Israel has been itching for years to attack Iran, citing its nuclear facilities as an existential threat. (more…)
Category: Politics
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Biden’s advisers hid his decline – and the media didn’t dig hard enough
Last week, President Donald Trump ordered an investigation into “who ran the United States while President Biden was in office”, alleging top aides masked the “cognitive decline” of his predecessor. The announcement referenced revelations in a new book by journalists Jake Tapper (CNN) and Alex Thompson (Axios). (more…)
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Tax concessions for super do not need a major rethink
Chris Murphy’s article in The Conversation on 3 June calling for a rethink of superannuation tax arrangements misrepresents the Henry Review’s recommendations for taxing super and overlooks the subsequent measures taken by the Gillard and Turnbull Governments. (more…)
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The cultural and linguistic roots of protest in China
In 1760, the newly established Qing Dynasty was looking to expand Chinese territory by claiming the region of Xinjiang. Many Chinese intellectuals and scholars opposed this. (more…)
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Reflections on Ukraine’s ‘Spider Web’ and other attacks on Russia: why the euphoria?
Reports by invested parties of battlefield success in most wars — and the war between Russian and Ukraine is an exemplary case — are best read when accompanied by the aphorism of the ancient Greek tragic dramatist, Aeschylus — in war, truth is the first casualty — and then following the unfolding of Newton’s 3rd Law as applied to war reportage: every claim is met with a counter-claim until something resembling an account corresponding to observable facts emerges. This, almost without exception, reduces the original version to an ambitious fable. (more…)
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Democracy in the City of Melbourne: Some voters are more equal than others
Now that the dust has settled on the 2024 City of Melbourne council elections, what lessons can be learned? (more…)
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An algorithm decides whether you have an online life or not
Recently, I lost a Facebook account I’d had for 17 years. It wasn’t just a social media profile — it was a living archive of my life. (more…)
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Observations from Xinjiang
Having been fortunate enough to have made three separate trips to Xinjiang over 15 years, I believe some observations may be of interest to P&I readers.
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Investing in Pearls
There’s a certain frisson as well as tension to this time of the year (June). It’s the time when those of us lucky enough (with enough) to have to make tax decisions can choose where to make a tax-deductible contribution that will, indeed et voila, lessen our tax bill while (possibly) benefitting a good cause. (more…)
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I have good news and bad about your superannuation
When the government wants to cut back the massive tax concessions the rich receive on their superannuation, the media is full of it for weeks. (more…)
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The murky world of lobbying and the North West Shelf
It’s hard to explain to a young person how the Albanese Government could possibly have approved the North West Shelf gas project expansion last week. (more…)
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AI and robotics expected to play a big role in China’s next 5-year plan
China is likely to leverage advanced technology to boost manufacturing, achieving self-sufficiency while becoming an indispensable exporter. (more…)
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Review: Perfect Victims
Mohammed El-Kurd is a poet, writer, journalist and organiser from Jerusalem in occupied Palestine. (more…)
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A naval force to escort humanitarian aid is an act of peace
In honour of a brave Gazan fisherwoman Madleen Kulab, the international aid boat of the same name was turned back to an Israeli port. (more…)
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Two remote islands with a common purpose
After a decades-long fight, Prime Minister Starmer in late May gave up Britain’s possession of the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean, while Australia keeps the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, our most distant Indian Ocean territory. The United States military has continuing use of both. (more…)
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NACC ambiguity on Robodebt investigation ‘worrying’, says KC
Three months have passed since the National Anti-Corruption Commission promised an “impartial and fair investigation” into Robodebt. Nothing has been heard since. (more…)
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Why does international justice fail to prosecute war criminals in Gaza?
Is documentation enough to achieve justice? Since the onset of the Israeli war on Gaza in October 2023, human rights organisations have relentlessly documented severe violations. (more…)
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Hugh White and our post-American future
In his new Quarterly Essay, Hard New World, Hugh White delivers a devastating attack on Australia’s current defence policies. (more…)
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In Trump’s America, the shooting of a journalist is not a one-off. Press freedom itself is under attack
The video of a Los Angeles police officer shooting a rubber bullet at Channel Nine reporter Lauren Tomasi is as shocking as it is revealing. (more…)
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A Joycean defence of Harvard (and Australia’s universities?) from Trump’s derangement Part 2 of 2
In the context of President Donald Trump’s all-embracing appetites and hatreds, Harvard being under attack by his administration should, almost reflexively, be easy to defend. (more…)
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Now AI can imitate a deceased loved one. Should it?
As another anniversary of my husband’s death approaches, I’ve been wondering if I want AI to “resurrect” him. (more…)
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Australia should use its power as an independent voice to push for peace
Australia occupies a unique position in the global landscape, bridging East and West both geographically and culturally. Yet it continues to underuse its potential as an independent, peace-building voice in international affairs. (more…)
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South Korea’s president faces tough balancing act between allies, adversaries
Lee Jae-myung has to deal with a North Korea emboldened by strengthened ties with Russia and must consider the stances of the US, Japan and China. (more…)
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Ministerial responsibility and cabinet solidarity: Are they misaligned?
When Tony Abbott brought Malcolm Turnbull back into his shadow cabinet as communications spokesman in 2010, the then Opposition leader mocked Turnbull by calling him the inventor of the internet. (more…)
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Go-ahead for new carbon bomb marks Australia as enemy of the region
In planning its future release of up to 80 billion tonnes of planet-heating carbon, Australia has committed itself to the destruction of nations and wrecking of big cities throughout the Indo-Pacific Region. (more…)
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Palestine and the gravitational politics of erasure
What we are witnessing in Gaza is not only a genocide of lives, but a systematic campaign to obliterate a people’s cultural identity, memory and future. (more…)
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Is the US on the path to becoming a failed state?
The deliberate undermining of democratic norms and the conflation of personal power with national interest are consistent with patterns seen in states that have tipped into authoritarian rule. (more…)
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Trump’s attacks on Harvard: Cardinal Wolsey and the prologue to an Australian encounter? Part 1 of 2
The White House is now more accurately described as an Imperial War Room: from it, President Trump directs indiscriminate attacks on whatever is enraging him. (more…)
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Award for Morrison an insult to the truth
Scott Morrison’s award is not just a political misjudgment – it is an affront to decency. (more…)
