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Pearls and Irritations

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On the preciousness of life – making sense of the horrifying murders in Washington, DC

So, this terrible murder of two young Israeli embassy officials, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim. I think, is one of those moments where it’s...

latest 6

Pearls and Irritations

Peter Beinart

Urgent appeal to the conscience of humanity: Stand with Gaza

An appeal from Sami Khader, MA’AN’s director-general. The MA’AN Development Centre was established in January 1989. To all people of conscience, to...

latest 6

Pearls and Irritations

Helen Mccue 

Environment: Australians must defend our right to protest

Dissent and protest are under attack across Australia. Thawing permafrost is a problem for everyone, not just Arctic-dwellers. LNG produces more...

latest 6

Pearls and Irritations

Peter Sainsbury

Australia is forecast to fall 262,000 homes short of its housing target. We need bold action

Australia’s plan to  build 1.2 million new homes by 2029 is in trouble. A  new report by the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council...

latest 6

Pearls and Irritations

Ehsan Noroozinejad

Greg Sheridan piles on the Murdoch delusions

While Paul Kelly has written wisely about Donald Trump, many of his Murdoch colleagues appear discombobulated by the real estate developer’s return...

latest 6

Pearls and Irritations

Paddy Gourley

Gaza: Finally, waves upon the sea of silence

Those who purport to lead and speak for the Western world seem to be breaking their disgraceful silence 18 months after the onset of the Zionist...

latest 6

Pearls and Irritations

Patrick Lawrence

Israeli officials explain balancing act between overt genocide and maintaining Western support

One of the talking points Israel apologists like to regurgitate is that Israel can’t possibly be acting with genocidal intent in Gaza, because if...

yesterday 7

Pearls and Irritations

Caitlin Johnstone

Labor bankrolls wealthy sportsmen, but underfunds a crisis of violence against women and children

On average, one woman is killed every nine days by a current or former partner in Australia. Twenty-four women and seven children reportedly have...

yesterday 2

Pearls and Irritations

Jim Mckay

The Coalition's climate change wars: Costs and opportunities

There should be no surprise that the Nationals’ climate change denial-infected policy preferences have led to a rupture of the Coalition. They...

yesterday 9

Pearls and Irritations

Jeremy Webb

Closer ASEAN ties can help China counter US militarisation of region

However, Beijing’s foreign policy and economic agenda are at cross purposes, with nations in the bloc suffering from chronic trade deficits....

yesterday 2

Pearls and Irritations

Alex Lo

Remembering Race Mathews

Gareth Evans Eulogy, State Memorial Service, Melbourne Arts Centre, 23 May 2025 Race Mathews had a wonderfully rich and productive life, which he...

yesterday 8

Pearls and Irritations

Gareth Evans

Ready for real education reform?

Funding and regulating schools in our federation is wildly duplicative and complicated. I don’t wish to rain on the parade celebrating the path to...

yesterday 8

Pearls and Irritations

Andy Mison

Diplomatic tsunami on Palestine

Europe begins to act against Israel’s “complete madness” in Gaza, in the wake of a wave of diplomatic incidents. The wave of diplomatic incidents...

yesterday 7

Pearls and Irritations

Jonathan Lis

Millions want intervention to stop Israeli slaughter of Palestinians

Across Australia, around the globe, millions of people have been outraged by Israeli slaughter in Gaza and on the West Bank, their outrage...

yesterday 6

Pearls and Irritations

Stuart Rees

The gardens of the starships

For centuries, the West has lived by the myth of the explorer. The ship leaving port, the map unfilled, the promise of something just beyond the...

previous day 1

Pearls and Irritations

Kari Mckern

It’s time for Albo to lead in new directions

Anthony Albanese is coming under pressure from different sections of society to change his approach to governing and also being criticised about...

previous day 3

Pearls and Irritations

Margaret Reynolds

From campaign genius to nation-builder? Paul Erickson and Labor’s long game

Paul Erickson is a name rarely heard outside political circles, yet his influence runs deep. As National Secretary of the Australian Labor Party,...

previous day 3

Pearls and Irritations

Stewart Sweeney

Can Murray Watt fix Australia’s broken nature laws? First stop, WA

New federal  Environment Minister Murray Watt is in  Western Australia this week to reboot nature law reform.  Reform stalled in the Senate last...

previous day 3

Pearls and Irritations

Justine Bell-James

Outrage after Israeli occupation forces shoot live rounds at foreign diplomats in West Bank

Among those shot at were representatives of three nations that threatened “concrete actions” if Israel doesn’t end its assault and siege on Gaza...

previous day 3

Pearls and Irritations

Brett Wilkins

Time to end the silence

“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” Martin Luther King Jr. On 16 May, Israeli Knesset...

previous day 3

Pearls and Irritations

Julie Macken

Weaponisation of ‘antisemitism’ hides primitive savagery of Palestinian genocide

As expressed in the UN General Assembly, the vast majority of the world’s governments and peoples agree that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza...

previous day 4

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue

Why isn’t the UN doing more than talking about Gaza?

You’re not the only one wondering why the United Nations keeps releasing statements while people in Gaza — and other conflict zones — are being...

previous day 2

Pearls and Irritations

Meg Schwarz

Factional comfort gazumps innovation courage

Sandy Plunkett’s lament in the Australian Financial Review (15/5) over Ed Husic’s sacking as federal industry minister captures a familiar truth:...

thursday 10

Pearls and Irritations

Stewart Sweeney

Australia and China can power up Southeast Asia’s green energy transition

Australia and China share key interests in Southeast Asia in the context of a global green transition and great power rivalry. Through...

thursday 5

Pearls and Irritations

Yunkang Liu

David Littleproud cites nuclear energy disagreement as major factor in Coalition split

Nationals’ leader David Littleproud has  singled out nuclear energy as a key reason for his party’s spectacular split from the Liberals, as both...

thursday 2

Pearls and Irritations

John Quiggin

The band is breaking up: has the Coalition stopped making sense?

I remember seeing  footage, several years ago, of a jubilant Malcolm Turnbull, then prime minister and Liberal leader, speaking in Tamworth to...

thursday 6

Pearls and Irritations

Joshua Black

Starvation of Gaza a continuation of a decades-old plan

Israel’s plan to push out all Palestinians from the Gaza Strip has been contemplated as long back as 1967, soon after the Six-Day War ended....

thursday 6

Pearls and Irritations

Jeremy Rose

UN warns 14,000 Gaza babies could die in 48 hours unless Israeli blockade lifted

Aid allowed into besieged area described as “a trickle among a sea of need”. The United Nations estimated that the Netanyahu government’s continued...

thursday 10

Pearls and Irritations

Julia Conley

There’s no country more important to Australia than Indonesia. Trouble is, the feeling isn’t mutual

Making Jakarta the first overseas visit has become a set piece for newly elected Australian prime ministers dating back to John Howard in 1996. So,...

thursday 10

Pearls and Irritations

Tim Lindsey

False balance persists in ABC Palestine coverage

In December 2024, I presented an analysis of more than 450 interviews concerning Palestine and Israel on ABC Radio National Breakfast, since 7...

21.05.2025 1

Pearls and Irritations

Richard Bean

Beijing’s global vision takes shape in Africa

Mao Zedong once famously declared that “political power grows out of the barrel of a gun”. But almost a century later, China realises that...

21.05.2025 4

Pearls and Irritations

Samir Bhattacharya

How should Australia respond to the starvation of Gaza?

It has now been more than two months since Israel began to block the entry of food and medicine to Gaza. According to the  World Food Program, about...

21.05.2025 1

Pearls and Irritations

Annabel Dulhunty

What is education for these days?

Are we experiencing the end of universities? Will the role of academia be simply to service the status quo, not challenge it?  Donald Trump...

21.05.2025 2

Pearls and Irritations

Patricia Edgar

The Russians are not coming to Indonesia

In Jakarta for his first overseas visit after the election, the prime minister was displaying his elevated obfuscation skills. Carefully honed...

21.05.2025 2

Pearls and Irritations

Geoff Raby

RCEP can aid in battle against global protectionism

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, created to promote open trade and regional integration, offers a powerful platform to resist...

21.05.2025 2

Pearls and Irritations

Shiro Armstrong

Time to change Australia’s grand strategies

As global power dynamics shift and traditional alliances fray, Australia’s current grand strategies are reaching their limits. A bold reimagining...

21.05.2025 10

Pearls and Irritations

Peter Layton

Australia’s opportunity to lead the world on human survival

_Now that the Australian election is settled, and the government has a handsome working majority, it is surely the moment for voters nationwide to...

21.05.2025 1

Pearls and Irritations

Bob Douglas

Israel's new Gaza operation should be called 'Chariots of Genocide'

About 70 people from dawn to noon on Wednesday. Almost twice the number of those killed in the massacre at Kibbutz Nir Oz. Twenty-two of them were...

20.05.2025 9

Pearls and Irritations

Gideon Levy

After the victory: Kelty’s warning and why it’s still not enough

The Labor Party has just secured a resounding second-term mandate – defying forecasts, media pessimism and internal doubts. But rather than...

20.05.2025 10

Pearls and Irritations

Stewart Sweeney

Time for Catholic Bishops to speak up for Palestine

An open letter to Catholic Bishops. Please speak up. As Catholics we urge all bishops to take whatever action is available to help end the...

20.05.2025 10

Pearls and Irritations

Catholics For Justice And Peace For Palestinians

Inaccessible, indifferent, out of touch? A vice-chancellor’s non-response

In times of age old professionalism, it was reasonable to make requests to leaders of powerful institutions and expect a reply, but in times unduly...

20.05.2025 5

Pearls and Irritations

Stuart Rees

The US Supremes, not its critics, are trashing the rule of law

The American Chief Justice, John Roberts, has complained that judges are being trashed, and has warned that the rule of law is being endangered. In...

20.05.2025 5

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

Husic is right – Albanese is too timid about the challenges ahead

Deposed Labor cabinet minister Ed Husic threw down the gauntlet to the Albanese Government last week when he challenged it to “burn through the...

20.05.2025 3

Pearls and Irritations

James Curran

Yes, it's a genocide

Building on Monday’s piece outlining a shift in scholarly opinions on Palestine globally, we bring you a very powerful short video, narrated by...

20.05.2025 10

Pearls and Irritations

Amos Goldberg