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Heath Aston
NSW drops carbon tax challenge
THE passage of the carbon tax has received a boost, with legal advice to NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell suggesting that a High Court challenge to block the tax would fail.
Phillip Coorey
Abbott tries to put brakes on national disability plan
TONY ABBOTT'S newfound pledge of bipartisan support for a national disability insurance scheme has hit a snag with the Coalition leader opposed to plans to accelerate its implementation.
The columnists More Columnists
Heath Aston
No use kicking, he is sticking to his guns
WHEN Barry O'Farrell sat down next to Julia Gillard in Canberra on Friday with other state and territory leaders, he would have been keenly aware of the differences between himself and the Prime Minister.
Shaun Carney
Labor faces a paler shade of Greens
Lucky breaks have been few and far between for the Gillard government but Bob Brown's resignation offers a genuine opportunity to win back some of the former Labor voters who have re-identified as Greens supporters in the past five years.
The contributors More Society & Culture
Chris Berg
Secular world has a Christian foundation
The contemporary atheist movement has a scorched earth strategy - chop down Christianity, root and branch. I don't believe in God either, but this strategy is entirely counterproductive.
Martin Flanagan
Not all black and white as the goalposts keep moving
Footy is two games now. One is the game played on the field. The other is the game played out in the media. The aim of this second game is to supply the season with a succession of off-field ''dramas'' in the manner of a reality TV show.
The bloggers More Blogs
Rocco Fazzari
PM Tony Abbott: alarmed, alert or indifferent?
Is Australia ready for a Prime Minister in red budgie-smugglers?
Warwick McFadyen
A hero for one day
Too often the word 'hero' is thrown around when a smaller word would have sufficed.
Dick Gross
Rites of Passage
Once upon a time, the great rites of passage of a person's life were grounded in the sacraments and rituals of faith.
Features
Uneasy Truth
Sri Lanka's leader stirs the pot
D.R. Kaarthikeyan is a name renowned in India. He was the police officer who led the investigation into the assassination of the former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in May 1991 by a woman wearing a belt bomb who came up close in a chaotic election rally.
Global Opinion
The Washington Post
Pursuing justice: Zimmerman arrested
The Guardian
How the royals became cool
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