Donald Trump’s claim that NATO allies avoided frontline fighting in Afghanistan has sparked outrage abroad. In Australia, political leaders have said little. (more…)
Indonesia has assumed the presidency of the UN Human Rights Council, raising questions about credibility, consistency and the future of scrutiny in places like West Papua and Iran. (more…)
Australia’s leaders are trying to avoid becoming a target in a harsher, more coercive world. But silence and caution can’t substitute for strategy – or for honest leadership that levels with the public. (more…)
Australia’s post-Bondi debate has fixated on labels and symbolism instead of causes and capacity. What Australia needs now is a bigger frame – and stronger democratic protection against social breakdown.
Trump’s shifting rhetoric on Greenland masks a consistent strategic goal – control of a key Arctic location that underpins US space surveillance and military reach.
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Net zero targets are increasingly being met through offsets and land-sector accounting rather than real cuts to fossil fuel emissions. The result is climate progress on paper, while pollution continues in practice.
Australia has made big strides in flood warnings, levees and planning rules – but too often the message still doesn’t land. The next step is practical community engagement that builds real understanding, trust and safer decisions. (more…)
Trump’s behaviour towards Greenland is a warning sign for alliances, values and Western credibility. Australia may need to weigh ANZUS more hard-headedly and build greater strategic autonomy.
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Australia’s new hate speech laws are landing in a climate of deep mistrust and unequal public empathy. When grief, protest and solidarity are treated as threats, social cohesion becomes a hollow promise, Sawsan Madina writes.
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The Trump-led Board of Peace points to a shift away from international law and multilateral institutions toward a system built on loyalty, coercion and financial leverage.
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Australia’s alliance with the United States is no longer reliable, and clinging to it now risks Australia’s interests and values. The case for a deliberate, staged Plan B begins with strategic autonomy – and an overdue reckoning with extended nuclear deterrence.
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They say ‘start as you mean to go on’, and if that’s true, anyone hoping the new year would bring in peace, cooperation and kindness might now be wondering if we can wind the clock back to 1 January and give it another go. (more…)
Trump’s proposed “Board of Peace” is framed as a peace initiative, but it centralises authority, sidelines the vulnerable and rewards coercion. Australia should reject it rather than lend it legitimacy.
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Mark Carney’s Davos speech argues the world has entered a rupture where great powers use coercion and the old rules no longer restrain them. The challenge for countries like Australia is to face reality, apply consistent standards to allies and rivals, and build collective leverage with other middle powers.
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Australia’s first Climate Risk Assessment confirms we’re in for more frequent and more extreme climate hazards. Ten years on from the Paris Agreement, Australia and governments around the world are still kicking the climate action can down the road. (more…)
Adelaide Festival Writers’ Week has helped shape South Australia’s cultural identity since 1960. Its cancellation is a major blow – financially, reputationally, and culturally.
Mark Carney’s Davos speech is a blunt diagnosis of a world in rupture, where power now trumps rules and coercion is openly deployed. The answer, it argues, is collective action by middle powers – a modern “third path” that resists subordination and rebuilds leverage.
According to the government the economy is strengthening, but the risks are all on the downside, especially the projection that productivity will grow significantly faster than it has over the previous 15 years.
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In a video address delivered on 12 January 2026, former US ambassador Chas Freeman argues the post-war system of international law and institutions is failing under great power coercion and impunity. He warns that US and Israeli conduct is accelerating global lawlessness, undermining democratic freedoms, and pushing the world toward a more dangerous, unstable order.
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Adelaide Writer’s Week was derailed after the withdrawal of an invited speaker, triggering mass author withdrawals and a board resignation. The episode raises hard questions about free speech, institutional courage, and the politics of Israel and Gaza in Australia’s cultural life.
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A sweeping new bill to combat antisemitism, hate and extremism was rushed through federal parliament this week with minimal scrutiny and major rule-of-law flaws. Its vague definitions, retrospective reach and expanded executive powers risk undermining rights, due process and democratic accountability. (more…)
Speaking at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Mark Carney argues the rules-based international order is in rupture, not transition – and that “middle powers” must stop performing compliance and start building shared resilience. His speech – reproduced here – calls for values-based realism, domestic strength and new coalitions to reduce coercion and preserve sovereignty.
Right-wing campaign groups and Coalition MPs are again using Australia Day to drive petitions, wedge politics and anti-elite rhetoric. This year’s campaign is being amplified by paid digital ads, ARC grant outrage and calls to “legislate the date”. (more…)
Treasury’s Net Overseas Migration forecasts don’t match current visa settings and trends. Migration may fall less than predicted – and stay higher for longer. (more…)
Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has called a snap election as the LDP seeks to rebuild support and secure numbers through new alliances. But economic strain and rising tensions with China could still shape the outcome.
Australia remains wealthy but structurally fragile – highly dependent on raw exports and poorly positioned for a more complex, decarbonising global economy. Economic complexity is a warning signal we can no longer ignore.
Australia’s push for a federal Human Rights Act is stalled by political caution and media hostility. The path forward may depend on Coalition support – and reframing the reform as consistent with Liberal tradition.
A capability review of WA’s Justice Department shows a system overwhelmed by rising demand, delays and overcrowding. The underlying problem is political – punitive law-and-order settings that expand pressure without building capacity or preventing harm.
A landmark Victorian inquiry has exposed deep, system-wide failures in how women’s pain is treated. The policy response now requires national leadership.
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Australia is pouring billions into AUKUS submarines without clear delivery capacity from the UK or the US. The result could be a costly strategic and fiscal mistake – with little to show for it.