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.”

February 24, 2026

Carney and Albanese and the collapse of global order?

Ahead of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit to Australia next month, it is time to ask will Australia embrace Carney’s call to harness middle power clout.

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.

January 19, 2026

Best of 2025 - Rising student visa refusals clash with plans to boost enrolments

After encouraging universities to expand overseas enrolments, the government has overseen a sharp fall in student visa approval rates – leaving institutions uncertain and applicants frustrated.

January 29, 2026

Trump labor department takes a page from Hitler’s playbook

Official social media from the US Labor Department now echoes the imagery, language and logic of authoritarian propaganda – a warning sign for workers’ rights and democratic institutions.

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.

February 12, 2026

The Herzog visit and the Israelisation of antisemitism

Inviting Israel’s president to Australia in the wake of the Bondi attack has blurred the line between antisemitism and legitimate criticism of Israel, weakening rather than strengthening social cohesion.

February 4, 2026

China pushes ahead in 2026 as Trump plays catch-up

China entered Donald Trump’s second presidency wary but prepared. Experience has taught Beijing to expect volatility, but also negotiation, shaping a strategy of caution, leverage and long-term planning.

February 2, 2026

When public opinion breaks: ICE, Trump and a political tipping point

Political opinion usually shifts slowly, but history shows that certain events can force sudden, irreversible change. The killings linked to ICE enforcement may mark such a moment in the United States.

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 22, 2025

Ten threats, one emergency: how to become Earth Citizens

Humanity is facing a compounding crisis driven by population growth, consumption, pollution and power. These interconnected threats cannot be addressed one by one if civilisation is to endure.

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.

February 14, 2026

Judge rebukes US defence secretary over bid to silence retired veteran

A federal judge has blocked an attempt by the US defence secretary to punish a retired naval officer and senator for speaking out, delivering a sharp rebuke to efforts to narrow constitutional protections for veterans.

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.

February 20, 2026

Why Royal Commissions so often fail to deliver reform

Five years after the Royal Commission on Quality and Safety in Aged Care reported, its legacy offers hard-earned lessons about reform, funding, implementation and the limits of inquiry-led change.

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".

January 15, 2026

Best of 2025 - Australia’s fragile multicultural consensus under threat

_Anti-immigration rallies_ around Australia in late August and mid-October exposed public divides over migration, social cohesion and national identity.

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.

January 13, 2026

Best of 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).

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.

December 20, 2025

Why are you still using Microsoft Windows?

The ACCC’s case against Microsoft raises questions about market power and consumer transparency – but it also highlights how dependence on bundled software limits real choice for users.

December 19, 2025

Australia’s school attendance crisis needs urgent national action

School attendance has been sliding for more than a decade, with more than a million Australian students now missing significant classroom time. Governments have set ambitious targets to reverse the trend, but meeting them will require a fundamental shift in approach.

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.

February 10, 2026

Taiwan has misplaced confidence in Trump’s National Security Strategy

Taiwan has welcomed the United States’ latest National Security Strategy, but beneath the reassurance lie strategic and economic risks that Taipei should not ignore.

February 5, 2026

The pivot to Asia within the transitional rules-based order

As US leadership becomes increasingly erratic, claims grow that the rules-based international order is breaking down. But China and India may yet help guide its transition rather than preside over its collapse.

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.

February 13, 2026

Saving Meanjin is a victory – sustaining it is the real test

Meanjin’s return to Brisbane under QUT stewardship has been widely welcomed, but it also exposes deeper tensions about arts funding, cultural value and what sustainability really means for literary journals.

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.

February 21, 2026

With more restrictive laws across the country, how can we protect the right to protest?

Recent state laws passed in the name of public safety are expanding police powers and narrowing the right to protest, with uneven safeguards for human rights across Australia.

February 19, 2026

Does Takaichi's victory herald a new age for women in Japan's politics?

Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party has secured its biggest electoral victory in decades under Sanae Takaichi. While her leadership marks a historic first, the result raises questions about whether symbolic change translates into broader political representation and reform.

January 8, 2026

Best of 2025 - FOI changes big backward step for government transparency

There has been much commentary, most of it critical, about federal Attorney-General Michelle Rowland’s recently introduced Bill that amends the Freedom of Information Act by restricting access through measures that will allow undermine a core democratic principles – accountability by government to the people it serves.

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal