Blistering heat and poor rains warning, Xi’s acceptance of North Korean nukes, the Pope’s Pyongyang visit plan, military crowd control in Jakarta protests, India’s recognition of women’s unpaid work, and China’s new ‘she economy’. (more…)
Category: Top 5
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Israel’s Iran failure is an opportunity to face reality
Israel’s failure to impose its will on Iran should be treated not as a disaster but as a reality check, exposing the limits of military force and the urgent need to end a politics built on permanent war.
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The man who did everything right
The story of a voter who did everything Australia once told working people to do: work hard, buy a home, raise a family and keep faith. Now, after years of lost jobs, debt and broken promises, his look towards One Nation is not loyalty but a warning.
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Hannah Arendt and the creation of Israel
Hannah Arendt warned in 1948 that a Jewish state built without Jewish-Arab agreement would live by permanent war, fear and exclusion – a warning that now reads less like idealism than realism. (more…)
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One umbrella, many stories: Why a “monocultural” Australia misses the point
After Pauline Hanson’s National Press Club call for a “monocultural” Australia, Suzan Wahhab writes from her own family’s journey from occupied Palestine to Sydney to show that the fair go is strengthened, not weakened, by multicultural belonging.
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The tragedy of AUKUS
In his submission to the AUKUS Public Inquiry, Joe Camilleri argues revoking AUKUS must be part of wider reassessment of Australia’s place in the world. (more…)
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China fear is weakening Australian research
Australia needs to manage research security risks, but exaggerating the threat of collaboration with China could weaken national security by cutting Australian science off from leading researchers, global expertise and crucial STEM talent. (more…)
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The case against the AUKUS submarine project
In a submission to the public inquiry into AUKUS, former foreign minister Gareth Evans argues the submarine project is not in Australia’s national interest, warning that doubts over delivery, excessive cost and loss of sovereign agency demand an urgent Plan B. (more…)
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What the Socceroos teach us about belonging
The Socceroos’ success is more than a sporting story: it is a reminder that the children of migrants and refugees are not outsiders to Australia’s future, but part of the national story itself. (more…)
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One Nation, science and democracy – the trust deficit in Australia
The rise of anti-establishment politics reflects a deeper loss of confidence in Australia’s economic model, making investment in science, research and innovation central to rebuilding productivity, opportunity and trust. (more…)
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Australia still needs a real national housing strategy
Labor’s capital gains tax and negative gearing reforms are a major step forward, but Australia still lacks the long-term national housing strategy needed to address social housing, rental security, energy efficiency and supply failures. (more…)
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High Court strikes down Commonwealth on long-detained refugees
The High Court’s latest ruling on false imprisonment exposes the legal, financial and human consequences of Australia’s punitive immigration detention system, and the political refusal to abandon cruelty as policy. (more…)
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Bowen’s electrification gospel has a truck-shaped problem
Australia is urging the world to electrify, but its own freight system remains overwhelmingly dependent on imported diesel when electric trucks could cut emissions, strengthen fuel security and lower costs. (more…)
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Star stuck government warned by security agencies
As SpaceX begins trading on the Nasdaq after a record-breaking IPO, Australia’s growing reliance on Starlink raises urgent questions about communications sovereignty, emergency services, security and space regulation. (more…)
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Why Pauline Hanson’s biggest weakness is her newest voters
One Nation’s surge is easiest to read as anger. It is better read through a different lens – gathering the Australians who formed their sense of who they are in an offline world, where belonging was anchored where they grew up. (more…)
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AUKUS and the case for no submarines
The case for AUKUS rests on treating submarines as essential to Australian sovereignty, while ignoring the broader defence capabilities that already protect Australia’s maritime approaches and raise serious questions about whether new submarines are needed at all. (more…)
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Reform is hard, but Labor should hold its nerve
The attacks on the government’s budget reforms may be loud, but polling suggests voters are more open to tax change than the media backlash implies – and governments that want to deliver serious reform have to withstand the noise. (more…)
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An open letter to the Minister for Home Affairs – Australia’s obligations to Palestinians must reach the visa system
In an open letter to the Minister for Home Affairs, Meg Schwarz argues that Australia’s obligations to Palestinians must be reflected not only in foreign policy statements, but in the practical systems that shape access to visas, scholarships and education. (more…)
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The Kentucky colonel who drives Australian foreign policy
Australia’s foreign policy is being distorted by AUKUS, militarised thinking and a misplaced faith in US power, when the country should be rebuilding its diplomatic strength as an independent middle power. (more…)
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If Support at Home is the answer, what is the problem?
Support at Home was meant to transform aged care, but its assessment and funding model has left older Australians waiting too long, paying too much and receiving services shaped by budgets rather than need. (more…)
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One Nation’s Trumpian threat
One Nation’s polling surge could create serious instability after the next federal election, with the party’s growing Senate prospects threatening to disrupt the balance of power and test Australia’s political institutions.
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Seoul’s nuclear push, Toyota’s #2 status, India’s ‘cockroach’ politics – Asian Media Report
Korea’s threshold weapons-power talks, Softbank’s rise to Japan’s top spot, Gen Z’s youth slur revolt, Tokyo’s plan to shape regional power balance, China’s chip-making sanctions work-around and East Asia’s super-aged societies. (more…)
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The San Diego mosque attack was not a random attack
The attack on the Islamic Centre of San Diego was part of the normalisation of anti-Muslim sentiment in North America. (more…)
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The quiet Australians who actually empty the bins
When the political class keeps choosing to squeeze outer-suburban, mortgage-stressed, salaried workers, we shouldn’t be surprised to see these people turning to One Nation. (more…)
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Falling house prices should be welcomed, not feared
Falling house prices should ease cost-of-living pressures and help first home-buyers, yet Australia’s political debate still treats rising housing values as a national good rather than a barrier to affordability. (more…)
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The genie is out of the bottle. Where to from here for Iran’s Arab neighbours?
The Iran war has damaged US leverage in the Persian Gulf, strengthened Iran’s regional bargaining position and forced Gulf Arab states to reassess their reliance on Washington.
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The Virginia-class submarine deal exposes the real purpose of AUKUS
The shift to second-hand Virginia-class submarines exposes the deeper flaw in AUKUS: Australia is committing vast public funds to a capability designed around US strategic priorities rather than Australia’s own defence needs.
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Avoiding ‘worse-case’ climate warming is big news. But is it true?
Claims that climate scientists have abandoned their most dire scenario have been widely misunderstood. While the highest emissions pathway is now considered unlikely, evidence suggests the climate system may still be tracking toward dangerously high levels of warming.
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Red Bridge analysis an early warning signal, not a crystal ball
Polling points to a rapidly fragmenting electorate, with One Nation attracting unprecedented support and the major parties facing deepening voter dissatisfaction. While no single poll can reliably predict an election outcome, the consistency of these trends, across multiple surveys, means they can no longer be dismissed as protest noise or temporary volatility.
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A carbon tax is a good idea
A carbon tax would help substantially in tackling two of the major problems facing Australia today: climate change and paying for the government services that we want. (more…)