On the last voyage of the Rainbow Warrior prior to its sinking by French agents in Auckland harbour on 10 July 1985 the ship had evacuated the entire population (320) of Rongelap in the Marshall Islands. (more…)
Category: Politics
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Squad a strategic boon for India and the Quad
Manila is considering expanding the “Squad” — a security coalition focused on operational maritime deterrence comprised of the US, Japan, Australia and the Philippines — to include India and South Korea. (more…)
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Boomers bashing again: Change the rules
A departing editor-at-large from The Australian Financial Review, off to head the IPA, warns of an “intergenerational tragedy” facing young Australians. (more…)
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The Empire has accidentally caused the rebirth of real counterculture in the West
Everyone’s still talking about Bob Vylan, and rightly so. A crowd full of Westerners happily being led through a chant of “Death, death to the IDF” at the 2025 Glastonbury Festival was a historical landmark moment for the 21st century, and the group’s persecution at the hands of Western governments is once again highlighting the way our society’s purported values of free thought and free expression go right out of the window wherever Israel is concerned. (more…)
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Political unrest, French negotiations and decolonisation in New Caledonia
New Caledonia stands at a precipice. Political representatives from this French Territory are meeting in Paris to try to eke out an agreement over its political future in the dark shadow of the violence of 2024 that saw New Caledonia burn and 14 people — 12 Kanaks and two French military — killed. (more…)
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National Anti-Corruption Commission is two years old – Has it restored integrity to federal government?
The National Anti-Corruption Commission opened its doors two years ago this week amid much fanfare and high expectations. (more…)
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Message from the editor
My sincere thanks to all who made a contribution to our June fundraising appeal with the terrific team at the Australian Cultural Fund. (more…)
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J’accuse (Part 2) – The Israel lobby
Readers may recall a piece published here on Pearls and Irritations (J’accuse!… the Jew who accuses his fellow Jews of being antisemites on 23 February, 2025 — in which I wrote about an offensive tweet Mark Leibler (lawyer and leader of AIJAC) posted on X — in which, amongst other things, he described those Jews criticising Israel as “vicious antisemites”. (more…)
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Gunning for the Greens over Gaza – Part 2
The Greens have been prominent in condemning Israel’s ongoing mass murder and destruction in Gaza. The federal Labor Government adamantly sits on its hands while condemning the Greens. Whence the absence of principle and courage on the government’s benches? (more…)
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Lawsuit aims to end ‘systematic’ snatching of brown-skinned people by Trump agents
“These guys are popping up, rampant all over the city, just taking people randomly, and we want that particular practice to end,” one attorney in the case said of Department of Homeland Security agents. (more…)
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The Rainbow Warrior 1985-2025: French state terrorism and the end of innocence Part 1
Immediately after murdering Fernando Pereira and blowing up Greenpeace’s ship the Rainbow Warrior in Auckland harbour, several of the French agents went on a ski holiday in New Zealand’s South Island to celebrate. (more…)
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Achieving health equity in Australia
The recently launched World Report on the Social Determinants of Health Equity, by the World Health Organisation (WHO, 2025), paints a stark picture of the differences in ill-health, poor well-being, disease and mortality within and between countries, that arise from unfair and avoidable social conditions. (more…)
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The deep politics behind Trump’s presidency
It is not easy to find a coherent, positive message in the chaos Donald Trump is sowing, but let me try…. (more…)
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MAGA buyers’ remorse and the trouble with Christian nationalism
For those who do begin to question, the challenge is not to nudge them leftward or toward some ideologically approved alternative. The challenge is simply to stay in the discomfort long enough for something more honest to emerge. (more…)
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Gunning for the Greens over Gaza – Part 1
After the federal election on 3 May, dissection of the Liberals’ turmoil received top billing. (more…)
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Spiritual malpractice: The Vatican’s dodgy saint-making business
Pope Leo rubberstamps the controversial canonisation of a multimillionaire Italian’s adolescent son. (more…)
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Environment: Ken Henry and Xi Jinping agree nature is critical to productivity
Ken Henry says high-integrity environmental laws will be the government’s first test but new Labor MPs don’t agree. Great Barrier Reef still suffering from heat, agricultural run-off and overfishing. NATO to increase its spend and its emissions. (more…)
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Mamdani’s magnificent primary win – What follows
People are asking about my reaction to Zohran Mamdani’s spectacular and decisive upset in the Democratic primary victory for Mayor of New York over ex-Governor Andrew Cuomo. (more…)
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The takeaway from the Venice Biennale saga: the art world faces deep and troubling structural inequality
Creative Australia’s decision earlier this year to rescind the selection of artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino as Australia’s 2026 representatives at the Venice Biennale sent shockwaves through the arts sector. (more…)
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Israel: The true superpower? Journalist exposes global threat in explosive Sydney talk
In a searing address to a sold-out crowd in Sydney on Saturday night 28 June 2025, award-winning Australian investigative journalist Antony Loewenstein declared that Israel has quietly become the world’s most dangerous superpower, wielding weapons, surveillance technology, and AI systems perfected on Palestinians to control populations across many countries. (more…)
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Trump tariff deals with Japan, India bogged down – Asian Media Report
In Asian media this week: Trade pact sealed with Vietnam. Plus: Dalai Lama at 90 – the institution will continue; Region’s newspapers show disdain for NATO; China, Pakistan setting up new South Asian bloc; Canberra, Beijing squabble over project naming rights. (more…)
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Trump’s Big Ugly Bill is fascism in writing
It establishes an anti-immigrant police state in America, replete with a standing army of ICE agents and a gulag of detention facilities, and it was passed by a narrow margin despite popular opinion. (more…)
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Flood management: Science, technology and people’s responses
To reduce the risks posed by floods requires both scientific input and appropriate community reaction. It is not always clear that both are in evidence. (more…)
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Fifteen years of UN Women: A call to action, not complacency
Fifteen years ago, UN Women was established with a bold mission: to drive real and lasting change for all women and girls. (more…)
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World Bank warns that changes are coming in the global economy
The World Bank’s just released flagship report Global Economic Prospects sounds a warning for the global economy, which is projected to slow dangerously through the next few years, while also showing substantial changes. (more…)
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Ocasio-Cortez calls Trump’s budget bill ‘deal with the devil’
“It explodes our national debt, it militarises our entire economy, and it strips away healthcare and basic dignity of the American people. For what? To give Elon Musk a tax break and billionaires the greedy taking of our nation.” (more…)
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US shift towards Pakistan may unsettle India and the South Asia balance
Islamabad welcomes the opportunity to hedge against China, but New Delhi may well go looking for other, more reliable partners. (more…)
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The magic of the mandate: Now you see it, now you don’t
In 2003, then prime minister John Howard committed Australia to the US-led invasion of Iraq. (more…)
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What are working with children checks? Why aren’t they keeping kids safe at daycare?
Disturbing allegations have emerged about a Melbourne childcare worker, who has been charged with more than 70 offences, including sexual assault and producing child abuse material. (more…)
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Genocide in Gaza: History repeats itself
For the past 21 months, I have endured the painful experience of displacement, moving between tents under relentless bombardment in Gaza. (more…)