The wisdom of serious reform: The forthcoming August 2025 Government Roundtable seeks a better future for all Australians. And, indeed, our society has well-known and well documented lists of policies that can reliably deliver on that desired outcome. (more…)
Category: Politics
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Australia urged to investigate Australians in Israeli forces for Gaza war crimes
The Australian Federation of Islamic Councils (AFIC) has welcomed recent developments in Belgium, where Israeli soldiers were questioned under universal jurisdiction for alleged war crimes in Gaza, and similar legal actions reported in Canada, Brazil, Serbia, Thailand, and the Netherlands. (more…)
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What about the RAAF in the AUKUS equation?
All the commentary about AUKUS is predicated on some kind of conflict with China over Taiwan. That is foolishness personified. But there is another factor that is even more bewildering. Both sides of the argument appear to have forgotten the existence of the RAAF. (more…)
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To resist injustice in Gaza and the wider world
Egyptian-born Omar El Akkad had studied in the United States and been 10 years a journalist when, in the summer of 2021, he became an American citizen. Covering the War on Terror in Afghanistan and at the U.S. detention centre in Guantanamo Bay exposed him to the “deep ugly cracks in the bedrock of this thing they called “the free world.” Yet he believed the cracks could be repaired – “Until the fall of 2023. Until the slaughter.” (more…)
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Gender politics and right-wing politics clash in South Korea
South Korea’s gender divide has become a flashpoint in its democratic evolution. Amid economic stagnation and rising disillusionment, young men increasingly view feminist policies as threats to fairness, fuelling anti-feminist populism. Yet the roots of this divide run deeper — into the Confucian familism embedded in welfare structures, selective workplace norms, and a military culture that reinforces hegemonic masculinity. While women face structural inequalities, young men confront shifting expectations that clash with traditional roles. (more…)
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Francesca Albanese’s bravery merits the Nobel prize
Richard Falk, international law scholar and former UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories Since 1967, talks about the July 2025 U.S. sanctions imposed on current Rapporteur Francesca Albanese. Well known for her criticism of Israel’s Gaza offensive and her classification of genocide which now includes wilful mass starvation, Albanese has become the most embattled Special Rapporteur to date. Falk himself was no stranger to such pressures during his own 2008-2014 tenure. (more…)
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We have turned the Nagasaki 80th into a celebration of Israeli genocide
Israel’s key enablers, the G7, plus Australia and New Zealand, have succeeded in muscling Israel back onto the invite list for the commemorations in Nagasaki on 9 August. Last year Israel was excluded, triggering a refusal by these countries to attend in 2024. Does the ‘personal’ invitation that Nagasaki has just sent to Israel represent a triumph of Western diplomacy or a sick joke? (more…)
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How’s my lippy? Polishing up impression management and memes
Nearly half a century ago Neville Wran, the gravel voiced powerbroking NSW Labor Premier from 1976-86, perfected the art of orchestrating TV press conferences. If a pesky journalist shoved a microphone in his face and asked a difficult question, Wran would just turn away from the offending mike and camera, using his eyes to invite someone else to ask their question. No sound, no visual, no story. Pretty Nifty indeed. (more…)
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The disgrace of deliberate starvation: Israel’s war of hunger in Gaza
Israel’s plan for the ethnic cleansing of the Gaza Strip is proceeding apace, maybe even better than expected. In addition to significant achievements in systematic killing and destruction already chalked up, the last few days have seen one more critical achievement: the deliberate starvation has started to yield results. (more…)
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Defining antisemitism and bringing the killing to an end
In a homily delivered last Sunday Frank Brennan said the best way to counter antisemitism is by extending hospitality to the stranger and to all work to end the killing. (more…)
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Environment: Judge says advocate and protest to make government responsible for climate damage
Federal Court says Australian government not negligent in failing to protect Torres Strait Islanders from climate change. Human-induced climate change triples current European heatwave deaths but who is responsible for the harm and damage? (more…)
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Let’s (not) choose sides and fight
It would be harder to stoke homicidal zeal if everyone understood that behind all our hostilities is the simple, though stark, reality that humanity faces climate change and resource depletion. (more…)
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Kazuo Ishiguro said he won the Nobel Prize for making people cry – 20 years later, Never Let Me Go should make us angry
Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go was published 20 years ago. Since then, the Japanese-born English writer has been awarded the Nobel Prize in 2017 and knighted for services to literature in 2018. (more…)
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Israel has succeeded in starvation, and the global moral edifice has collapsed sharply
I step out of my tent every morning, burdened with exhaustion, drenched in sorrow, searching for anything I might be able to buy for my family, a family worn down by hunger. Their bodies are too weak to move. Their faces have turned pale, drained of all signs of life. For two months, not a single grain of flour has entered our tent. My children still go to sleep every night with empty stomachs and unbearable pain. (more…)
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Menadue on the dulling of the Australian conscience
Speaking with the Victorian Branch of Australian Fabians, P&I publisher, founder and editor-in-chief, John Menadue, reflects on the his life and work, the state of national leadership and public institutions including a debased mainstream media. (more…)
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Which countries will pick sides in a US-China conflict over Taiwan?
Not only would few countries wish to get involved in such a conflict, it’s not clear that the US itself has an appetite for it. (more…)
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Former UN Aid chief calls Gaza genocide ‘Worst crime of the 21st century’
“I am absolutely convinced that what’s going on in Gaza is a genocide, because the thing speaks for itself,” said Martin Griffiths. (more…)
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When technology enslaves humans
The future of humanity will no longer be determined by humans – that much is already clear. Technology has taken charge of our destiny. The question is: can anything be done? (more…)
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EVs and electric hot water can transform cities into ‘giant batteries’ to slash peak demand
Electrified homes and vehicles could help transform Australian cities into “giant batteries,” a new study has found, where each resident is effectively equipped with around three Tesla Powerwalls-worth of flexible energy storage capacity. (more…)
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The future of surveillance tech is already here – in the US, not China
Chinese citizens enjoy public safety in exchange for compromised privacy. In the United States, people are facing an increasingly unchecked state. (more…)
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Lies, damn lies and Zionist lobby pronouncements
Reaction to the release and the contents of the Segal report on antisemitism in Australia is at the level of existential damage to social cohesion in Australia. (more…)
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From steam power to silicon: the unequal legacy of empire and innovation
From the steam engine to the internet, many of the world’s most significant scientific and technological advancements have emerged during the height of powerful empires. The British Empire—and more recently, the United States—have stood at the forefront of this global transformation. (more…)
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On Jillian Segal’s report into combating antisemitism
Several excellent critiques of Jillian Segal’s “Special Envoy’s Plan to Combat Antisemitism” have appeared, by Louise Adler (The Guardian), Henry Reynolds (Pearls and Irritations), Nick Feik (Substack), Guy Rundle (Substack) and Jeffrey Loewenstein (Pearls and Irritations). I would like to add a few additional words. (more…)
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‘New era of climate accountability’: ICJ says nations have legal duty to combat planetary crisis
“For the first time, it feels like justice is not just a dream but a direction,” said Flora Vano, an activist from Vanuatu. (more…)
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BREAKING: Albo doesn’t yell at Xi — (part of) nation panics
Albanese in China: 6 days, 1 panda, 0 shouting. (Some) media outrage level: critical. (more…)
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50 years of ‘the meddling priest’
Not only is Frank Brennan Australia’s best known Catholic priest, but he has also contributed much to Australia’s public life, above all to those most marginalised. (more…)
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The penalty for being late is to be doomed forever
Infected by wars and climate change is the other intractable issue: how to help 43 million refugees? More than 3,451 pledges to change the mountain-size misery have been made worldwide by governments, NGOs, and individuals, including Australians. The issue is less about gathering signatures, more about turning words into action. (more…)
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Economic reform must included industrial transformation – Part 2
Going forward, what are some of the key design principles and priorities to consider as building blocks for a comprehensive, evidence-based industrial strategy, which both creates and adapts to the technologies and jobs of the future? (more…)
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As US warms up to Pakistan, India must refashion diplomacy
India’s multi-alignment strategy has been severely tested as it finds little support from the West. (more…)
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The Australia Group at 40
By the end of World War 1, more than a million people had become victims of chemical warfare and more than 100,000 of these casualties died shortly after their exposure to CW agents. (more…)