Political Opinion
MH17 means it is time for Australia to help shape a global response
Peter Hartcher 12:23am Putin must discover that Russian recidivism will not be tolerated by the world.
Tony Abbott's government srsly needs to get a handle on the Senate
JUDITH IRELAND 6:56pm Opinion It was Thursday evening and a weary Senate was deep in the throes of a debate on the mining tax.
Joe Hockey needs to change tack in budget offensive
MARK KENNY Opinion The Treasurer is still fighting for his budget nine weeks after it was handed down. Perhaps it's time for another approach.
Battle lines drawn: carbon politics are not going away any time soon
MARK KENNY Opinion The imaginary banner behind Tony Abbott might have read ''Emission accomplished!'' such was his obvious delight as he strode to the lectern on Thursday.
Tony Abbott's Japan remarks open old wounds
HAMISH MCDONALD Opinion Tony Abbott stirred an old and painful issue with his remarks welcoming Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the Australian parliament last week.
Senate passions run deep in the face of government's carbon tax repeal
CHRIS JOHNSON Opinion The death of the carbon tax may well have been an inevitability, but it took the new Senate its entire first sitting fortnight to finally vote it down.
Tony Abbott battles the future by axing carbon tax
TOM ARUP Opinion Australia is in a climate coma. The bitter five-year political tussle over carbon pricing has left us numb and weary of the debate.
Sunday roast was lamb to the slaughter of the carbon tax
PETER MARTIN Opinion The good news is that without the carbon tax you won’t be paying $100 for a Sunday roast. But you never did.
Does Clive Palmer have a women problem?
JACQUELINE MALEY Opinion Palmer United Party leader Clive Palmer has many politically incorrect quirks, but his alleged bullying of female Senate staff has observers asking: Does everyone's favourite jolly billionaire have a women problem?
Analysis
Financial dossier sheds light on super and retirement incomes
JOHN COLLETT Opinion The Financial System Inquiry's interim report is not just about the banks. The inquiry has a surprising amount to say about superannuation, retirement incomes and financial advice. For example, the report questions whether gearing, or borrowing to invest inside a super fund should be allowed.
Why did a Chinese newspaper call Julie Bishop a 'complete fool'?
JOHN GARNAUT Opinion The personal attack raised eyebrows in the diplomatic corps both in Australia and abroad. So what was Ms Bishop’s sin?
Can Abbott escape the trap?
NICHOLAS STUART Opinion Tony Abbott’s had a long, slow weekend in which to mull over Palmer’s newly critical role in the civic life of this nation.
Under the dome: what is Australia's climate policy?
ADAM MORTON Opinion Just what is Australia's policy now towards climate change? The past week throws little light on the answer.
Lessons from the new Senate
JUDITH IRELAND Opinion I’m not sure about you, but I was looking forward to a laidback week.
Coalition's contempt returned with interest
PETER MARTIN Opinion The Coalition is reaping what it sowed. It has repeatedly treated Parliament with contempt in its effort to neuter parts of Labor's law before they had full force on July 1.
Content in recline, Emperor Clive knows how to get a head
Opinion Clive Palmer could not have appeared more content if a dozen handmaidens had appeared bearing racks of pork chops, a gallon or so of caramelised banana and coconut ice cream, the keys to a 1939 Maybach limousine and Tony Abbott's head on a plate.
Conniving Coalition falls into a trap of its own making
PETER MARTIN Opinion The Coalition is reaping what it sowed. It has repeatedly treated the Parliament with contempt in its effort to neuter parts of Labor's financial advice laws before they had full force on July 1.
The emperor in the check shirt, Clive Palmer makes Tony Abbott wait
TONY WRIGHT Opinion Clive Palmer could not have appeared more content if a dozen hand-maidens had appeared bearing racks of pork chops, a gallon or so of caramelised banana and coconut ice-cream, the keys to a 1939 Maybach limousine and Tony Abbott's head on a plate.
Tony Abbott puts a positive spin on Clive Palmer's political tornado
MARK KENNY Opinion Buoyed by the successful visit of Japan’s Shinzo Abe and the expectation of finally expunging the carbon tax, Tony Abbott was in a positive mood on Thursday morning, describing the tax’s expected demise as ‘‘good news’’ for the country. Wisely, he stopped short of counting his chickens.
Tony Abbott's caution has let Japanese whaling off the hook
ANDREW DARBY Opinion Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to Australia was always going to be overwhelmingly about the things that united the two countries.
Independent thinkers shake Coalition's strength in numbers
TONY WRIGHT Opinion It seemed such a good idea at the time: devote the first week of July purely to the fresh Senate, allowing the rookie crossbenchers to assert their new power over Labor and the Greens by happily and compliantly sweeping away the carbon tax and the mining tax before they quite knew what they were doing.
Rookie senators gallop in and deliver a good kicking
TONY WRIGHT Opinion It seemed such a good idea at the time: devote the first week of July purely to the fresh Senate, allowing the rookie crossbenchers to assert their brand new power over Labor and the Greens.
Upper house unpredictability leaves Coalition stalled
MARK KENNY Opinion The uncomfortable truth about the unrivalled verity of election 2013 is that the promise to scrap the carbon tax is more costly than was ever explained.
The union royal commission is too little, too late
NICK MCKENZIE Opinion Any watcher of the union royal commission should be questioning why police and regulators appear to be missing in action in the building industry.
Parliament freezes in a moment that stopped time
Tony Wright Opinion Should Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have strolled from his hotel in Canberra's frigid morning, rehearsing what would be the first speech by a Japanese leader to the Australian Parliament, he would have found himself in calming territory.
World citizen Japan prepares for the worst
PETER HARTCHER Opinion Australia and Japan continue to hope for the best from China, but they are putting in place mechanisms to deal with the worst.
Abe speech all about The Nation that Must Not Be Named
JOHN GARNAUT Opinion The Japanese prime minister's address to Parliament never named China, but that was its sole and abiding focus.
Spotlight temporarily denied, Clive comes out punching
Tony Wright Opinion Attention deprivation is an affliction Clive Palmer cannot abide. Monday was, thus, shaping as a bad day for Clive.
Just for a moment, Clive was out of focus - he soon fixed it
TONY WRIGHT Opinion Attention deprivation is an affliction Clive Palmer can't abide.
Unruly PUP shows it cannot be trained
Mark Kenny Opinion The impact of the arrival on the national stage of Clive Palmer and his eponymous band of first-time legislators is only now becoming clear, fully ten months on from the election.
