SMH Editorials
When even court orders cannot keep you safe
Greater penalties from breaches may help but most authorities have realised they need to do more.
Turnbull's republic reticence: is he just another politician?
His rise to leadership owed much to support across the board for his progressive social views on the republic, same-sex marriage and Indigenous recognition.
Press pause on shock therapy for TAFE
It is hard to fathom why a federal government presiding over an education system already reeling from a destructive and staggeringly expensive policy disaster would contemplate subjecting it to still more dislocation.
Happy Chinese New Year from the Herald
To everyone who has reaped the benefits of Chinese enterprise, energy and ingenuity, Happy New Year. If you drink tea, carry an umbrella or use bank notes, that means you.
How to raise the GST and avoid the pitfalls
Without any GST increase, the moral hazard is that governments will keep cutting public services and targeting the vulnerable. Think the Abbott-Hockey approach.
No need to trade off children's rights and border protection
So Australia's offshore detention regime at Nauru and Manus Island is legal, the High Court has ruled. But is it moral?
Voters deal Trump his first losing hand
Has Mr Trump simply scared off too many people to be a viable candidate against the badly shaken Democrat frontrunner Hillary Clinton?
Palmer donations outrage: it's the system, stupid
We must apply stricter limits to political funding and demand full transparency, including continuous real-time disclosure of donations.
Malaysia's reputation on the line over mind-boggling donations scandal
It's almost a year since Malaysia's highest court rejected former opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's appeal against a dubious charge of sodomy to uphold his five year jail sentence.
Gonski, the GST and funding better education
We can improve school outcomes AND start fixing the budget.
Wage a mosquito war to fight Zika virus
No sooner has one health crisis involving a virus out of Africa subsided, another has come along.
Sober reflections on Australia Day 2016
Public confidence in the process of selecting the Australian of the Year is crucial, just as the process of choosing a republican president would be essential should Australia go down that path.
Aboriginal communities hold the key to their future
When the most clear-sighted and pragmatic among us despairs, so perhaps should we all. Noel Pearson, one of those best able in this country to judge the state of Indigenous affairs, believes progress in the field has stalled. His analysis in a speech to the National Press Club should cause all Australians to think seriously about this important issue.
University admission has gone off-course
Navigating entry into tertiary education has become complex and chaotic. The process needs to be fixed.
Tighter regulation needed for online gambling industry
Revelations about match fixing in sport are becoming almost as ubiquitous as the advertisements for online gambling that swamp sports broadcasts.
Australia Day’s questions about our past and future
Australia cannot stay trapped in permanent national adolescence. The process of becoming a republic should not be rushed, but nor should it be delayed. Let us begin work on it now.
New hope for Sydney's future shape
A great new experiment is about to begin in Sydney planning. The Greater Sydney Commission is about to begin work.
Medical testing on primates: more openness and transparency needed
Evidence uncovered about what has been dubbed "Frankenstein-like" surgical experiments on primates using taxpayer funds.
Turnbull in the US: more matter, less art
With Malcolm Turnbull now back in the country, it is possible to assess his visit to Washington. Much attention has focused on the major speech Mr Turnbull gave to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington as a guide to his government's likely future outlook on foreign affairs and the US alliance, and how this has changed from that of his predecessor.
Prosperity is on a razor's edge
With the continued gyrations of the global stock market, the state in which some ministers have returned to work is a little hair raising.
A lesson from Menzies for brawling Libs
The 50th anniversary of Sir Robert Menzies' retirement from politics this Australia Day has aroused plenty of interest within the party he founded and outside about his legacy to the liberal and conservative strands of Australian politics as well as to the country as a whole.
Take a ticket for university entry
Two years on from their HSC, does anyone remember their ATAR score? Whether it was good, bad or somewhere in between, an Australian Tertiary Admission Ranking has roughly the same significance over a lifetime of achievement as the tickets that shops give customers to ensure they are served in order.
A good first step to a more flexible economy
The Baird Government’s announcement that it will, in effect, embrace the innovation and economic renewal which new-technology companies such as Uber represent is refreshing and welcome.
Too much money, adrenalin and primitive instincts
For retail bank customers the goings-on in the ANZ’s global markets division will seem far removed from any reality they know – more like the actions of creatures from outer space than the people they see behind the counter at their local branch.
Scandal reveals Labor's fragile fault lines
It has been a hard summer for political Jamies. Last month, Jamie Briggs stood down from the Turnbull ministry over allegations of inappropriate behaviour with a public servant. Last week Jamie Clements resigned as general secretary of the NSW Labor Party after a staff member went public with allegations of sexual harassment. So far, so even handed. What distinguishes the cases, though, is what has followed.
Gay's cycling safety package is off balance
Big increases in fines on the basis of big increases in lawbreaking among cyclists is misguided.
Two stars die, but leave some light behind
The deaths of David Bowie and Alan Rickman, both 69, both of cancer, mean that in a single week the stages of the world have lost two of their brightest stars, humanity two of its most penetrating interpreters.
Trade and war give Turnbull and Obama much to talk about
Though Australia and the United States gain little from it directly, the TPP strengthens our allies in the region and thereby enhances our own security and ultimately our prosperity.
