 - Dreyfus leaves little legacy

In his term as attorney-general, Mark Dreyfus failed to address many big issues.

January 7, 2026

Best of 2025 - Why key leaders attended China’s military parade – Asian Media Report

In Asian media this week: Nations “must adapt” to new power politics. Plus: Raid “will hurt” South Korea’s US investments; Trump’s strategic shift towards Pakistan; What’s next after Nepal’s 8 September massacre; Thailand gets its first minority government; Why India has the world’s biggest diaspora.

January 8, 2026

Best of 2025 - What game is he playing? The PM and AUKUS

As the Australian prime minister prepares for his visit to the UN in New York next week, Robert Macklin looks into what Anthony Albanese might be hoping for on the trilateral security deal.

January 13, 2026

Best of 2025 - Chris Sidoti on the International Court of Justice Gaza ruling

Yuji Iwasawa, president of the UN’s highest court, says international law prohibits the use of starvation of the civilian population as a method of warfare.

January 10, 2026

Best of 2025 - No justice or peace for Palestinians in Trump’s Plan

The Trump Plan is designed to reframe the issues in favour of Israel. Palestinians have been betrayed again.

January 11, 2026

Best of 2025 - A masterclass in agency: What Singapore can teach Australia about China

Singapore’s new Prime Minister Lawrence Wong sat down with the ABC on 2 October and offered something rare in Australia’s China debate: clarity, confidence, and a middle-power strategy that doesn’t involve shouting or submission.

January 14, 2026

Why Australia should walk away from AUKUS

Trump’s actions in Venezuela and rhetoric elsewhere confirm that the United States no longer respects international law or allied interests. Australia should rethink its strategic dependence accordingly.

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.

November 17, 2025

Message from the editor

Thanks to all for the terrific response to our new venture Pearlcast which, if you haven’t caught it yet, focused on the Dismissal of the Whitlam Government.

November 9, 2025

To fix the economy, fix housing

Australia’s economy is in a post-pandemic slump. To dig us out, state and federal governments must tackle the chronic shortage of housing in our biggest cities.

October 28, 2025

Raise the double standard high

There is a famous quote with many attributions but no firm source – “Sincerity is the most important thing in politics: once you can fake that, you’ve got it made!”

January 8, 2026

Best of 2025 - Genocide betrays the living and the dead

Genocide scholars Damir Mitric and Jill Klein have deep personal and professional experience in genocide and repercussions across generations. As the world watches in horror as the genocide in Gaza continues, they bring us their story.

December 19, 2025

Pearlcast: a year that overturned the old certainties

As 2025 draws to a close, the temptation is to look for neat summaries and settled conclusions. But in the latest episode of our podcast Pearlcast, that impulse is firmly resisted.

October 14, 2025

Takaichi’s victory will only accelerate the LDP’s decline

If the Liberal Democratic Party’s leaders thought that dumping Shigeru Ishiba as party president and prime minister would lead to greater party unity and make the LDP more popular with the general public, they were sorely mistaken.

November 26, 2025

Why Australia’s pro-globalisation consensus endures

Australia’s post-pandemic politics may look more divided, but fears of a rising populist backlash are overstated. Demographics, institutions and economic geography still anchor the nation’s long-standing consensus in favour of openness, migration and global integration.

November 24, 2025

Message from the Editor

First of all my thanks to those who’ve already made a donation to our end of year fundraiser. As many of you know we are absolutely independent and fund operations purely through the generosity of the Pearls and Irritations community.

October 12, 2025

The UN in Trump’s world and the implications for Australia’s independence

Unfair criticism has often been levelled at the UN. None has been so gratuitously nasty than President Trump’s 23 September 2025 General Assembly address.

December 22, 2025

Message from the Editor

I hope you have had time to read our offerings on the terrible shootings at Bondi this week. Amidst a thicket of coverage, here and overseas, many readers were struggling to process the tragic events.

December 20, 2025

China has neither the intent nor the capability to attack us

Australia faces no credible military threat from China. The real danger lies in uncritical alignment with US strategy, fear-driven rhetoric and the steady erosion of national sovereignty.

October 19, 2025

Israel returns Palestinian prisoners’ bodies with ‘signs of torture, mutilation and execution’

An unknown number of Palestinians abducted by Israel died or were killed while in custody; living former prisoners have described horrific and, sometimes, deadly torture.

October 15, 2025

Reclaiming care in the age of AI

Sixty years ago, the patient-doctor interaction was, at its best, about human beings connecting, engaging, listening, observing and caring.

October 8, 2025

Hundreds of thousands flood cities across Europe to demand end to genocide in Gaza

An estimated 250,000 people dressed in red crowded into Museum Square in Amsterdam, demanding that the Dutch government end its support for Israel.

November 25, 2025

Losing the democracy sausage vibe

The last federal election saw a sharp rise in harassment and aggression at polling places, according to submissions from around the country. From death threats to deception, the once-peaceful ritual of casting a vote is under threat – and Australia needs to act.

October 29, 2025

Whitlam dismissal secrets unearthed from the archives of the Canadian governor-general

This newly uncovered material, exclusively published by Crikey, is the first indication from Sir John Kerr himself that Queen Elizabeth II approved of the position he had taken during his dismissal of Gough Whitlam.

October 9, 2025

‘Disaster season’: What is that?

Anika Wells, in announcing a meeting with three telco giants to discuss Optus’s Triple Zero emergency call system catastrophe in September, referred to the need for Australians to have confidence in the system before the coming “disaster season”. By that she meant summer. Is there really such a season?

January 16, 2026

Best of 2025 - The boy who cried antisemitism

For two years, we’ve been told Australia is drowning in antisemitism. Every protest for Palestinian human rights, every mural, every chant criticising Israel has been hauled up as “evidence.”

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We recognise the First Peoples of this nation and their ongoing connection to culture and country. We acknowledge First Nations Peoples as the Traditional Owners, Custodians and Lore Keepers of the world's oldest living culture and pay respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.

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