Strength from stress: Turnbull's defining belief
Peter Hartcher 7:59 PM The Prime Minister's embrace of risk is more than rhetoric – it has roots in deeply personal experience.
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The political glory years are fresh as ever
![Alan Ramsey](/web/20151218230815im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/1/m/4/e/7/0/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glq6i8.11mdqt.png/1450426375519.jpg)
Alan Ramsey 9:00 PM Paul Keating could well have woken with a smile today and Bob Hawke with a snarl.
Now the hard work begins for the HSC girls
![<b> </b>](/web/20151218230815im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/z/q/o/3/t/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glpjhc.11mdqt.png/1450472653754.jpg)
Judith Ireland 1:17 PM They may outperform their male counterparts in the exams, but jump forward a decade or three and the situation is nowhere near as peachy for the ladies.
Storm clouds ahead for Baird after sunny 2015
![Anne Davies Dinkus Dinkus](/web/20151218230815im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/2/t/m/m/v/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glpzny.11mdqt.png/1450426375519.jpg)
Anne Davies 8:00 PM The Baird government ends 2015 on a high note. But 2016 has some clouds on the horizon that could become much more threatening.
Web encounters reveal kindness of strangers
![Julia Baird dinkus](/web/20151218230815im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/4/c/w/i/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glpsrm.11mdqt.png/1450473167453.jpg)
Julia Baird 9:00 PM Online relationships are not only about abuse, trolls and dickheads; they can put you in touch with the nicest of people.
Lying to kids about Santa: a psychiatrist's view
![Neil Jeyasingam dinkus](/web/20151218230815im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/k/n/f/q/4/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glpn0z.11mdqt.png/1450426375519.jpg)
Neil Jeyasingam 9:00 PM The story of the serial judgmental housebreaker is one children can easily relate to.
Coal's future looking blacker
![Ross Gittins](/web/20151218230815im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/d/9/g/6/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glqndl.11mdqt.png/1450426375519.jpg)
Ross Gittins 12:15 AM It's clear Australia will have to lift its game if we're not to be seen as global bludgers.
Surfing's hero a champion beyond sport
![Malcolm Knox](/web/20151218230815im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/1/3/z/5/q/v/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glqmh8.11mdqt.png/1450429341352.jpg)
Malcolm Knox 11:58 AM There are bigger things for Mick Fanning to deal with. Deal with them he will, for he is a champion in any realm.
Baird's progress on councils welcome
![SMH Editorial](/web/20151218230815im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/z/r/3/h/3/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glqlgb.11mdqt.png/1450426375519.jpg)
9:00 PM It is better for the Boundaries Commission to make recommendations on priority mergers and the final shape of amalgamations.
DECEMBER 19
Letters to the Editor
![Letters dinkus](/web/20151218230815im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/2/r/5/u/i/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glqpci.11mdqt.png/1450432578567.jpg)
9:00 PM The tax cheats who devise and execute dubious strategies should be publicly outed just as individuals rorters are.
Column 8
![Column 8](/web/20151218230815im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/z/r/3/c/9/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glqrob.11mdqt.png/1450426375519.jpg)
9:00 PM "On my son's first day at the Soldiers Settlement School at Matraville," recalls Kerry Whalen, of Varsity Lakes, Queensland.
Turnbull will resist poll temptation
![Mark kenny dinkus](/web/20151218230815im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/g/y/f/y/k/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glpcma.11mdqt.png/1450426375519.jpg)
Mark Kenny An early election would carry the risk of being perceived by voters as opportunistic and a breach of faith.
League tables don't mean anything
![Jenny Allum dinkus Dinkus](/web/20151218230815im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/2/z/4/6/o/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glpodp.11mdqt.png/1450426375519.jpg)
Jenny Allum I am the head of a school which the Herald claims has done very well in our HSC results. According to its coverage, we climbed "dramatically" from 20th to 13th spot.
The end of an era for young performers
![Erin James dinkus.](/web/20151218230815im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/q/d/p/6/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glp02d.11mdqt.png/1450426375519.jpg)
Erin James It will be a sad day when the Sydney Entertainment Centre closes its doors for the last time after Sir Elton John's concert this weekend.
Paris agreement could herald a new era
![The climate goals agreed to in Paris will require significant economic changes in Australia, industry leaders say.](/web/20151218230815im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/m/k/v/u/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glp9me.11mdqt.png/1450426375519.jpg)
Phil Ireland This time six years ago I found myself in the company of other campaigners and politicians from around the world in the depths of despair after the calamitous Copenhagen climate negotiations.
Science deniers reject authority and facts
![A North Carolina community reportedly objected to a solar farm being built in its vicinity amid concerns it could "suck up all the energy from the sun".](/web/20151218230815im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/i/n/7/m/k/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glpj3z.11mdqt.png/1450426375519.jpg)
Patrick Stokes Many people who choose to ignore accepted scientific conclusions are making emotional rather than rational decisions.
View from the Street
![Andrew P Street dinkus](/web/20151218230815im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/1/0/k/k/3/2/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glq6gc.11mdqt.png/1450426375519.jpg)
Andrew P Street Because when you're paying a company billions to look after all those human rights abuses, expecting tax from them would appear rude! Your news of the day, reduced to a snarky rant.
Local film gems deserve funding respect
![SMH editorial.](/web/20151218230815im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/2/q/3/1/m/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glo79o.11mdqt.png/1450426375519.jpg)
If we're good enough to produce talents of the calibre of the luminous Cate Blanchett, why can't we produce more blockbusters?
DECEMBER 18
Letters to the Editor
![Letters dinkus](/web/20151218230815im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/2/r/5/u/i/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glpq7u.11mdqt.png/1450426375519.jpg)
I believe the article "Selective and private girls' schools lead the result scorecard" (December 17) has been misinterpreted.
Column 8
![Column 8](/web/20151218230815im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/z/r/3/c/9/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glpxlt.11mdqt.png/1450426375519.jpg)
"Virgin's use of the word 'guests' is tolerable," writes John Bunyan, of Campbelltown (What's wrong with "passengers"?, Column 8, Thursday).
In the Herald: December 18, 1923
![In the Herald](/web/20151218230815im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/p/a/v/e/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.glm0jm.11mdqt.png/1450426375519.jpg)
Ellen Fitzgerald Shipping influx record; Return of the lash; Vice-Regal car theft - on this day in 1923.