Matt McDonald

Trump-style 'climate hoax' playbook spreads to Australia US researchers have tracked how dark money funds a tangled web of climate denial think tanks with vested interests in slowing climate action. And Australia is not immune.

Oh great. Can’t we develop better border controls measures for this…?
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...

‘Cascading, compounding’: five key takeaways from Australia’s national climate risk assessment From rising heat-related deaths to the environmental and economic cost of climate change, here’s what the landmark report warns

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Australian universities to cut about 2,400 jobs and hundreds of courses as sector blames ‘confused’ government policies Vice-chancellors say they’ve been forced to restructure but critics point finger at ‘unaccountable’ university management

Important not to overstate things, and some places tracking way better than others, but overall but social sciences/ humanities in the Australia. Higher Education sector is a dumpster fire… Myopic Govt policy + corporate Uni leadership= exactly what you’d expect
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Médecins Sans Frontières calls for immediate closure of US and Israelibacked aid group in Gaza – Middle East crisis live MSF says it has rarely ‘seen such levels of systematic violence against unarmed civilians’ as it has at GHF aid sites

An eviscerating takedown of a farcical pretence of humanitarianism by an organisation that knows what humanitarianism looks like.
www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...

YouTube video by MyBISA #BISA2025 keynote: Professor Roland Bleiker - Seeing and sensing world politics

Here a video of my keynote at the recent 50th Anniversary #BISA2025 conference in Belfast. I am more writer than speaker, so this was a challenge. But I am grateful for the invitation and glad I did it for - and with - Emma Hutchison. www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBWg...

Top Australian writers urge Albanese to abolish Job-Ready Graduates, calling their humanities degrees life changing Tim Winton, Helen Garner and Peter Garrett are just a few of the high-profile signatories to an open letter against Job-Ready Graduates – and for the humanities.

Amen
theconversation.com/top-australi...

A great day- celebrating a fantastic OCIS conference & an article acceptance from @gepjournal.bsky.social (a paper on Indigenous v Settler Colonial approaches to fire with the brilliant Brent Steele- more an that soon) at the Sydney venue of Australia’s best brewery, Mountain Culture. Cheers!

Beer & book series again, and I’m finally getting a chance to wade through this new book by outstanding scholars & friends, @anthonyburke.bsky.social & @flusterbird.bsky.social- The Ecology Politic (MIT 2025) paired with a Stone & Wood pale ale. Looking forward to discussing this at OCIS in Sydney!

Well you did take me to California Wine Country for the workshop, Paul- least I can do!

The latest in my book & beer series (it’s been a while) is this wonderful collection I was privileged to contribute to, edited by brilliant colleagues at @nupinytt.bsky.social- @elanawilsonrowe.bsky.social, @pauldavidbeaumont.bsky.social & @lucasdopaes.bsky.social. Paired with a Range Hazy IPA!

Goodbye to all that? Rethinking Australia’s alliance with Trump’s America With the unpredictable Trump regime running the US and looming climate catastrophe, analysts Hugh White and Emma Shortis call for a fresh approach to our security.

My friend & occasional collaborator Mark Beeson with a typically provocative take on the future of the US alliance & Australian security
theconversation.com/goodbye-to-a...

LA protests live: teargas and rubber bullets fired as Trump deployment of national guard branded ‘alarming abuse of power’ Democratic governors rebuke president ordering 2,000 troops to LA county as ‘ineffective and dangerous’ in statement

Sweet Jesus, what a clustercuss.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/live...

Most popular essay question in my Global Security course- ‘Is Donald Trump a threat to International Security?’ A few US students on exchange particularly leant in to this one…

Two Israeli embassy staff shot dead near Washington DC Jewish museum Police said a suspect was in custody after the shooting near the Capital Jewish Museum

Tragic. Tragic too that this will generate far more outrage than the thousands of people (including kids) dying in Gaza as a result of Israel’s aggression & blockade…
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

agreed!

India and Pakistan have fought many wars in the past. Are we on the precipice of a new one? The worry is no other country will step in to mediate, leaving both sides to settle the conflict alone. A war between the two nuclear nations could be devastating.

Excellent analysis by @drianhall.bsky.social on the India-Pakistan skirmish in today's @theconversation.com theconversation.com/india-and-pa...

Trump campaign chief claims he visited Australia to advise Liberals at start of election campaign Exclusive: Chris LaCivita, Trump’s presidential campaign co-manager, tells undercover reporters he advised on ‘structural issues’ related to Peter Dutton; the Coalition denies LaCivita was involved in...

Makes sense, I was wondering why it was going so well…
Trump campaign chief claims he visited Australia to advise Liberals at start of election campaign www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

I’m not going to complain about the spam from Australia’s would-be Trump equivalent in Clive Palmer, it’s a wild ride… Though quite a relief that this is a decidedly marginal figure in the Australian election, thank f&@k for compulsory preferential voting and the Australian electoral commission.

Average person will be 40% poorer if world warms by 4C, new research shows Experts say previous economic models underestimated impact of global heating – as well as likely ‘cascading supply chain disruptions’

When ‘poor people will die, ecosystems will be destroyed, future generations will be irrevocably compromised’ apparently isn’t working as a narrative… #climate
Average person will be 40% poorer if world warms by 4C, new research shows www.theguardian.com/environment/...

In an otherwise relatively crappy week I’m delighted to announce that I am no longer President of the Yeronga State High School P&C/ PTA Association. Those Open Day BBQs and trivia nights can organize themselves…

Half of world’s CO2 emissions come from 36 fossil fuel firms, study shows Researchers say data strengthens case for holding firms to account for their contribution to climate crisis

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Tropical Cyclone Alfred could make landfall near Brisbane. Why is this a big deal and when could it hit? People prepare for wild weather as BoM forecasts Alfred to hit Queensland later this week with state’s capital in its path

Sorry to be missing #isa2025 in Chicago but keeping myself busy in Brisbane with a heap of teaching, a touch of influenza A & a fucking cyclone www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

The feed on Bluesky at the moment- at least with the folks I'm following- is at least 75% post US-election stages of grief... Plenty of shock & anger, bit of denial & depression. Understandable, but I'm having to steel myself to get on this platform...

‘Teaching to an empty hall’: is the changing face of universities eroding standards of learning? Voluntary attendance. Online classes. Student numbers swelling. Australian campuses look very different today – and many academics don’t like it

With the academic year about to begin here in Australia this is worth a read- very happy my Institution is resisting the trend in the sector away from face to face teaching…
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Great news for Australian IR- welcome back, Neil! Who can resist the siren song of Canberra...?

Book Review: Review of Gerard Toal, Oceans Rise, Empires Fall: Why Geopolitics Hastens Climate Catastrophe - Matt McDonald, 2025

Out now in @envsecjournal.bsky.social, my review of Gerard Toal's outstanding new book, Oceans Rise, Empires Fall journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

In an away day listening to vision statements for portfolios in my School I'm reminded of a brilliant idea for the next Mission Impossible film titled 'Mission Statement Impossible', where Tom Cruise has 48 hours to work out the difference between a mission statement & a vision statement..

If you haven’t seen it do watch the fantastic doco, Theaters of War- examining the Pentagon’s influence on Hollywood (& public opinion).
Lucky enough to enjoy a private screening on the deck with one of the producers and on-screen talent, my friend & colleague Seb Kaempf m.imdb.com/title/tt1184...

Hi Australian Researchers. I have a plan. Let's thank the amazing @arc-tracker.bsky.social for a decade of selfless work by nominating them for a Eureka Prize (Leadership in science). Are you with me? If so, repost this. Please also reply and state your support for this quest. We can do this people.

‘A dark masterpiece’: Foucault’s Discipline and Punish at 50 One of the most influential philosophical works of the 20th century, Discipline and Punish is unsettlingly prescient in our age of digital surveillance.

This book was a lightning rod for me when I first read this as a student many years ago. Still important, possibly more relevant than ever (sadly).
‘A dark masterpiece’: Foucault’s Discipline and Punish at 50 theconversation.com/a-dark-maste...