New essay up -

Fascinating - and straightforward.

“In an industry under strain, product tends to be prioritised over process. I’ve been working as a critic and an editor in Australia for over 20 years and the story I hear from people in the industry is that they are being asked to do more with less, and quickly.” @catrionamp.bsky.social on OzLit

"The bulldozers [made by the US company Caterpillar] turned the agriculturally rich land of eastern Gaza into a monochrome desert of crushed grey cement mixed with the area’s yellowish soil. Entire cities such as Rafah, towns such as Beit Hanoun and refugee camps such as Jabalia were erased."

'Some of the markers seem to be lexical: AIs like talking about sweetness, loudness, quiet, age and beauty. There is a lot of insisting in AI-generated texts, as well as a lot of promising, a lot of permitting and a lot of filling up.'

Australian musicians and all who love music - listen to this.

"By letting the West set Jews against its other victims, we suffer alongside them, while only the civilisation that historically abused us truly benefits.” Incredible interview with historian Barnaby Raine.

"Dissent from outside Israel has been toothless. Arab & European capitals may have been angry at Israel’s bombings in Gaza and its policy of starvation yet their actions amounted to little more than restricted sanctions. Trade & travel between Israel & Europe have continued & the flow of most arms."

New review up - on Mia Khan Boe’s Walking About at Sutton Gallery in Naarm/ Melbourne.

Good news at last. (The elephants were female too.)

The Amoc is a major part of the global climate system and is close to the tipping point of collapse. This is the biggest news of the year if not the decade.

More great news from our university sector - more abandonment of community, more funding cuts to culture and politics.

Bref, 150 writers, including Virginie Despentes, have left Grasset, French publisher, due to policies of its ultra-right owner Vincent Bolloré. Grasset is part of Hachette, big list here in Australia. I’m so inspired by writers acting against autocrats. ✊🏼

REMEMORY - 25th Biennale of Sydney. This review is of Campbelltown Arts Centre.

"In short, Watt’s own statement revealed that at the very time he was arguing in public and at UNESCO that industrial emissions were causing no damage to the [50,000 year-old] rock art, his own department was telling him – and he accepted – that the opposite was true."

Latest essay up on substack@fkmcg

Macquarie has been a little shy 👉👈 … but we know deep down it's just as proud of the billions of tonnes of emissions its financing as it is about doing climate action 🫠 So today we surprised them with an award. 🎖️ #auspol #climate #macquariebank #beetaloo

I just signed @australiainstitute.org.au's petition: Scrap the Capital Gains Tax Discount! Will you join me? nb.australiainstitute.org.au/scrap_cgt_di... Please sign to get rid of this crazy tax break!

Come and help me launch this novel into Sydney harbour. Everyone is welcome! Tuesday March 31. 5.30pm Sean and Dolly’s 220 William St, Woolloomooloo Hosted by Potts Point Bookshop. Launched by 78er Mark Gillespie RSVP to [email protected]

"Albanese can run but not hide from Carney's message about the threat from the US" But what will Carney advise? Will he have the guts to refuse involvement in the latest war? I mean, who in the woeful west hasn’t capitulated to Trump apart from Sanchez and Greenland?

" … more than half the al-Hol camp’s population are children, most under 12 years old. Albanese said Australia won't repatriate its citizens with links to Islamic State. 34 Australian women & children were turned back by Syrian authorities after they left al-Roj detention camp.

New essay up at substack. On English poet Alice Oswald giving a lecture in Paris. And other stuff too. #poetry #literature #lecture #review #paris #essay

‘Need a lord on the board?’ Great article on that pimple Mandelson, one of legion pustules popped out of the Epstein file. As a coda, read this about Mandelson's contribution to the campaign to destroy Australian Labor's proposed mining super profits tax. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Israeli technology Cellebite used to hack an activist’s phone. Like Israel's Pegasus was used to track SA journalist Kashoggi before his murder. How many state and federal police forces have purchased these technologies, and are these corporate deals behind continuing support of Israel?

New essay up at brand new substack. Published five days ago, and just tweaked. Please enjoy! "Melvin Edwards, Echo Delay Reverb, and the Cops Who Just Won’t Stop." Paris, January 2026.

Here’s the footage. Multiple punches on a man with his arms up. Another assault case against #nswpolice, paid for by us? Meanwhile, the man who should be arrested for inciting genocide is dining on canapés with our PM. All this under a democratically elected leftist government.

Why does this article say « police allegedly threw punches » when footage of them actually, graphically doing so has been circulating for hours already?

Beautiful story amidst the rolling disasters on our feed

What do people think of this? That humans came out of Australia as much as or more than Africa? That they migrated north, not south?

Oh Australia … who profits from this???

« Greenland is essential for the Golden Dome we are building. » « Talks fail. » Terrifying. But real.

Terrific piece on the AWW debacle. ‘Over the past 30 years, there has been a strong push towards corporatisation of arts boards. Arts orgs have adopted private-sector style governance models, with organisations seen as “enterprises” rather than cultural institutions.’

When the country who led the case against Israel for genocide does this, you know you are in deep shit.

Surely the best thing to do now would be reinstate Abdel-Fattah and the entire program. Appoint a new board with a majority of writers (and pay them) and other workers from our industry. Cos apart from the cultural devastation, SA must be haemorrhaging $$ from this debacle.

Tracey Whiting, Chair of Adelaide Festival Board, has officially stepped down. Good Can we have our writers festival back now?

I’m still amazed that the sub judice aspect has been ignored in the rolling media campaign for a Bondi royal commission. In case you’ve not read about it (and why would you) I’ve written about it here: open.substack.com/pub/nickfeik...

7000 year old barbecue site and clay ovens near Campbelltown. Fabulous stuff.

New novel due 2026! The Trap (Picador) is the ‘spiritual sequel’ to Iris. Set in Sydney 1942-43, this novel is based on a true story of entrapment, police corruption, and the power of the media. A social portrait of this city in wartime, with characters from all strata of society. Get excited!

“What would politics be like in an age in which the economy – in other words, capitalism, its worldwide web stretched tight – had become absolutely preponderant? That is, where politicians no longer had control, or even the pretence of control, over the key decisions affecting their societies … “

What a great idea! 👊🏻

"The reality of Aukus, from Australia’s perspective, is that it is not, fundamentally, an agreement that will deliver this country nuclear-powered submarines. It is a plan that will further enmesh Australia into US defence strategy..." www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...

Australia Institute research shows a 25% tax on gas exports would raise would raise more than $17 billion a year, enough to cover an extension of the energy rebate! ✍️ Sign our petition urging the government to fix our gas export laws: https://nb.australiainstitute.org.au/fix_gas_export_problem

‘The government could use their money better on educating and regulating, than on restricting.’

know. “We hold grave concerns that the current Amendment Bill takes the Australian freedom of information regime in a more secretive direction,m,” said professors Catherine Williams and Gabrielle Appleby from the Centre for Public Integrity. Albanese’s secretive governance.

It was a great turn out at Rising Tide this year - one of the most relevant and best organised movements for climate justice on this imperilled planet. getting arrested never looked so good (& funny). Not so funny for minors, who of course will suffer the most if we don’t address this crisis.

Full moon over Gadigal 🤍 #pleinelune #lunapiena #fullmoon

Less and less difference between em …

Erm … what about that apartheid state in the Levant and its secret service that starts with M? And you don’t have to click far to get your Hasbara, just watch ABC news.

So loving these videos of Gestapo ICE. Scream them down, barefoot in your PJs, drive them out!

"In 2025 alone, Germany purchased 315 million euros' worth of Israeli weaponry – more than in the previous four years combined ... "