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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Bannon’s call for “seizing the institutions” has been a mainstay on his popular War Room podcast for months, but critics warn that his open embrace of the demand should not make it any less shocking or worrisome. #auspol #SteveBannon #Trump #MidtermElections
Bannon tells GOP: ‘Seize the institutions’ of government now or we’re 'going to prison’ after 2028
“Steve Bannon motivating Democratic voters,” said one historian in response to comments by the former Trump White House adviser.
johnmenadue.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:46 AM
Bannon’s call for “seizing the institutions” has been a mainstay on his popular War Room podcast for months, but critics warn that his open embrace of the demand should not make it any less shocking or worrisome. #auspol #SteveBannon #Trump #MidtermElections
Australia needs leaders who will stand firm on core principles and defend them loudly. It needs policy driven by the national interest, which includes economic prosperity, not by marginal seats. #China #auspol #NationalInterest #China
Australia-China policy: Guardrails, not walls
An industry networking day in Canberra this week laid bare a simple truth: politics is still beating economics in Australia’s China policy.
johnmenadue.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:45 AM
Australia needs leaders who will stand firm on core principles and defend them loudly. It needs policy driven by the national interest, which includes economic prosperity, not by marginal seats. #China #auspol #NationalInterest #China
History will undoubtedly judge Richardson as a complex character considering the totality of his public life. However, his period as environment minister was the most productive of any government before or since and stands today as an important contribution to Australian society. #Auspol
Graham Richardson's environmental legacy
In the week that Labor is struggling to pass its environmental legislation, the death of Graham Richardson is a reminder that, as Labor environment minister, he oversaw the passage of the biggest suit...
johnmenadue.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:44 AM
History will undoubtedly judge Richardson as a complex character considering the totality of his public life. However, his period as environment minister was the most productive of any government before or since and stands today as an important contribution to Australian society. #Auspol
Over coming weeks we will hear a lot about how important the new federal environmental reforms are to the economy in streamlining approvals for development in the national interest. #Environment #Climatechange #auspol
Environmental reforms: Opportunities that must not be missed
The Australian Parliament has another opportunity to reform laws that will address the huge array of issues confronting the degradation of Australia’s environment.
johnmenadue.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:43 AM
Over coming weeks we will hear a lot about how important the new federal environmental reforms are to the economy in streamlining approvals for development in the national interest. #Environment #Climatechange #auspol
The “fossil fuel giants (including Shell, BP, ExxonMobil, and Chevron) have paused, delayed, or retracted their climate commitments, increasingly pushing the world towards a dangerous future", The Lancet says. #auspol #ClimateChange #FossilFuels #Environment
The black work of big oil
Now is the sinister time of year when the Barons of Big Oil gather together, under the auspices of the United Nations and with the blessing of most world leaders, to celebrate the 350 million needless...
johnmenadue.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:43 AM
The “fossil fuel giants (including Shell, BP, ExxonMobil, and Chevron) have paused, delayed, or retracted their climate commitments, increasingly pushing the world towards a dangerous future", The Lancet says. #auspol #ClimateChange #FossilFuels #Environment
Appeals are brought in accordance with the director's statutory responsibility to ensure sentences reflect the gravity of offending and are in line with community values and expectations. #auspol #DPP #Court
ACT director of Public Prosecutions responds
The ACT DPP issues a response to an exclusive article we published last week We don't do that in this country': judge slams DPP by Andrew Fraser.
johnmenadue.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:42 AM
In examining whether US covert activities played any role in destabilising the Whitlam Government in 1975, we need to consider carefully both the likely approach by Kissinger as national security adviser and the example of the destabilisation of Chile under the Allende Government. #auspol
Whitlam and the White House – Part 2
“Australia and the territories under its control have become increasingly important to the US defence and space establishments in recent years as a site for satellite tracking stations, nuclear test d...
johnmenadue.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:41 AM
In examining whether US covert activities played any role in destabilising the Whitlam Government in 1975, we need to consider carefully both the likely approach by Kissinger as national security adviser and the example of the destabilisation of Chile under the Allende Government. #auspol
If Ley is to be pushed out, she would not have achieved enough, whether as leader or, earlier, as a minister. No one will remember anything she said, or any new idea with which she enthused her colleagues. #auspol #SussanLey #Coalition #NetZero
It’s Ley, or virtually certain Liberal self-immolation
People closer to the action than I are suggesting that the end is nigh for Sussan Ley. They may be right; momentum is often all in these matters.
johnmenadue.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:40 AM
If Ley is to be pushed out, she would not have achieved enough, whether as leader or, earlier, as a minister. No one will remember anything she said, or any new idea with which she enthused her colleagues. #auspol #SussanLey #Coalition #NetZero
Prime Minister Albanese has shown himself to be adroit in managing these tectonic shifts. He can rightly be pleased with his diplomatic positioning of Australia with both the Trump administration and China’s leaders. #auspol #China #Trump #APEC
After Trump goes home
If anyone had any lingering doubts about the change in the world order, the sight of President Trump pumping his fist into the air at the doorway of Air Force One, before turning his back on Asia to f...
johnmenadue.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:39 AM
The doors of the House of Representatives and the Senate were taped shut as the proclamation dissolving both Houses of Parliament was read on the steps of Parliament House by Smith, just as the speaker was ushered into the governor-general’s study with the motion of no-confidence. #auspol
The Second Dismissal
In an extract from The Double Dismissal, Emeritus Professor Jenny Hocking, distinguished fellow of the Whitlam Institute within Western Sydney University, and Dr Matt Harvey, senior lecturer at Victor...
johnmenadue.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:36 AM
The doors of the House of Representatives and the Senate were taped shut as the proclamation dissolving both Houses of Parliament was read on the steps of Parliament House by Smith, just as the speaker was ushered into the governor-general’s study with the motion of no-confidence. #auspol
Join us for Conversation at the Crossroads’ 2025 Annual Oration: Ink Against Empire: From Courtroom to Newsroom – Why Human Rights Can’t Survive Without a Free Press
Featuring Antoinette Lattouf and Gabriel Shipton.
Fri 14 Nov | Treacy Centre, Melbourne & online |
#Auspol #FreePress
Featuring Antoinette Lattouf and Gabriel Shipton.
Fri 14 Nov | Treacy Centre, Melbourne & online |
#Auspol #FreePress
Ink Against Empire
2025 Annual Oration & AGM
Ink Against Empire: From Courtroom to Newsroom, Why Human Rights Can’t Survive Without a Free Press
Coinciding with...
www.trybooking.com
November 7, 2025 at 3:29 AM
Join us for Conversation at the Crossroads’ 2025 Annual Oration: Ink Against Empire: From Courtroom to Newsroom – Why Human Rights Can’t Survive Without a Free Press
Featuring Antoinette Lattouf and Gabriel Shipton.
Fri 14 Nov | Treacy Centre, Melbourne & online |
#Auspol #FreePress
Featuring Antoinette Lattouf and Gabriel Shipton.
Fri 14 Nov | Treacy Centre, Melbourne & online |
#Auspol #FreePress
Though Labor is likely to remain in government for at least one more term, it is still struggling to move beyond rhetoric and appears far from having a coherent strategy to counter the surge of the far-right. #auspol #Multiculturalism #Socialcohesion
Australia’s fragile multicultural consensus under threat
Anti-immigration rallies around Australia in late August and mid-October exposed public divides over migration, social cohesion and national identity.
johnmenadue.com
November 7, 2025 at 12:49 AM
Though Labor is likely to remain in government for at least one more term, it is still struggling to move beyond rhetoric and appears far from having a coherent strategy to counter the surge of the far-right. #auspol #Multiculturalism #Socialcohesion
While policymakers and the public focus on environmental law reform in Canberra, the lack of scrutiny of state-level decisions is creating a major blind spot. #Environment #Lawreform #auspol
Focusing on the EPBC but dropping the ball on protection
While national environmental attention is fixed on EPBC Act reforms in Canberra, some Australian states have dropped the ball on forest protection – and this is seriously undermining Australia’s targe...
johnmenadue.com
November 7, 2025 at 12:49 AM
While policymakers and the public focus on environmental law reform in Canberra, the lack of scrutiny of state-level decisions is creating a major blind spot. #Environment #Lawreform #auspol
Now is the right time for Australian politicians, policymakers and academic theorists to come together, learn and set new directions for policy. #auspol #Economics #Analyticaltools
The new political economy of innovation: Why Australian policymakers need better tools
When the Commonwealth Government reorganised its innovation responsibilities for the fourth time in a decade, public servants made jokes about updating their email signatures again.
johnmenadue.com
November 7, 2025 at 12:48 AM
Now is the right time for Australian politicians, policymakers and academic theorists to come together, learn and set new directions for policy. #auspol #Economics #Analyticaltools
Let the words we’ve spoken together, the dreams we’ve dreamt together, become the agenda we deliver together. New York, this power, it’s yours. This city belongs to you. #auspol #ZohranMamdani #NewYork #Mayor
‘New York, this city belongs to you’: Zohran Mamdani’s victory speech
Thank you, my friends. The sun may have set over our city this evening, but as Eugene Debs once said, “I can see the dawn of a better day for humanity.”
johnmenadue.com
November 7, 2025 at 12:48 AM
Let the words we’ve spoken together, the dreams we’ve dreamt together, become the agenda we deliver together. New York, this power, it’s yours. This city belongs to you. #auspol #ZohranMamdani #NewYork #Mayor
Conversation at the Crossroads will be an opportunity to address issues of critical significance: freedom of speech, the role of the media, human rights and solidarity with the oppressed. #auspol #Media #Humanrights #Freedom
When truth can no longer be silenced
In Australia, secretive and remote institutions armed with increasingly restrictive laws are seriously eroding civic freedoms.
johnmenadue.com
November 7, 2025 at 12:47 AM
Conversation at the Crossroads will be an opportunity to address issues of critical significance: freedom of speech, the role of the media, human rights and solidarity with the oppressed. #auspol #Media #Humanrights #Freedom
The unfortunate, indeed, disastrous result, of the combination of press disregard for responsible debate and public distrust is that politicians have learnt the tricks of the trade and have successfully diluted the community’s political experience. #auspol #theDismissal #Whitlam #Media
The press and the Dismissal – Part III
Television had come to the fore in elections during the Whitlam campaign of 1972 when increased funds were spent on advertising with slogans (It’s time was backed by a catchy jingle) and mainly short ...
johnmenadue.com
November 7, 2025 at 12:46 AM
The unfortunate, indeed, disastrous result, of the combination of press disregard for responsible debate and public distrust is that politicians have learnt the tricks of the trade and have successfully diluted the community’s political experience. #auspol #theDismissal #Whitlam #Media
Our journalists can still tell sharp, critical, honest stories – but they might want to break free of the editorial obsession with casting China as the eternal antagonist. #auspol #China #News Corp #Racism
When in doubt, blame China (every News Corp headline needs a villain)
If you only skimmed the headlines from News Corp, you’d be forgiven for thinking China was launching a krill-powered naval strike from Antarctica, staging an electric vehicle blitzkrieg across the out...
johnmenadue.com
November 7, 2025 at 12:45 AM
The outcome to this matter that saw a mother in custody for two months on three serious charges that were all dropped? A non-conviction order: no (further) penalty for the defendant – but surely pause for thought for the office of the DPP. #auspol #ACT #Appeal #DPP
'We don't do that in this country': judge slams DPP
An appeal by ACT director of Public Prosecutions, Victoria Engel, SC, has been dismissed by a Full Bench of the ACT Court of Appeal after only three minutes of deliberation.
johnmenadue.com
November 7, 2025 at 12:43 AM
If Israel passes this horrific death penalty law, it is yet another reason for Canberra to end its timidity and impose sanctions on this rogue state. #auspol #Israel #Palestinian #Deathpenalty
OFFICIAL – Israel’s proposed death-penalty law is a war crime
Not satisfied it seems with the continued genocide of Palestinians, Israel is now looking to execute Palestinian prisoners by introducing a death penalty law.
johnmenadue.com
November 7, 2025 at 12:41 AM
If Israel passes this horrific death penalty law, it is yet another reason for Canberra to end its timidity and impose sanctions on this rogue state. #auspol #Israel #Palestinian #Deathpenalty
A gaggle of royals all collaborated with Kerr in the dismissal of the Whitlam Government – the Queen, Prince Philip, who called Whitlam "a socialist arsehole", Prince Charles and Lord Mountbatten. #auspol #theDismissal #Whitlam #Charles
The Prince and the Dismissal
Anthony Albanese recently told us with bated breath from Balmoral Castle that Charles is someone who is very interested in Australia”. “Interested “would be an understatement.
johnmenadue.com
November 7, 2025 at 12:41 AM
A gaggle of royals all collaborated with Kerr in the dismissal of the Whitlam Government – the Queen, Prince Philip, who called Whitlam "a socialist arsehole", Prince Charles and Lord Mountbatten. #auspol #theDismissal #Whitlam #Charles
Netanyahu faces an election next year in what he says is the region’s only democracy. That claim is supported by the evident freedom of articulate Israelis and their relatively unfettered media to speak truth to power and hold government to account. #auspol #Israel #Gaza
Israel, lies and videotape
We have heard a lot in the last two years and one month about Jewish Australians feeling unsafe or intimidated.
johnmenadue.com
November 6, 2025 at 12:28 AM
Australian were unable to stop the genocide in Gaza but we must insist that our government support the Palestine people and work overtime to protect international humanitarian law. #auspol #Israel #Gaza
Palestine’s future: Australians are outraged
At an Australia-wide webinar on 31 October, David Spratt paid tribute to the late Ali Kazak, Palestine’s first ambassador to Australia.
johnmenadue.com
November 6, 2025 at 12:27 AM
The Maduro Government has its fans and its detractors; both can mount solid arguments. But it is a national project that seeks to resist dominance from foreign interests, foremost the US. #auspol #Venezuela #Maduro #Trump
Venezuela and Trump’s war to save the old order
“The past is not dead; it is not even past.” William Faulkner was right: past events continue to inform and shape our world.
johnmenadue.com
November 6, 2025 at 12:27 AM
The Maduro Government has its fans and its detractors; both can mount solid arguments. But it is a national project that seeks to resist dominance from foreign interests, foremost the US. #auspol #Venezuela #Maduro #Trump
Retailers are not so thrilled about the new initiative, with peak industry body the Australian Energy Council releasing a statement effectively saying, "well, this is news to us!" #auspol #Renewables #ChrisBowen
Practical, equitable … cute? Labor’s free solar plan sparks call for more electrification and flexibility
The federal energy minister’s plan to make electricity free for three hours in the middle of each day for customers on the default market offer has made a big splash in the energy world, and sparked c...
johnmenadue.com
November 6, 2025 at 12:26 AM
Retailers are not so thrilled about the new initiative, with peak industry body the Australian Energy Council releasing a statement effectively saying, "well, this is news to us!" #auspol #Renewables #ChrisBowen