John Menadue

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue was born in 1935 and has had a distinguished career in public service and business. After graduating from the University of Adelaide in 1956, he served in various public and private sector roles, including as Private Secretary to Gough Whitlam, General Manager of News Limited, CEO of Qantas, head of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Australian Ambassador to Japan and head of the Department of Trade. John has received a number of prestigious awards for his contributions to Australian society as a public servant, diplomat, critical thinker, board director, advisor and public commentator.

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Things You Learn Along the Way

Summing Up: Pearls and Irritations

In 2013, John and his wife Susie, launched the influential online public policy journal Pearls and Irritations which currently has more than 22,000 subscribers. John’s latest book, Summing Up: Pearls and Irritations was published online in July 2024. His autobiography Things You Learn Along the Way was first published in 1999. Both are now available as eBook and paperback versions.

What readers are saying …


Excellent to see this 2024 collection of John Menadue’s articles from Pearls and Irritations. His political and cultural analysis draws on decades of experience of pivotal events shaping Australia and the region.  Readers will welcome the addition of some of John’s more personal writing in this book.  A deeply religious man, his accounts provide insights into how his origins, early experiences and personal belief system generated an enduring commitment and active engagement towards achieving social, political and environmental justice.


Quentin Dempster

Pearls and Irritations has become an antidote to mainstream media’s propensity for populism, prejudice and exploitable ignorance.

Quentin Dempster is a former senior ABC journalist and former Chairman of the Walkley Foundation.  


Stephen FitzGerald

Pearls and Irritations provides quite the best daily analysis of issues in world affairs and Australia’s foreign relations of any media in Australia – traditional or online. I recommend it regularly to friends and colleagues in other countries as the best-informed and intelligent commentary on Australia in world affairs this country has to offer.

Stephen FitzGerald was a former Australian Ambassador to China.


Stephen Duckett

Pearls and Irritations provides me with informed commentary on contemporary policy issues, written for a non-specialist across a range of fields including the environment, religious affairs and the economy.  

Stephen Duckett is an Honorary Professor in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences at the University of Melbourne and formerly Secretary of the Department of Human Services and Health.


Jenny Hocking

Pearls and Irritations is absolutely invaluable at a time when news and comment are too often inaccurate, biased or even false.

Jenny Hocking is an Emeritus Professor with the Faculty of Arts, Monash University


Michael Pascoe 

Pearls and Irritations public policy journal daily publishes a range of opinions and insights that shame the lack of diversity in our much bigger and better-resourced media.

Michael Pascoe is a  journalist, commentator and contributing editor for The New Daily.