November 29, 2025

Why false beliefs feel safer than the truth

People clinging to falsehoods is not a failure of intelligence, but a deeply human attempt to protect emotional stability in an overwhelming world.

October 18, 2025

Harm reduction is ubiquitous and effective so why doesn’t Australia use it for tobacco?

Harm reduction policies are widespread, and generally work, are safe and cost-effective.

March 7, 2026

The $175 billion question: will the US Supreme Court stop the war fund?

A US court order forcing the refund of $175 billion in tariff taxes has triggered a constitutional confrontation over whether a president can bypass Congress to fund global conflict.

November 20, 2025

UN approval of Gaza ‘Stabilisation Force’ slammed as ‘Denial of Palestinian self-determination’

CodePink said the plan “will leave Palestine in the hands of a puppet administration, assigning the United States, which shares complicity in the genocide, as the new manager of the open-air prison.”

February 19, 2026

The world is drifting back towards unconstrained nuclear danger

With the expiration of the New START treaty and the erosion of arms control agreements, the safeguards that once limited nuclear danger are rapidly disappearing – despite decades of evidence that restraint reduces catastrophic risk.

January 9, 2026

Best of 2025 - Hamas is better than us

This headline could get me jail time if, as reported, the New Zealand Government is planning to take the same authoritarian turn that the UK has sunk to with its proscription of Palestine Action. It would represent another dangerous conflation of protest with terrorism.

December 19, 2025

Storms expose Gaza’s humanitarian collapse

Heavy rains and gale-force winds have turned life-threatening for Palestinians in Gaza, where the destruction of housing and restrictions on aid have left millions without shelter.

February 9, 2026

Confucianism, not coercion – China’s long export of a governance philosophy

Claims that China is exporting authoritarianism rest on a shallow reading of both Chinese political tradition and how governance ideas actually travel. A longer historical view points instead to Confucianism – a philosophy that has shaped governance across East Asia for centuries.

November 14, 2025

Rising electricity prices have nothing to do with renewables

Electricity prices are elevated, but anyone who claims renewable energy has driven the rise is either uninformed or is deliberately lying.

March 16, 2026

Are soil carbon schemes really working?

New research suggests rainfall and climate variability may play a larger role in soil carbon increases than land management, raising questions about carbon credit schemes.

January 10, 2026

Best of 2025 - Trump’s mongrel punt

In the Australian vernacular, a mongrel punt is an erratic kick forward of a football which leaves those participating in the game with an awkward choice between contesting possession (possibly at the cost of broken fingers) and waiting to see where the ball bounces.

November 17, 2025

Victoria’s ‘adult time for violent crime’ reforms will not solve the youth crime problem

The Victorian government has announced a new youth justice reform package. The package is punitive in its nature, focused around an “adult time for violent crime” measure for several offences.

February 12, 2026

If the roles were reversed, how would the west react?

What would western outrage look like if China, rather than the United States, had carried out decades of military interventions and political interference?

October 8, 2025

7 October 2023: Return of the Hannibal Directive and the genocide starts now – Part 2

By noon on 7 October 2023, news of Palestinians taking hostages grip the attention of Israel’s top military and political leadership who are gathered in the “Pit”, the Kirya bunker in Tel Aviv.

March 19, 2026

AI's inclination to 'go nuclear'

Studies show AI systems used in military scenarios tend to escalate conflicts, raising serious concerns about their role in decisions involving nuclear weapons.

March 9, 2026

Under blockade – Cuba warns of the global precedent of economic coercion

As the United States tightens economic pressure on Cuba, the island’s ambassador to New Zealand warns that the issue is larger than one nation – it is a test of whether international trade and sovereignty will be governed by law or coercion.

January 5, 2026

Best of 2025 - Taking a win from Alaska

On 15 August, US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Alaska, the first head-of-state meeting between the two countries since the Ukraine War began.

December 12, 2025

The real winners of Australia’s under-16s social media ban

Australia’s social media ban for under-16s is sold as child protection, but its most tangible effect is a transfer of power away from global platforms and back to legacy media interests.

October 11, 2025

An Australian chemist just won the Nobel Prize. Here’s how his work is changing the world

The 2025 Nobel Prize in chemistry has been awarded for the development of metal-organic frameworks: molecular structures that have large spaces within them, capable of capturing and storing gases and other chemicals.

March 2, 2026

Australia, refugees and the colonial hangover in the Asian century

From offshore detention to uneven moral outrage abroad, Australia’s political instincts still reflect an older colonial logic – one that sits uneasily in an Asian century shaped by multipolar power and shifting global authority.

March 12, 2026

Renewables winning the energy race – but losing the messaging battle

Clean energy investment is accelerating rapidly worldwide, but the fossil fuel industry is spending billions each year shaping public debate and attacking renewables.

March 11, 2026

Illegal tariffs, tax cuts for the wealthy, and an unauthorised war - Part one

US courts have ruled Trump’s tariffs were illegal – yet the money has not been returned and was used to justify sweeping tax cuts that overwhelmingly benefit the wealthy.

February 25, 2026

How John Howard reshaped Australia – and not for the better

Many of Australia’s most pressing social and economic problems can be traced to policy choices made during the Howard years, from housing and inequality to wages, tax and public services.

December 13, 2025

Frankie Goes to Bethlehem: myth, music and the power of love

In 1984, Frankie Goes to Hollywood released a reverent nativity ballad that revealed how myth, music and Christmas still speak beyond belief.

October 16, 2025

Vanity, defence or just wanting to show off?

For a demagogue, what could be more stirring than to take the salute on a raised dais as thousands of armed men and women march past like robots in perfect synchronisation?

November 10, 2025

Young people are increasingly being killed or injured on e-bikes. It’s time for governments to act

In the span of just a few days, two children were killed in separate e-bike crashes in Queensland – one on the Sunshine Coast and another on the Gold Coast.

November 1, 2025

Yes – he's a dictator

The latest polling from the Public Religion Research Institute provides a stunning reflection on how Americans now regard Trump.

January 28, 2026

Rivers Flow: Reflections on the Songs of Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter curated by Kim Scott

A thoughtful collection of reflections reveals how the songs of Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter continue to carry truth, memory and responsibility across generations.

October 20, 2025

India’s American dream in tatters

The last couple of months have exposed the humiliating realities of the subordinate alliance that India has been gradually sliding into with the US over the last three decades.

October 17, 2025

Family violence and migrant women – a better way

Nashita Pasha 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.

October 15, 2025

Nobel Peace laureate calls for US bombing of her country

Within hours of being named the Nobel Peace laureate for 2025, María Corina Machado called on President Trump to step up his military and economic campaign against her own country, Venezuela.

February 26, 2026

Iran on the brink

After decades of US-backed regime-change wars across the Middle East, Iran now stands alone. A new conflict would deepen regional instability and test Australia’s willingness to say no.

December 20, 2025

Why did Trump send his warships to Venezuela?

As US pressure on Venezuela intensifies, Washington is reviving an openly interventionist approach to Latin America. The targets extend beyond Caracas to the region as a whole.

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.

February 23, 2026

Deep thinking needed on AI, not shallow predictions

Confident predictions about artificial intelligence dominate public debate – but history suggests forecasting technological futures is a poor guide for policy. What matters more are the conditions that shape how AI is actually used.

February 14, 2026

From pride to fear – how police violence changed how we see Australia

Toya Adams and Laurie Shears describe attending the Sydney protest against President Herzog’s visit – and how police violence left them fearful, shocked and questioning Australia’s democratic foundations.

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.

January 11, 2026

Best of 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.

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.

March 13, 2026

What Dubai reveals about diversity, order and innovation

Dubai has become a global crossroads where cultures meet within clear rules and shared systems – turning diversity into economic dynamism and social stability.

February 13, 2026

The Epstein case: power, institutions and the question for Australia

The Jeffrey Epstein case is often treated as an exceptional crime enabled by extraordinary wealth. In reality, it reveals how institutions respond when allegations threaten powerful people – and why Australia should not assume it would act differently.

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.

March 18, 2026

Reclaiming the common good from neoliberalism

New thinking about the common good challenges decades of neoliberal policy and raises questions about inequality, public services and Australia’s federal system.

January 13, 2026

Best of 2025 - Superannuation and the Canberra Press Gallery's fantasies

The Canberra Press Gallery was completely absorbed with the supposed politics of last week’s superannuation changes and completely failed to consider their merits and why the changes were therefore made.

February 28, 2026

Punishment politics and the suppression of restorative justice

Decades of ’tough on crime’ policy have expanded prisons while narrowing reform. Restorative justice has been repeatedly constrained not for lack of evidence, but because it redistributes authority away from the state.

February 11, 2026

Capital gains tax reform could reshape Australia’s housing market

As debate over capital gains tax returns to parliament, longstanding concessions are again under scrutiny for their role in driving housing speculation, inequality and intergenerational imbalance.

January 18, 2026

Best of 2025 - Making First Nations prisoners visible in Labor politics

Despite Western Australian Labor’s rhetoric on equality and Closing the Gap, incarcerated First Nations people remain politically invisible. Without formal representation and lived-experience voices in party deliberations, meaningful reform is impossible. The 2027 State Labor Conference is the moment to change that.

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal