Elon Musk, David McBride, Greg Sheridan and more.
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Saturday Dec 2
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This week we took you inside the tense editorial discussions in Nine newsrooms, considered the verdict in David McBride's case, and predicted what will happen to Israel's hardline supporters if the ceasefire doesn't hold.

Elsewhere we reported on the New Zealand election results, explained why Elon Musk was voted off the island by the rest of big tech, wondered whether the YIMBY movement is more conservative or progressive, and questioned whether Greg Sheridan loves babies that much.

Plus we updated our ever-expanding list of politicians, journalists and editors who have been on sponsored trips to the Middle East.

We hope you're having a marvellous weekend.
Gina Rushton Gina Rushton,
Editor
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‘Overreach from the start’: Security monitor drops a bomb on secrecy act
BERNARD KEANE

An independent review has savaged the legislation used to attempt to cover up the trial of Bernard Collaery and called for significant amendments.

(Image: Gorkie/Private Media)
 
After struggling through his final AGMs, Rupert Murdoch faces more courtroom grief
STEPHEN MAYNE

Barely being able to get a word in under favourable conditions doesn't bode well considering his upcoming two-day cross-examination.

Rupert Murdoch (Image: AAP/AP/Mary Altaffer)
 
The true legacy of Henry Kissinger
CHARLIE LEWIS

A look back at some of the 'indelible marks' Henry Kissinger left on the world.

(Image: Gorkie/Private Media)
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Australia’s media: Just another corporate interest, one that leaks journalism as a byproduct
BERNARD KEANE

Do we have a commercial media in Australia, or just corporations that accidentally produce journalism while using their influence to dictate policy?

Tory Maguire, Kerry Stokes, Ben Roberts-Smith and Bruce Lehrmann (Images: LinkedIn/AAP)
 
Which Australian journalists and politicians have gone on trips to Israel and Palestine?
DAANYAL SAEED

It's become clear that a number of Australian politicians and journalists have been on organised tours to the Middle East — many of them sponsored by pro-Israel lobby groups and interest organisations.

A photo of Bevan Shields, David Lipson, Ben English and Sharri Markson on the banks of the Dead Sea, as originally published by the AFR (Image: AFR)
 
Conservatives don’t love babies the most — I do! 
GINA RUSHTON

Greg Sheridan adores babies, but blames Australia's dwindling fertility rate on 'coercive feminist' ideology. He might want to look out a window.

The Australian's foreign editor Greg Sheridan, and some babies (Images: AAP/Adobe/Private Media)
 
Nine newspapers’ censorship of journalists a serious, self-inflicted blow on a free press
BERNARD KEANE

Advocates for media censorship will be delighted Nine newspapers have decided to gag journalists who want balanced coverage of the Hamas-Israel conflict.

A colleague carries a blood-stained flak jacket belonging to Palestinian journalist Mohammed Soboh (Image: AAP/Reuters)
 
David McBride and our retreat from the lessons of Nuremberg
MAEVE MCGREGOR

The trial of the war crimes whistleblower shows how very far the dial of democracy has shifted in Australia.

David McBride (Images: AAP/Private Media)
 
America’s weird obsession with free speech and college campuses
TOM HAWKING

Of all the US' political quirks, none holds as tight a grip on the American mind as the sanctity of the college campus.

Harvard University in Cambridge, MA (Image: Adobe)
 
Israel’s hardline supporters are becoming unhinged because the war is morally indefensible
GUY RUNDLE

They're worried that if the destruction of Gaza restarts, global opinion will swing against Israel.

Palestinians walk to southern Gaza Strip along Salah Al Din road (Image: AAP/EPA/Mohammed Saber)
 
Nine editors double down in ‘tense’ Israel-Palestine letter meeting amid subscription cancellations
CAM WILSON

Fallout continues over Nine papers' decision to restrict journalists who signed an open letter calling on improved Israel-Gaza coverage.

Tory Maguire, Bevan Shields, Patrick Elligett and David King (Images: Age/SMH/Private Media)
 
Is the YIMBY movement progressive or conservative?
BENJAMIN CLARK

Australia needs more housing to control both rent and mortgage prices. But how we go about it remains a source of contention.

(Image: Zennie/Private Media)
 
Hypocritical Pezzullo brought undone by the media he railed at
BERNARD KEANE

Goodbye to Mike Pezzullo — the hard-line bureaucrat who railed at leakers while himself leaking. Now that hypocrisy has caught up with him.

Former Secretary of Home Affairs Mike Pezzullo (Image: AAP/Mick Tsikas)
 
Guns, prisons and landlords — what does New Zealand’s new government have planned?
REBEKAH HOLT

New Zealand has a new government, cobbled together like patchwork quilt. What vision do these three men have to unite Kiwis in these hard times? 

(L-R): ACT leader David Seymour, NZ Prime Minister-elect Christopher Luxon, and NZ First leader Winston Peters (Image: AAP/Mark Mitchell/NZ Herald/AP)
 
Elon Musk’s X is betting that Australia is too weak to protect its elections
CAM WILSON

The platform once known as Twitter failed the lowest of hurdles this week. Will we do anything about it?

Elon Musk (Image: AP/(Patrick Pleul)
 
Labor needs to heed the overseas warning signs and get control of immigration
BERNARD KEANE

The right isn't very good at border control, but it's great at convincing voters it is. That spells trouble for Labor as economic insecurity drives a backlash against migration.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (Image: AAP/Darren England)