Blessing the rise of Melbourne's west

Paul Bateman   By the Maribyrnong River a golden empress rises up to rejoice in our city's lively mix.

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Future of policing in Victoria may change

Anthony Kelly   Put simply, old-school policing is bad policing, ineffective and, ultimately, dangerous. It feeds into the growing extreme anti-immigration sentiment that is revealing itself to be a source of serious social and political conflict.

Turnbull v Abbott: only one will survive 

Alan Stokes   There is no point in pussyfooting around. An election victory whereby Abbott remains capable of rallying his supporters and undermining Turnbull is no victory at all.

Myanmar - and the road to Mandalay

Clive Williams   Myanmar, formerly Burma, is in transition to "guided" democracy.  I spent a week there this month to see how it was progressing.

Jail serial rapists until they're too grey to prey

Ted Lapkin   For too many years Victoria’s judiciary has given violent sex offenders absurdly lax prison sentences. This must stop.

Safe Schools: new battleground for culture war

Laura McNally   The anti-bullying initiative has been touted as life-saving but evidence is lacking.

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Safe Schools furore hurts young people

Minto Felix   A sense of calmness and care needs to be injected into the way we respond to same-sex attraction and gender diversity.

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Labor's united front may yet upset the odds

Nicholas Reece   No longer a toxic soap opera, the ALP has seized the upper hand in the policy debate.

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Republicans have a duty to stump Trump

Nicole Hemmer   A pre-emptive strike would be hazardous, but democracy in the US is now in danger.

Does rise of Trump remind you of anyone?

Tom Switzer   Like Pauline Hanson two decades ago and the European nationalists today, Donald Trump appeals to voters abandoned by globalisation and betrayed by politicians.

PM steals a march with double dissolution

Peter Reith   Malcolm Turnbull has not only acted decisively, he has caught his opponents on the hop. By taking the initiative he has already set the early agenda for the 2016 election.

NAPLAN analysis points out policy gaps

Pete Goss and Julie Sonnemann   Australia's education system allows disadvantaged students to fall further behind with each year of school.

Why banks may start dropping money

Peter Hartcher   Ken Courtis went to the bank on Saturday. He wanted to withdraw some cash. Nothing unusual so far. But this was Japan.

A little pun never hurt anyone

Alexandra Petri   Witty wordplay deserves wider appreciation, but sometimes it can be a sign of brain damage.

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Oldies are coming: is our healthcare ready?

Jeffrey Braithwaite   Trends in future healthcare for the aged are already apparent, but the challenge will be to provide it within a limited budget.

World's elite wisdom may no longer matter

Waleed Aly   Millions are more likely to see an influx from Europe as a source of competition, for jobs, for houses, for everything.

Uncertainty is the new black

Mark Kenny   It should come as no surprise that the elderly have strong feelings about changes to the taxation system.

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Australia still in the dark over Afghanistan war

Kevin Foster   The story of Australia's engagement in Afghanistan still hasn't been fully told.

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Turnbull's first budget will be great, seriously

Peter Martin   The Prime Minister is prepared to make the most of unusually low interest rates by spending up big on projects that will pay dividends.

We're raising girls in a modern hall of mirrors

Allison Pearson   Do we really think there is no connection between a pornographic culture of display and young people hating and starving their bodies?.

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Why learn Chinese if others speak it at home?

Rachel Hibbert   Kids from Chinese-speaking families have a huge advantage when studying the language. It's simply not fair.

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Taking a sledgehammer to a delicate problem

Josh Gordon   The Premier made an important distinction when he came down hard on anti-social behaviour rather than particular ethnic groups.

Turnbull government's next tax target

Alex Malley   Your right to claim full work-related expenses in your year-end tax return could be at stake.

Give young a chance and they will astonish

Karen Skinner   We need to let young people empower themselves and engage, but the political system locks them out or disengages them.

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Lonely mission ahead for US's deputy sheriff

Hannah Bretherton   Australia should follow the pragmatism of Britain, Canada and NZ in its approach to China, not join the "containment" camp led by the US.

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Lessons from the past can help Australia grow

Andrew Mackenzie   Reform is never easy but it has never been more necessary than now. The responsibility to lead reform belongs to all of us.

Police must stop being so politically correct

Ron Iddles   Police officers are timid when dealing with ethnic-based gangs because they fear being accused of racism.