Promises, promises, but will Labor keep them?
Colleen Lewis 12:52 AM Trust in politicians may not be easily restored, but urgent integrity legislation is a crucial first step for the new Victorian government.
Why the Coalition lost in Victoria
![Peter Reith dinkus](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/3/1/i/z/1/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11yx5z.11nabt.png/1417557855411.jpg)
Peter Reith 9:04 AM The Victorian Coalition government didn't know what it stood for and failed to pursue policies that were distinct from Labor's
Do you hold a Bayesian or Boolean worldview?
![Illustration: Simon Bosch](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/w/e/p/k/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11ycdc.11nabt.png/1417567984510.jpg)
Tim van Gelder 8:45 AM To understand issues such as climate change we should weigh up all information rather than reject evidence and arguments that are not our own.
No need to dumb down on digital platforms
![Jonathan Holmes](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/z/q/z/p/2/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11y4yz.11nabt.png/1417568698577.jpg)
Jonathan Holmes 12:00 AM There is plenty of scope for cerebral content in the digital era - if we're willing to learn.
Major parties jittery over voting patterns
![The VEC has come under fire.](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/w/3/j/l/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11y9f7.11nabt.png/1417513580593.jpg)
Sally Young 12:00 AM Weaker voter attachment to the major parties can make events beyond their control more significant and elections less predictable.
PM will rob the nation if he rips off Victoria
![Illustration: Andrew Dyson.](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/x/p/n/4/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11x9x0.11nabt.png/1417405828208.jpg)
Peter Martin Abbott will be shooting himself in the foot if he holds back the billions of dollars he promised for the state's construction industry.
High risk: drug war fought with dollars
![Ross Gittins dinkus Dinkus](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/2/t/m/r/g/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11y8c7.11nabt.png/1417510457615.jpg)
Ross Gittins 12:15 AM How goes the war on drugs? On the face of it, not well. But in thinking about the drug problem it helps to know a bit of economics. When you do, you see things aren't as bad as they seem.
Liberals abandoned their principles
![Denis Napthine](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/w/x/a/5/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11xjpf.11nabt.png/1417465813448.jpg)
James Paterson Every Victorian Liberal party policy should be tested against liberal philosophy.
A city-style campaign backfired in the bush
![The loyalty of regional people will take many years for the Liberals to win back.](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/x/o/c/q/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11xh61.11nabt.png/1417404060920.jpg)
Chris Earl The loyalty of regional people will take many years for the Victorian Liberals to win back.
A recipe for yet more violence against women
![More than one woman a week is being killed in violent homes.](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/4/t/r/e/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11xdwu.11nabt.png/1417567313501.jpg)
Clementine Ford Male violence is the leading cause of preventable death for women aged under 45, and virtuous patience has failed to deliver results.
For Captain Dan, now comes the hard part
![Illustration: Jim Pavlidis.](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/x/7/7/u/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11x3gg.11nabt.png/1417567313501.jpg)
Tim Colebatch These are tough times to be governing Victoria. We're about to find out if Labor is up to the task.
Victoria's political rhythms favour the ALP
![Labor leader Daniel Andrews celebrates on Saturday night.](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/x/2/i/5/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11x1w0.11nabt.png/1417567313501.jpg)
Paul Strangio This state moves to the beat of its own political drum, and Saturday's election result reveals no silver lining for the Coalition.
How Labor, unions blew up the Coalition
![A well-oiled campaign machine has helped deliver the votes that won Labor Victoria.](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/w/3/j/l/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11x325.11nabt.png/1417567313501.jpg)
Nicholas Reece This result has changed the face of campaigning.
Tell a new vision? Not these nyetworks
![Peter Martin Dinkus](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/2/t/m/q/t/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11uq9b.11nabt.png/1417567313501.jpg)
Peter Martin Anyone would think the commercial TV networks owned our airwaves.
Politicians' rhetoric makes matters worse
![Aristotle, the father of rhetoric.](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/v/3/f/k/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11v00s.11nabt.png/1417252171366.jpg)
Warwick McFadyen Today's politicians are hardly masters of the noble art of rhetoric and the Prime Minister and Defence Minister proved this last week.
Poetry loses its flagship on ABC
![William Wordsworth: Define poetry as memorable speech.](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/v/u/7/u/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11vr4z.11nabt.png/1417252681436.jpg)
Barry Hill The ABC has ended its flagship poetry program, Poetica, which had 60,000 listeners a week.
Capitalist winds expose the spiritual void
![Chairman Mao Tse-tung (left) and Deng Xiaoping: Capitalist fever, like communism before it, stripped away the deep rich spiritual traditions of Buddhism and Taoism.](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/w/a/g/6/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11w9g9.11nabt.png/1417567313501.jpg)
David Brooks Daniel Bell argued that capitalism undermines itself because it nurtures a population of ever more self-gratifying consumers.
History in danger of repeating itself
![Afghan security forces inspect the British embassy vehicle targeted in the suicide attack.](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/v/o/x/6/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11vu3v.11nabt.png/1417567313501.jpg)
Avinash Paliwal Afghanistan's fledgling government is struggling to deliver the jobs, money and power promised to its supporters, and the consequences are being spelled out in bloodshed.
Napthine's perfect storm
![Michael Gordon](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/s/i/i/x/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11w67v.11nabt.png/1416784437637.jpg)
Michael Gordon If Denis Napthine loses the state election, voters will have broken with tradition and punished his first-term state government for the sins of his party colleagues.
The end of an ugly affair
![So what will we remember from Election 2014?](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/p/x/2/e/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11v3ai.11nabt.png/1417176811529.jpg)
Shane Green The silence was golden. At midnight on Wednesday, the off switch was flicked on electronic media advertising in the Victorian election campaign.
We have to fight for our ABC
![ABC.](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/u/9/3/r/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11vf0i.11nabt.png/1417567313501.jpg)
Martin Flanagan The ABC's quality broadcasting has broad support, but News Corp's indefatigable and deceptive attacks on it mean ordinary Australians must defend it.
Love, cherish, obey... and go to galleries
![Danny Katz thumbnail](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/0/4/q/8/x/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11vd1v.11nabt.png/1417567313501.jpg)
Danny Katz Just the words 'gallery', 'let's' and 'go' throw me into a state of rapturous excitement.
Coalition marooned in a sea of troubles
![Waleed Aly dinkus. Dinkus](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/2/t/x/j/n/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11utge.11nabt.png/1417135043623.jpg)
Waleed Aly Tony Abbott's broken promises are just the garnish on top of the real problem: the Coalition government is in serious strife.
Wrong and right of Abbott's vulnerability
![Mark Kenny dinkus](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/2/t/m/p/f/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11uzra.11nabt.png/1417567313501.jpg)
Mark Kenny As debate builds over the Coalition government, conservative voices weigh in with their concerns.
How to make cricket safer
![Unlucky: Phillip Hughes died in a one-in-a-million chance collision between ball and artery.](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/v/x/l/3/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11vyjm.11nabt.png/1417567313501.jpg)
Lyall Johnson A ball travelling 140km/h on a hard wicket can be lethal, yet helmets are not mandatory for batters.
Prosecutors dodged their duty over Ferguson
![Reaction: Demonstrators block a street near a police station in Ferguson, Missouri.](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/u/q/h/n/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11uxns.11nabt.png/1417007612662.jpg)
Noah Feldman An obscure and cumbersome relic of the 18th century was never going to paper over the cracks in the case of police officer Darren Wilson shooting dead unarmed Michael Brown.
Election veering to boredom territory
![Denis Napthine](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/o/e/q/g/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11u81f.11nabt.png/1417567313501.jpg)
Josh Gordon Elections in this country have become a race to the middle. Will Saturday's election see Denis or Dan in the middle?
Ashes forgotten in wake of Hughes' injury
![Phil Hughes of Australia.](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/u/5/s/u/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11u0jc.11nabt.png/1416961397188.jpg)
Michael Vaughan Phillip Hughes' tragic accident has united the cricket world and highlights its dangers.
Experts find flaws in national parks
![Why are people so keen on parks when society can't afford to look after them?](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/t/0/5/d/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11u4xd.11nabt.png/1417567313501.jpg)
Peter Fagg and Leon Bren Single-interest groups trying to hijack managed forests, say industry experts.
Home truths: high prices are here to stay
![Ross Gittins dinkus Dinkus](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/2/t/m/r/g/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11t753.11nabt.png/1416780097185.jpg)
Ross Gittins The pressures of urban geography in Australia's largest cities are likely to stave off possible market collapse.
Noel Pearson takes on Right's intelligentsia
![Noel Pearson and Tony Abbott in north-east Arnhem Land in September.](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/t/d/w/7/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11tdms.11nabt.png/1416923954862.jpg)
Dominic Kelly The issue of genocide has been sidestepped by conservative commentators, an avoidance that speaks volumes about our readiness to change.
When politician's promises mean nothing
![Denis Napthine and Daniel Andrews](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/0/r/u/v/r/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11t6xr.11nabt.png/1412742978598.jpg)
Colleen Lewis Voters should focus on accountability and transparency when political pledges are hollow.
Abbott all at sea handling US and China
![Hugh White dinkus](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/2/t/u/y/g/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11sko3.11nabt.png/1417567313501.jpg)
Hugh White The PM is swinging wildly between two poles of regional power, probably mistaking insincerity for clever diplomacy.
Palmer's everyman image battered
![Tarnished: Clive Palmer's populist image has been dinted.](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/t/7/0/w/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11talm.11nabt.png/1417567313501.jpg)
Lindy Edwards Jacqui Lambie's stand risks painting Palmer as someone who quietly bats for the big end of town behind closed doors, while claiming to stand up for the little man in public.
How Bollywood moulds Modi's new India
![A hint of Bollywood: Australian Indians break into dance before the arrival of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an event in Sydney on November 17.](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/t/a/z/l/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11t8fv.11nabt.png/1417567313501.jpg)
Pankaj Mishra India's popular film industry offers one of the clearest windows on the evolution of the country.
Yooralla failings: no more excuses
![Gone: Yooralla chief executive Sanjib Roy resigned after damning revelations of sexual abuse and violence towards those in the agency's care.](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/s/8/v/0/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11t5cl.11nabt.png/1417567313501.jpg)
Alan Blackwood Victorians with disabilities and their families should not have to rely on whistleblowers to keep them safe.
Mark Scott's two hats make trouble for ABC
![Jonathan Holmes](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/z/q/z/p/2/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11ssie.11nabt.png/1417567313501.jpg)
Jonathan Holmes The broadcaster's combined managing director and editor-in-chief role is misleading and potentially unhealthy.
A win by Labor would be a blow for Victorians
![Peter Reith dinkus](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/3/1/i/z/1/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11skj8.11nabt.png/1417567313501.jpg)
Peter Reith The possibility that Labor might win next weekend's Victorian election is more worrisome than usual.
The secret report Napthine won't let you see
![A report into a state-based reform agenda has not been released to the public.](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/s/q/1/p/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11si8b.11nabt.png/1416798226609.jpg)
Peter Martin Much work went into the preparation of a state-based reform agenda, so why has it never been released?
Barack Obama: The Disappointer-in-chief
![Less than great: President Barack Obama aimed high, but failed to meet expectations.](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/o/o/c/z/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11rcb5.11nabt.png/1417567313501.jpg)
Aaron David Miller He has made notable achievements, but he is not a great president.
The election neither side deserves to win
![Siphons: Water, water everywhere ... the desal plant.](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/n/t/w/0/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11pslc.11nabt.png/1417567313501.jpg)
Kenneth Davidson The desalination disaster is a blight on both Labor and the Liberals.
Victims never, but we are campaigners forever
![Carmel Boyce, Phil Cleary and Jane Ashton, as photographed in The Age on Saturday.](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/r/q/3/d/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11s6gy.11nabt.png/1417567313501.jpg)
Carmel Boyce White Ribbon month is especially critical in Victoria.
Truth and ideas casualties in Victorian politics
![Premier Denis Napthine speaks with undecided voters.](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/q/2/c/f/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11r3vf.11nabt.png/1417567313501.jpg)
Farrah Tomazin A post-election hangover seems inevitable for the winning party, with optimistic promises being bandied about but no certainty over how they are to be paid for.
Seven good reasons to love democracy
Warwick McFadyen Democracy is good. It fortifies the soul. It also presents a challenge - how to retain faith in it as an ideal? A list was necessary, Warwick McFadyen writes.
Look to Dubai for answers to Middle East
![Thomas Friedman dinkus](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/0/m/5/g/n/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11q9hu.11nabt.png/1417567313501.jpg)
Thomas Friedman Ever since the Arab awakening in late 2010, America has lurched from one policy response to another.
Blank screen on which we project our dreams
![Kim Kardashian has arrived in Australia sans Kanye West.](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/o/y/m/3/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11q9pg.11nabt.png/1417567313501.jpg)
Alyssa Rosenberg Kim Kardashian is making her fortune from the gawping fascination of the masses.
A tale of two Tonys
![Michael Gordon](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/s/i/i/x/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11r7rp.11nabt.png/1416784437637.jpg)
Michael Gordon There may be some collateral damage over the contradictions flowing from the Abbott government.
'Your mother has passed away'
![Martin Flanagan](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/z/r/7/w/p/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11ps6g.11nabt.png/1417567313501.jpg)
Martin Flanagan Mum's deathbed was a crowd scene, kids and grand kids in the half-lit room, one person on either side of Mum, holding her hands.
Some deaths aren’t dignified
![Sad times? Death is the end of every life.](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/6/4/y/3/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11qoq3.11nabt.png/1416462800371.jpg)
Suzy Freeman-Greene Is "dying with dignity" the best way to describe assisted suicide?
Now my champagne party trick thingy-thing
![Danny Katz.](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/0/f/5/d/u/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11qcba.11nabt.png/1417567313501.jpg)
Danny Katz What's left when the dazzling lore of idle hands fails to impress?
Absence of morality in the Nauru netherworld
Nick Feik Immigration Minister Scott Morrison's reaction to claims refugees on Nauru were self-harming and being molested was to attack those who made the allegations.
Let's not over-complicate euthanasia debate
![Advocate: Philip Kitschke](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/k/l/n/h/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11qbbe.11nabt.png/1417567313501.jpg)
Paul Komesaroff and Stephen Charles Does the voluntary euthanasia debate merely involve ethics and religion? Maybe a simple, practical, legal solution can be found, write Paul Komesaroff and Stephen Charles.
Women's battle a visual one on tv
![Karl Stefanovic](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/o/0/8/w/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11qbx7.11nabt.png/1417567313501.jpg)
Cathy Newman A television presenter who wears the same clothes every day could only be a man.
The nation state is key to peace and prosperity
![world map](/web/20141203025028im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/p/s/k/u/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.11pieq.11nabt.png/1417567313501.jpg)
Peter Varghese The great paradox of our time is that we live in a globalised and ever-connected world, yet we guard our sovereignty zealously.