Turnbull's bias revealed in school funding plan
Julie Szego 12:00 AM The government proposes turning its back on the schools where most Australian children get their education.
Taxpayer fury misplaced over Panama leaks
Philip Johnston 9:00 PM Yes, make the rich pay their share of tax, but governments should just spend less.
We must open front door to Syrian refugees
Ian Wishart 12:00 AM Canada has shown the way in welcoming refugees, while Australia has said the right things but fails to act.
We're rarely rational when we vote
Robert Sapolsky 1:00 PM Science can tell us lots about how voters will make their decisions. To appreciate those findings, first free yourself of the idea that humans are rational beings.
Our elections aren't as good as you think
Ferran Martinez i Coma and Rodney Smith 9:00 PM Despite its reputation for conducting free and fair elections, Australia does not perform as well as we might hope.
The think-tank with arms everywhere
Elizabeth Farrelly 12:30 AM Question. When is libertarianism not liberating? Answer: When it's the low-profile but remarkably influential Institute for Public Affairs.
Trump would never rise to the top in Australia
Ed Coper 7:59 PM Australia is drifting towards personality-driven presidential-style election campaigns, but the rise of Donald Trump shows stark differences with the US system remain.
Australia will face the consequences of its education gap
Matt Wade As the ups and downs of the mining boom stole the headlines Australia was experiencing a less celebrated economic transformation: a know-how boom.
Don't blame bookmakers for sport corruption
Cormac Barry Corruption hurts Australian bookies, that's why they play an active role in weeding it out.
ABC radio needs to tune out its left-wing bias
Jonathan Holmes Management has failed to recognise a clear problem among some capital city presenters.
Why men don't iron - but do the washing up
Alan Stokes It is simply not fair that women spend more hours doing more boring household jobs than men. But some couples don't mind. Are they nuts?
Putin's a pauper, if he were to lose power
Leonid Bershidsky Russian president is as much a hostage as controller of the web of associates he helps make money that he has created around him.
Contrasting responses to zika and ebola
Amy S. Patterson Political scientists are intrigued by the starkly different reactions to the two public health emergencies.
Gen Y: Why worry when we've got it so good
Dale Hughes The bleak self-assessments of Generation Y ignores the many advantages up for grab.
In a play on words, the Bard likely said it first
Bernard Richards We know Shakespeare as the great playwright but we should also recognise his influence on our everyday speech.
Abbott poor legacy lives on in climate silence
Peter Hartcher With his footsoldiers in politics and the media, Tony Abbott has succeeded in muddying the public's understanding of climate change.
Trump's big mouth fires up the feminist fight
Nicole Hemmer Hillary Clinton was struggling to win over young women until Trump sounded off on abortion.
Corruption: Bigger woes than dodgy unions
Neville Tiffen Australia is no longer viewed as one of the least dishonest countries in the world.
We need a national amnesty on firearms
Alpha Cheng On October 2 last year, as my dad was leaving work, a 15-year old boy walked up and shot him in the back of the head. Tighter laws on firearms could have prevented this tragedy.
Turnbull has the right idea on state reform
Peter Reith Late on Friday, I thought that Turnbull's two-day wonder on income tax reform for the states had gone down in flames. But a day can be a long time in politics.
Schools need holiday from chaotic term breaks
Frank FitzGerald The four-term system was designed to be a national education aid but it's become a business booster for tourism industries.
I salute the man who took the hijacker selfie
Harry de Quetteville How would you react if confronted by a suicide bomber? It's unlikely to be as you would expect.
Family violence: can we afford not to invest?
Fiona McCormack There is no accounting for the human toll of family violence, and there is an enormous economic toll as well.
The other Safe Schools campaign
Zama Coursen-Neff There's another Safe Schools campaign that you may not have heard of – one where Australia is noticeably absent.
Basic income beats a minimum wage
Leonid Bershidsky Just as Britain raises its minimum wage, some politicians in one of the world's most socialist countries, Sweden, are in favour of going in the opposite direction.
How to fund a bigger and better Australia
Nicholas Reece The PM’s latest ‘Big Idea’ may have died, but the problem of paying for our schools and hospitals is still very much alive.
The gambling dollar is corrupting sport
Tony Robinson Look at the AFL. Look at the Australian Open. The integrity of sport is being undermined.
The slaughter of the Christians
Jonathan Sacks It’s happening in dozens of countries and it’s one of the great crimes of our age.
People power alone can't win the climate fight
Tim Dick Tesla's new electric car is the industry's iPod moment, the start of a revolution that will kill the combustion engine and take the oil industry with it. It's an answer to global warming. It's the most important car the company will make.
We should be told how our judges are chosen
George Williams US Supreme Court appointments are infected with the bitter partisanship that pervades US politics while Chief Justice Robert French's impending departure has excited barely a murmur.
Cutting the public good out of CSIRO
Will Steffen With the savage cuts to the organisation's public good research, CSIRO's lofty ambition now appears to be abandoned.
If Turnbull could turn back time
Adam Gartrell Will the Prime Minister, like Kevin Rudd before him, come to wish he'd called an early election?
How about it Malcolm? Time to tax soft drinks
Peter Martin One of the worst myths ever promoted by an industry association is that all we need is self-control.
Decriminalise and end the war on drugs
Greg Denham The money governments pour into stopping the flow of drugs could be better spent on education, treatment and better healthcare.
Mourning shouldn't be a social affair
Rachel Kleinman There's no guide for the kind of traumatic grief in which a loved-one's death becomes public property.
Nine’s punt on Maddern is not a token gesture
Dale Hughes Sidelining women from the game, rather than encouraging their involvement, is detrimental to footy’s future.
A new conversation on asylum seekers
Michael Gordon Will this be a fleeting, aberrant positive moment in the overwhelmingly bleak story of Australia's treatment of those who seek protection by coming on boats without an invitation?
At last, a celebrity who actually looks her age
Wendy Squires Kudos to Jerry Hall, who has got the memo that you can't buy beauty in a doctor's surgery.
Republican circus rockets Obama's ratings
Anne Summers The fact the next leader of the free world could be Donald Trump or Ted Cruz prompts Americans to take a second look at Barack Obama.
My mysterious love affair with footy
Martin Flanagan I like football because it puts pictures into my head which I can see and then have fun describing.
A recipe to break the monotony
Danny Katz The sad truth is that no matter how loving your relationship, how fascinating your job, life can get pretty monotonous.
What I learnt from going viral
Dante Ramos My one little tweet about an airline passenger's poor manners 'broke the internet' and taught me a thing or two.
Highlights
Gen Y frets over a looming bleak future
Good jobs, affordable homes and peace of mind appear increasingly out of reach for young Australians.
Why Australia lies to itself about Indigenous history
Debate about Aboriginal history in Australia always descends into hysteria because it bruises our misplaced national pride.
You don't need health insurance
Every year people rail against private health insurance companies hiking up their premiums. Not me - I couldn't care less.
Turnbull v Morrison: best frenemies forever?
The relationship between the Treasurer and the PM could make or break the party. By MARK KENNY
Journalism: let's have a quality debate
As we reshape our business to meet readers' demands, we will not take a backward step on quality.
Religion's tax break a cross we shouldn't bear
Religious groups are not taxable. No wonder there’s no transparency in how their billions of dollars are spent.
Prepare for Islamic terrorism to endure for years to come
Liberal societies must continue to function with the degree of openness and freedom that defines them. BY RODGER SHANAHAN
Brussels: I wait by the phone, hoping
Belgium has always been stubbornly obtuse when it comes to dealing with security threats and aggression.
