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.

March 5, 2026

You don’t have to like Iran’s government to oppose this war

After the killing of more than 150 schoolchildren in southern Iran, memories of a visit to Isfahan in 2018 return with painful clarity for Eugene Doyle. Beyond governments and geopolitics are ordinary families, whose children now bear the cost of escalating war.

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.

March 6, 2026

Australia needs to read its own geography

As Australia deepens its alignment with Washington through AUKUS and expanded military integration, it risks compromising the regional trust and autonomy that underpin its long-term prosperity and security.

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.

March 3, 2026

Wind farm Barnaby loves to hate sent to planning commission after 1,371 submissions

The 730MW Winterbourne wind project near Walcha has been referred to the NSW Independent Planning Commission after drawing more than 1,300 submissions – with a majority supporting its development.

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.

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.”

October 10, 2025

Is Greta Thunberg the lone voice for justice in our world?

As the world moves from one crisis to another and our politicians ignore the immense injustices that are happening in their nation and in the world, what do ordinary non-violent citizens do to let their politicians know they aren’t happy with their lack of moral and ethical fortitude?

February 28, 2026

‘Arsonist as Fire Chief’: Fed appoints Wall Street lobbyist to key bank oversight role

The Federal Reserve has appointed longtime Wall Street lawyer Randall Guynn as its new director of supervision and regulation – a move critics say risks entrenching industry influence at the heart of financial oversight.

February 27, 2026

No Plan B: Trump’s Gaza plan sidelines justice and law

Donald Trump’s so-called Peace Board for Gaza promises reconstruction but delivers domination. With Palestinians excluded and international law sidelined, the plan exposes the urgent need for a credible alternative grounded in justice, accountability and self-determination.

February 11, 2026

Inviting a foreign president to Bondi’s commemoration divides rather than unites

Inviting a foreign head of state to commemorate an Australian tragedy blurs citizenship, religion and geopolitics – and risks undermining social cohesion at a moment that demands unity.

February 7, 2026

Inside Indonesia’s Board of Peace diplomacy on Palestine

Indonesia’s decision to join the Board of Peace places it inside a US-dominated body whose approach to Gaza risks prioritising reconstruction over sovereignty, rights and political legitimacy.

December 18, 2025

AI policy is stuck on productivity – and democracy is paying the price

Artificial intelligence is increasingly framed in terms of efficiency and growth. But that framing sidelines harder questions about power, choice and democratic governance.

December 8, 2025

Australia’s human rights report has been quietly buried

The world marks Human Rights Day this Wednesday 10 December. But a comprehensive parliamentary report calling for a national Human Rights Act remains unanswered. Its silence speaks volumes about the gap between rhetoric and action in Australia’s human rights commitments.

November 25, 2025

AI in journalism and democracy: can we rely on it?

GenAI tools are reshaping the information environment in ways most audiences never see. From the data that trains them to the labour that maintains them, their inner workings raise urgent questions for journalism and democratic accountability.

October 14, 2025

Japan's LDP coalition splits – what does this mean?

So, finally there is some room for principles in Japanese politics after all! Not much, but when it comes to the point of white having to embrace black something has to give.

October 13, 2025

Who would be a carer?

Whether because of temporary disability or permanent need, the demand for accessible “holiday” accommodation is growing with our ageing population.

March 18, 2026

Australia’s great wealth transfer divide isn’t between generations

Australia’s so-called ‘great wealth transfer’ will not be a simple shift between generations, but a widening gap between those who inherit assets and those who do not.

November 24, 2025

Net Zero and the metaphysics of anxiety in Australia

Net zero is not simply an environmental target. It has become a psychological and cultural anchor in a society that feels increasingly unstable.

March 7, 2026

For 27 years, the Kyle and Jackie O Show indulged Australia’s most vulgar, sexist impulses

The collapse of the Kyle and Jackie O radio partnership highlights a contradiction in Australian media culture – a society that condemns misogyny yet rewarded a program built on vulgarity, sexism and humiliation.

February 9, 2026

Fairness, not just growth, is the key to productivity

As the federal government sharpens its focus on productivity, the question is not whether growth matters, but who it is for, and at what cost to justice, dignity and social cohesion.

March 16, 2026

Matt Canavan’s climate scepticism is a policy dead end for the Coalition

The National Party’s new leader has built his politics on climate scepticism. But rising costs, extreme weather and the accelerating energy transition make that stance increasingly difficult to sustain.

February 23, 2026

Islamophobia and strategic blindness: Australia in the Asian century

Australia seeks deeper integration with Asia while continuing to send cultural and political signals that undermine trust among its closest neighbours. In a region shaped by Islam, history and proximity, this contradiction carries strategic consequences.

January 10, 2026

Best of 2025 - Age policy is a shambles. Where to from here? Part 1 & 2

Wherever you look, at residential aged care institutions, at retirement village life, at the home support package scheme, or talk to the people over 65 — called “the old” — living at home making no claim on the system, just coping by whatever means they can, this stage of life means grappling with overwhelming challenges.

February 6, 2026

When ecosystems fail, civilisation follows

A new UK security assessment warns that ecosystem collapse is no longer an environmental issue alone – it is a direct threat to global security, prosperity and human survival. Without urgent action, the consequences will intensify well beyond climate change.

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal