January 28, 2026

Beginning of the end for the Nationals

The Nationals are likely doomed if they don’t go back into a coalition. And they are likely doomed if they do.

December 7, 2025

Bill Gates knows the climate and poverty facts but misses the politics

Bill Gates downplays climate catastrophe, wolves are blamed – or credited – for ecosystem repair, and China’s energy surge defies Western narratives.

March 10, 2026

Cowardice and kowtowing risk Australia becoming the fall guy in Trump’s wars and deals

As the US–Israeli war on Iran unfolds, Australia faces the danger of being drawn into American power politics while sacrificing its independence and credibility in the region.

February 23, 2026

Starlink, China and the governance of low Earth orbit

China’s massive satellite filings highlight how low Earth orbit has already been transformed by industrial-scale deployment – and how existing governance is struggling to keep pace.

March 8, 2026

Environment: warming oceans, sinking coasts and Covid’s impact on birds

New research shows oceans warming to depths of 2,000 metres, human-driven land subsidence intensifying sea level risks in China, and pandemic lockdowns altering bird evolution in Los Angeles.

November 24, 2025

What science tells us about Earth’s changing climate

As leaders leave Brazil and the 2025 UN climate summit draws to a close, it’s worth reflecting on what science says about Earth’s climate – what’s changing, why it’s happening, and where we’re heading next.

November 2, 2025

Environment: Six strategies will simultaneously reduce emissions and help communities prepare

Six broad strategies will tackle the root causes of climate change and help groups prepare for the consequences of global warming. Environmentally sustainable aircraft are slow to take off. Local governments can take a lead in promoting biodiversity.

February 19, 2026

Whistleblowers protect the public. Who protects them?

A former intelligence officer alleges preventable failures linked to the Bondi attack. His treatment highlights how weak protections silence whistleblowers in national security institutions.

February 10, 2026

Cruelty as policy only works until the public recoils

Trump’s immigration crackdown reveals how governments test public tolerance for cruelty exercised in the name of order – a lesson with clear echoes in Australia’s own recent history.

December 5, 2025

When foreign policy becomes domestic theatre

Australia’s response to Japan’s rhetoric has been framed as a test of loyalty, but the outrage is largely media-driven. Caution in foreign policy is not betrayal – it is a rational defence of national interest.

March 7, 2026

Three years on, where is the China war we were warned of?

Three years after dire warnings that Australia must prepare for war with China, no such conflict has eventuated. Instead, the United States has continued its long pattern of military interventions.

January 25, 2026

Environment: It’s official - Australia’s extreme weather events will get more severe

Australia’s first Climate Risk Assessment confirms we’re in for more frequent and more extreme climate hazards. Ten years on from the Paris Agreement, Australia and governments around the world are still kicking the climate action can down the road.

January 17, 2026

Best of 2025 - Assessing the Liberal Party's policy-making capacity

Good policy should be evidence-based. But this is not the case with the Liberals energy policy and seems unlikely with their migration policy.

November 3, 2025

Message from the editor

When I began as editor in early 2025 I was struck by how much great reading P&I offered. Now we are branching out to bring you great listening as well, with a big new project, Pearlcast.

March 19, 2026

From ‘Mission Accomplished’ to 'We’ve won but haven't won enough' – the marketing of forever wars

The rhetoric surrounding the war with Iran echoes the propaganda used to justify Iraq – a conflict that cost the life of the author’s husband, FLT Paul Pardoel.

February 26, 2026

ASIO fails to gag the ABC

ASIO’s pre-emptive attack on a Four Corners investigation into the Bondi killings was vague, thinly evidenced and ultimately counter-productive.

November 7, 2025

'We don't do that in this country': judge slams DPP

An appeal by ACT director of Public Prosecutions, Victoria Engel, SC, has been dismissed by a Full Bench of the ACT Court of Appeal after only three minutes of deliberation.

February 16, 2026

Playing deputy sheriff on Taiwan comes with costs Australia will wear

Calls for Australia to take a more forward-leaning stance on Taiwan repeat a familiar pattern – moral symbolism paired with strategic vagueness. Past experience suggests the applause is loud, but the economic consequences are real and largely borne alone.

February 9, 2026

Why building again on the Hawkesbury floodplain risks disaster

The NSW government’s decision to revive development on the Hawkesbury floodplain ignores long-established flood risks, evacuation limits and the growing impact of climate change.

December 20, 2025

Beijing makes domestic spending its top priority – Asian Media Report

From China’s new investing in people strategy to Thailand’s threat to continue border fighting, revelations about Korea’s martial law bid, South Asia’s climate emergencies, the restoration of democracy in Bangladesh, and Seoul’s imaginative food waste scheme, the latest Asian media coverage highlights our region’s pressures, problems and opportunities.

December 3, 2025

Expert independent evidence-based assessment

This month we are asking readers to support our work through a tax deductible donation via the Australian Cultural Fund. Regular author, Michael Keating writes about the value of Pearls and Irritations.

December 1, 2025

Corruption isn’t just a moral failure – it’s built into our political system

Corruption in politics is not an accident or an exception. It is a predictable outcome of a system that rewards loyalty, access and survival over accountability, transparency and the public interest.

October 24, 2025

China, US or us? Australia’s Upper Path in the global minerals race

The headlines are breathless: “ China versus the world,” proclaimed The Australian, quoting some very important people from the sheriff’s office urging allies to “decouple” from Beijing and unite against China’s “takeover of global rare earth supply chains”.

January 10, 2026

Best of 2025 - States increase pressure on Commonwealth to address hospital cost increases

Hark back to December 2023. National Cabinet endorsed a historic agreement setting the parameters for future Commonwealth-state sharing of public hospital costs over the next decade.

March 13, 2026

Ending native forest logging subsidies need not cost jobs

Claims that environmental reforms will destroy jobs in native forest logging are overstated. Labour market dynamics and the growth of plantation forestry point to a manageable transition.

January 21, 2026

Why the “good vs evil” story keeps failing us

The world is too complex – and too dangerous – to be reduced to “good” and “evil”. The habit still shapes how the West justifies power, war and hypocrisy.

January 11, 2026

Best of 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?

March 4, 2026

Happy Chinese New Year? Fine for Howard, treason for Albanese

Mocking a prime minister for wishing Chinese Australians a happy new year says less about foreign policy than about how national identity is being weaponised in domestic politics.

February 13, 2026

Angus Taylor looks like a leader on paper – but the job is bigger than that

Angus Taylor has all the on-paper qualifications to be opposition leader. But what’s needed now is a miracle worker to lift the struggling Liberal Party from its existential crisis.

October 30, 2025

Commonwealth administrative reform remains up the creek

The results of a recent survey of community satisfaction and trust in Commonwealth public services are not to be sneezed at.

October 18, 2025

After decades of struggle, women in China are rewriting their future

The quiet revolution towards upholding women’s rights in China isn’t just about slogans, but involves the hard work of families, educators and policymakers.

February 11, 2026

Herzog greeted by mass protest despite limits on marching

Denied permission to march, thousands still gathered in central Sydney to protest the visit of Israel’s president. The demonstration revealed both the scale of public anger and the state’s increasingly fraught response to dissent.

October 16, 2025

A deserved defeat for Albanese on freedom of information

Thanks to Opposition leader Sussan Ley, the government’s disgraceful attempt to squeeze the life out of the Freedom of Information Act is as dead as a herring.

February 2, 2026

Steadfast state support is key to China winning tech race with US

China’s sustained investment in science, engineering and technology is pulling it ahead globally, while the United States cuts research funding and hollow-outs its scientific workforce.

December 4, 2025

How the Albanese government kept “jobs for mates” alive

The Albanese government promised to end political patronage in statutory appointments, but has instead chosen a non-binding framework that preserves ministerial discretion and limits accountability.

November 16, 2025

Environment: Paris 2015 generated hope, but not enough climate action

Ten years on from the Paris Agreement, staying within the 1.5oC guardrail seems increasingly unlikely, even though there’s plenty of money to do it. Really, it’s legal to chop bits off the Great Barrier Reef and sell them? Microsoft is struggling to meet its promise to become carbon-free.

February 21, 2026

Prince Andrew arrested – why not King Trump?

If no one is above the law in the UK, not even royalty, presumably no one is above the law in the US, not even a president.

January 19, 2026

Best of 2025 - Trump’s drug war on Venezuela reeks of hypocrisy

Donald Trump’s campaign against Venezuela is less about drugs than power, exposing deep hypocrisy in US policy and raising uncomfortable questions for Australia about its alliance.

November 20, 2025

Five reasons Trump’s economy stinks and 10 things the Dems should do about It

The Trump economy is truly awful for most Americans. Democrats need to show America that they can be better trusted to bring prices down and real wages up.

January 22, 2026

Punishment politics is breaking Western Australia's justice system

A capability review of WA’s Justice Department shows a system overwhelmed by rising demand, delays and overcrowding. The underlying problem is political – punitive law-and-order settings that expand pressure without building capacity or preventing harm.

December 19, 2025

Radar lock or editorial block? The ABC's China-Japan report has blind spot

A story published by the ABC framed a military encounter as an act of aggression. But subsequent details told a more complicated story that Australia’s public broadcaster never revisited.

November 25, 2025

Will there be Liberals around to take power in 2034?

The Liberal Party’s rejection of net-zero and its lack of compelling leadership or clear policy vision has left it floundering with key voter groups. Without a coherent plan to make a difference, it risks a long spell in opposition.

February 17, 2026

A government without an effective opposition is a danger to democracy

The Coalition’s internal decay has left Australia without an effective opposition at a time when scrutiny, debate and accountability are more necessary than ever. The result is not just a party in trouble, but a democratic failure.

January 29, 2026

Blaming the Privacy Act for government secrecy

Claims of “privacy” are increasingly being used to obscure the reasons and costs behind the premature departure of senior public servants – eroding transparency and accountability.

December 16, 2025

2025 in Review: ageing, policy failure and a year of misplaced priorities

Looking back on 2025, a year marked by global turmoil, timid reform at home, policy failure on ageing and a rushed social media ban that mistakes gesture for solution.

January 12, 2026

Best of 2025 - A deserved defeat for Albanese on freedom of information

Thanks to Opposition leader Sussan Ley, the government’s disgraceful attempt to squeeze the life out of the Freedom of Information Act is as dead as a herring.

December 2, 2025

Why our government protects gambling apps but bans TikTok

Australia’s social media restrictions on children were sold as decisive action on harm. But the policy risks becoming symbolic, unenforceable, and ultimately counterproductive.

November 17, 2025

Israeli settler attack on West Bank mosque draws international condemnation

Calls for justice grow as Israeli settlers set Hajja Hamida Mosque ablaze in latest attack on Palestinians in West Bank.

October 20, 2025

As Gaza starts to rebuild, what lessons can be learned from Nagasaki in 1945?

At first, there might not seem to be any immediate similarities between a devastated Nagasaki after the US atomic bombing in 1945 and Gaza today, aside from massive destruction.

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal