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Junta leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing attends a ceremony to commission new aircraft into the Myanmar air force in March.

There is war in our backyard and we have forgotten all about it

As everyone was absorbing the RBA’s decision to raise interest rates on Tuesday evening, one economist received something of a rock-star reception in Sydney.

  • Michael Ruffles

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Volunteers clean debris from a residential building damaged when a nearby police station was hit Friday in a U.S.-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Time for government to lift its game on Iranian refugees

Of the many dark chapters in Australia’s recent migration policy history, two rare good moments can serve as a guide for the future.

  • The Herald's View
Some of the Iranians applying to stay in Australia.

Iranian soccer players got asylum overnight. These refugees reveal a very different story

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke’s intervention was swift and decisive. But it was bittersweet for other refugees trapped in a system described as cruel and unfair.

  • Bevan Shields
Iran players stand silently during the anthem before their match against Korea Republic on March 2.

Iran’s brave players have stood tall. Now Australia must stand with them

Both Australia and the Asian Football Confederation are being tested, not just on the pitch, but on whether they will protect the basic rights of athletes who have already shown immense courage.

  • Daniel Ghezelbash and Mary Anne Kenny
Sussan Ley speaks at a press conference.

Libs consider slashing refugee intake in Coalition migration policy

Sussan Ley moved quickly to release a migration policy as she faced pressure over the issue from her right flank and One Nation.

  • Paul Sakkal
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters after addressing troops via video from Mar-a-Lago.

The National Guard shooter fired at America’s heart. The response will be brutal

In this already febrile climate around immigration, the attack has set off a visceral response. And it is not limited to Afghan refugees.

  • Michael Koziol
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Illustration by Dionne Gain

How to screen for ‘Aussie values’: Bring on the beagles and bugles

Liberals want to test would-be immigrants for their “Australian values”. Our politicians might avoid their own backyards as a guide, lest they confound aspiring Aussies.

  • Malcolm Knox
Mojgan Shamsalipoor

Mojgan, the Brisbane asylum seeker whose fight made headlines, free with permanent visa

In 2015, the Brisbane high school student was forcefully removed to a Darwin immigration centre, and she has remained in limbo on a six-monthly bridging visa. Finally, that has changed.

  • Felicity Caldwell
Lucy Maud Lem Cue is the latest in the AUSSIE poster series by Adelaide artist Peter Drew.

How this artist is reinventing the idea of an Aussie, one poster at a time

Peter Drew’s “Aussie” series of works on walls across the country asks questions about identity and who belongs in this country – but not everyone is happy to see them.

  • Kerrie O'Brien
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‘Your countries are going to hell’: Trump stuns UN with tirade on immigration, climate ‘con job’

The US president used the global stage to lecture the world on unchecked immigration and the “con job” of climate change in a defiant and at-times threatening address.

  • Michael Koziol