Letters to the Editor
Trump, the unabashed war criminal
April 7, 2026
Jeffrey Sachs' article covers a lot of ground with its examination of the psychological motives to the actions of Trump and Netanyahu – and there is a vast quagmire to be covered. Personally, I think that Trump is closer to Mussolini than to Hitler – his braggadocio, malignant narcissism, abuse of even the most basic of societal mores while claiming to uphold Holy principles, malignancy, mendacity, avid pursuit of revenge against both actual and imagined slights, utter amorality – channels Mussolini. Netanyahu is evil. Nobody would consider Netanyahu as other than a high-functioning sociopath, leaching off virtue capital Israel might...
Richard Llewellyn from Colo Vale
In response to: Trump and Netanyahu: two madmen playing God
I protested. I was not celebrating
April 7, 2026
It is becoming increasingly clear that for peace to settle across West Asia regime change in Israel has to come first. Historically they destroy, they immiserate and then they deny the proof when that's presented. The proof lies in the photos. Look at Gaza, look at Lebanon and now look at Iran. Everywhere Israel rears its head, razed buildings and dead bodies lie in windrows like dead leaves in the Autumn. That Israel's ambassador was invited to speak at the National Press Club shows us just how deeply the Zionist lobby has infiltrated the Australian political sphere. For some this...
Hal Duell from Alice Springs
In response to: National Press Club under fire for ‘disgraceful’ invitation to Israeli envoy
You may well ask why
April 7, 2026
“Why didn’t China develop capitalism during the Song dynasty?” ( 960 to 1279) Could it be that it has taken the western world until 2026 to recognise capitalism and its evolutionary Bastard democracy for the disaster that they are, not only for the planet but the majority of living things on the planet?
Bob Pearce from Adelaide SA
In response to: why-china-is-always-misunderstood-and-misr
AI and education fighting against disinformation
April 7, 2026
As Anne Delaney writes, “[The inquiry into climate misinformation] has brought to light compelling evidence that misinformation and disinformation are not fringe phenomena, but structural features of today’s information ecosystem, amplified by digital platforms, political incentives and coordinated campaigns.” While Australians can feel proud that the inquiry is a world first, it did not go far enough. Without truth in political advertising laws, Australians will continue to be fed disinformation with impunity. AI-driven bots on social media now have the widest reach, but AI is also being used to fight back. It can detect fake accounts and coordinated swarms by...
Raymond Peck from Hawthorn
In response to: Climate misinformation inquiry stops short on reform
Albanese doesn't represent the people
April 7, 2026
Is there a way of forcing the prime minister to stand down? He is a joke, patronising, is not what I'd describe as a leader and it's time to replace him. I'm not the only one who feels this way.
Tristan Aldrich from Rivervale
In response to: Albanese's big moment a clanger – Message from the Editor
Bluey diplomacy
April 7, 2026
Albo's address to the Nation: an example of Artificial Unintelligence in action or just simple Noratory? Not everybody can be Gough, very few can be a chip off the old PJK and get away with it even slightly. However, when we needed to see Albanese actually step up to the crease and swing for some boundaries, we got a cardboard cut-out of a PM holding up a hastily-prepared sign saying: 'Normal Service Will be Resumed Shortly – we apologise for the inconvenience'. Albo, it's time to kick the Trump administration in the groinal area. No further episodes of Bluey allowed...
Richard Llewellyn from Colo Vale
In response to: Albanese's big moment a clanger – Message from the Editor
A North Korea nuke is a dangerous assumption
April 7, 2026
Connie Peck describes Annie Jacobsen's book about nuclear war as convincing. But in my view it begins with a dangerous assumption – that North Korea starts the war by sending an ICBM against Washington. This is as presumptuous as suggesting that once Iran gets the bomb, it will immediately drop one on Tel Aviv. Like all countries with nuclear weapons, Pyongyang has them for deterrence. This motive derives most strongly from the way Curtis LeMay bombed the country flat in 1951-53 in vengeance for the Chinese defeating US forces at the end of 1950 when McArthur so unwisely sent them...
Richard Broinowski from Paddington
In response to: Why we avoid thinking about nuclear war - and why we shouldn't should
Power potential
April 7, 2026
How soon before people wake up to the amount of time their car spends parked and the potential of every garage and every power pole to be a charging point for their car at off peak time, all be it at a slow charging rate?
Bob Pearce from Adelaide SA
In response to: high-fuel-prices-are-accelerating-interest-
When the heat is really on
April 7, 2026
Further to David Spratt's – as always – excellent article Has Climate Policy-Making Gone Completely Off The Rails? [April 7, 2026]. There is an inferred presumption among politicians and others, often in the media and the progressive advocates of 'green capitalism' that humans will be able to manage or even cope in a 3-degree world. The late Will Steffen, who actually knew what he was talking about, wrote that: Some people say we can adapt due to technology, but that’s a belief system, it is not based on fact. There is no convincing evidence that a large mammal, with a...
Graeme Drysdale from MOUNT HELEN
In response to: Has Climate Policy-Making Gone Completely Off The Rails?'
The divide between the privileged and others
April 3, 2026
Could it be that voters are finally waking up to the void between: “The Privileged few and the rest of us; The Rich and the well-off; Those whose children attend a “Private School and with children at a private school The landowners and the farmers Those who start / benefit from wars and those who fight the wars.
Bob Pearce from Adelaide SA
In response to: the-fuel-crisis-wont-save-the-coalition-it-
Will this crisis expose the truth about pricing? No
April 3, 2026
Not a quick fix for this crisis but the cost of fuel to the consumer has always been manipulated for the benefit of OPEC, shareholders and influential nations. How many times have we heard in plain sight that OPEC has raised or lowered its production to suit? OPEC Like all businesses are primarily concerned with PROFIT and without proper intervention the consumer /taxpayer will always foot the bill and rouge states will not be tolerated.
Bob Pearce from Adelaide SA
In response to: fuel-crisis-exposes-decades-of-policy-failu
Living within the truth
April 3, 2026
Why are most Labor leaders in Australia implicitly and/or explicitly hostile to Palestinians and those who oppose the ethic cleansing and genocide of Palestinians? There is an explanation in Vaclavel Havel's 1979 meditation of political dissent - the nature of suppression and the falsehoods and intimidation that respond to dissent. Havel argued that most of us live in a lie and that, instead, it is possible to live within the truth. Most Labor leaders throughout Australia prefer to live in a lie - that there is international law, that Israel is exempt from this law and ethnic cleansing and genocide...
David Griffiths from Mordialloc VIC 3195
In response to: We dug up medics in Gaza. A year later, international law remains buried
Who lost our weekend?
April 3, 2026
Not only will we never get an apology from Scott Morrison and the ‘ruined weekend’ farce, an apology will never come from Tim Wilson, Scott Morrison and Angus Taylor who in 2019 posed gleefully in front of a hydrogen-fuelled car. Such was their contempt for electric vehicles (and the push for more renewables) that they instead promoted a most unlikely technology and promoted the myth that EVs (not petrol) would ruin our weekends. Nor will we see an explanation from Taylor or Joyce about the closing of Australian oil refineries. They could admit that, with the oligopolisation of oil, and...
Fiona Colin from Melbourne
In response to: Fuel crisis exposes decades of policy failure
We can cut a deal on Hormuz oil without the US
April 3, 2026
Re Mike Gilligan’s article: Trump is now saying the US doesn’t need Gulf oil, so he says it is up to us to organise supplies ourselves. Pulling together, we, the EU, China, the GCC, Japan and Korea plus other willing parties could negotiate a satisfactory deal with Iran, using our highly experienced diplomats. Trump and his forces and group of inexperienced diplomats should vacate the field and leave it to us to reach a deal with Iran, just as he has suggested.
Geoff Taylor from Borlu (Perth)
In response to: Support first, questions later: Australia and the Iran war
Free speech is not absolute
April 3, 2026
What about free speech? people of all stripes exclaim, in many and varied circumstances. Free speech is not the absolute some proclaim. Morally speaking, all speech carries responsibility with it. This is recognised in law. Our hate speech laws are far from perfect but even in making such laws there is the implied as well as expressed belief that free speech does not mean anything goes. And so we have to ask, why did the National Press Club invite the Israeli Ambassador to Australia to speak on its usually respected podium? To listen to the ambassador's denial that genocide is...
Margaret Callinan from Hawthorn VIC 3122
In response to: Free speech and antisemitism: drawing the line
Australia must abandon the US now
April 3, 2026
Albanese seems to be cautiously warming Australians up for war. Instead of reinforcing the US' bungled efforts and sacrificing our defence personnel for the sake of Zion and Trump, Australia needs to resign from AUKUS and all other US entanglements right now. Here's why: 1. All countries with US bases are complicit in US actions and obedient to US commands. Australia will never be free and independent till the bases are gone. 2. Much of our weaponry can only be used with US approval, as they can turn off the software. So our defence rests entirely on this untrustworthy former...
Julian Cribb from Canberra, ACT
In response to: Support first, questions later: Australia and the Iran warA war without clear ob
Measuring learning
April 3, 2026
I write to congratulate and thank John Frew for so skilfully and succinctly articulating the missing gap in talking about education and learning. For years in senior education positions, I tried to counter the neoliberal arguments about measuring learning and have done so repeatedly and unsuccessfully. John has captured the essence of context, cultural variation and measurement. Well done John for your magnificent enunciation of the complexity and cultural non-uniformity of teaching and learning in schools that we continue to ignore in our planning. Best wishes Dr Gerald White
Gerald White from Seacliff
In response to: Half the truth: defending public education requires more honesty, not less
Climate disaster will be along any minute now
April 3, 2026
We had a 50 year lead in time, but we built border walls instead of fire breaks and water desalination plants. We bombed oil rich countries instead of switching to renewables to make oil theft unnecessary. We stockpiled weapons instead of digging dams for water storage. We subsidised miners instead of supporting our farmers. We allowed politicians to distract us with false narratives instead of pushing their noses into the issues that matter, because it was easier and we thought it was ‘their job’. We sowed resentment and division amongst ourselves over immigration when it will be ourselves, our children...
Alyssa Aleksanian from Hazelbrook
In response to: Fuel crisis exposes decades of policy failure
Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall
March 31, 2026
It’s almost laughable how humanity can turn its back on the existential threat presented by our dependence on fossil fuels, our pandering to our baser nature, and our worship of technology for technology’s sake. Once again Julian Cribb draws our attention to the dire straits into which we’ve blithely sailed. Maybe it was always going to be the conclusion of the human experiment. As Peggy Lee hauntingly asked back in the 1960s: Is that all there is? Now we’ve explored deep into the universe and touched the edge of infinity, is our role here on Earth done? Now we’ve exchanged...
John Mosig from Kew, Victoria
In response to: The greatest danger is not war – it is planetary breakdown
Making preparations
March 31, 2026
Australia’s well known reliance on diesel fuel for long haul transportation and, its remote location at the end of global supply chains has me wondering what governments of all persuasions have been doing in recent years? Surely, with the advent of Covid, the global shocks of the Ukraine War and the increasingly erratic, shoot from the hip style politics coming out of Washington would have been red flags for someone in Canberra that we need to “war game” a range of catastrophic scenarios so if one does, God forbid, occur, there is a national blue print that can be immediately...
Lesley Armstrong from Bathurst NSW
In response to: https://johnmenadue.com/categories/climate/
The effects of hubristic overreach
March 31, 2026
Before the current stage of the Yankee/Zionist war against Iran kicked off, the Straits of Hormuz were open to tankers regardless of their origin. All the big companies mentioned in the article were thriving. The US military umbrella was deemed sufficient to protect that status quo. Then the Yankee/Zionists attacked Iran for no good reason, killing Presidents and school children alike. Immediately Iran closed the Straits to all but non-belligerents, bombed those Gulf monarchies hosting US military bases causing a massive exodus of companies and their money toward Hong Kong, and exposed that military umbrella as being leaky. After one...
Hal Duell from Alice Springs
In response to: Iran’s target list: taking the war to multinationals
Decent honourable Australians
March 31, 2026
As Jack so beautifully puts it, in an era of political banality we need examples of what it means to be a decent, honourable and exemplary Australian that is something for us all to strive to emulate. Mickey J was just such an Australian, as was Fred and as is Gabi. May their legacy continue to enrich us culturally, politically and socially!
Les Macdonald from Balmain NSW 2041
In response to: Mickey J: an Australian always, quietly, making a big difference
A US creation now targeted
March 31, 2026
It should never be forgotten that the government now in Iran that Trump seems so frivolously to wish to change is a direct result of US actions to overturn the first democratically elected government in Iranian history. The US and its ailing satrap the UK overturned the government of Mossadegh in 1953 and imposed their selection on the Iranian people. That selection turned out to be one of the most vicious and violent regimes in the world at the time with its infamous SAVAK secret police who slaughtered hundreds of thousands of innocent Iranians. Indeed so bad was it that...
Les Macdonald from Balmain NSW 2041
In response to: Trump’s war without purpose is everyone’s problem
Insanity and venality rule
March 31, 2026
Surely it can no longer be contested, apart from the MAGA tin-hat brigade, that the Trump Presidency is a combination of a demented infantile psychopath leading a group of incompetent, alcoholic, misogynistic, brutal religious extremists. Its capacity for rational judgement and coherent thought is literally non-existent. Hegseth is simply the archetype of this band of products of the rapidly increasing fall of the American empire!
Les Macdonald from Balmain NSW 2041
In response to: Hegseth rebuked for bloodthirsty prayer asking God to bless Iran War
Havin' a lend?
March 31, 2026
James Curran of the US Studies Centre sounds like he was born yesterday. Though making the right noises re the madness of the US/Israeli campaign, he qualifies that by pointing to the mendacity of Iran in the region. Iranian leadership , according to Jim, is sordid, poisonous and demented, quite unlike the west's ally Saudi Arabia apparently. Presumably, such impressions, and the general public shares them, are formed by the media, how else? And in that regard the idealism of the Lipmann quotation should make us all smile if not guffaw: “[T]he news of the day as it reaches the...
Terence O'Connell from Paddington
In response to: Trump's War Without Purpose is Everyone's Problem
Time to accept the mantle of climate leadership
March 26, 2026
The news from the Senate inquiry on climate change and energy, that four senior government ministers in a position to take a climate lead are declining to present the climate challenge openly, provides confirmation that the Albanese government is reluctant to make clear the threats that we, as a nation, face. It’s not as if they needed to fear mass resistance to the idea of climate crisis: Spratt cites reports that confirm that the majority think government must do more. It’s as though the government is avoiding any sort of confrontation. We are being swept headlong towards a climate crisis,...
Chris Young from Surrey Hills, Vic
In response to: Silence facilitates climate disinformation, and the government is complicit
Confusion about antisemitism
March 26, 2026
The article states that those most vocal/committed to opposing genocide in Gaza in Australia, in Britain and elsewhere are not antisemitic, but are instead anti-zionist. Yet the article seems to slide into repeating the accusation that such people are antisemitic. There is reference to surveys produced by pro-Israeli lobby groups with data claiming that antisemitism is on the rise. This is propaganda which unaccountably is not refuted nor analysed. It ignores the reality that the pro-Israel lobby claim all anti-genocidal expression as antisemitism, not as anti the actions of successive Israeli governments.
keith mitchelson from queensland
In response to: The weaponisation of antisemitism is making Jews less safe
Drivers want help to buy electric trucks
March 24, 2026
Pearls and Irritations readers might be interested to know that the Australian Trucking Association (11 industry associations representing 60,000 trucking businesses and 200,000 people working in the road freight sector) backs the move to electric trucks. Before last year’s election the ATA wrote: “The science is in. The world’s greenhouse gas emissions are changing the climate, and a global effort is needed to reduce emissions. . . That’s why the next Australian Government should (among other things) encourage new truck purchasers to buy electric with a voucher scheme covering half the price gap between comparable electric and conventional truck models....
Lesley Walker from Northcote
In response to: Australia’s fuel security crisis needs less diesel, not more refineries
The politics of grievance
March 24, 2026
While the Coalition may be “building their own irrelevance”, perhaps it is not via its climate-change denial, as this did not deter last weekend around 22 per cent of South Australians voting One Nation first. The fact that SA is a global leader in renewable energy was not on the minds of voters, just ‘the vibe’ of Pauline Hanson’s politics of grievance. She utterly rejects the science of climate change, believing there is insufficient evidence on which to base catastrophic predictions – never mind overwhelming scientific consensus to the contrary. The 2025 Senate inquiry on Information Integrity on Climate Change...
Fiona Colin from Melbourne
In response to: Climate denial has deep roots in Coalition politics
Lies and political sleight of hand
March 24, 2026
Once again i find myself yelling at the TV and Netanyahu . When the much praised Israeli missile defence system allowed “not one but two” missiles to hit the ground in Israel Mr Netanyahu was highly critical of the Iranians targeting civilian infrastructure he threatening retaliation I could not help but help but question when retaliation started. Pots calling kettles black . Using a team sport analogy If the other side has found a regular way past the Iron Dome defence system maybe we have gone into extra time and the other side has the ball . Nail biting times...
Bob Pearce from Adelaide SA
In response to: lies-that-fuel-war
Iran War outlook
March 24, 2026
Just a note to say thanks for all your great work. It occurs to me that this article on the Iran War may be of interest to P&I readers. https://kasperbenjamin.substack.com/p/why-the-us-will-lose-to-iran best wishes Pete
Pete Fry from Central Coast NSW 2256
In response to: https://kasperbenjamin.substack.com/p/why-the-us-will-lose-to-iranJust
ACT justice system
March 23, 2026
How unfortunate that the only view of the ACT justice system is given to us by one of the people to profit from its existence. Andrew Fraser (barrister) should declare his interest, and P&I would do well to balance Mr Fraser’s views with those of an independent and trained investigative journalist.
Greg Bray from Sydney
In response to: ACT Justice System
University funding
March 23, 2026
Governments encourage students to participate in higher education. The rationale is expressed in terms which highlight the benefits to the economy and employers. More simply put all of us benefit from a well educated and well qualified workforce. Given that we all benefit does it not follow that we should all contribute to the cost? Furthermore those who benefit most are the corporations or more crudely put those who hold 1 per cent of the wealth. It follows therefore that they should contribute the most. In an ideal world all education is 100 per cent free from cradle to grave....
john tons from adelaide
In response to: Bill Shorten's university proposal
Australia's awful unnecessary US dependence
March 23, 2026
I'm 87 yrs old, Sydney born, now a Canberran. Re world affairs, I cannot overstate my disgust at the sycophantic Australian support (by both ALP and Coalition) for the US / Israeli invasion of Iran. The Netanyahu intent (US backed) seems to be the conversion of the entire Arab region, including Iran, into Israeli / US military dependency. Aus is a Southern continent, geographically remote from Arabia – so why is Albo so desperate to please the US by giving the US and Britain billions of non-refundable Aus $ ? Has our current crop of political leaders been quietly reminded...
Vincent Patulny from Canberra
In response to: Australia’s six pathways to the war with Iran:
The US / Israeli war on Iran and Australians at war
March 23, 2026
This war has been planned for some time with Australia implicitly involved. We could trace back our recent involvement to the visit of Herzog, Israel's President, whose stated purpose was to provide support to Australia’s Jewish community. I suggest that rather than coming as Herzog stated,“in goodwill and with a message that the people of Australia and Israel are close friends and allies since the days of old,” his visit was much more clandestine. It has been confirmed that Herzog, had a secret meeting with Australian Security Intelligence Organisation [ASIO] and Australia’s director general of security, Mike Burgess. ASIO and...
Andrea Coney from Port Fairy
In response to: Australia’s six pathways to the war with Iran: Part 1
Non carbon alternative energy sources
March 23, 2026
Many would agree with Bruce Hardy's assertion that to achieve non carbon energy independence Australia is to draw upon the natural resources we have an abundance of. it's natural resources. However, to limit these to solar and wind is myopic, prejudiced and ignores other important and relevant resources such as hydropower, green hydrogen & geothermal amongst others . Recognition and promotion of these alternatives, particularly green hydrogen where is Australia is making substantial contribution, development and progress. Atomic energy is the most obvious but unbalanced and unjustified hysteria needs to be revisited and objectively debated and assessed. Perhaps the EEF...
Peter Helene from Big Hill NSW 2579 Australia
In response to: Australia's Fuel Security Crisis needs less diesel by Bruce Hardy
Gone is the illusion of sovereignty and democracy
March 23, 2026
On nowhere near the scale and at a local level but I draw your attention to the victory speech of the Premier when he said that his govt was pro business, his govt was committed to collaboration with the private sector. Like AUKUS this is a loss of sovereignty that has lead to all the problems that Australians now face – crisis' in schools, hospitals, aged care, public transport, health insurance, power generation, banking, social housing etc. All sacrificed on the alter of PROMISED lower taxes and improved services only to achieve far worse services, higher public costs, poverty and...
Bob Pearce from Adelaide SA
In response to: aukus-so-many-questions-so-few-answers/?utm
Private health insurance isn't working
March 23, 2026
The author has hit the nail on the head by suggesting the Singapore model. It offers the fair dinkum choice in the truest sense of the free market while affording total control by the citizen. What we have is a guided and pseudo choice(s) to benefit vested interests and lobby groups. In addition,our system has the support of the political class who misguidedly subscribes to extremist free market idealogy without pragmatism. The politicians are uncomfortable learning good and beneficial ideas from ASEAN (non-western) countries despite making statements (lip service) that Oz is part of Asia and are friends with Asia....
Cjeng Toh from Melbourne
In response to: Private Health Insurance isn't working
David Solomon 1, Tom Hughes 0
March 23, 2026
Thank you, Andrew Fraser, for tickling the old memory bank. As a very young junior member of staff at the National Library, I was tasked to take and manage the NLA's bound copies of the Canberra Times to Court in the Gorton defamation case – nothing less than originals was acceptable. Barrister for the plaintiff was Tom Hughes QC – a man whose pomposity exceeded even the best of Charles Laughton in full flight. Hughes played the gallery shamelessly, with palpable arrogance. David Solomon in the witness stand; Hughes leaned forward, his robe and QC dribble-bibble swinging in the breeze,...
Richard Llewellyn from Colo Vale
In response to: The wisdom of David Solomon (plus priceless insights, grace and humour)
Avoiding misinformation
March 23, 2026
Producing a daily newsletter 24/7 is an enormous task and I am an admirer. However, I do not expect to read in Pearls and Irritations the same type of inaccuracies that appear in the legacy press. The following article should have received a minor edit. George Browning’s article The dangerous stories driving war in Iran contained the following statement: The stories that people and nations tell themselves have enormous consequences. Vladimir Putin tells himself that the natural jurisdiction of the Russian communist party is the area that approximates to the old Soviet Union. Anything less than that is, in his story,...
Berenice Nyland from St Kilda
In response to: The dangerous stories driving Iran
The common good
March 20, 2026
Commendable as it is, the 'common good' has a poor history in democratic institutions, the strength of which depends on vigorous debate designed to take policy battles off the street. Common good inclinations, encouraging collaborative initiatives described as corporatist, often miss out on this realisation as opponents strive towards agreement around the centre. Catholic political parties, following 'Quadragesimo Anno', were 'common good' entities, which classically failed to address complex social problems facing global polities at the time. In the US, Congress agreed to an unprecedented suspension of the Constitution to enable President Roosevelt to push through his much-needed New Deal....
Dr Michael FURTADO from Brisbane, Qld.
In response to: Reclaiming the common good from neoliberalism
The moral error of exceptionalism
March 20, 2026
In 2007 a groundbreaking work by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt burst onto the world. The Israel Lobby was the book's title, and for the first time the fact of an overpowering force at work behind the scenes in US foreign policy became mainstream. Underpinning that force is the moral error of exceptionalism. It means we do not all stand equal before the law. Historically it means we study the Holocaust but memory hole the Nakba. In the present it gives us Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon and Iran. These are war crimes and crimes against humanity, perhaps quaint notions...
Hal Duell from Alice Springs
In response to: From hubris to holy war – the dangerous logic behind the Iran conflict
Reform taxation to strengthen social cohesion
March 20, 2026
Inheritance perpetuates financial inequality. With current taxation and policy settings this inequality is set to grow substantially over coming decades. This will encourage social instability as society is divided more permanently into the haves and have-nots. There are two ways in which this situation can be alleviated. Firstly, government must remove those taxation benefits designed to benefit those who already have capital wealth – negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount. Had government not foregone taxation revenue through granting those concessions, and invested equivalent amounts directly into social housing instead, our society might look very different today. Secondly, the...
Chris Young from Surrey Hills, Vic
In response to: Australia’s great wealth transfer divide isn’t between generations
Fuel security crossroads
March 20, 2026
Australia is at a crossroads of fuel security. Recent reporting by Isobel Roe shows the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet is considering new levies on gas companies and reforms to resource taxation in response to the Middle East war. While taxing profits may provide short-term relief, it does not address the core issue. Australia remains dangerously dependent on imported fuel, leaving us exposed to global shocks, price spikes and supply disruptions, as seen in recent surging demand and panic buying. We have a choice in how we respond. We can look backward and consider rebuilding refineries and subsidising...
Julia Paxino from Beaumaris, Victoria 3193
In response to: Australia’s fuel security crisis needs less diesel, not more refineries
Playground politics
March 19, 2026
Australian politics has become an insular playground game of political personality gangs: jostling individuals angling to retain their seat without any thought of their constituents needs or understanding of their electorates views. Policies have become Trumpian sound bite one liners regurgitated to tamed reporters who won’t question the spin. As far as I can see, the only fully costed policies, displaying any depth or understanding of the issues, emanate from the Greens. Let’s hope they can counter the last two decades of false propaganda from the major parties, and avoid falling victim to the in-house Labor / Liberal preference deals...
Alyssa Aleksanian from Hazelbrook
In response to: Grandstanding government right off-side – Message from the Editor
Words from a forgotten man
March 19, 2026
PM Albanese has expressed his strong support for the US and Israel in their illegal war on Iran. Just to refresh his memory here's what he said about the illegal war on Iraq in 2003. Our government is about to redefine us in the eyes of the world as willing backers of US militarism… This is an unjust war without UN backing. Iraq does not represent a threat to Australia. What does that say about the sort of nation that we are? We are a multicultural nation, and yet here we are sending a message, particularly to the Islamic world,...
Julian Cribb from Canberra, ACT
In response to: After the Iran war, Gulf nations face tough decisions on the US
Can the government stand up to the fossil fuel lobby?
March 19, 2026
As luck would have it, the Australian Security Leaders Climate Group’s recent open letter linking climate change and “fossil fuel use and subsidies” appeared the day after The Australia Institute’s latest report on these subsidies. AI found that in 2025-26 our governments handed $16.3 billion to “some of the biggest, most profitable companies in Australia at a time when ordinary Australians are struggling with surging petrol and electricity prices”. Meanwhile, a significant majority of voters of all persuasions are calling for a 25 per cent gas export levy. A levy on big polluters – to pay for the damage their...
Lesley Walker from Northcote
In response to: Former defence leaders say oil wars threaten our security, and climate change de
Resistance is not terrorism
March 19, 2026
At last, an Australian, Paul Heywood Smith, has been brave enough to describe Hezbollah and Hamas for what they are – resistance groups AND a media organisation has been brave enough to publish! Israeli-American activist Miko Peled, author of The General’s Son similarly refers to Hamas as ‘freedom fighters.’
Judy Attwood from Brisbane
In response to: Iran war – controlling the narrative
Action, not more reports or more expert advice
March 19, 2026
The authors of this piece can’t understand why there is so much opposition to and complacency about their dire warnings. Well, look at their three suggestions. • The first will be read as “Establish another bureaucratic body with jobs and status for our mates” • The second as “Produce a document for politicians to read” • And the third as “Create more jobs for our mates to produce more alarmist reports – that will not be acted upon so we’ll need more bureaucratic bodies and more reports” Nothing about mitigating risks (Clive Hamilton style) with, for example, specific targets to...
Keith Thomas from Canberra
In response to: Former defence leaders say oil wars threaten our security, and climate change de
Building a better society for all
March 19, 2026
I heartily agree with Stewart Sweeney when he advocates for taxation ... according to income, wealth and capacity to pay, irrespective of age, and use that revenue to build a better society for all. Can he be persuaded to write about HOW to build that better society? To me, his first step would need to be arguing against the Liberal small government mantra. What has privatisation brought us besides poor, fractured services and private provider shysters who are adept at ripping off government and taxpayers? Could/Would Sweeney advocate for bringing essential services back under government control 'and' operation, ie become...
Margaret Callinan from Hawthorn VIC 3122
In response to: Allegra Spender reopens the tax debate – but the real divide is wealth, not gene
Tax incentive to share assets
March 19, 2026
I agree that “the real divide is wealth, not generations” because the concentration of assets concentrates political power to undermine our democracy. It is a dimension neglected by economists around the world. It is neglected because on page 353 of his 2017 book, Picketty could not explain how “through most of human history, the inescapable fact is that the rate of return on capital was always at least 10 to 20 times greater the rate of growth output (and income).” Asset inequality explains how the Oxfam Press Release of 2017 could report “eight men own more assets than half the...
Shann Turnbull from Paddington, Sydney
In response to: Allegra Spender tax debate – but real divide is wealth, not generationsAllegra S
The road to climate change denial
March 19, 2026
It makes sense: “belittling existential climate threat is a misguided strategy”, especially in regional Australia where farmers and others see first-hand the effects of rising temperatures and unpredictable extreme weather. However it is also a mistake to assume that any debate about energy policy is rational, or honest. The Gina Rinehart-backed Liontown lithium mine in Western Australia is 80 per cent powered by one of Australia’s largest off-grid wind farms, and also has extensive solar and battery storage. In its reporting, the Murdoch press lauded Gina’s foresight in the midst of oil shortages. The mine is already at a huge...
Fiona Colin from Melbourne
In response to: Matt Canavan’s climate scepticism is a policy dead end for the Coalition
Peter Slezak nailed it
March 19, 2026
Peter Slezak has nailed it. The correlation between antisemitism and the appalling genocidal Israeli behaviour is crystal clear. It can only be hoped that the Royal Commission will note his comments and his comprehensive quotations. Our community is being played by the zionists with new hate laws and right to protest restrictions that we simply did not need. Excessive police brutality has been an early outcome. Who demanded these regulations and laws? Zionists. As Peter says, we have lived in harmony with our Jewish community since the Second World War. How utterly ironic that the rules based system established after...
MICHAEL JOHNSTON from Summer Hill, NSW, 2130
In response to: Antisemitism: “it’s a trick, we always use it”
The NACC'ered Corruption Commission
March 19, 2026
An excellent summary by Jack of the lack of the skepticism and doubt that should be a hallmark of a body designed to root out corruption in this report. It reflects back on the motives of the politicians on both sides of the Parliament. The idea was to create an anti-corruption body designed to create the impression in the public mind that something important was being done to counter the corruption at both political and bureaucratic levels. These problems had become so obvious to the public during the Abbott and Morrison periods of government that public outrage needed to be...
Les Macdonald from Balmain NSW 2041
In response to: Freedom at last for the Robodebt Six, thanks to the NACC
Yes Minister in our time is turbocharged BS
March 19, 2026
Jack Waterford's article sits as the pile of evidence beneath the immortal words of Sir Humphrey: Minister, two basic rules of government: Never look into anything you don't have to. And never set up an inquiry unless you know in advance what its findings will be. Absolutely everything that has proceeded from the establishment of the NACC creates cascading levels of utter disbelief in the veracity, competence and honesty of the NACC. The only mitigating factor has been the finding that the Commissioner, Paul Brereton, failed to discharge his responsibilities properly. If the Albanese government is content to pass this...
Richard Llewellyn from Colo Vale
In response to: Freedom at last for the Robodebt Six, thanks to the NACC
The March of Folly
March 19, 2026
Years ago, Barbara Tuchman, an American historian, wrote a book called The March of Folly. In it she detailed a number of examples where governments had under taken a particular scheme knowing that or should have known it was going to fail. Yet they persisted until the program totally and completely failed. Hence a complete folly right from the beginning. In Australia we do not call such a program Folly, we call it Robodebt. Or perhaps you may prefer the name, Black Swan. Another book, this time written by Nassim Nicholas Taleb called Black Swan in which he defines a...
Peter Sheehy from Blackheath NSW
In response to: Freedom at last for the Robodebt Six, thanks to the NACC
Albanese’s politics of avoidance
March 19, 2026
John Menadue's article is an excellent summary describing Albanese's lack of leadership, right wing populism and his cowardice. Albanese is the best Liberal leader since John Howard.
Tony Simons from Balmain
In response to: Albanese’s politics of avoidance
The real reason for the US-Iran War
March 19, 2026
Michael Keating – and many other well-informed sources – still seem perplexed about the motive for the US-Iran war. The core aim of the Trump War against Iran has been in plain sight since well before its start. It is the acquisition of $15 trillion worth of Iranian oil reserves. This was made clear by the US National Energy Dominance Council months ago (Sept 2025). It is the biggest planned theft in human history, with the proceeds going to favoured US oil companies and the Trump crime family. Its main disadvantage is that it is very difficult to accomplish militarily,...
Julian Cribb from Canberra, ACT
In response to: A war without clear objectives is turning against Trump
Albanese’s politics of avoidance
March 19, 2026
Albanese has shamefully appropriated the harsh asylum seeker policies of Howard, Abbott and Morrison. Now he has passed legislation to block Iranians from landing in Australia. A big change from 2001 when he publicly protested against Howard. Why is Albanese fixated on not being wedged while Labor is certain to win the 2028 election and likely to win 2031? The Labor government is now Coalition lite.
Tony Simons from Balmain NSW 2041
In response to: John Menadue and Albanese's fear of the wedge
Zionism is now causing problems worldwide
March 19, 2026
Sue Wareham’s article makes some good points. However I hope our government is genuinely trying to stay out of an offensive war against Iran. Whether one is pro-Zionism or not, there is no denying that it has led to a new war with flow on effects throughout the world. Among others, every Australian now knows the personal cost of that. Family debt strains are about to threaten “soco”. Some of the about 70 per cent of Jewish Australians shown in two Monash University surveys to support Zionism won’t be immune. Turning to the human side of the bloodletting since the...
Geoff Taylor from Borlu (Perth)
In response to: The government is sanitising Australia’s involvement in the Iran war
AUKUS boondoggle
March 19, 2026
Can I here add my name and wholehearted support to Doug Cameron and the campaign he is co-authoring against the swindle of AUKUS imposed upon us by that Dodgy Brother Scott Morrison and now supported by a supine Labor government. If we can kill this financial dissimulation and fraud it will enable scarce resources to be committed to things that will benefit the Australian population rather than the US and UK failing military-industrial complexes. Hundreds of schools, hospitals, universities and further education institutions so badly needed in an under-educated Australia, high-speed rail networks, power networks and generation (green) and other...
Les Macdonald from Balmain NSW 2041
In response to: AUKUS: So many questions, so few answers
The coming energy crisis
March 12, 2026
I am grateful to Eugene Doyle for spelling out the details of the coming energy shock arising from the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. It's a case of batten down the hatches, though I'm not sure the Albanese government fully understands the gravity of the crisis at hand. Energy analyst Matt Mushalik wrote to his local federal MP Jerome Laxale recommending or noting the following: (1) Reduce or stop permanent migration. Every migrant will increase the length of petrol lines and demand for goods in shopping centres. (2) Diesel is most important. Government must think of priorities. Agriculture,...
Jenny Goldie from Cooma NSW
In response to: Going for the jugular – the energy shock is coming
Albo's cowardice is painting a target on our backs
March 12, 2026
The comment by Paul Dibb that: “The joint US–Australia intelligence facility at Pine Gap near Alice Springs will be by far China’s most important and time-urgent nuclear target. should send an ice-spike of fear down Albanese's backbone, if indeed he has such a thing. Many years ago, I was a student at ANU of what is now known as geopolitics and Des Ball was one of my tutors. I have written of this before but it needs repetition. Pine Gap is unquestionably a highly prime target for any entity involved in combat with the USA that has the capability to...
Richard Llewellyn from Colo Vale
In response to: How US bases make Australia part of the Iran war
Gas companies are ripping us off
March 11, 2026
Thank you to Peter Sainsbury for shining a light on Australia’s LNG exporters, who are reaping windfall profits from conflict in the Middle East. Companies such as Santos and Woodside have played a major role in making Australia the second‑largest exporter of climate pollution globally. The resulting climate impacts – intensifying floods, fires and heatwaves – are hitting communities hard, yet the public receives very little benefit from the gas being extracted. Senator David Pocock has revealed that the beer excise brings in more revenue than the petroleum resource rent tax. This is deeply unfair. When the Albanese government curb...
Amy Hiller from Melbourne, Victoria
In response to: Environment: A hotter Middle East, a warming Arctic and heatwaves that won't ret
Australian doomcasters
March 11, 2026
The club of Australian doom forecasters that come out of the woodwork every so often to predict the end of civilisation as we know it, can always be relied upon to do their acts on cue for their masters in the MSPO (Main stream propaganda organs) and the MIC (Military-Industrial complex) when orders for new military hardware and are not doing so well and when the Murdoch and SMH/Age sewers want to frighten the bejesus out of the bewildered herd to boost their readership and to control the public mind. But like Chicken Little they have done it so often...
Les Macdonald from Balmain NSW 2041
In response to: Three years on, where is the China war we were warned of?
Touche!
March 11, 2026
In his inimitable combative style Keating disembowels the pompous and self-aggrandising scribbler Hartcher. It really is a tribute to the incapacity of the new ownership of the SMH and The Age to cope with the role of the Fourth Estate, to hold power to account and to report honestly and without bias. Paul eviscerates them forensically!!
Les Macdonald from Balmain NSW 2041
In response to: Herald, Age news abuse shamefully exposed
Thanks to John Menadue on the 'Red Alert' anniversary
March 10, 2026
Three years since 'Red Alert' marks the third anniversary of my consigning mainstream newspapers (as they once were) to oblivion. Yes, I still read bits, so I know what others are talking about, and almost always readers' letters for a (biased) selection of community views. Free-to-air TV news is no better. (I won't mention S**.) So for factual content, expanded context, informed commentary, as little bias as possible (because we're all biased to some degree), then I choose alternative news media, all online. For me, Pearls and Irritations leads the pack. There are a few others I read more often...
Margaret Callinan from Hawthorn VIC 3122
In response to: Message from the Editor, March 7, 2026
Robowar
March 10, 2026
Re Donald Rothwell’s article: Rubio said that the US launched an armed attack on Iran because Israel was going to. After Penny Wong’s initial hosedown, we find Australian sailors embedded in a US submarine, and our military in Bahrain involved. They are committed to Trump and Hegseth-rules war without any say from us, because (Richard Marles) we weren't warned in advance. So we couldn't say no. The submarine sinks an Iranian vessel inside Sri Lanka's EEZ, communications with the submarine going through Harold Holt station at Exmouth, WA run by our government's CASG. Not even the murder of 160 schoolgirls in Minab,...
Geoff Taylor from Borlu (Perth)
In response to: International law or ‘might is right’? Australia’s choice on Iran
Antisemitisim Royal Commission and free speech
March 10, 2026
I made a submission to the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion with an emphasis on the inadequacy of the limits of the IHRA definition of antisemitism and suggested that the Royal Commission should examine, instead, the alternative Jerusalem Declaration which has an equal focus on antisemitism and free speech. Apparently the Commissioner has already declared and decided that the controversial IHRA definition is not controversial – indicating the Commission has already decided to join the campaign of Zionists and Labor government to censor free speech about Israel's apartheid, ethnic cleansing and genocide.
David Griffiths from Mordialloc, Victoria 3195
In response to: nia Bell, the head of the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion,
An Australian Pledge
March 10, 2026
I wonder about the lack of respect we seem to be developing with differing opinions others hold. It was even highlighted in parliament the other day. There is also the amount of litter and rubbish that is now spreading across the land. I also have seen a lot of information on how indoctrination takes hold. So I have thought why not begin our country's own indoctrination? I'd love people's ideas – I have tried not to make it to complex. Hand on heart We Australians believe that all of us have the right to live in harmony, respecting the land...
Peter Bolton from nsw
In response to: An Australian Pledge
Thank you, Gareth Evans
March 10, 2026
Thank you, Gareth for your clear-eyed discussion of the nuances of legitimacy and illegality of war. I’ve been dismayed (to say the least) by the line being trod by the Australian government to not upset Donald Trump. I’ve written to the Prime Minister, Deputy PM and Foreign Minister to say the same. David Pope’s ‘tits on a bull’ cartoon expressed my sentiments very nicely. Thanks Pearls and Irritations for publishing thoughtful and challenging pieces.
Leah Nichles from Brisbane
In response to: When is an illegal war morally defensible?
Which flag Tony and Angus ?
March 10, 2026
While I don't have an intimate knowledge of T Abbott or A Taylor's family history's but on their performance in Parliament and in particular when leading the charge of Opposition for opposition sake i would be very surprised if their ancestors fought under the Southern Cross flag and not at all surprised that the fought under the Union Jack as second son commission purchased officers. I doubt they consider the Southern Cross flag as Australian and I have no doubt that they would be leading the charge against changing our out dated colonial flag and as such they should keep...
Bob Pearce from Adelaide SA
In response to: the-southern-cross
Someone has put the blinkers on us
March 10, 2026
All of this recent talk of a fractured world order is not new. The United Nations-brokered Cold War was replaced by a uni-polar moment. That is now evolving into a dance of hegemons. Calls for like-minded middle powers such as Canada and Australia to find common cause make common sense. Five Eyes will remain our default setting through ties of history, culture and language, but that needn't be all we see. BRICS has also emerged as a result of the fractured world-as-was order. It offers an alternative way forward. It allows like-minded countries, including some middle and some emerging powers,...
Hal Duell from Alice Springs
In response to: Canada and Australia: working together – without the US
Gareth Evans on morality
March 10, 2026
Dear Gareth. As someone who has been arrested multiple times for acts of peaceful, civil disobedience, I concur with Gareth Evans that conscience and morality sometimes demand that one ignore the law, though one expects to be prosecuted regardless. That's the trade-off a moral man agrees to when he commits the offence. If you believe in your cause, then you must be prepared to wear the punishment and not care, for your cause is just. But what if governments wilfully break the law in pursuit of immoral, inhuman, despicable aims? If a government illegally maintained diplomatic, political, economic and military...
Rick Pass from Yarrawonga, Vic, Yorta Yorta country.
In response to: When is an illegal war morally defensible?
Monarchy is 'Cruel and Unusual Punishment'
March 10, 2026
Jenny Hocking convincingly lays out the social, political and constitutional problems with granting power and privilege to the members of the British royal family. But there is another side to the case against the existence of a hereditary monarchy. Quite simply, it ruins lives. Princess Margaret was forbidden to marry a divorced RAF Group Captain (who was posted overseas to get him out of the way). Prince Charles was not permitted to marry Camilla Parker-Bowles but was pressed into a contrived marriage with Diana Spencer. Prince Harry was hounded out of the royal family, in part for his choice of...
Hugh Smith from Canberra
In response to: 'Rude, arrogant and entitled’: ex-Prince Andrew’s arrest is the inevitable concl
Promoting death and destruction
March 10, 2026
While in P&I Refaat Ibrahim discusses the duplicity of Israel and the US in negotiations with Iran, over in the mainstream media, The Age has the attitude-shaping headline Australia could help defend gulf states against Iran:Wong. More dishonesty. Iran is the baddie, many will believe. While the governance of Iran was – we have to say 'was' – horrific, it is reliably reported that Iran was sincere and cooperative in its cut-short negotiations. The only honest broker at the table was attacked by the other two. So, that headline ... Shouldn't we be defending Iran from attack? Isn't calling off...
Margaret Callinan from Hawthorn VIC 3122
In response to: Diplomacy as cover – how the road to war with Iran was paved
US attacking unarmed vessels
March 10, 2026
This Iranian vessel was participating at the invitation of India in a mock battle exercise along with vessels of other friendly nations with India, including the US. As the US well knows the condition for vessels so participating is that they be unarmed to avoid errors. The US knew that but went ahead to torpedo the Iranian vessel off the coast of Sri Lanka. Hegseth's grotesque boasting about a US nuclear powered submarines attacking an unarmed vessel and killing nearly 100 sailors as though it were some sort of achievement is a monstrous illustration of the moral character of the...
Les Macdonald from Balmain NSW 2041
In response to: Wong took it at face value (dare one ever do otherwise with the Trump administra
Yes but FIFA has given its Peace Prize...
March 10, 2026
You might point out Jack to the Parliament House insider who passed on the suggestion made by a senior and influential minister that Australia nominate the Trump for the Nobel peace Prize, that the Government's public affirmation of Socceroo participation in the forthcoming FIFA jamboree, will do enough to send the right signals to the White House, to the Felon and his gang, that Australian fealty is assured to the one who decreed (Jan 20, 2025) that his proudest legacy will be that of peace-maker. Since the awarding of the FIFA Peace Prize that inauguration promise has surely been fulfilled!
Bruce Wearne from BALLARAT CENTRAL
In response to: Cowardice and kowtowing risk Australia becoming the fall guy in Trump’s wars and
Free speech for some, not all
March 4, 2026
Ironic that those who champion free speech seemingly feel threatened by letters and articles submitted for publication that are critical or offer counter views. Bit like the way the Murdoch media operate.
Simon Tatz from Melbourne
In response to: General commentd
Oil wars
March 4, 2026
By abolishing environmental laws in the USA and promoting fossil fuels, Trump is going to kill 10,000s of Americans. He doesn't care. But the promotion of oil gives a clue as to who is really pulling his strings – and why he is engaged in or threatening all these new conflicts – Venezuela, Iran, Greenland, Canada. It's all about oil. As usual. Only this time Trump has got it sadly wrong. By cementing the US to an oil economy he has made China the technology world leader – and the rest of the world will follow their low-cost lead. Trump...
Julian Cribb from Canberra, ACT
In response to: Trump’s dangerous war without consent
Capital Gains Tax
March 4, 2026
Perhaps instead of reducing the CGT rate, might it be easier and more acceptable to reduce the number of properties that it can be claimed on? For instance, commence an annual reduction of the number of claimable properties from 10 and above, to eight then six then four, finally settling at two allowable properties. This would seem to leave small investors unaffected, and be more politically acceptable to them. It would also seem to be easy to implement, understandable by accountants, property owners, and politicians.
Michael Dwyer from Brisbane
In response to: How Australia should fix capital gains tax
Myth making
March 4, 2026
The sanctity of both John Howard and Tony Abbot has become an article of faith among the right. Rewrite our history so that our values are more closely aligned to that of the USA. It will result in a national lurch to the right. Were the Liberal Party to embrace the values of the Teals the wind would be taken out of the far right and we could move back to some civilised discourse that seeks to find solutions for all Australians.
john tons from adelaide
In response to: How John Howard reshaped Australia – and not for the better
Albo's mother's bed
March 4, 2026
Anthony Albanese was born in 1963. That was a hard time for a young unmarried woman to find herself unexpectedly pregnant, especially if she was Catholic. His mother was probably pressured by the nuns to give up her baby for adoption. But she didn't – she had made her bed, and she lay on it. She kept him - and he became Prime Minister of Australia. What would his mother think now, of his refusal to give 23 little Australians a chance in life like he had, and their mothers a chance to redeem themselves with love? Time is of...
Gayle Davies from Armidale, NSW
In response to: Albo's decision will follow him into the history books and define us too
Albanese's shallow male chauvinism is not his main failing
March 4, 2026
This article brings up the issue of Albanese's Australian legacy. It will not be pretty. Aside from the petty comments about Australian women trapped in Syria, it will also include misogynistic comments about difficult women closer to home. But Albanese's shallow male chauvinism is not his main failing. Our PM's main failing is his utter lack of imagination when looking at the broader geopolitical situation. He seems to be trapped in an outdated Anglo/Zionist interpretation of the world, ignoring a glaringly obvious sea change in global affairs. This sea change, not just generational but millennial in scope, is unfolding with us or without...
Hal Duell from Alice Springs
In response to: Albanese’s decision will follow him into the history books – and define us too
Welcome to Albanese's dog-eat-dog lawless world
March 4, 2026
Jack Waterford rightly criticises the Prime Minister for denying their rights as citizens to the Australian women and children in Syrian detention camps. Albanese said they had made their beds so had to lie in them, so he'd obviously given the matter 'some' thought. But given he won the dubious honour of being the first world leader to voice support for the illegal US attack on Iran, you have to wonder if he gave it any thought at all. Australian and international laws might be flawed but they do serve as boundaries to behaviour beyond which people and nations can...
Margaret Callinan from Hawthorn VIC 3122
In response to: Albanese’s decision will follow him into the history books – and define us too
Definition of antisemitism
March 4, 2026
As Jeffrey Loewenstein states, the adoption of the IHRA working definition of antisemitism by the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion is ‘highly contentious’. Because the definition lacks clarity and is open to conflicting interpretations, the IHRA website contains, together with the vague definition, the statement “criticism of Israel similar to that levelled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic”. But the website also contains 11 alleged ‘examples’ of antisemitism, several of which contradict the reassuring statement. Loewenstein’s article does not discuss the specific contradictions, however I've offered an analysis in Independent Australia (30/1/2026).
Mark Diesendorf from BEROWRA HEIGHTS NSW
In response to: Royal Commission gets off on the wrong foot
What a perfect summary of the ills of Howard
March 2, 2026
What a brilliant summary by Crispin Hull. I would only have added that he killed the chance of Australia becoming a republic in 2001, an achievement that most certainly would have occurred if Keating had won (assuming Howard would then, discredited, been replaced by a republican 'Liberal' such as Costello). In doing so, he denied us the opportunity now, or rather, the prospect of having had a quarter century to grow up and mature in confidence, which likely would have resulted in us NOT getting involved in myriad foreign wars, not delving deeper and deeper into the ANZUS...
Wes Mason from Gisborne
In response to: Howard Changed Australia and Not for the better
PM's apparent Chinese bomb threat
March 2, 2026
Regarding the forced evacuation of the Prime Minister from The Lodge owing to a bomb threat found to be false, it is understandable that there is much gnashing of teeth in the wake of the horrific events in Bondi recently. Security forces are naturally on hyper alert. Without wanting to diminish the threat, and as a person who attends numerous and varied dance performances and rates them, it would not surprise me if Shen Yun are struggling to sell tickets. The national ballet company of China (Zhong Guo Ballet Wu) is a better bet if you're looking for...
Michael Stanley from 12/28 Woods Street
In response to: Shen Yun and Falun Gong – belief, propaganda and division
Politicians are irresponsible, not dumb
March 2, 2026
No doubt Julian Cribb's tongue was firmly planted in his cheek in arguing that algae are smarter than politicians, nevertheless, his thesis was flawed. Algae, unlike politicians, cannot control their environment. They survived the various mass extinction events, not because they were smart, but because of the concept of survival of the fittest, that is, there were some species that were better adapted to the changed conditions and could survive and reproduce. Nevertheless, it is an amusing thought, or depressing, if you think too much about it. How on earth do Liberals, Nationals and One Nation reject the net...
Jenny Goldie from Cooma NSW
In response to: Is algae smarter than politicians?
Nothing to see here!
March 2, 2026
In a functioning democracy this appointment would not happen! In an oligarchy it is perfectly natural. As the unreformed and utterly corrupt US financial system springs leaks on a daily basis this is a perfectly to be expected appointment. It also hastens the expected denouement!
Les Macdonald from Balmain NSW 2041
In response to: ‘Arsonist as Fire Chief’: Fed appoints Wall Street lobbyist to key bank oversigh
Feudalism and favour!
March 2, 2026
It appears from history that feudalism was followed by a long and difficult road to democracy in Britain. The road had many difficulties as the landed Aristocracy sought at every turn to halt and reverse that progress to a governance of the people, for the people and by the people. In the end Britain ended up with a dog's breakfast of democracy tainted by substantial remnants of Feudalism. One of these was an inherited royalty without accountability to the people but with substantial powers to frustrate the operation of that democracy, along with an upper House composed mainly of...
Les Macdonald from Balmain NSW 2041
In response to: From Whitlam to Andrew – the Palace and the politics of concealment
US Israeli bad faith
March 2, 2026
Alison Broinowski’s brink is now crossed. The US has launched a second war within a year on Iran without Congressional approval, and while it was to meet Iran again in Vienna for further talks. Bessent was clear that the US deliberately created economic destabilisation in Iran. Further, the UK just said it would not allow UK airbases to be used by the US for a war on Iran, then allowed US F22s flying to Israel to be staged through RAF Lakenheath. We have all seen the picture of Trump, Rubio, Vance and Ratcliffe watching a screen while 80 people...
Geoff Taylor from Borlu (Perth)
In response to: Iran on the brink
Thank God for difficult women!
March 2, 2026
Janine Henry gets it exactly right in articulating the meaning of women being pigeon-holed as difficult. When women heard Grace Tame described as difficult, we knew it was a put-down. The Prime Minister didn't mis-speak or really mean something else. He was putting a courageous, outspoken woman into what he deemed her proper, lesser place. I've bought my Difficult Woman tee-shirt. It's going to get a lot of wear.
Margaret Callinan from Hawthorn VIC 3122
In response to: Difficult women, comfortable power
Has Michael McKinley not noticed Trump?
March 2, 2026
The article by Michael McKinley, rehearsing familiar pro-Russian narratives about the US fighting to the last Ukrainian would have been comprehensible, even if wrong, before 2025. But if Ukrainians were being dragged into a war they didn't want, they would have settled when Trump changed sides. In fact, they understand that Putin will settle for nothing less conquest and continue to defend themselves, without the limited and grudging help they received from Biden. The author, like Putin and Trump, can only see things through the lens of great power conflict, in which the US is pulling all the strings....
John Quiggin from Queensland
In response to: The Russia–Ukraine war: Australia’s unanswered questions
Hansonites are amongst us and they vote
February 26, 2026
As much as we might wish to not accept it, the fact is that there are 'people' like Hanson, of the 'I fear to be in Lakemba' brigade. After all, she is a carbon-based life form. Our multicultural society is, for someone who grew up in the early 1950s when Italians and Greeks were 'wogs' and fit only to be employed as manual labourers, a daily joy. Evenings in Lakemba during Ramadan are just a delight – not only for culinary wonderfulness but just as a warm and wonderful evening doing living on the street. I have...
Richard Llewellyn from Colo Vale
In response to: Let’s not turn back the clock on immigration
Assertions are not evidence of a crime
February 26, 2026
In Foster's piece, he mentions the news that Alexei Navalny was ended by the Russians using Dart Frog toxin. The REAL news was that was an assertion 'constructed' by the British, and presented at the Munich Security Conference, with four other NATO nations standing with the British at the presser. Not a scrap of evidence to back the assertion was provided - NONE - and no questions were entertained. Not long after Navalny expired, then Ukraine intel chief (and now Zelensky's Chief of Staff) Budanov stated; I don't like to disappoint, but Navalny died of natural causes due to a...
David Thompson from CLAYTON
In response to: A history of assassination reveals how ‘targeted killings’ became an extension o
Do some mothers matter more than others?
February 26, 2026
Either everyone matters or no one matters. That sounds simple enough, but you wouldn't know it from following the news. For example, we have on the one hand Zionists in Israel committing murder on live-stream, and yet any criticism has to be carefully filtered to avoid the dreaded charge of antisemitism. With that obligatory filtering in mind, are there Australian citizens fighting for the IDF in Gaza? If there are, will they be welcomed home once they weary of killing Palestinians? On the other hand we have Australian women and children being passed around like hot potatoes in Syria because no...
Hal Duell from Alice Springs
In response to: Bring these Australian children home, PM. They did not make their own beds
What’s the difference?
February 26, 2026
Stella Yee’s article makes me wonder, what’s the difference between Iran’s approach and Australia’s approach on freedom of expression, free speech and the right to demonstrate? The difference is that one country’s name starts with “I” and the other’s….
Stelios Piakis from NSW
In response to: Whose rights and liberties I respect
Leadership or laxity
February 26, 2026
Good questions sincerely asked by Andrew seem utterly unlikely to be answered persuasively by a government that can be characterised as power without purpose. Albanese seems so smitten by the idea of power that he is unable to exercise it with courageous leadership. I'd like to be wrong on this, but don't think I will be!!
Les Macdonald from Balmain NSW 2041
In response to: Could old rivalries spur Albanese to act on human rights?
Death or dishonour await!
February 26, 2026
The reality is that most, if not all, of these recruits, could well be subsequently classified by future decisions of the ICC or ICJ as mercenaries and thus will subject to international law relating to the treatment of mercenaries. Many of them may have been convinced by the honeyed words of Israeli recruiters that their cause is a just one, despite the already existing conclusions of both courts and the UN General Assembly, the association of Genocide scholars, all the major world human rights groups, the Special Rapporteur and the UN Commission into what is happening in Gaza and the...
Les Macdonald from Balmain NSW 2041
In response to: Globalisation of occupation: when genocide becomes an international project