Today, on World Refugee Day 2025, close to one in ten Australians is a refugee or descendant of someone displaced. (more…)
Category: Politics
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Centrifugal forces have been unleashed in Iran
The US-Israeli surprise attack on Iran is literally and figuratively designed to unleash centrifugal forces in the Islamic Republic. (more…)
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What if the UN Charter fails? A world without rules is closer than we think
“We the peoples of the United Nations are determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind…” — Preamble to the UN Charter, 1945 (more…)
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Speaking out from within: Jewish voices confront Israeli aggression
As Israel’s military campaign in Gaza reaches unprecedented levels of destruction, a global wave of protest has emerged. (more…)
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Now is the time for humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza
Israel recently launched a brutal new offensive in Gaza, followed by an expanded ground offensive, killing and injuring thousands of beleaguered Palestinians. (more…)
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The FICAC Commission of Inquiry fiasco in Fiji
What started out as a trivial story barely worthy of public attention has grown into a full-blown crisis for the Sitiveni Rabuka-led government in Fiji. (more…)
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The United States must not be part of Israel’s unlawful war on Iran
The US Constitution is crystal clear: there can be no offensive use of military force — against Iran or any other country — without an explicit authorisation from Congress. No such authorisation exists, and any US involvement would, therefore, be illegal. (more…)
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Strategic security partnerships in the region
In reading analyses of how we can develop the seemingly logical argument by Paul Keating and others that Australia should be seeking its security in Asia rather than from Asia, the issue of official and personal contact in building such ties always seems to be neglected. (more…)
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Patrick Lawrence: World’s most dangerous man and his enabler
Netanyahu has craved this war with Iran for decades, always justifying his psychotic lust by way of endless lies and an apparently bottomless paranoia. (more…)
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Humanitarian visa processing – Is it who you know, rather than what you know? Part 2
Is this how we want our visa processing system to run? (more…)
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Australian net-zero projects to be rated to prevent greenwashing
Environmental projects will be analysed and rated in Australia in a move experts say could prevent greenwashing and encourage international investments. (more…)
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Job and the point of a good life
Job is not a manual for how to live well. It’s a reflection on why one would want to. (more…)
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People of Pacific Rim say ‘no’ to US-China war
The Pacific and Pacific Rim countries have a geographical commonality. They are encircled by, or have a border with, the vast, blue, peaceful Pacific Ocean. (more…)
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The hazards of Albanese’s ‘progressive patriotism’
John Menadue is absolutely right to point to regrettable omissions in Prime Minister Albanese’s 10 June speech at the National Press Club – its failure to say anything about reinvigorating a needy Australian democracy. (more…)
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Stop Netanyahu before he gets us all killed
We could soon see several nuclear powers pitted against each other and dragging the world closer to nuclear annihilation. (more…)
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Jason Clare’s monumental task in education
The Labor Government has promised a rethink in education policy and a better future for all children. (more…)
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Sudan: The horrors intensify as millions are abandoned
A woman survivor of the current conflict in Sudan between two rival militaries, the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Force, each fighting for power since 2023, told UNICEF: “I could hear that little girl screaming and crying. They were raping her.” (more…)
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‘No Kings Day’ was historic. Now we need a powerful — and independent — movement against Trump
The huge, decentralised turnout for No Kings Day has shown that grassroots power can be a major force against the momentum of the Trump regime. (more…)
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Goodbye to all that? Rethinking Australia’s alliance with Trump’s America
Even the most ardent supporters of the alliance with the United States — the notional foundation of Australian security for more than 70 years — must be having some misgivings about the second coming of Donald Trump. (more…)
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Home Affairs and the bleak hole of humanitarian visa processing – Part 1
There is no shortage of evidence – vulnerable women in Afghanistan are in a dire situation as the Taliban continues to advance its stance on gender apartheid. (more…)
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The evil phoenix: Quenching the fire of its rebirth
This is a $5 billion scam hurting honest Australians. (more…)
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Not yet born: America at the crossroads
On a threatening June evening, America’s army turned 250 and put on a show that revealed more than it intended. (more…)
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‘Cakes of coal, volumes of gas’: Australia accused of being climate wrecker as it seeks to host COP31
Australia has been “two-faced” by pushing to host the UN-backed COP31 climate conference in 2026 even as it has been approving massive new oil, gas and coal projects, an international climate group says. (more…)
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Australia: A sovereign continent not for Marles to gift away
Yesterday’s statement by Defence Minister Richard Marles that Australia’s geography and continent would be crucial to any United States prosecution of a war against China will go down as a dark moment in Australia’s history. (more…)
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The bamboo ceiling is still very much in place Down Under
Our business sector lacks the skills to do business in Asia. And instead of improving, the situation is getting markedly worse. (more…)
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Hugh White: Why the AUKUS ‘dream’ was never realistic and is likely to die
The first clear sign the Trump administration was taking a long hard look at AUKUS came two weeks ago, when US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth gave his first major speech on US strategic policy in Asia at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. (more…)
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Australia’s defence and intelligence agencies are US outposts
More than ever, Australia should have the objective capacity to determine its own defence and intelligence requirements, instead of being heavily influenced by American interests and perspective. (more…)
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Albo’s steady-as-she goes strategy – will it work?
Anthony Albanese has made it clear that we cannot expect a more ambitious government strategy in future, despite the size of his election win. (more…)
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Social media takes over as main source of news as trust falls
A major global survey reveals that social media has overtaken news sites as Australians’ main source of news amid falling trust in news, growing concern over misinformation, and rising news avoidance. (more…)
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Israel uses Iran’s enrichment program as pretext for regime change
The war against Iran is a chance to bolster Netanyahu’s fledging right-wing credentials. Tehran’s response to Israel’s offensive in the last two days has been muted. (more…)