For two years, we’ve been told Australia is drowning in antisemitism. Every protest for Palestinian human rights, every mural, every chant criticising Israel has been hauled up as “evidence.” (more…)
Category: Politics
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As Australia welcomes its millionth refugee, its hardline border policies endure. We can lead by example again
Any day now, Australia will welcome its millionth refugee since World War II. (more…)
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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. (more…)
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Seoul’s submarine ambitions – what do they mean for the region?
South Korea is currently in final negotiations with the US on a deal that could reshape the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific: the construction of nuclear-powered submarines. (more…)
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The Global South is drowning in climate debt
As deadly storms rip through the Caribbean, a new United Nations report delivers a sobering warning: the world is failing to prepare for the climate it has already created. (more…)
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In Ukraine’s Pokrovsk, narratives have collided with brutal realities
Up to 5000 Ukrainian soldiers are in danger of encirclement in the key town of Pokrovsk by a powerful Russian war machine that has ground ever so slowly forward over the past 18 months. (more…)
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Building a strategic movement for Gaza
I’ve spent the past two years deeply involved in actions, campaigns and community organising for Gaza. But as the so-called ceasefire begins and talk of ‘peace plans’ fills the headlines, I find myself asking a harder question: what now? (more…)
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‘Extraordinary and reprehensible circumstances’ – Part 4
Malcolm Fraser was a conservative in terms of the constitution. His view was the Senate was “primarily a house of review – and apart from exceptional circumstances should not frustrate, certainly not on a purely obstructionist basis” (more…)
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ASIO’s Mike Burgess and a lust for the limelight
In succumbing to a lust for the limelight, the ASIO director, Mike Burgess, is not making it easier for the government and citizens to retain confidence in him and the organisation he’s trying to run. (more…)
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After 50 years, it’s time we called it a coup
Fifty years ago today, an elected government was ousted by a representative of a hereditary monarchy. Broadly, Australian society has still not grappled with these events. (more…)
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Mamdani’s victory bought hope to Gaza
Zohran Mamdani is a Ugandan-born Muslim American politician, outspoken supporter of Palestine, and the new Mayor of New York City. His victory there is a symbolic moment that reflects a deeper shift in American awareness toward global justice, especially the Palestinian cause. (more…)
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Burn it all down movements
When a 34-year-old democratic socialist defeats a political dynasty in the nation’s largest city, we’re witnessing more than another electoral upset. (more…)
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Lame duck syndrome emerging
Reality finally starts to bite in the US and it hasn’t come in a misspelt all-capital letters post Truth Social. (more…)
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Only Arabic: When ‘multicultural’ media turns to racial profiling
I recently noticed something troubling while watching a British drama on SBS On Demand. Between episodes — over two full seasons — I kept seeing advertisements about Victoria’s new bail laws. (more…)
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Nuclear arms control and the Asia-Pacific
Since the end of the Cold War, the world has become complacent about the danger of nuclear war. (more…)
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Stealing the breath of life
When you suffocate or drown, every fibre of your being cries out for the breath of life, oxygen. It is the body’s ungovernable response to the extinguishing of your flame. (more…)
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What Washington really thought of Whitlam before the dismissal
The cloud of American involvement in the events of November 1975 is unlikely to ever clear. Especially while US presidential libraries continue to block access to critical documents that might shed light on the shenanigans. (more…)
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The Dismissal was a calculated conservative plot: Albanese
In a speech to mark 50 years since the day, Anthony Albanese says: “The Dismissal was a calculated plot, hatched by conservative forces which sacrificed conventions and institutions in the pursuit of power.” (more…)
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‘Spooky fiddling’: Preparing the ground – Part 3
“There is profoundly increasing evidence that foreign espionage and intelligence activities are being practised in Australia on a wide scale… I believe the evidence is so grave and so alarming in its implications that it demands the fullest explanation. The deception over the CIA and the activities of foreign installations on our soil… are an onslaught on Australia’s sovereignty.” – Gough Whitlam, House of Representatives, 1977 (more…)
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The debate about net zero ignores the evidence
Those in the Coalition who are opposed to targeting net zero carbon emissions, argue that it will cost too much. But that claim is false and not supported by the evidence. How can they get away with it? (more…)
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Our lopsided and unfair tax system
There is something weird and unfair in a tax system that requires young and productive workers to subsidise the lifestyle of the old and idle. (more…)
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Looking back on Remembrance Day
Remembrance Day should be one on which thoughts turn to peace. Instead it tends to lead us in the opposite direction. (more…)
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The coming class war against Zohran Mamdani
Zohran Mamdani’s win in New York City should be seen as a repudiation of everything the Democrats have been doing since the DNC shafted Bernie Sanders to get Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden nominated as the party’s presidential candidates in 2016 and 2020. (more…)
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Andrew Forrest says real zero is already the ‘winning business case’ in three key fossil fuel guzzling industries
As the federal Coalition continues its interminable internal debate over whether net zero emissions is even a thing, let alone a thing it can get behind, new reports have found that “real zero” is both technically feasible and economically preferable to its carbon-lite alternative in numerous hard-to-abate sectors. (more…)
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‘Absolutely pathetic’: Senate Democrats denounced for caving to GOP in shutdown fight
“Let’s be clear – this proposal isn’t a compromise, it’s a capitulation,” said one progressive lawmaker in the US House. (more…)
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The Second Dismissal
In an extract from The Double Dismissal, Emeritus Professor Jenny Hocking, distinguished fellow of the Whitlam Institute within Western Sydney University, and Dr Matt Harvey, senior lecturer at Victoria University of Technology, describe the chaos that led to two dismissals on 11 November. (more…)
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After Trump goes home
If anyone had any lingering doubts about the change in the world order, the sight of President Trump pumping his fist into the air at the doorway of Air Force One, before turning his back on Asia to fly home, they should be put to bed now. (more…)
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It’s Ley, or virtually certain Liberal self-immolation
People closer to the action than I are suggesting that the end is nigh for Sussan Ley. They may be right; momentum is often all in these matters. (more…)
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Whitlam and the White House – Part 2
“Australia and the territories under its control have become increasingly important to the US defence and space establishments in recent years as a site for satellite tracking stations, nuclear test detection facilities, space research and related activities. With ample space, relatively advanced technology, political stability and conservative government, Australia has become a uniquely desirable base for both military and civilian programs involving operations in the Southern Hemisphere.” – White House position paper, 1962, quoted in Brian Toohey, Secret. (more…)
