Profound changes in both public and elite opinion are often slow to occur but – once they start – they can shift dramatically and quickly

That’s what appears to be happening with attitudes to Israel, the Gaza War and Netanyahu.

It should be emphasised, however, that since the war began there have been many anti-Semitic outrages (including murders in the US) throughout the world and in Australia which shaped the narrative about the war. Equally it should be said that some Jewish groups have weaponised accusations of anti-Semitism against those who have been critical of Israel’s prosecution of the war by equating any criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism. read more

The Financial Times has reported that Macquarie (also known in Britain as the Vampire Kangaroo) has told investors it was “very proud’ of its record as the owner of Thames Water – the company it sold seven years ago.

Well, it was no doubt proud of the money they made out of it – 2.7 billion pounds in dividends to Macquarie and offshore pension funds. Today the latest Thames Water owners are close to insolvency and are seeking a Government bail out with a 3 billion pound loan. But the new owners want to preserve the Macquarie culture by spending part of the bail out money on hundreds of thousands of pounds in bonuses. read more

The blog is taking a break. In the meantime, a guest post from the Save Albert  Park team.

The Victorian government slashed $95 million from Parks Victoria’s budget while promising the owners of Formula One, Liberty Media, a $350 million pit building extension as part of a deal to extend the grand prix contract a further two years from 2035 to 2037. read more

Amidst the Trump regime’s destruction of valued institutions is the decision that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) will no longer track of the cost of climate crisis-fueled weather disasters.

Noaa has provided daily weather forecasts, severe storm warnings and climate movements for many years. read more

Sadly, largely due to the media’s lack of interest in science and the fall in the number of journalists able to cover such a round, one of the most important stories about science – the Trump destruction of science -is largely being neglected.

Fortunately, the specialist media – such as Nature and some commentators – have been reporting just how devastating the impact of the Trump administration has been. read more

WTF just happened?

Well, the first obvious thing is that Labor just won a massive record-breaking landslide election. The majority might get trimmed back a bit as further counting occurs but it suggests that a third term is possible.

Second, they had the advantage of running against a Leader, Peter Dutton, who was rated Australia’s most distrusted politician by Roy Morgan Research and against a political party women have been deserting since Morrison days. read more

On April 25 a group of Neo-Nazi protestors booed Uncle Mark Brown’s Welcome to Country at the Melbourne Anzac Day Shrine service. To their credit the RSL promptly said they would continue with Welcomes to Country.

The protestors seemed to come from the same cohort of Australians who opposed the Howard era gun buy backs complaining that the government shouldn’t take their guns away because they might need them to defend Australia. As Keith Payne VC said at the time: “If they want to defend the country they ought to join the Army – if they can pass the psych test.” read more

Peter Dutton has a very big problem this coming Saturday, election day, he is the most distrusted political leader in Australia as of an April 2025 survey by Roy Morgan.

Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine said that “distrust was at dangerously high levels for Dutton.”

“Roy Morgan’s special survey on trust and distrust in the lead up to the Federal election shows that Coalition Leader, Peter Dutton, has the unwanted and extremely unhelpful, distinction of being Australia’s most distrusted politician – by a significant margin”, she said. read more

One of the great – and most significant current scientific puzzles – is what’s happening with the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) and the decline of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current.

For some time there have been indications that AMOC may reverse itself with wide ranging impacts – for instance bringing a new Ice Age to the Northern hemisphere or at least other less dramatic impacts more widely. read more