New polling reveals a clear and sustained decline in public approval of Trump and his policies that is already reshaping US electoral prospects, with significant implications for Congress and beyond.
Category: Politics
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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.
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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.
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We’re not about to go full Trump no matter what the culture warriors say
Strains on social cohesion cannot be dismissed as the embrace of multiculturalism has made the task of defining what holds the community together more challenging. (more…)
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Indonesia’s Gaza peacekeeping bid raises more questions than answers
Indonesia has offered to send up to 20,000 troops to Gaza as part of an international peacekeeping force. The proposal highlights shifting regional politics – and unresolved concerns about military power, credibility and human rights. (more…)
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AI and the news: how it helps, fails, and why that matters
AI is reshaping the news ecosystem in the fields of search, fact-checking and personalised feeds. If used well, it can support journalism and strengthen democracy. (more…)
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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.
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Selective humanity: Gaza’s donkeys or its children?
International law requires equal protection for civilians in war. Yet recent actions by Western states reveal a troubling pattern in how humanitarian principles are applied – selectively, politically, and at devastating human cost.
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Australia’s selective justice on international law is indefensible
Australia has pledged to uphold humanitarian law and protect aid workers. But in the face of an ICJ ruling on Gaza, its own anti-terror and accountability laws remain selectively unenforced. (more…)
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With Trump’s support, Netanyahu requests pardon for corruption charges
“There is no such thing as a pardon request without an admission of guilt and without resignation,” said one journalist. “This is a demand for the surrender of the rule of law in Israel.” (more…)
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Australia’s strategic choices in a fragmenting global order
With Trump 2.0, the global order is changing and changing rapidly. (more…)
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Message from the Editor
I was lucky to speak with a room full of young people at the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering this week, at an ‘ask me anything’ session. So many of them were worried that the university system was not delivering, and that, for students, fear of debt was making them think twice about further education and distorting subject choices.
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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.
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‘Genocide is not over,’ Amnesty leader says as Israel keeps bombing Gaza
“So far, there is no indication that Israel is taking serious measures to reverse the deadly impact of its crimes and no evidence that its intent has changed.” (more…)
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Trump wants Australian data on migrant crime
Donald Trump’s demand for Australian data on migrant crime risks reviving discredited narratives that stigmatise migrants, distort evidence and do real harm to vulnerable communities.
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Trade and tariffs: how reciprocity turned into retaliation
Tariff powers once tightly constrained by Congress have steadily migrated to the US presidency. That shift is reshaping global trade – and exposing countries like Australia to greater economic coercion.
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How soybeans became a fault line in China’s food security
China now buys 60 per cent of the world’s soybeans. That dependency shapes its food security strategy – and its trade battles with the United States. (more…)
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Uncertainties trail behind Japanese PM’s strong start
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s early popularity rests on speculative public expectations, a fragile LDP–Ishin arrangement and her dependence on party heavyweight Taro Aso, leaving her authority vulnerable despite high initial approval ratings. (more…)
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How one death in Papua should shame a republic into action
A pregnant woman’s preventable death after being refused treatment exposes the deadly gap between health coverage and real access to care in Indonesia’s most marginalised regions. (more…)
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The great failure of the property industry
In every era, certain industries become so large, so politically embedded, and so culturally unexamined that their performance ceases to matter. (more…)
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New architecture, old assumptions: Australia and the China question
Foreign Minister Penny Wong speaks of balance, equality and a new regional order – yet Australia’s China policy still carries Cold War assumptions that risk strategy, prosperity and peace.
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Faith that costs something: the Pope’s challenge to comfortable Christianity
A new Vatican document challenges wealthy Catholics to move beyond charity toward justice, solidarity and real encounters with the poor.
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Environment: It’s official – we aren’t winning the climate fight
The latest UN climate summit avoided even naming fossil fuels, while mounting evidence shows climate damage accelerating – from melting glaciers to declining ocean life.
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Led Zeppelin, my band that never ‘made it’, and the lost art of failure
Our culture treats success as virtue and failure as personal flaw. Older traditions – from Greek tragedy to Christian thought – saw failure as meaningful. Recovering that wisdom may be essential to living with dignity in an age of burnout. (more…)
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Indigenous businesses are driving jobs and economic success
A new report shows Indigenous businesses are major employers, highly competitive, and delivering strong outcomes – often without reliance on government procurement. (more…)
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A long-overdue update to Australia’s broken environment laws
After years of delay, Australia will reform its broken environment laws. The deal brings real improvements, but key risks remain.
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How the social media ban could harm African diaspora youth
New research shows Australia’s under-16 social media ban risks harming African diaspora young people by cutting off vital spaces for identity, belonging and connection.
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Gaza’s true death toll could be 126,000 or even higher
New research suggests Gaza’s death toll may be far higher than widely reported, with devastating implications for life expectancy, poverty and accountability. (more…)
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Hong Kong tower fire – contractor for fire-hit Tai Po project has record of safety offences
The contractor behind renovation work at the site of Hong Kong’s worst fire in decades had previously breached safety requirements for construction projects on multiple occasions. (more…)
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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. (more…)