After US courts found Meta and YouTube liable for deliberately addicting young users, attention is increasingly being recognised not as a private commodity, but as a strategic resource shaping democracy, public debate and social stability. (more…)
Category: Top 5
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The second-last budget reply – delivered by a Liberal MP
The Coalition’s plan to strip permanent residents of access to welfare payments risks detonating support across Australia’s outer-suburban migrant households, where families consisting of citizens and non-citizens live, work and vote together.
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Budget 2026: Responsible, reformist – but still too cautious
This is a responsible budget that responds sensibly to inflation and weak productivity, but it stops short of the deeper tax and climate reforms needed to reshape the economy.
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Budget 2026: Leadership means more than keeping campaign promises – Message from the Editor
The obsession with whether governments have broken campaign promises is shrinking political ambition and discouraging the kind of leadership needed to tackle Australia’s deep structural problems, P&I Editor Catriona Jackson writes. (more…)
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Budget 2026: Clean energy spending grows but gas giants still avoid reform
The federal budget increases investment in emissions reduction, batteries and clean energy infrastructure, but leaves major fossil fuel tax concessions and gas industry profits largely untouched. (more…)
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The rules-based order is breaking down before our eyes
In an edited version of a speech delivered at the Restoring Democracy launch in Melbourne, Gillian Triggs says that weakening respect for international law, human rights and democratic institutions is placing both global stability and Australian democracy under pressure. (more…)
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One Nation’s win in Farrer leaves Liberals on the brink
The Farrer by-election result marks a dramatic collapse in Liberal support and signals a broader shift in Australian politics as One Nation surges. (more…)
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Australia’s ISIS cases test law, politics and fairness
Three women repatriated from Syria have been charged with serious offences under Australian law, but the response from political leaders risks undermining the right to a fair trial. (more…)
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Trump raises voice – Vatican lowers heat
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s Rome visit exposes the contrast between White House fury and papal diplomacy. (more…)
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Is the renewed push for a Human Rights Act worth the effort?
A Commonwealth Human Rights Act must do more than help courts identify breaches of human rights; it must enable them to strike down offending laws and give relief to wronged litigants. The groundwork for an act with teeth is still to be done. (more…)
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Looking for a home in a land of empty houses
Beneath the current political debates about housing demand lies an unavoidable reality. Empty dwellings sit alongside visible and hidden forms of homelessness, with many people attempting to create homes in inhospitable places rather than submit to overbearing regulation and continual intrusions into their personal lives. (more…)
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Trump’s tragedy of errors
Regardless of how long US President Donald Trump’s ill-advised war and today’s stagflationary conditions last, the long-run consequences will be profound. Fancying himself an absolute monarch, Trump has broken something he cannot fix and unleashed forces he cannot control. (more…)
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Modi’s power grip, Japan’s regional pitch, Suu Kyi’s house arrest – Asian Media Report
BJP’s historic state dominance, Takaichi’s ‘proactive’ Indo-Pacific role, AI’s emerging role in diplomacy, Pyongyang’s ‘normal nation’ push, Myanmar’s change without change, Taiwan’s national happiness win. (more…)
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Reclaiming democracy: join the conversation
Democracy is faltering. Elected government action is increasingly constrained by the preferences of powerful industrial, commercial and financial interests. To counter this trend, an ambitious initiative, Reclaiming Democracy Together, is being launched in Melbourne on 9 May. (more…)
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Could the government have blocked return of Australian women and children from Syria?
The Australian Government has to manage the return of its citizens, except in very particular circumstances when citizenship can be cancelled, a passport denied or a temporary exclusion order issued.
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The PM is wrong: gas exports can and should be taxed
A 25 per cent on LNG exports will not affect either the volume or price of LNG exports. Customers therefore have nothing to fear, and the Prime Minister was wrong to stop the tax. (more…)
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A decade of dog-whistles and a decade of lost voters
The Coalition’s path back to government runs through roughly 25 seats. The overwhelming majority of them sit in greater Sydney and greater Melbourne where the combined Indian and Chinese population is already large and still growing fast. These diaspora hear the Coalition talk about out-of-control migration and vote accordingly.
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The BYD ‘spy car’ narrative misses Australia’s real transport risk
Australian politicians, in the reasonable pursuit of fleet efficiency, have approved Chinese-made EVs for ministerial use. According to a Sky News commentator, however, these cars are not merely transport, they are “rolling microphones”. In fact, they are the vehicles that will keep moving when the next fuel shock arrives. (more…)
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Charles is not my King
Our media has been full of praise for King Charles and his handling of President Trump on the recent state visit. His mention of AUKUS has been hailed as a great moment for Australia. (more…)
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Australia has waited 21 years for a Human Rights Act – what is Albanese waiting for?
The president of the Australian Human Rights Commission this week renewed the call for national human rights legislation. The parliamentary committee report has been gathering dust since 2024. The Senate numbers exist. The only thing missing is political will. (more…)
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Antisemitism inquiry interim report: we don’t need more terror laws – we need gun reform
The antisemitism inquiry interim report finds Australia already has extensive terrorism laws, while urging governments to move faster on long-delayed national gun reform.
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A $25 billion offer? Inside Trump’s push to end the Hormuz crisis
Reports from Israeli sources suggest Donald Trump is considering a multibillion-dollar payment to Iran to end the Strait of Hormuz blockade, exposing divisions within the US administration and tensions with Israel.
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Why a 73 year old Jew had himself arrested
After being arrested in Brisbane for wearing a T-shirt that read ‘Jews for a free Palestine from the river to the sea’, a 73-year-old Jewish protester writes that the law is suppressing dissent and targeting supporters of human rights. (more…)
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Rethinking Australia’s place in the world in an era of fracture
As part of our Foreign Policy Rethink series, Joseph Camilleri sets out the case for breaking with a militarised, US-aligned mindset and building a more independent, cooperative approach to security and global engagement. (more…)
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Iran is holding the line – and the US strategy is unlikely to break it
Sixty days into the conflict, Iran has held its ground in the Strait of Hormuz, while US pressure has failed to force concessions – raising the risk of escalation, oil disruption and wider global instability.
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Contracting strategy to think tanks: catering to America’s fantasies of even more war
US think tanks play a central role in shaping military strategy and future conflicts, embedding a long-standing logic of war that allies are expected to support.
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Multiculturalism should shape Australia’s foreign policy
In the latest of our Foreign Policy Rethink series, Jocelyn Chey argues that Australia’s foreign policy must better reflect its multicultural society and leverage its diversity in international engagement. (more…)
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Virtue, not values, defines who we are
In debates over repatriation, protest and politics, the real test is not what we say we value, but the virtues we are willing to uphold as a society.
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Recapturing the decency dimension of Australian foreign policy
In the latest of our Foreign Policy Rethink series, Gareth Evans argues that Australia’s foreign policy must give greater weight to being, and being seen as, a good international citizen. (more…)
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It’s time to tax gas exports in the national interest
The best way to stop the massive under-taxation of Australian LNG would be to fix the petroleum resource rent tax, but a quick second best would be a tax on export revenue. (more…)