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History lessons in inflation: from left, Sir Robert Menzies, Alfred Deakin, John Howard and Bob Hawke. Pictures: News Corp/Supplied

Why ignoring history lessons on inflation costs us

History isn’t an ornament. It’s a warning. Dismissing it as irrelevant dooms Australia to repeating repeats costly economic, policy and political mistakes.

Alexander Downer

commentaryInquirer

Exit stage left: how the ABC abandoned impartiality.

Exit stage left: how the ABC abandoned impartiality

By abandoning impartiality, the ABC and BBC have both signed their own death warrants.

Alexander Downer

CommentaryCommentary

Housing affordability has been a key issue that has sparked widespread protests around Australia

Old parties of the centre must adapt or perish

Australia faces the same issues that are challenging traditional politics in Europe. If Liberal and Labor don’t address them, the 2028 election result could be dramatically different to that of 2025.

Alexander Downer

CommentaryCommentary

5 September 2025; a photo comp of President Xi Jinping, President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese with a parade behind them. Artwork by Emilia Tortorella. Sources: supplied. Ratio 4:3.

PM’s White House meet hinges on China

While Donald Trump will want to drill down on Beijing, Anthony Albanese’s big takeaway should be inspiration from the US leader’s energy and ambition to get things done.

Alexander Downer

commentaryCommentary

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL - OCTOBER 04: People chant slogans and hold placards in support of hostages still held by Hamas during a solidarity protest, calling for an end to the war and the release of all remaining Israeli hostages on October 04, 2025 in Tel Aviv, Israel. This week, Hamas said it would partly accede to a peace deal brokered by the U.S. president and release the Israeli hostages held in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023. However, the Palestinian militant group asked for negotiations on several conditions of the 20-point-plan. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents loved ones of the Israeli captives, said in a statement that

Will Trump’s ‘Mar a Gaza’ plan actually work?

If Gaza ever does return to its former glory, we’ll have the US President to thank. His strategy, to work assiduously with Israelis and Arab leaders, stands in stark contrast to the antagonistic path pursued by the Europeans, and Australia.

Alexander Downer

commentaryCommentary

Anti-immigration protesters and counter protesters clash on August 31 in Melbourne. Picture: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images

Viva la ‘counter-revolution’: Like it or not, it’s coming our way

The ‘marches for Australia’ are signs of what’s already happening in the US and Europe – people have had enough of new threats to their culture and way of life.

Alexander Downer

commentaryCommentary

Windmills cover the countryside in Britain.

Like Europe, Australia has lost its mojo. We are trapped in a doom loop

The state is growing larger while private enterprise is shrinking. We spend recklessly on windmills and welfare, unconcerned about ballooning national debt. It’s time to stop kidding ourselves.

Alexander Downer

CommentaryCommentary

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a wreath-laying ceremony marking Holocaust Remembrance Day for the six million Jews killed in World War II, at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem on May 6, 2024. (Photo by AMIR COHEN / POOL / AFP)

Netanyahu the strong leader Israel needed

Over the last 10 years, Israel’s per capita GDP has grown an astonishing 73 per cent while the numbers in Australia are declining.

Alexander Downer

CommentaryCommentary

SEPTEMBER 13, 1945 : Japanese Lieutenant General Hatazo Adachi (L) surrenders to General Horace Robertson in New Guinea 13/09/45 during World War Two (II). The AWM is seeking (07/05) the identity of the Warrant Officer in the centre of the photo. Pic Australian War Memorial Australian Armed Forces / Army / Soldier / WWII / Japan / Surrender Historical

Reconciling with Japan a triumph for our nations

As we approach the 80th anniversary of the end of the Pacific War this week, we can reflect on one of the great triumphs of human progress.

Alexander Downer

commentaryWorld

Javier Milei promised the most fascinating liberal economic experiment the world has seen in a long time.

Why Javier Milei is today’s most exciting politician

Australia has been very well governed over the past century and a quarter. But we’re changing. We’re becoming distinctly Peronist.

Alexander Downer

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Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/author/alexander-downer