Turnbull a policy mouse that is prepared to roar
Peter Hartcher 8:19 PM Puzzle of Turnbull falls into place revealing a man playing the political long game to stay in The Lodge for many years.
Latest Comment
Australia, be grateful we are not the US
Judith Ireland 5:33 PM Those feeling sick and tired of Australian politics right now can take heart from one thing: we are not America.
Mike Baird's Frankenstein moment
Sean Nicholls The timing could not have been worse for Mike Baird, but for his political opponents it was exquisite.
Twitter rant exposes currency of hatred
Julia Baird 9:00 PM Forty-six year old Matthew P Doyle, a partner in a PR firm, was relatively innocuous until recently, with his rants in public forums like Twitter usually confined to railing against migration and rival rugby teams
A fine state of contemporary art
Michael Brand 9:00 PM The 20th Biennale of Sydney takes us on an international art journey through spaces that are both familiar, and unknown.
Malcolm's swerved to the right
Jacqueline Maley 5:42 PM The Prime Minister will want to make sure the issues are what middle Australians actually care about.
Turnbull must end political donations rorts
9:00 PM We need a level playing field for parties large and small; the real-time transparency voters demand; and less opportunity for donors to buy political influence.
MARCH 25
Letters to the Editor
9:00 PM As someone who is approaching my 80th birthday, and suffering from an incurable debilitating disease, I commend the article by Avril Moore ("Kids, don't hide us away when our end is nigh," March 25).
Column 8
9:00 PM "Regarding Sam Goldwyn's 60th birthday sundial," adds Sandra Sullivan, of Oatley (Column 8, Wednesday), "I've heard a story that instead of the sundial being inscribed with 'Ars gratia artis' (Art for art's sake – the MGM motto)..."
Turnbull v Morrison: best frenemies forever?
Mark Kenny The relationship between the Treasurer and the PM could make or break the party.
Dear kids, don't ever shove me in an old people's home
Avril Moore I put my parents in a nursing home and ended up regretting it. I hope my children don't do the same to me.
Christianity is still the foundation of our most treasured convictions
Simon Smart Australia might not be a particularly 'Christian' country, but ask yourself where our willingness to help the needy actually comes from.
Apple may have reached its peak
Vivek Wadhwa Apple's last major innovation – the iPhone – was released in June 2007 and most gadgets since have been tweaks on old products.
Paradigm shift needed for sustainable future
Ian Lowe We can be a lucky country, a model for other developed nations and an inspiration to the Asia-Pacific region.
Religion's tax break is a cross we shouldn't bear
Meredith Doig Religious groups are not taxable. No wonder there’s no transparency in how their billions of dollars are spent.
I told the truth in my sister's obituary, so that others might choose to live
Eleni Pinnow The most alone I have ever felt was standing on my porch on a February evening. My sister had taped a note to the front door that said "Eleni, if you're the first one here don't go in the basement. Just call 911. I don't want you to see me like this. I love you! Love, Aletha."
PM has wrong message on terror in Europe
Ah, how easy it is to criticise the shortcomings of European terrorism security from his leafy Point Piper enclave ("Turnbull highlights security failings," March 24).
Easter message: we should embrace change in our lives
Faced with change, we can respond by becoming more hardened and unreflective in our attitudes – or we can be more imaginative.
Column 8
"Regarding Tony Hunt's story about how his grandfather's GP tackled the matter of his approaching demise," writes George Skowronski, of Darlinghurst ("Don't bother buying a news suit," Column 8, Wednesday), "medical black humour has lots of these gems."
Our most deadly sin
Elizabeth Farrelly I've never been strong on belief. Sin, virtue, damnation, eternity; none of it has had me altogether persuaded. But one question I can't walk round. Is climate change proof of sin? Not punishment; evidence. Is it final, irreducible proof (for us diehard boneheads) that that the Seven Deadly Sins are exactly that?
European governments are confronted by a perfect storm
Malcolm Turnbull In the fight against terrorism, Australia is fully committed to playing a leading role.
Why I turned off my son's Xbox
Amanda Sheehan If I had known what I was getting myself and my son into when I bought him an X-Box and the Minecraft game for his 8th birthday, I would have put it right back on the shelf.
What Brussels terrorist attacks will mean for Australian airports
Justin Wastnage Plans to make airports appealing places to spend time and money are in conflict with the need to keep travellers safe.
ABCC a poor base to build an election on
Peter Martin The Prime Minister uses discredited analysis to exaggerate reasons to reinstate the Australian Building and Construction Commission.
Smaller towns should matter to city dwellers
Matthew Trigg With tax reform debate falling further down the rabbit hole, discussion is shifting to areas less prone to brute partisanship: our cities.
View from the Street: More funding to search for wind turbine ghosts!
Andrew P Street And it's always a good idea to check whether a new slogan isn't already being used as a vacuous politi-speak punchline. Your news of the day, reduced to a snarky rant.
Why Belgium has a serious problem with terrorism
Fiona de Londras The attacks of March 22 in Brussels were shocking, but not surprising. They reinforced what many have known for years: Belgium has a serious problem with terrorism.
We must stop ignoring the climate change warning signs
Andrew Picone In the shallow waters off Cape York Peninsula's east coast, the Great Barrier Reef is in the midst of a severe bleaching event, the worst in 15 years. We knew it was highly likely, yet we failed to act.
The middle-age surge
David Brooks Midlife offers people the chance to take the big risks precisely because their foundation is already secure.
From Brussels tragedy to a safer Europe
The lessons of attacks on Paris, London and Madrid have not been learned. A similar strike at the heart of Europe's free trade, democratic and military bureaucracy was always probable.
MARCH 24
Australia vulnerable to IS terrorisr attacks
Yet again we have seen a bombing of innocent people by Islamic State. And yes, it could happen here. The common factors in every country that has suffered terrorist attacks from within are high youth unemployment and a rise of the right-wing political ideologies.
Column 8
"I remember my dad telling me that packaging that said 'Contents: approximately X number' would always be under that number," recalls Nan Greig, of Kiama (13 biscuits in the Arnott's package advising contents of "around 14", Column 8, Tuesday).
We all pay the price when businesses break our trust
Ross Gittins Big businesses must clean up their own behaviour before they start telling others what to do.
Land tax a silver bullet to replace stamp duty
Peter Bentley Either side of politics can embrace the principle that good policy is good politics and campaign for the benefits of a land tax.
Uni groups shouldn't have to give up faith
Andrew Judd Here is the new rule for student groups on campus at one of our leading universities: you can have any faith you like, as long as it's not any faith in particular.
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.
NSW anti-protest laws erode democracy
Hugh de Kretser Governments across Australia are eroding some of the vital foundations of our democracy, from protest rights to press freedom, to entrench their own power and that of vested business interests.
Safe Schools: Children suffer in debate
The calling of a review should not have been an excuse to play ideological games at the expense of children.
MARCH 23
Letters to the Editor
According to Mark Kenny, "The stunning tactical ambush ... caught the entire political establishment off-guard on Monday" ("Turnbull's ambush", March 22).
Previously in Comment
Highlights
With friends like Malcolm, equality is far away
What is the point of a gay-friendly prime minister if he can't slap down those keen on perpetuating teenage hate, angst and suicide?
Apology
In last Monday's paper, the Herald reported the details of an alleged sexual assault under the headline "The horrifying untold story of Louise".
Turnbull, stop dithering on tax reform
The Turnbull government has yet to explain why we need tax reform. Meanwhile, Labor is strangely coherent on tax policies.
Why you really should pay a sugar tax
We know we've got a problem when it comes to sugar and obesity.
Class clown Joyce has centre stage to prove himself
Barnaby Joyce's capacity for populist revolt made him famous and effective. But the new Nationals leader will have to control his bluster if he is to be taken seriously.
Great irony of Ruddock's human rights appointment
I've heard of being kicked upstairs but this is ridiculous. I know people get promoted to their point of incompetence, but the UN? The Vatican? These are not incompetence-friendly situations.
Nauru: How long can we keep lying to ourselves?
The history of asylum seeker policy in Australia will be remembered as a story of how successive governments legislated their lies to justify a world of make-believe borders and compliance.
Fine art of ignoring the UN
One key point of illumination from Julian Assange's announcement on Thursday is the rich impotence of the United Nations.
Banks are using us to hedge their bets
We only need a tiny part of the financial services industry – the rest is just speculation and it doesn't stand up to close scrutiny.
Raising the GST to 15% is fiscal folly
If Australia goes down the path of increasing the GST to 15 per cent, it will be on the way to joining that collection of West European countries which are the highest taxed countries in the world.
Why Tony Abbott should leave politics
... and a few other Liberal MPs such as Bronwyn Bishop and Philip Ruddock should stop being so selfish and move on.
Disgrace oddity - how I tried to help David Bowie
Thirty years ago the writer interviewed David Bowie - and blew it entirely.
From the desk of our chief comment moderator
Fairfax Media's chief comment moderator Rob Ashton discusses the most-commented stories of the year, and offers advice for those who get rejected.
15 of our best comment pieces of 2015
Highlights from the Herald's opinion pages in 2015 - our most-read, most-discussed, most-shared pieces (plus a few editors' favourites).
In defence of the hangover
The common or garden hangover is a terrible and wonderful thing, a device of startling ingenuity designed (one can only assume) by the bloodless Calvin himself.
Bystanders struggle to do the right thing
I boarded my flight from Paris, happy to be going home. Until I met the man in the seat next to mine.
Why New Year's Eve is the most hypocritical night
One of my starkest New Year's Eve memories comes from when I was at university in New Zealand. I was at a house of a friend of a friend, and in that house I saw a man demonstrating his talent at opening beer bottles using his mouth.
The Australian fair go is dead
Elizabeth Farrelly: Why are we OK with this? How did the fair go slip so seamlessly into tooth and claw? Or was it always thus?
Captain's speech doesn't represent the Ravenswood I know
Throughout my time at Ravenswood, I experienced an environment that encouraged hard work, equality of standing, humility, and gratitude – virtues that I believe are the very foundation of the school itself.
Where to now for a newly unseated PM
Peter Hartcher: The government may have moved on, but Tony Abbott is still adjusting to his new reality and coming to grips with life beyond the prime ministership.
Big karma hits big pharma
Paul Sheehan: When a venture capitalist bought the rights to a drug and increased its price by 5500 per cent, there was widespread outrage. Now comes corporate revenge against corporate evil.
Islamic State thrives as big boys squabble
Waleed Aly: Force will not wipe out Islamic State because it is a byproduct of a much bigger conflict that needs to be resolved first.
