Is it time we elected judges in Australia?

Ordinary Australians are being held to ransom by activist groups that do not represent the mainstream.

The Palestinian Action Group’s win in the Supreme Court of NSW is not a victory for freedom of speech. It demonstrates that unelected judges are able to stymy the ability of NSW Police to put a stop to a protest that endangers peace and public order.

It begs the question: Who holds judges to account?

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Is it time we elected judges in Australia?

Today’s decision to allow the Palestine Action Group, the same group that organised the October 9, 2023, rally that got out of hand at the Sydney Opera House, to march across the Harbour Bridge tomorrow makes no sense at all.https://t.co/qxvREhc9A1

— The Spectator Australia (@SpectatorOz) August 2, 2025

Trump’s tariff wins? It’s FAFO, stupid

If you fear what Trump might do, that’s the whole point. The tariffs have little to do with economics.

From Seoul: While there are fringe anti-Trump tariff protests here in Asia’s most successful liberal democracy, mainstream opinion supports the alliance with the US. The first time I was here, a Korean army general thanked me for my service and for the 340 Australians whose ultimate sacrifice enabled Korea to rebuild following Japanese occupation and later communist aggression. The Republic of Korea is nothing short of an economic, social, and cultural miracle, and the strength of the US has been key to that success.

So, when President Trump went on his tariff tirade and economists all pooh-poohed his economic unorthodoxy, they missed the point.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Trump’s tariff wins? It’s FAFO, stupid.

Almost every other Western nation in the world including the European Union, has agreed to Trump’s trade deals.

Australia hasn’t because the worst Prime Minister in Australian history lacks the ticker to do anything his Woke Brigade don’t like.https://t.co/nyMnMBtY2X

— The Spectator Australia (@SpectatorOz) August 2, 2025

New York has become the epicentre of useful idiots

An anti-Trump poster in Myeongdong, Seoul, asking Koreans to write to Mr Trump about the tariffs.

Almost a quarter century since our TVs were dominated by nightmare images of terrorist-controlled passenger jets crashing into the Twin Towers, it seems the war against the West has been won in New York. The icing on the cake will be the potential election of Ugandan-born socialist and New York mayoral candidate, Zohran Mamdani, who is currently dominating the polls.

Anti-Western elements have the key to the city, and the West handed it to them. As a result, New York has become the epicentre for useful idiots.

In the Unfiltered newsletter, Alexandra Marshall wrote:

The streets of Sydney are bad, but New York has transitioned into the epicentre of ‘useful idiots’. As Michael de Percy writes, ‘Almost a quarter century since our TVs were dominated by nightmare images of terrorist-controlled passenger jets crashing into the Twin Towers, it seems the war against the West has been won in New York. The icing on the cake will be the potential election of Ugandan-born socialist and New York Mayoral candidate, Zohran Mamdani.’

My latest in The Spectator Australia, New York has become the epicentre of useful idiots.

MICHAEL DE PERCY | "Anti-Western elements have the key to the city, and the West handed it to them. As a result, New York has become the epicentre for useful idiots... "🫣https://t.co/7fD8ZVeWUt

— The Spectator Australia (@SpectatorOz) August 1, 2025