Year in Review: power, politics and a world in flux

What really changed in 2025 – and what didn’t?

In this special Year in Review episode of Pearlcast, host Catriona Jackson is joined by John Menadue, Karen Middleton and Greg Barns for a candid, wide-ranging conversation about the year’s biggest political moments in Australia and abroad, and what they tell us about the year ahead.

The panel begins with the re-election of the Labor government and its unexpectedly large majority. Rather than celebrating a mandate for reform, the discussion quickly turns to a growing sense of public disappointment. Why did a government with such political capital choose caution over courage? And what does that say about trust, transparency and integrity in Australian politics?

Attention then shifts to the Liberal–National coalition, which the panel describes as being in deep trouble. Weak leadership, ideological fracture and the corrosive influence of right-wing media are examined not just as party problems, but as risks to the functioning of democracy itself.

The conversation widens to the global stage. Is the moral authority of the West in decline? What does the rise of China mean for Australia’s future? And is our dependence on the United States – and the AUKUS pact in particular – a strategic safeguard or a dangerous liability?

The episode closes with a sharp debate over the government’s proposed social media ban for under-16s. Is it workable? Is it lawful? Or is it another example of policy driven by panic rather than evidence, with consequences we haven’t fully thought through?

Clear-eyed, provocative and deeply informed, this episode of Pearlcast takes stock of a year that unsettled old assumptions and left many big questions hanging – about power, competence and Australia’s place in a changing world.

Guests

• John Menadue – Founder and editor-in-chief, Pearls and Irritations
• Karen Middleton – Political journalist, author and columnist
• Greg Barns – Barrister, author and former national president of the Australian Lawyers Alliance

Note: This episode of Pearlcast was recorded before the tragic events at Bondi.