Donna Lu
@donnadlu.bsky.social
Writer / Journalist at Guardian Australia. donna.lu@theguardian.com.
"The raison d’être of art and literature is to disrupt the status quo: and one doesn’t have to be a student of history to know that art in the service of 'social cohesion' is propaganda." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
I cannot be party to silencing writers, which is why I am resigning as director of Adelaide Writers’ Week | Louise Adler
Cancelling the Australian Palestinian author Randa Abdel-Fattah weakens freedom of speech and is the harbinger of a less free nation
www.theguardian.com
January 12, 2026 at 11:51 PM
"The raison d’être of art and literature is to disrupt the status quo: and one doesn’t have to be a student of history to know that art in the service of 'social cohesion' is propaganda." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by Donna Lu
About 40% of Australian women without kids say they are hesitant to have children because of climate change. @regedahmad.bsky.social and @donnadlu.bsky.social discuss the anxiety – shared by many – about starting a family as global temperatures rise. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
The anxiety of having kids in a climate crisis – podcast
Parents now have something else to consider when deciding to have a baby – what the future holds as global temperatures rise. The climate, environment and science assistant editor, Donna Lu, speaks to...
www.theguardian.com
January 12, 2026 at 9:04 PM
About 40% of Australian women without kids say they are hesitant to have children because of climate change. @regedahmad.bsky.social and @donnadlu.bsky.social discuss the anxiety – shared by many – about starting a family as global temperatures rise. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
Reposted by Donna Lu
Takes time to verify these things and find out, which @donnadlu.bsky.social did. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
December 16, 2025 at 8:33 AM
Takes time to verify these things and find out, which @donnadlu.bsky.social did. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
Reposted by Donna Lu
My love for em dashes is as old as the hills and as mighty as my inability to make a transition between thoughts literally any other way and I will be damned if I let the clankers take that from me
December 10, 2025 at 3:00 AM
My love for em dashes is as old as the hills and as mighty as my inability to make a transition between thoughts literally any other way and I will be damned if I let the clankers take that from me
Reposted by Donna Lu
Well this is pretty wild
[🎁]
[🎁]
The Married Scientists Torn Apart by a Covid Bioweapon Theory
www.nytimes.com
December 7, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Well this is pretty wild
[🎁]
[🎁]
In an investigation into unapproved injectable peptides, @arielbogle.bsky.social and I looked into the influencers promoting them on social media, and websites claiming to sell these experimental drugs for “research purposes”. Our piece came out over the weekend: www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
‘Not approved for human use’: the online frenzy for injectable peptides sweeping Australia
Social media is driving a boom in the use of peptides to improve appearance and physical performance. Many are experimental and come with risk of serious side effects
www.theguardian.com
December 7, 2025 at 11:10 PM
In an investigation into unapproved injectable peptides, @arielbogle.bsky.social and I looked into the influencers promoting them on social media, and websites claiming to sell these experimental drugs for “research purposes”. Our piece came out over the weekend: www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
Reposted by Donna Lu
Feral pigs are a massive issue across Australia. They can cause tremendous damage to environments, wildlife and cultural sites. And, like many invasive species, government funding of their control and eradication is grossly insufficient.
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne... By @donnadlu.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne... By @donnadlu.bsky.social
Rainforests, rivers and sacred sites are being ‘ripped to shreds’ by feral pigs, Queensland traditional owners warn
Destruction wrought by swine-borne disease is thinning the canopy of bunya pine forests and the problem is getting worse, experts say
www.theguardian.com
December 1, 2025 at 12:55 AM
Feral pigs are a massive issue across Australia. They can cause tremendous damage to environments, wildlife and cultural sites. And, like many invasive species, government funding of their control and eradication is grossly insufficient.
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne... By @donnadlu.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne... By @donnadlu.bsky.social
Reposted by Donna Lu
Fear Santos gas plan may start fracking rush that poses ‘major risk’ to NT water supply
by @donnadlu.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
by @donnadlu.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
Fear Santos gas plan may start fracking rush that poses ‘major risk’ to NT water supply
Fossil fuel company plans to expand exploration in Beetaloo basin
www.theguardian.com
November 27, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Fear Santos gas plan may start fracking rush that poses ‘major risk’ to NT water supply
by @donnadlu.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
by @donnadlu.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
Reposted by Donna Lu
I took a look at the blue fabric dye RFK Jr, Joe Rogan et al have been chugging: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Does methylene blue really have wellness benefits or will it just leave you with the blues? | Antiviral
The fabric dye is popular in wellness circles, with a laundry list of claimed benefits – but it also carries serious risks
www.theguardian.com
November 25, 2025 at 11:33 PM
I took a look at the blue fabric dye RFK Jr, Joe Rogan et al have been chugging: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
"Evidence we do have suggests that values of care make women much more open to the alarming nature of the scientific evidence and the visceral impact that weather events have on people." www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
Forty per cent of Australian women without kids hesitant to have children because of climate change, survey finds
More than a third of Coalition voters believe temperatures will not rise at all, poll shows
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 11:20 PM
"Evidence we do have suggests that values of care make women much more open to the alarming nature of the scientific evidence and the visceral impact that weather events have on people." www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
Reposted by Donna Lu
very nice coverage of our Telmatomyia discovery and lovely background on Robert Beattie, who have found the #fossil, by @donnadlu.bsky.social for @theguardian.com
🦖⚒️
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
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www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
Retired Australian teacher discovers the oldest fossil of its kind in southern hemisphere – and a new species
Robert Beattie, 82, has found specimens of a 151m-year-old midge that challenge what we know about how the insects evolved
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 7:40 AM
very nice coverage of our Telmatomyia discovery and lovely background on Robert Beattie, who have found the #fossil, by @donnadlu.bsky.social for @theguardian.com
🦖⚒️
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
🦖⚒️
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
Reposted by Donna Lu
Hello, @australia.theguardian.com is looking for 800 word opinion pieces that can run any time over the summer months. They can be funny, serious, sad, thoughtful, uplifting... Surprise us! If you have an idea you'd like to pitch, email cif.australia@theguardian.com with SUMMER PITCH in the subject
October 30, 2025 at 12:07 AM
Hello, @australia.theguardian.com is looking for 800 word opinion pieces that can run any time over the summer months. They can be funny, serious, sad, thoughtful, uplifting... Surprise us! If you have an idea you'd like to pitch, email cif.australia@theguardian.com with SUMMER PITCH in the subject
"In his only interview before next month’s Cop30 climate summit, António Guterres acknowledged it is now 'inevitable' that humanity will overshoot the target in the Paris climate agreement, with 'devastating consequences' for the world."
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
‘Change course now’: humanity has missed 1.5C climate target, says UN head
Exclusive: ‘Devastating consequences’ now inevitable but emissions cuts still vital, says António Guterres in sole interview before Cop30
www.theguardian.com
October 28, 2025 at 12:19 AM
"In his only interview before next month’s Cop30 climate summit, António Guterres acknowledged it is now 'inevitable' that humanity will overshoot the target in the Paris climate agreement, with 'devastating consequences' for the world."
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Reposted by Donna Lu
Pregnancy skincare products target women at a vulnerable time. Do any work or do they just stretch the truth? | Antiviral
Pregnancy skincare products target women at a vulnerable time. Do any work or do they just stretch the truth? | Antiviral
Oils, creams and lotions with names like ‘mummy’s tummy’, ‘bump love’ and ‘belly butter’ abound
*
Read more in the Antiviral series
Pregnancy can be a trying time: you can’t tell whether you’re nauseous or hungry, your body is working at close to the sustainable limit of human endurance, your organs are rearranging to make space for a growing alien.
There are myriad indignities: nosebleeds, swelling feet, back pain, and, if you’re unlucky, ceaseless vomiting that goes “full Tarantino”. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
October 14, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Pregnancy skincare products target women at a vulnerable time. Do any work or do they just stretch the truth? | Antiviral
Reposted by Donna Lu
Study in the Lancet journal finds that Israel's starvation campaign in Gaza has left 55,000 children under the age of five acutely malnourished, risking long-term health damage. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Assessment of malnutrition in preschool-aged children by mid-upper arm circumference in the Gaza Strip (January, 2024–August, 2025): a longitudinal, cross-sectional, surveillance study
After nearly 2 years of war and severe restrictions in humanitarian aid, tens of thousands
of preschool-aged children in the Gaza Strip are suffering from preventable acute
malnutrition and facing an ...
www.thelancet.com
October 10, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Study in the Lancet journal finds that Israel's starvation campaign in Gaza has left 55,000 children under the age of five acutely malnourished, risking long-term health damage. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Reposted by Donna Lu
Peter Combe goes hard: “Children are being slaughtered, on a daily basis, for almost two years. Our ability to ignore it astounds me. You can talk to any NGO, they all say the same thing – it’s a genocide ... I hope people aren’t surprised I feel the way I do." www.theguardian.com/music/2025/o...
The passion – and politics – of Peter Combe: ‘Children are wonderful critics because they’re very intolerant’
Wash Your Face in Orange Juice, Newspaper Mama, Toffee Apple … the children’s entertainer who has sold more than 1m albums and DVDs reflects on his 40-year career, childhood and speaking up
www.theguardian.com
October 13, 2025 at 12:50 AM
Peter Combe goes hard: “Children are being slaughtered, on a daily basis, for almost two years. Our ability to ignore it astounds me. You can talk to any NGO, they all say the same thing – it’s a genocide ... I hope people aren’t surprised I feel the way I do." www.theguardian.com/music/2025/o...
Reposted by Donna Lu
Bird of the year voting update! The top 3 have been rock solid over the whole poll. The little penguin, rainbow bee-eater, pelican and splendid fairy-wren have all crashed out of the top 10, while the galah and emu-wren are surging ahead
October 13, 2025 at 2:44 AM
Bird of the year voting update! The top 3 have been rock solid over the whole poll. The little penguin, rainbow bee-eater, pelican and splendid fairy-wren have all crashed out of the top 10, while the galah and emu-wren are surging ahead
V happy to say I'm now assistant climate, environment and science editor @australia.theguardian.com, back working with the best team ie @adammorton.bsky.social @readfearn.bsky.social @lisacox.bsky.social @petrastock.bsky.social! Pls get in touch with tips/pitches (& ways to ensure a tawny BOTY win)!
October 13, 2025 at 1:00 AM
V happy to say I'm now assistant climate, environment and science editor @australia.theguardian.com, back working with the best team ie @adammorton.bsky.social @readfearn.bsky.social @lisacox.bsky.social @petrastock.bsky.social! Pls get in touch with tips/pitches (& ways to ensure a tawny BOTY win)!
As good a week as any to mention that I have started a stint as an assistant news editor in the Melbourne bureau @australia.theguardian.com 🤠 Please get in touch if you spot things we should be covering
May 18, 2025 at 10:29 PM
As good a week as any to mention that I have started a stint as an assistant news editor in the Melbourne bureau @australia.theguardian.com 🤠 Please get in touch if you spot things we should be covering
Reposted by Donna Lu
@donnadlu.bsky.social got to the bottom of why Kaitlyn Dever's Australian accent in Apple Cider Vinegar was so good. www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
Are actors getting better (and ‘bett-ah’) at Australian accents?
No longer must we wince through a jarring Cockney-Kiwi mix: Hollywood has finally cracked Aussie dialects. Is it the teaching, the spread of Bluey, AI – or something else?
www.theguardian.com
May 3, 2025 at 1:55 AM
@donnadlu.bsky.social got to the bottom of why Kaitlyn Dever's Australian accent in Apple Cider Vinegar was so good. www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
For the culture desk, I wrote about why American and British actors no longer seem to butcher (or butch-ah) the Australian accent www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
Are actors getting better (and ‘bett-ah’) at Australian accents?
No longer must we wince through a jarring Cockney-Kiwi mix: Hollywood has finally cracked Aussie dialects. Is it the teaching, the spread of Bluey, AI – or something else?
www.theguardian.com
May 3, 2025 at 12:29 AM
For the culture desk, I wrote about why American and British actors no longer seem to butcher (or butch-ah) the Australian accent www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
The social, successful and the supernatural: I wrote about charisma and why having it depends on who you ask www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
The social, successful and the supernatural: what makes a politician charismatic?
Is Anthony Albanese charismatic? Peter Dutton? Charisma has been linked to electoral victory (just ask Bob Hawke), but defining it can be difficult
www.theguardian.com
April 26, 2025 at 11:24 PM
The social, successful and the supernatural: I wrote about charisma and why having it depends on who you ask www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
"I always thought space travel was futuristic, but this was the first time it came off as travelling back in time, in this case using their little capsule to take us back to the most ludicrous inanities of 2010s girlboss feminism." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
What’s more vacuous than an endless vacuum? It’s Lauren Sánchez and Katy Perry’s party in space | Marina Hyde
The all-female Blue Origin flight on Monday broke boundaries and set records in the spouting of girlboss gibberish, says Guardian columnist Marina Hyde
www.theguardian.com
April 16, 2025 at 12:53 AM
"I always thought space travel was futuristic, but this was the first time it came off as travelling back in time, in this case using their little capsule to take us back to the most ludicrous inanities of 2010s girlboss feminism." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...