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Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal
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Letters
November 19, 2025

It’s as if their lives do not matter

Many Rohingya have gone missing at sea, but this latest boat tragedy highlights ASEAN’s indifference.

November 26, 2025

Why multicultural aged care is the key to meeting Australia’s ageing challenge

Australia’s ageing population is growing faster than the systems built to support it, especially for culturally and linguistically diverse communities. A co-designed, public–private aged care model offers a practical, humane and economically sound path to meet this challenge before crisis overwhelms the system.

December 11, 2025

Blood, silence and history: questioning Indonesia’s 1965 narrative

As Indonesia prepares to release a new official national history, an Australian historian’s account of the 1965–66 mass killings threatens to reopen a long-suppressed debate about power, violence, and memory.

November 7, 2025

When truth can no longer be silenced

In Australia, secretive and remote institutions armed with increasingly restrictive laws are seriously eroding civic freedoms.

October 30, 2025

The (grossly misleading) Boyer lecture: Some things it forgot to mention

One of the lectures, entitled “ Australia is fricking amazing!” by Justin Wolfers was an ecstatic eulogy celebrating Australia’s achievements and institutions.

October 22, 2025

Trump CIA intervention in Venezuela risks another US war of choice, experts warn

“Using covert or military measures to destabilise or overthrow regimes reminds us of some of the most notorious episodes in American foreign policy,” said a former adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders.

December 16, 2025

A just transition can remake Australia if we choose to think bigger

Australia’s shift to renewable energy is a rare chance to redesign our economy and improve wellbeing, equity and social cohesion. A truly just transition would reshape much more than the energy system.

October 28, 2025

More defence spending, please – just not on the military

Donald Trump has pushed the Australian and other governments to increase defence spending. Defending society from threats is important, but there’s more to it than soldiers and weapons.

December 4, 2025

Malcolm Fraser: a decent man committed to an independent Australia

Personal experience and recent reflections challenge the popular caricature of Malcolm Fraser, revealing a former prime minister increasingly willing to defy orthodoxy in defence of sovereignty, justice and independence.

October 10, 2025

Journos as heroes and villains - 'The Hack' reviewed - Part 2

The Hack is rare among films and television programs for showing journalists doing journalism to other journalists.

October 24, 2025

Australia has amongst the highest teacher shortages in the OECD

A new OECD report reveals that Australia’s education system is facing a diabolical staffing crisis**.** Since 2018, teacher shortages have soared leaving Australia among the worst-performing nations in the OECD.

October 14, 2025

Trump’s sham peace plan

There will be no peace in Gaza. Only the temporary absence of war.

November 26, 2025

Conservatism, denial and the climate crisis: why short-term thinking is holding us back

Human societies are generally conservative, averse to substantial change – and they are getting in the way of the necessary intervention on climate change and emissions reduction.

December 1, 2025

How soybeans became a fault line in China’s food security

China now buys 60 per cent of the world’s soybeans. That dependency shapes its food security strategy – and its trade battles with the United States.

October 29, 2025

From illusion to real peace: Trump’s test in Gaza and Ukraine

Real peace demands Palestinian statehood, Ukrainian neutrality and the courage to defy the war lobby.

November 19, 2025

Pope Leo and transparency in child sexual abuse cases

If the Catholic Church wishes to change a culture of secrecy, leadership has to come from the top.

November 6, 2025

Practical, equitable … cute? Labor’s free solar plan sparks call for more electrification and flexibility

The federal energy minister’s plan to make electricity free for three hours in the middle of each day for customers on the default market offer has made a big splash in the energy world, and sparked calls for more electrification and demand flexibility.

November 11, 2025

Environmental reforms: Opportunities that must not be missed

The Australian Parliament has another opportunity to reform laws that will address the huge array of issues confronting the degradation of Australia’s environment.

November 7, 2025

‘New York, this city belongs to you’: Zohran Mamdani’s victory speech

Thank you, my friends. The sun may have set over our city this evening, but as Eugene Debs once said, “I can see the dawn of a better day for humanity.”

October 11, 2025

The Australian media is more concentrated than ever. Here are the three moments that got us here

In its  announcement of the proposed merger with Southern Cross Media, Seven West described the deal as “consistent with Seven West’s stated strategic position of being in support of media consolidation in Australia”.

November 5, 2025

It's hard to be an involved dad

Father’s Day was recently celebrated, bringing families together to thank their male progenitors for the support and (sometimes) caring love they give to their offspring.

November 4, 2025

A dangerous trifecta

Amid the world’s many troubles is the growing possibility of a combination of the bursting of a bubble, a major government and corporate debt crisis and the possibility that a popular investment strategy — lifecycle investing or borrowing to invest — will all implode at the same time.

October 6, 2025

The malignant minds taking over the American health sector

“He enjoyed showing people how he put baby chickens and mice in the blender to feed his hawks.” It was a striking description of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., written by his cousin, Ambassador Caroline Kennedy.

November 20, 2025

Overworked, overburdened, and burning out: Australian teachers' workloads among the worst in OECD

Australian teachers have unsustainable workloads, and government responses have done little to ease their burden.

October 8, 2025

UK polls suggest Starmer is deeply unpopular. Can he survive another year?

Having led Labour to victory last year, the premier is struggling to build trust with his voters.

December 4, 2025

America’s justification for attacking Venezuela: Part 2: fact and fantasy in the drug wars

From Vietnam to Mexico and Afghanistan, the United States’ wars on drugs have deepened violence, addiction and instability. Today, that legacy is edging closer to Australia.

November 1, 2025

The Australian moment is now

History, it could be convincingly argued, is a series of pivot points. It is rarely a progression of a sequence of events, but rather a series of critical moments where multiple pathways are made available and the eventual outcome is determined by the decisions that are made in that moment.

December 2, 2025

Tough talk, weak evidence: the myth of a youth crime crisis

Governments across Australia are responding to perceived youth crime “crises” with harsher laws. But national data tell a very different story – one that raises serious questions about punishment, politics and evidence.

December 12, 2025

The war that broke Israel’s global legitimacy

Israel’s actions in Gaza have trashed its global standing and, paradoxically, left Jews less safe worldwide. The long-term consequences are only beginning to surface.

October 28, 2025

A circus and a summit: Trump and Xi visit Lee

It’s now in all the media. Lee Jae-myung will meet Donald Trump and Xi Jinping next week.

December 15, 2025

The next century will be shaped by resistance, not inevitability

Across six centuries, power has claimed inevitability while resistance has redrawn the possible. As the world enters a century defined by climate, inequality and democratic strain, the forces that push back from below may once again shape the future.

December 6, 2025

After dominance: Japan enters a post-hegemony political era

After decades of near-continuous rule, Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party is now governing as a minority under a more ideologically polarised leadership. A new era of fragmented, negotiated politics is taking shape.

November 15, 2025

Defending the BBC

Legal threats against the BBC over an edited interview highlight that an independent, taxpayer-funded, public broadcaster is anathema to Trump and his administration.

October 31, 2025

Game, set and match to the property industry – unless we change everything

The contradiction at the heart of Australian politics has never been clearer. On the one hand, the Albanese Government has rediscovered the language of national renewal of making things again, of manufacturing revival, of “A Future Made in Australia".

December 11, 2025

AI needs governance, not a 'plan for a plan'

Australia’s National AI Plan prioritises infrastructure and adoption, but leaves governance and liability unresolved, creating uncertainty and risk, especially for smaller firms.

November 29, 2025

A Chinese visit, a security panic, and a silent media

The visit of China’s third-ranking leader should have prompted serious discussion about diplomacy and economic relations. Instead, Australia’s media fixated on security theatrics and fed a familiar cycle of fear.

November 18, 2025

‘Good neighbours are essential’: the history behind the Indonesia-Australia security treaty

Indonesia and Australia signed a landmark bilateral security treaty last week. But from the outset, Australia has enjoyed warm relations with its giant neighbour.

October 18, 2025

Paper walls at Thailand’s border

Myanmar’s current emergency is not a sudden rupture but a long arc of military rule that has criminalised dissent, dismantled civil society and pushed millions into precarity.

December 16, 2025

One UK journalist’s close access to Hitler carries a warning about Trump’s media restrictions

A notorious episode from the 1930s shows how access, proximity to power and the lure of influence can quietly corrode journalistic judgement – a warning that resonates uncomfortably today.

October 24, 2025

‘We just have to be defiant’: Irrepressible environmentalist Bob Brown reflects on a life of activism

Hobart’s Theatre Royal was packed to the rafters on a chilly October evening when the irrepressible nature warrior Bob Brown launched his latest book  Defiance.

November 17, 2025

If we don’t control the AI industry, it could end up controlling us, warn two chilling new books

For 16 hours last July, Elon Musk’s company  lost control of its multi-million-dollar chatbot, Grok. “Maximally truth seeking” Grok was praising Hitler, denying the Holocaust and posting sexually explicit content.

October 17, 2025

Inspired by Gaza, Trump offers some hope on Thai-Cambodian border

US president tells Malaysia he intends to end the conflict at the ASEAN Summit.

December 9, 2025

Make NDIS billions go further for people with psychosocial disability

Reform of the NDIS is focused on slowing growth, but neglecting one of the biggest pressure points. Without proper psychosocial supports outside the scheme, unmet need will keep driving costs and harm alike.

November 10, 2025

The defence myth

When opponents of the military build-up and critics of the genocide in Palestine went to protest outside the Indo-Pacific Maritime Exposition in Sydney, they were confronted by a huge force of New South Wales police.

November 22, 2025

Two Trump peace plans

Trump’s proposed peace plan for Ukraine is sparking outrage across Europe. But how does this response compare with his earlier plan for Gaza?

October 23, 2025

Super for teeth: Australia’s hidden dental crisis

Australians are increasingly raiding retirement savings to fix their teeth. New guidance from AHPRA and the ATO warns against abusive models. What’s really going on – and what should change?

October 20, 2025

An immodest proposal for an ideal source of strategic policy advice

In the various debates and arguments on Australia’s defence, one thing is at least is settled: the government has agreed to continue funding national security strategic policy work undertaken by a sector composed of think-tanks and university centres that is significantly compromised.

December 5, 2025

A Boyer Lecture that misunderstands Australia’s defence history

The latest Boyer Lecture portrays Australia as trapped by anxiety about the United States. In fact, for decades the country pursued a deliberate, bipartisan strategy of defence self-reliance – abandoned only in recent years.

November 8, 2025

10,000+ Palestinians buried beneath Gaza rubble in ‘world’s largest mass grave’

“We call on the world to send international teams to recover the bodies of the missing,” said the member of one civil society group. “We call on the world to provide the necessary equipment to recover the bodies.”

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