From protest laws to public commentary on writers and festivals, the NSW premier’s interventions reveal a troubling impatience with dissent and democratic restraint.
Category: Politics
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Japan’s dramatic election result carries dangers
Japan’s ruling party has secured another overwhelming victory. But beneath the spectacle lies a troubling mix of demographic denial, fiscal illusion and rising geopolitical risk.
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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? (more…)
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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. (more…)
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Cowardice dressed up as authority on Sydney’s streets
The violence surrounding protests against the visit of Israel’s president was not an accident of crowd control. It reflects a deeper political failure – where authority suppresses dissent rather than confronting uncomfortable truths about Gaza, protest rights and democratic responsibility. (more…)
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When peaceful protest is allowed to work, democracy works
Melbourne’s mass protest against the visit of Israel President Isaac Herzog showed how large, diverse crowds can assemble peacefully when police exercise restraint and common sense. Sydney’s response points to a deeper failure of judgment about protest, power and democracy. (more…)
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Salt, light and the visit of Isaac Herzog
As controversy surrounds the visit of Israel’s president, Frank Brennan reflects on how Australians might respond with moral seriousness, legal clarity and a commitment to justice for all. (more…)
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Herzog greeted by mass protest despite limits on marching
Denied permission to march, thousands still gathered in central Sydney to protest the visit of Israel’s president. The demonstration revealed both the scale of public anger and the state’s increasingly fraught response to dissent.
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The Coalition decision that locks the Liberals out of the cities
By returning to Coalition with a declining National Party, the Liberals have doubled down on policies and demographics that alienate urban voters and younger Australians.
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Valéria Chomsky responds to Epstein controversy
“Noam’s overly trusting nature, in this specific case, led to severe poor judgment on both our parts… we express our unrestricted solidarity with the victims.” (more…)
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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.
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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.
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Why Australia should consider boycotting the World Cup
International sport is never separate from power. When nations participate in global tournaments, they confer legitimacy on the political and institutional arrangements that make those events possible. (more…)
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Antisemitism laws, double standards and Australia’s unfinished reckoning
Proposals to legislate new antisemitism definitions raise hard questions about identity, equality before the law, and why Australia continues to avoid confronting its most entrenched forms of racism. (more…)
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Why higher taxes make more sense than higher interest rates
Rather than cutting public spending to restore the budget balance and reduce inflationary pressures, it would be better to increase taxation. (more…)
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Cruelty as policy only works until the public recoils
Trump’s immigration crackdown reveals how governments test public tolerance for cruelty exercised in the name of order – a lesson with clear echoes in Australia’s own recent history. (more…)
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Giving billionaires a voice: 2025 election donations
New donation data shows how wealthy individuals and well-funded campaigning organisations sought to shape Australia’s 2025 election through money, messaging and pressure politics. (more…)
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India’s submarine deal shows what due diligence looks like
India’s decision to buy conventionally powered submarines from Germany highlights a sharp contrast with Australia’s AUKUS pathway on cost, capability and planning. (more…)
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One Nation surges to new high as Coalition slumps to record low
Multiple polls place One Nation ahead of the Coalition, raising the prospect of an historic realignment on the Australian right. (more…)
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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. (more…)
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The Zionist lobby, antisemitism and Herzog
Australia’s political and media response to Gaza, including the invitation to Israel’s president, reflects the influence of pro-Israel lobbying and the shrinking space for lawful criticism.
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Authoritarianism is undermining climate action – and time is running out
The global rise of authoritarianism is weakening climate governance just as warming accelerates and tipping points draw near. This failure now poses a direct threat to our future. (more…)
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Why building again on the Hawkesbury floodplain risks disaster
The NSW government’s decision to revive development on the Hawkesbury floodplain ignores long-established flood risks, evacuation limits and the growing impact of climate change.
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Why sanctions have entrenched conflict with North Korea, not resolved it
Sanctions on North Korea have neither halted its nuclear program nor produced stability, while imposing heavy costs on civilians and regional security. (more…)
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Climate sceptics dominate the noise, not the numbers
Despite political denial and media distortion, majorities in Australia and the United States accept climate change is real, human-caused and demands action. (more…)
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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. (more…)
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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.
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From Les Misérables to Trump – what happens when moral certainty hardens
Polarisation is often described as ideological. But its deeper cause may be moral – a loss of the capacity to recognise goodness in those who disagree with us, and the consequences that follow. (more…)
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What Australia’s past might teach Israel about its future
President Herzog’s visit might be useful if he could be persuaded to ponder the lessons Australia might offer. (more…)
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Environment: Small-bodied and short-lived, tiny freshwater fish play big roles in ecosystems
A threatened Aussie tiddler flashes a fin for tiny freshwater fish worldwide, toxic PFAS chemicals are all around us and deep inside us and never go away, and illegal gold mining in Congo destroys the environment and communities. (more…)