more opinion stories
Clive's titanic arrival in politics
CLIVE Palmer's party has a balance of power and, like America's Tea Party, has become a popular political force overnight, writes Paul Toohey.
Buddy's pay about more than dollars
IT's a powerful thing that an indigenous man has won the highest contract ever paid to an Australian team sportsman.
Sugar rush not so sweet
OPINION: Sugar is not just bad for our health, it's also bad for the communities around the world that have been forced off their land without compensation
Jakarta's human rights hypocrisy
TONY Abbott's visit to Jakarta signals a 180 degree shift since Paul Keating made his first trip to Indonesia in 1992.
Pay equality is good for business
OPINION: Business needs to realise pay equity is not just a 'women's issue', it's a business issue, writes Ben Pike.
Bracks sacking looks vindictive
THE new Abbott Government's nasty side is already on show with the sacking of New York Consul General Steve Bracks.
Taking liberties with the Liberal vote
OPINION: It's a reflection on the electorate's ignorance that the Liberal Democrats are on track to win a Senate seat.
Coalition's biggest election stuff-up
A POLICY stuff-up on internet filters has emerged as the Coalition biggest bungle of the campaign, and the truth seems to have been caught in one.
Abbott drinks like he runs ... fast
PAUL Toohey reflects on a man who smashes a can of beer in two gulps and always eats the fat on his steak.
Adams a shoe-in by the spoonful
TASMANIAN MP Dick Adams is leading the way with giving voters more than what they could have asked for
Election pain might just be starting
OPINION: It's best to break this gently... we could be facing two more federal elections over the next 18 months.
Abbott not the one getting Syria wrong
OPINION: Tony Abbott has been much more measured and sensible than Kevin Rudd on the Syrian question
Syria intervention a minefield
FORTUNATELY for Rudd the nation is in caretaker mode and Parliament won't be recalled to debate the Syria question.
Abbott gets an "F" for school foray
OPINION: When everything is scripted you've got to wonder about Tony Abbott's plot this morning
'Pretty little lady lawyers' in Abbott's sights
OPINION: Abbott's lack of equal concern over the ongoing costs of child care and education is shortsighted.
Why aren't they listening on jobs?
OPINION: With 40% of the workforce now in insecure jobs, a discussion about the future of work in Australia is overdue.
Election promises don't add up
THE magic pudding approach to budgeting from both Labor and the Liberals must stop, writes Jessica Irvine.
Miley a try-hard, but not disgusting
OPINION: Anyone who considers a young woman prancing on stage to be "disgusting" has issues.
Muslim 'hate' preacher just a renegade ranter
OPINION: While he's no al-Hilaly, Sheikh Hussein is a preacher of hate, and that needs to be called out into the open and lanced.
When do we act on Syria?
US President Barack Obama says that chemical weapon strikes in Syria would be a "red line" for the United States.
Q. When is rape funny? A. Never
OPINION: Kick-Ass 2 is out today and it delivers what is by far and away the worst film scene of 2013.
Why it's time to give mums a break
MEN and women will never reach true equality in the workforce until they learn to share the burden of childcare at home, writes Jessica Irvine
Desperate Rudd hits the negative button
OPINION: The grand visions, talk of the moral challenges of our time and the positive campaigner are gone.
Make way for keen unpaid interns
A MESSAGE to all those angry punters taking aim at Lean In's New York editor, Jessica Bennet: move out of the way.
With bullies like Latham who would want politics
OPINION: I'M beginning to think Mark Latham is working for the Liberal Party.
Rudd in the sandpit as budget books open
OPINION: The PM would prefer to play with children than answer questions on the state of the Budget.
Stop the debates!
OPINION: The ritual of highly-structured pre-election debates might have bored itself into oblivion.
Bribing you with your own money
POLITICIANS always pledge prudence during election campaigns, but history shows they just can't stop the urge to buy your vote, writes Jessica Irvine.
'To hell with your cleaning guilt'
IT's always a great day in the office when the editor turns to you and says, "Breenie, can you write a few words about being a mess?".
ALP backroom boys' perks
OPINION: IF the generals of Labor's NSW right are really political geniuses they should earn the votes of real people.
Beattie's bad case of 'relevance deprivation'
OPINION: Is QLD big enough to have both Peter Beattie and Kevin Rudd rattling around it this federal election campaign?
Is it 'Albo' or 'Deputy Prime Minister'?
OPINION: Perhaps it's time for "Albo" to stop being "Albo" and start acting like the Deputy Prime Minister.
Rudd, Abbott and their false economies
KEVIN Rudd's produced more policy flip-flops than a Havaianas factory and Tony Abbott thinks economics is boring, writes Jessica Irvine.
Rate cut not enough for voters
OPINION: Rudd will be spruiking the rate cut but he has no plan to make housing more affordable.
Candidates, learn your stuff
WATCH VIDEO: Did Jaymes Diaz have something more important to do than get across the basic details of his party's policies?
It's Rudd 2.0 versus Rudd 1.0
OPINION: The Coalition believes voters already know as much as they need about Labor policy and are not impressed.
Prune rates to prepare for growth
MANAGEMENT of economic growth through interest rates is a finely balanced thing, but right now there's reason to lean to a cut, writes Jessica Irvine.
Women suffer in manflu season
FORGET the men: it's the wives and girlfriends who really suffer when there's a male with manflu in the house.
Unloved but immune to manflu
DO bachelors get man flu? Or does the affliction only exist in the presence of a bit of Tender Loving Care?
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Labor fears Rudd just won't die
OPINION: There's a significant number of Labor MPs who won't believe Kevin has stopped plotting for good.