Pearls and Irritations
@johnmenadue.com
Progressive analysis on politics, foreign policy, the economy, media, and culture, with a focus on peace and justice. John Menadue, Publisher & Editor in Chief
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Best of 2025: We should treasure the China diaspora and go out of our way to treat it well as part of our community, just as we ought to do Jews, Muslims or other cultural groups. #auspol #China
Best of 2025 - Lack of China capability can only do harm to society: Our current situation is a disgrace
In March 2023, the Australian Academy of the Humanities sounded the alarm on the decline in our understanding and knowledge of China through a report on “Australia’s China Knowledge Capability”.
johnmenadue.com
January 11, 2026 at 11:16 PM
Best of 2025: In America’s war of words, grim facts are ignored. The US has the highest number of school shootings in the world with at least 53 this year. Daily 125 Americans are killed with guns. #auspol #USPolitics #schoolshootings #gunlaws
Best of 2025 - These are fighting words
As political violence escalates in the United States, chaos is spreading and democracy itself is under threat. The words of anger, ill-considered and increasingly crude, are accelerant on the American bonfire.
johnmenadue.com
January 11, 2026 at 11:01 PM
Best of 2025: In America’s war of words, grim facts are ignored. The US has the highest number of school shootings in the world with at least 53 this year. Daily 125 Americans are killed with guns. #auspol #USPolitics #schoolshootings #gunlaws
Best of 2025: Amelie Szczecinski's paper to the #UNGA recommends that Australia amend the Online Safety Act 2021 (Cth) to require social media companies to be subject to independent algorithmic auditing as a form of regulatory oversight and transparency. #auspol #GlobalVoices #youthvoices
Best of 2025 - Disarming extremism in the algorithmic age
Amelie Szczecinski is one of six talented young Australians who will travel to the UN General Assembly in New York next week as part of the Global Voices project.
johnmenadue.com
January 11, 2026 at 10:46 PM
Best of 2025: Amelie Szczecinski's paper to the #UNGA recommends that Australia amend the Online Safety Act 2021 (Cth) to require social media companies to be subject to independent algorithmic auditing as a form of regulatory oversight and transparency. #auspol #GlobalVoices #youthvoices
Best of 2025: As for the US and its supporters on the issue of the ceasefire; do not confine any agreement only to Gaza. Consider the occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem to end. The integrity of our international legal system is otherwise at stake. #auspol #Israel #ICJ #Palestine
Best of 2025 - Israel’s response to the International Court of Justice
The ceasefire plan in Gaza has dominated our news in recent days and weeks. One aspect of the plan is the obligation of Israel in the first phase to release a number — a large number — of Palestinian prisoners.
johnmenadue.com
January 11, 2026 at 10:30 PM
Best of 2025: As for the US and its supporters on the issue of the ceasefire; do not confine any agreement only to Gaza. Consider the occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem to end. The integrity of our international legal system is otherwise at stake. #auspol #Israel #ICJ #Palestine
Best of 2025: All three Abrahamic religions have reason to cherish extraordinary contributions to the well-being and harmony of life on this planet. But equally, all three have reason to seriously repent of having pursued agendas that are not core matters of belief. #auspol #religion #Gaza
Best of 2025 - Shameful distortion that lies at the heart of US conservative politics
The news of ceasefire and release of hostages in Gaza is cause for great rejoicing and for giving credit where it is due. But the big questions remain: where to from here, and how did the world allow this to happen in the first place?
johnmenadue.com
January 11, 2026 at 10:15 PM
Best of 2025: Advance’s core campaigns against renewable energy and Aboriginal rights constitute the vested interests of many of their major contributors, particularly in the mining and energy sectors. other campaigns are to garner popular support. #auspol #Advance
Best of 2025 - Who are 'Advance' and what are they doing to our politics?
Launched in 2018 as a conservative answer to GetUp!, the group Advance likes to style itself as the voice of the average person against “the elite.
johnmenadue.com
January 11, 2026 at 10:00 PM
Best of 2025: Policy around such legislation should be developed with a better balance of the public interest and the interests of ministers and officials. #auspol #FOIA
Best of 2025 - A deserved defeat for Albanese on freedom of information
Thanks to Opposition leader Sussan Ley, the government’s disgraceful attempt to squeeze the life out of the Freedom of Information Act is as dead as a herring.
johnmenadue.com
January 11, 2026 at 9:45 PM
Best of 2025: Some of our media and political elites may need a gentle reminder: multiculturalism isn’t just something we clap for at footy grand finals, Chinese New Year parades, or swing through during campaign stops in Box Hill and Hurstville. #auspol #chinathreat
Best of 2025 - Blame and frame: How Chinese Australians are counted when blamed, discounted when needed
We say we want to understand China. Then we glance past a million Chinese speakers at home and start counting somewhere else.
johnmenadue.com
January 11, 2026 at 9:30 PM
Best of 2025: Some of our media and political elites may need a gentle reminder: multiculturalism isn’t just something we clap for at footy grand finals, Chinese New Year parades, or swing through during campaign stops in Box Hill and Hurstville. #auspol #chinathreat
Best of 2025: Leaders of lesser powers visiting the US are judged at home by sometimes conflicting criteria: how well they are received and how effectively they defend national interest. #auspol #USVisit
Best of 2025 - Mr Albanese goes to Washington
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is scheduled to meet President Donald Trump in Washington on 20 October.
johnmenadue.com
January 11, 2026 at 9:15 PM
After Bondi, grief and fear sharpened responses, but emotional proximity can distort moral judgement and silence analysis that might prevent future violence, writes John Frew.
#auspol #Bondi #PublicDebate #Ethics #PearlsAndIrritations
#auspol #Bondi #PublicDebate #Ethics #PearlsAndIrritations
Grief, proximity and the failure of moral judgement
After Bondi, intense grief and fear shaped public response. But emotional proximity can distort moral judgement, narrowing debate and crowding out the analysis needed to prevent future violence.
johnmenadue.com
January 11, 2026 at 9:00 PM
After Bondi, grief and fear sharpened responses, but emotional proximity can distort moral judgement and silence analysis that might prevent future violence, writes John Frew.
#auspol #Bondi #PublicDebate #Ethics #PearlsAndIrritations
#auspol #Bondi #PublicDebate #Ethics #PearlsAndIrritations
Best of 2025: Despite first-hand testimony from Israeli officers, despite the footage of Apaches in action supplied by the #IDF, the Western media continues to peddle lies about #Hamas @bobbobnz. #auspol #Oct7
Best of 2025 - 7 October 2023: What really happened? Part 1
At dawn, on 7 October 2023, Hamas fighters blast over 100 holes in the walls and fences that separate the Gaza Strip from Israel.
johnmenadue.com
January 10, 2026 at 11:01 PM
Best of 2025: The economic security and dignity of older women in retirement is not just a women’s issue – it is a test of our national values and our commitment to a fair go. We must ensure that every woman can look forward to a secure and dignified retirement. #uspol #women #retirement
Best of 2025 - Australia faces a looming crisis of older women retiring in poverty. Here’s what we can do
Australia faces a serious challenge. Despite important progress on gender equality over recent decades, a looming crisis now threatens the economic security of older women. Without urgent and bold action, we risk consigning further generations of women to poverty in retirement.
johnmenadue.com
January 10, 2026 at 10:46 PM
Best of 2025: The economic security and dignity of older women in retirement is not just a women’s issue – it is a test of our national values and our commitment to a fair go. We must ensure that every woman can look forward to a secure and dignified retirement. #uspol #women #retirement
Best of 2025: Unless we can resolve the housing crisis, wealth will become more unequally distributed in Australia creating a country of “haves” and “have-nots” when it comes to the most important item determining our living standards. #auspol #housingcrisis
Best of 2025 - Inequality and the future of democracy
Rising inequality and declining living standards have posed a threat to democracy in several democracies, but so far not in Australia. However, the increasing inequality of wealth, driven by housing becoming unaffordable without rich parents, is a threat.
johnmenadue.com
January 10, 2026 at 10:31 PM
Best of 2025: Unless we can resolve the housing crisis, wealth will become more unequally distributed in Australia creating a country of “haves” and “have-nots” when it comes to the most important item determining our living standards. #auspol #housingcrisis
Best of 2025: The bottom line is this. There is no disrespect in Australians hitting the streets today and using social media to ask our community to reflect on what October 7 means for two groups of people. @BarnsGreg #auspol #Oct7 #israel #Gaza #genocide
Best of 2025 - 7 October not a day to abuse protesters
When it comes to the domestic political fallout from the Gaza conflict, there are no more reliable and uncritical friends of Israel than Victoria’s Premier Jacinta Allan and her New South Wales counterpart Chris Minns.
johnmenadue.com
January 10, 2026 at 10:15 PM
Best of 2025: The seven-part series The Hack recently released on Stan, is about the phone hacking scandal in the United Kingdom. It has a stellar cast and explores the complexities of journalism. Written by Jack Thorne, Emmy winner for Adolescence. #auspol #journalism
Best of 2025 - Journos as heroes and villains - 'The Hack' reviewed - Part 1
In films and on the small screen, journalists are portrayed as heroes or villains. In The Hack they are both. Does this reflect the diminished, benighted standing journalists hold in society today or is it a step forward in showing the complexities of the work?
johnmenadue.com
January 10, 2026 at 10:00 PM
Best of 2025: The seven-part series The Hack recently released on Stan, is about the phone hacking scandal in the United Kingdom. It has a stellar cast and explores the complexities of journalism. Written by Jack Thorne, Emmy winner for Adolescence. #auspol #journalism
Best of 2025: The term "disaster season" is a shorthand. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it would be unfortunate if shorthand led people to think that weather-related disasters can occur only in a brief period in a location. #auspol #climatechange
Best of 2025 - ‘Disaster season’: What is that?
Anika Wells, in announcing a meeting with three telco giants to discuss Optus’s Triple Zero emergency call system catastrophe in September, referred to the need for Australians to have confidence in the system before the coming disaster season. By that she meant summer. Is there really such a season?
johnmenadue.com
January 10, 2026 at 9:45 PM
Best of 2025: The term "disaster season" is a shorthand. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it would be unfortunate if shorthand led people to think that weather-related disasters can occur only in a brief period in a location. #auspol #climatechange
Best of 2025: Ruwaida’s book, Stories from the War on Gaza, provides a moving account of daily life in Gaza during the present conflict, with its pain, heroism, desperation and hope. Published by Palaver Books, available as a free download. #auspol #Gaza #Books
Best of 2025 - Between two wounds: Gaza confronts Trump's plan to end the war
On a cold morning in central Gaza City, Nevin Al-Barbari, 35, sat in what remained of her family home, watching her two-year-old daughter, Reem, explore the rooms she had only recently come to know.
johnmenadue.com
January 10, 2026 at 9:30 PM
Best of 2025: Wong, a masterclass on China: "build real defence ties, do tech and logistics with friends, don’t pick fights for fun, and — the killer line — don’t get dragged into “what-if” games about Taiwan. “We don’t talk about hypotheticals,”. #auspol #Chinathreat
Best of 2025 - A masterclass in agency: What Singapore can teach Australia about China
Singapore’s new Prime Minister Lawrence Wong sat down with the ABC on 2 October and offered something rare in Australia’s China debate: clarity, confidence, and a middle-power strategy that doesn’t involve shouting or submission.
johnmenadue.com
January 10, 2026 at 9:15 PM
Best of 2025: Wong, a masterclass on China: "build real defence ties, do tech and logistics with friends, don’t pick fights for fun, and — the killer line — don’t get dragged into “what-if” games about Taiwan. “We don’t talk about hypotheticals,”. #auspol #Chinathreat
When illegality triggers analysis instead of consequence, it becomes precedent. From Gaza to Venezuela, power is being laundered through narrative and repetition, writes Chandran Nair.
#Venezuela #InternationalLaw #Empire #GlobalPolitics #PearlsAndIrritations
#Venezuela #InternationalLaw #Empire #GlobalPolitics #PearlsAndIrritations
The USA today: a derangement threatening the World
The response to events in Venezuela exposes how breaches of international law are absorbed, reframed, and normalised – and what that reveals about power, decadence, and global silence.
johnmenadue.com
January 10, 2026 at 9:00 PM
When illegality triggers analysis instead of consequence, it becomes precedent. From Gaza to Venezuela, power is being laundered through narrative and repetition, writes Chandran Nair.
#Venezuela #InternationalLaw #Empire #GlobalPolitics #PearlsAndIrritations
#Venezuela #InternationalLaw #Empire #GlobalPolitics #PearlsAndIrritations
Best of 2025: The revelations of Nick Davies book’s afterword add considerably to our knowledge of developments over the last decade and to a deeper understanding of the politics and culture of the Murdoch empire. #auspol #Murdoch #review
Best of 2025 - New revelations of the Murdoch empire’s underbelly – From The Hack’s real-life journalist
This is the humblest day of my life, declared Rupert Murdoch to a parliamentary committee on 19 July 2011.
johnmenadue.com
January 9, 2026 at 11:16 PM
Best of 2025: While not advocating for the Teals and Climate 200, the current state of the Liberal Party in every state and the low level of support for the Nationals in most states make it possible for them to win more seats. #auspol
Best of 2025 - Could the Teals win Senate seats in an expanded parliament?
Important discussions are taking place within the government and before the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters about increasing the size of the federal parliament.
johnmenadue.com
January 9, 2026 at 11:01 PM
Best of 2025: While not advocating for the Teals and Climate 200, the current state of the Liberal Party in every state and the low level of support for the Nationals in most states make it possible for them to win more seats. #auspol
Best of 2025: Facilitating friendships, social contact and support systems are the single most important intervention needed to live our post-working years productively. Potential solutions could assist the all ages with isolation and loneliness. #auspol #agedcare
Best of 2025 - Age policy is a shambles. Where to from here? Part 1 & 2
Wherever you look, at residential aged care institutions, at retirement village life, at the home support package scheme, or talk to the people over 65 — called the old — living at home making no claim on the system, just coping by whatever means they can, this stage of life means grappling with overwhelming challenges.
johnmenadue.com
January 9, 2026 at 10:46 PM
Best of 2025: The Trump plan is indeed a mongrel. It is clearly divorced from Palestinian and Arab realities as to be almost laughable. #auspol #Israel #palestine #Trump #peaceplan
Best of 2025 - Trump’s mongrel punt
In the Australian vernacular, a mongrel punt is an erratic kick forward of a football which leaves those participating in the game with an awkward choice between contesting possession (possibly at the cost of broken fingers) and waiting to see where the ball bounces.
johnmenadue.com
January 9, 2026 at 10:31 PM
Best of 2025: The Trump plan is indeed a mongrel. It is clearly divorced from Palestinian and Arab realities as to be almost laughable. #auspol #Israel #palestine #Trump #peaceplan
Best of 2025 Chris Sidoti: We have clear obligations under international law, and we should be very clear that if anybody subjected to an arrest warrant from the ICC sets foot in this country, that person will be arrested. These are simple steps, not dramatic steps, that we must take. #auspol #NPC
Best of 2025 - Chris Sidoti's prescription for action on Palestine
At the National Press Club this week with Ben Saul, Chris Sidoti argues that recognition of Palestine is important, but that Australia must also comply with international law obligations, including acting on arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court.
johnmenadue.com
January 9, 2026 at 10:15 PM
Best of 2025: The report on the drivers of increased costs in hospital care has shown how important it is for the Commonwealth and states to act together, to ensure that patients can get the right care and support in the right place in a timely matter. #auspol #healthcare
Best of 2025 - States increase pressure on Commonwealth to address hospital cost increases
Hark back to December 2023. National Cabinet endorsed a historic agreement setting the parameters for future Commonwealth-state sharing of public hospital costs over the next decade.
johnmenadue.com
January 9, 2026 at 9:45 PM
Best of 2025: The report on the drivers of increased costs in hospital care has shown how important it is for the Commonwealth and states to act together, to ensure that patients can get the right care and support in the right place in a timely matter. #auspol #healthcare