January 31, 2026

Historic trade deal rejects Trump’s chaotic protectionism – Asian Media Report

The mother of all trade deals to America’s new defence strategy, the dismissal of a PLA princeling, Prabowo’s Peace Board support, ASEAN’s rejection of Myanmar junta’s poll victory and the deadly serious business of marriage in China – we present the latest news and views from our region.

January 30, 2026

Iran vows to ‘respond like never before’ as Trump ramps up war threats

Tehran’s admonition came after Trump said that a “massive armada” is heading to Iran – similar language he used before invading Venezuela and kidnapping its president.

November 1, 2025

'Forget subsidies': Solar-battery hybrids can deliver 'incredibly competitive' power for big industry

The developer of what stands to be Australia’s biggest battery says the new breed of hybrid solar and storage projects, starting to dominate the national renewables pipeline, can power new and existing industrial energy needs at an “incredibly competitive” cost – and without government handouts.

October 10, 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.

October 8, 2025

Inequality and the future of democracy

Rising inequality and declining living standards have posed a threat to democracy in several democracies, but so far not in Australia. However, the increasing inequality of wealth, driven by housing becoming unaffordable without rich parents, is a threat.

January 17, 2026

Best of 2025 - Democracies good, China bad – and history not required

Japan and China both have legitimate security concerns. But an informed debate needs major media outlets to stop systematically erasing the historical context that shapes how the region understands current events.

January 19, 2026

Best of 2025 - How media coverage helps normalise the far right

Media coverage does more than report on the far right. Through language choices, sensationalism and false balance, journalism can help shift racist politics into the mainstream.

January 15, 2026

Best of 2025 - OFFICIAL – Israel’s proposed death-penalty law is a war crime

Not satisfied it seems with the continued genocide of Palestinians, Israel is now looking to execute Palestinian prisoners by introducing a death penalty law.

February 4, 2026

Allegations, immunity, and a test of character

Australia’s migration law allows entry to be refused on character grounds including genocide, war crimes and incitement. How that discretion is exercised speaks directly to Australia’s commitment to international law.

January 6, 2026

Best of 2025 - Re-elected Albanese Govt must condemn Israel's brutality and cut ties

On 5 May, the Israeli Parliament approved plans to annex and occupy Gaza. These plans have been discussed for months. This is a blatant mission to ethnically cleanse Gaza, advancing Israel’s colonial intentions to take over the territory and rid it of Palestinians.

December 21, 2025

Environment: More good recycling is needed – emphasis on good

Low levels of plastic recycling are bad for human health and the environment. For lead, high levels of dangerous recycling are doing the damage. Northern Australia’s vast, ecologically relatively intact savannas are undervalued.

December 5, 2025

How media coverage helps normalise the far right

Media coverage does more than report on the far right. Through language choices, sensationalism and false balance, journalism can help shift racist politics into the mainstream.

November 8, 2025

Revealed: Secret plans to introduce media censorship in Australia

Moves to restrict just what journalists can report on defence and intelligence matters are underway – and journalists need to get up to speed fast.

October 7, 2025

Rio Tinto flags early closure of Queensland’s biggest coal generator as LNP prepares new energy plan

The clock is now ticking for the ageing Gladstone coal-fired power station after its owners told the Australian Energy Market Operator that they’re bringing forward the closure date of the biggest power plant in Queensland by six years, to March 2029.

February 17, 2026

UN defends Rapporteur after coordinated European pressure campaign

UN warns of attacks on independent experts after European states target rapporteur over disputed Gaza remarks and sanctions.

December 6, 2025

Israel’s NGO rules are shutting out humanitarian aid from Gaza

Rules introduced by Israel in 2025 are being used to block humanitarian organisations from operating in the occupied Palestinian territories, limiting aid delivery and silencing advocacy.

November 20, 2025

Fatal free lunch

Indonesia’s free meals for kids program has left thousands of youngsters with food poisoning, and returned the country to the bad old days of military influence.

November 11, 2025

Whitlam and the White House – Part 2

“Australia and the territories under its control have become increasingly important to the US defence and space establishments in recent years as a site for satellite tracking stations, nuclear test detection facilities, space research and related activities. With ample space, relatively advanced technology, political stability and conservative government, Australia has become a uniquely desirable base for both military and civilian programs involving operations in the Southern Hemisphere.” – White House position paper, 1962, quoted in Brian Toohey, Secret.

February 19, 2026

The ceasefire as a weapon: the genocide in Gaza continues in silence

Killings, arrests, displacement and aid restrictions have continued under the ceasefire. The violence has not ended – it has been reorganised and made less visible.

December 20, 2025

Choosing hope in an uncertain world

In an age of political, ecological and social strain, hope is often mistaken for denial. But real hope is neither passive nor naïve – it is a choice to keep acting, even without guarantees.

October 14, 2025

Disarming extremism in the algorithmic age

Amelie Szczecinski is one of six talented young Australians who will travel to the UN General Assembly in New York next week as part of the Global Voices project.

January 8, 2026

Best of 2025 - Flawed Hero, flawed decision: The War Memorial’s institutional cowardice

The Australian War Memorial remains one of Australia’s most cherished national institutions, attracting a million visitors, mainly tourists, to Canberra each year.

December 12, 2025

UN report: acting on climate now would make the world richer, not poorer

A major UN report finds that investing in climate action would deliver enormous economic gains, while failure to act would slash growth, drive instability and cost millions of lives.

January 16, 2026

Best of 2025 - ASIO's Mike Burgess and a lust for the limelight

In succumbing to a lust for the limelight, the ASIO director, Mike Burgess, is not making it easier for the government and citizens to retain confidence in him and the organisation he’s trying to run.

November 2, 2025

Taking from the young, giving to the old: How our tax system is letting us down

Australians are retiring with unprecedented levels of wealth. This wealth, which is primarily held in housing, investment properties and superannuation, allows retirees to draw incomes to support their retirement.

October 23, 2025

Muted response to Trump's appropriation of Christianity

“…and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be on the alert…” ( Acts 20:29–31).

January 9, 2026

Best of 2025 - Koalas, carbon credits and the fine print of conservation

We congratulate the NSW Government for establishing the Great Koala National Park, which will protect a nationally significant koala population.

January 31, 2026

The most important power station in the nation is no longer a coal plant – it’s on our rooftops

Australia’s electricity grid is increasingly being powered by rooftop solar, batteries and renewables, exposing the limits and rising costs of ageing coal-fired power stations.

January 22, 2026

Australia has clear evidence on women’s pain. The policy challenge is to act on it

A landmark Victorian inquiry has exposed deep, system-wide failures in how women’s pain is treated. The policy response now requires national leadership.

December 15, 2025

Trump’s empire of hubris and thuggery

Donald Trump’s latest National Security Strategy memorandum treats the freedom to coerce others as the essence of US sovereignty. It is an ominous document that will – if allowed to stand – come back to haunt the United States.

December 13, 2025

Journalist files defence in anti-Semitism test case

Mary Kostakidis, a national TV news presenter in Australia for two decades, has asked a federal judge to throw out the Zionist Federation’s charge against her of racially vilifying Jews, reports Joe Lauria.

November 17, 2025

'A national humiliation': Australia at bottom of new renewables ranking

As the Coalition abandons net zero, Andrew Forrest has quietly moved on not just to net zero, but to real zero.

February 20, 2026

Shame hasn’t vanished. Care has

Public outrage fixates on the absence of shame among elites. But the deeper problem is cultural and structural – a political economy that has pushed care to the margins of public life.

January 23, 2026

Can we rely on Treasury’s latest net migration forecasts?

Treasury’s Net Overseas Migration forecasts don’t match current visa settings and trends. Migration may fall less than predicted – and stay higher for longer.

November 23, 2025

Henry Reynolds’ bold, new book takes a top-end view of Australian history

First Nations people please be advised this article speaks of racially discriminating moments in history, including the distress and death of First Nations people.

January 30, 2026

Why the Doomsday Clock still underestimates the risk of civilisational collapse

The Doomsday Clock has moved closer to midnight than ever before, but its latest warning still leaves out many of the forces pushing civilisation towards collapse.

February 13, 2026

Iran’s comprehensive peace proposal to the United States

A regional peace settlement grounded in Palestinian statehood, international law and mutual security guarantees offers a real alternative to perpetual conflict.

November 14, 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.”

January 29, 2026

If we’re choosing a national day, there are better options

Australia’s national day marks the beginning of its colonisation. There are better, more meaningful dates that reflect Australian nationhood and democratic choice.

January 7, 2026

Best of 2025 - Climate change risk to our coastal cities

Confronting the nation’s coastal urban cities as it approaches 2055, 30 years on, will be both higher sea levels and air and water temperatures.

December 4, 2025

Selling out our sovereignty

Revelations of secret F-35 fighter jet parts shipments to Israel have exposed a yawning hole in Australia’s sovereign national defence.

January 13, 2026

Best of 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”.

December 22, 2025

New Year’s Day and the promise that does not last

New Year’s Day promises renewal, then lets it slip away. That fleeting openness may be the point – not a failure, but a reminder about how meaning actually appears in our lives.

October 21, 2025

The migration debate in Australia

Australia’s population growth rate is returning to normal. Instead, of cutting migration, the solution to Australia’s housing crisis is to increase the rate of new dwelling approvals and completions.

October 12, 2025

Universal jurisdiction: Australia’s crucial role in international criminal justice

Samar Batool Athar is one of six talented young Australians who will travel to the UN General Assembly in New York next week as part of the Global Voices project.

February 5, 2026

Freedom, faith and fairness: are we losing what made Australia home?

Islamic ethics and liberal democracy share deep common ground in justice, dignity and equality. But selective commitment to those principles now risks eroding the freedoms that once made democratic societies a refuge.

November 5, 2025

The press and the Dismissal – Part I

On the morning of 15 October 1975, most major newspapers advocated in their editorials that the Labor Government should go.

February 27, 2026

Pax Americana and the starvation siege of Cuba

For more than three decades the world has voted overwhelmingly to end the US embargo on Cuba. Washington ignores the law, the UN, and the humanitarian cost – and its allies look away.

January 25, 2026

How Adelaide built Writers’ Week

Adelaide Festival Writers’ Week has helped shape South Australia’s cultural identity since 1960. Its cancellation is a major blow – financially, reputationally, and culturally.

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal