Welcome to the empty war Downunder

Tuesday 10 February 2026

I absolutely stand by the right of Australians to protest.

But why do it about Palestine?

Australian of the Year Grace Tame condemned Herzog’s visit, earlier telling the crowd Australia was “a so-called democracy that punishes peaceful protesters like us, but welcomes a war criminal with open arms”.

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About the author

David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.