On a cold morning in central Gaza City, Nevin Al-Barbari, 35, sat in what remained of her family home, watching her two-year-old daughter, Reem, explore the rooms she had only recently come to know. (more…)
Category: Politics
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‘Disaster season’: What is that?
Anika Wells, in announcing a meeting with three telco giants to discuss Optus’s Triple Zero emergency call system catastrophe in September, referred to the need for Australians to have confidence in the system before the coming “disaster season”. By that she meant summer. Is there really such a season? (more…)
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Journos as heroes and villains – ‘The Hack’ reviewed – Part 1
In films and on the small screen, journalists are portrayed as heroes or villains. In The Hack they are both. Does this reflect the diminished, benighted standing journalists hold in society today or is it a step forward in showing the complexities of the work? (more…)
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Cancelling Chris Hedges: What price balance?
On its homepage you will read that “The National Press Club (NPC) is a vigorous champion of media freedom and a home away from home for journalists”. (more…)
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Japan’s likely new leader is a surprise, and not just because she is a woman
In the recent election held by Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party to find a new leader following the assassination of former prime minister, Shinzo Abe, an unlikely name to emerge was that of Sanae Takaichi. (more…)
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Shadow of McCarthyism looms over controversial firing of Texas professor who taught about gender identity
Texas A&M University announced the resignation of its president, Mark A. Welsh III, on 18 September 2025, following a controversial decision earlier in the month to fire a professor over a classroom exchange with a student about gender identity. (more…)
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Ian McEwan’s new novel explores resentment and vengeance in a fractured world
Ian McEwan’s new novel, his 18th in a long career of writing books that play with startling premises, bold ideas and big dilemmas, begins as a work of futurist fiction set in 2119. (more…)
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Statement on cancellation of Chris Hedges’ confirmed appearance at the National Press Club of Australia
AFOPA is responding to the statement published on 4 October 2025 by the National Press Club of Australia in relation to their cancellation of Chris Hedges’ confirmed appearance at the National Press Club on 20 October 2025. (more…)
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A century of deceit: Towards a new understanding of the colonisation of Palestine
Political and media commentary on the Hamas killings of October 2023 have been preoccupied with claims that these were not only the worst terrorists but that their actions were without precedent. (more…)
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7 October not a day to abuse protesters
When it comes to the domestic political fallout from the Gaza conflict, there are no more reliable and uncritical friends of Israel than Victoria’s Premier Jacinta Allan and her New South Wales counterpart Chris Minns. (more…)
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Hundreds of thousands flood cities across Europe to demand end to genocide in Gaza
An estimated 250,000 people dressed in red crowded into Museum Square in Amsterdam, demanding that the Dutch government end its support for Israel. (more…)
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Inequality and the future of democracy
Rising inequality and declining living standards have posed a threat to democracy in several democracies, but so far not in Australia. However, the increasing inequality of wealth, driven by housing becoming unaffordable without rich parents, is a threat. (more…)
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Trump’s Gaza peace plan: Today, tomorrow and the day after
Back in January last year, my Toda Policy Brief 182 was published with the title “Israel and Gaza: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow”. (more…)
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The RBA says changing rates won’t raise house prices. I wouldn’t be so sure
The Reserve Bank has always denied that its manipulation of short-term interest rates to slow or hasten the growth in demand for goods and services plays any part in worsening the cost of home ownership. But I doubt this. (more…)
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7 October 2023: Return of the Hannibal Directive and the genocide starts now – Part 2
By noon on 7 October 2023, news of Palestinians taking hostages grip the attention of Israel’s top military and political leadership who are gathered in the “Pit”, the Kirya bunker in Tel Aviv. (more…)
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UK polls suggest Starmer is deeply unpopular. Can he survive another year?
Having led Labour to victory last year, the premier is struggling to build trust with his voters. (more…)
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New school funding agreements deny full funding for public schools
The claim by the prime minister, premiers and their education ministers that public schools will be fully funded by 2034 is a blatant falsehood. (more…)
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How the ALP outsourced the soul of higher education
For most of its history, the Australian Labor Party spoke of education as a public good, the “light on the hill”, a vision of collective progress through strong institutions, universal access, and the elevation of ordinary citizens. (more…)
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Secret cargo: Inside Australia’s covert F-35 parts pipeline to Israel
At least 68 shipments of F-35 fighter jet parts have been flown on commercial passenger planes to Israel from Australia as recently as last month, leaked documents reveal. (more…)
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Australia faces a looming crisis of older women retiring in poverty. Here’s what we can do
Australia faces a serious challenge. Despite important progress on gender equality over recent decades, a looming crisis now threatens the economic security of older women. Without urgent and bold action, we risk consigning further generations of women to poverty in retirement. (more…)
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Steerage for the Australian-PNG navy?
The mutual defence treaty between Australia and Papua New Guinea could be a masterstroke for both countries, if our defence boffins could think laterally. I bet they won’t. (more…)
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Rio Tinto flags early closure of Queensland’s biggest coal generator as LNP prepares new energy plan
The clock is now ticking for the ageing Gladstone coal-fired power station after its owners told the Australian Energy Market Operator that they’re bringing forward the closure date of the biggest power plant in Queensland by six years, to March 2029. (more…)
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‘Ban Israeli football’: Scholars urge UEFA to bar Israel over Gaza horrors
In a letter, legal experts have underscored the killing of Palestinian footballers and a UN panel’s finding that Israel is committing genocide. (more…)
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7 October 2023: shocking yes, surprising no
A new book on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Road to October 7 – a brief history of Palestinian Islamism, by Erik Skare, shows how the seeds of the Gaza war were sown over decades. (more…)
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World water in crisis
Almost two-thirds of the world’s rivers are in a dire condition, either drying up or supercharged with floodwaters, according to the latest report on the emerging global water crisis by the World Meteorological Organisation. (more…)
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Charlie Kirk, Andrew Hastie and the ‘Christian’ West: Some Christian pushback
The horrific assassination of Charlie Kirk is being invested with all sorts of meaning, well beyond the personal tragedy it is for his family. (more…)
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What are international protests revealing about Palestine, Israel and public opinion?
When I first saw the figures on international protests from October 2023 to September 2025, I was fascinated. I hadn’t realised which countries had been most active and the results surprised me. (more…)
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Loot boxes are still rife in kids’ mobile games, despite ban on ‘gambling-like’ features
In September 2024, Australia introduced a new classification approach for games with gambling-like content. (more…)
