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.

March 8, 2026

When is an illegal war morally defensible?

Some illegal uses of force have been judged morally defensible, as in Kosovo in 1999. But the US–Israel war on Iran fails that test – lacking lawful authority, credible motives and a plausible path to a better outcome.

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.

March 14, 2026

Australia’s multicultural success cannot be taken for granted

Australia’s multicultural project has delivered enormous social and economic benefits, but recent governments have allowed it to drift, weakening social cohesion and leadership when it needs renewed attention most.

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.

March 18, 2026

Iran war may accelerate a new Middle East security order

The war on Iran may have far-reaching consequences for Gulf security, regional alliances and the future of the US presence in the Middle East. Eugene Doyle talks with former US Ambassador Chas Freeman, to try and see the road ahead.

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.

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.

February 3, 2026

Making polluters pay could fix Australia’s climate problem – and its budget

A new report shows how making polluters pay will not only diminish the threat from climate change, but it can also help restore the budget and the economy.

January 18, 2026

Dangerously alive: summer, sharks and a ritual encounter with danger

A beach swim, a shark warning and a familiar summer ritual open up bigger questions about safety, fear, and what it means to feel alive.

January 28, 2026

The United States is a lawless and dangerous ally. What is Australia's Plan B?

Mark Carney’s Davos speech highlights a world in rupture, not transition. Australia needs to rethink its dependence on the United States and begin preparing a credible Plan B.

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.

March 10, 2026

Angus Taylor’s immigration rhetoric faces policy reality

Calls to reduce immigration by “raising standards” sound tough, but current visa settings are already far tighter than in 2022 and further cuts would come with economic costs.

February 11, 2026

When peaceful protest is allowed to work, democracy works

Melbourne’s mass protest against the visit of Israel President Isaac Herzog showed how large, diverse crowds can assemble peacefully when police exercise restraint and common sense. Sydney’s response points to a deeper failure of judgment about protest, power and democracy.

February 1, 2026

Mark Carney – Values: an economist's guide to everything that matters

Mark Carney argues that treating price as a proxy for value has driven crises in finance, health and climate. His book offers a roadmap for rebuilding trust, fairness and resilience.

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, 2026

"Go ahead – make my book list": slings and arrows, and Eastwood

Shawn Levy’s Clint Eastwood biography captures the contradictions of a screen icon — and the craft behind a career still shaping popular cinema.

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 19, 2026

Gory sausage making at the Labor knackery

“Social coherence” is being invoked everywhere, but public trust is fraying. Political panic, rushed laws and weak leadership are deepening division, not repairing it.

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 18, 2026

Protests and consequences: Gaza and Iran

Australians can condemn repression in Iran and still focus on Gaza, where our government’s leverage is real and our moral responsibility is direct.

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.

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal