Sydney's soul is at stake
Elizabeth Farrelly 11:29 PM Are we seriously saying that a 72-storey gambling joint is an icon but an entire avenue of century-old Anzac fig trees, or a precinct of treasured Federation houses, is not?
Latest Comment
The more I look at the budget, the more I like it
Peter Martin 7:13 AM This type of federal budget is rare. The Turnbull government sought and adopted best practice. You can’t argue with that.
There's not enough for young voters in this budget
Jasper Lindell 7:09 AM Interns "fodder for exploitation".
The sad truth about 'mumpreneurs'
Meraiah Foley 8:15 PM The rise in the number of working mothers switching to self-employment might appear a good thing, but the underlying causes point to a serious problem.
RBA rains on Scott Morrison's parade
Alex Malley 5:08 PM The Reserve Bank's decision to cut interest rates to a record low yesterday undermined the Treasurer's narrative for his budget.
Zuckerberg's plan for the stars
Faye Flam When the Internet billionaires Yuri Milner and Mark Zuckerberg proposed sending a mission to another solar system, it was hard to separate vision from bluster. Was the idea a plausible next step in mankind's exploration of space?
Gender neutral toilets should be the norm
Susan Stryker Sex-segregated public toilets are unnatural social constructs – human inventions that organise our bodily functions according to outdated mores.
Trump speaks like a child, but all politicians should
Allison Jane Smith It's true: Trump is no Shakespeare.Yes, he uses simple words. But he's only doing what every politician should.
How Shorten can take the lead
9:00 PM The Labor leader should resist over-egging the class warfare mantra of "millionaires over battlers".
Column 8
9:00 PM "In the instruction manual for a recently purchased solar panel controller," reports John Ingle, of Croydon Park, "among the many preventative features listed in disjointed English, they (rightly) proclaimed its ability to 'avoid fulguration'."
Don't mind the gap: Obama's daughter makes right call on deferring uni
Jeffrey J. Selingo The announcement from the White House that Malia Obama will take a gap year before starting at Harvard University has drawn swift reactions on social media.
Oceans bearing the brunt of relentless carbon emission
Ken Caldeira If we do not take drastic action now, we will make the biggest and most rapid change in ocean chemistry the world has seen in many tens of millions of years.
MORNING EXTRA
The crisis Scott Morrison's budget ignored
The failure to fully engage with the clean economy and Nicholas Stern's lesson on the massive cost of not acting early on climate change is a crime against future generations.
But wait, there's more: the Sco-Mo budget infomercial
Alan Stokes It’s the investing invention of the century! Sco-Mo Pocket Tax Avoider.
Sugar tax would target the root cause of tooth decay
Matthew Hopcraft A tax on soft drinks would improve our health in the same way a tobacco tax reduced smoking.
The Pacific Solution's brutal fact: we need it
Jonathan Holmes We risk social disruption if we take more than a tiny fraction of asylum seekers.
Settlements aren't the key to peace
Shmuel Ben Shmuel In 2014, Israeli-owned company SodaStream announced it was closing its West Bank factory after pressure from those boycotting Israeli settlements. While supporters claimed a victory, nearly 500 Palestinians were left jobless
Morrison erases just enough of Abbott-Hockey
This is less an election sweetener of a budget than an Aspartame effort aimed at convincing voters to trim down their expectations. That fits neatly with the Coalition's election scare that Labor is all tax and spend.
MAY 4
Time for ABC to practise what it preaches
Well said, Michelle Guthrie. For too long now, Aunty has marched at the head of the ethnic diversity parade while sporting an ill-fitting and wholly pompous Union Jack waistcoat.
Column 8
"Kerry Lee Brown may well have had enough of 'enough is enough'," writes Rob Pickavance, of Alexandria (Column 8, Tuesday), "but has she ever considered that 'never say never' says 'never' twice?"
The Australian policy that the US should copy
Peter Hartcher Generations of Australian politicians had looked admiringly at the US as their role model. No longer.
An average budget is not enough
Peter Reith For this election the overarching issue will be Australia's rising debt. The Liberals need a fair dinkum plan.
Why we should ban Shakespeare
Lachlan Philpott Give the Bard a break for five years to give the spotlight to other playwrights.
Threats to journalism creep closer
Julie Posetti Surveillance, national security legislation and data retention laws threaten the sustainability of investigative journalism
Myths surface over new submarines deal
Euan Graham The true reasons for choosing the French bid are being ignored
Young people are not prepared for future jobs
Jan Owen Fifteen-year-olds can expect to have more than 17 jobs in five different industries over their working lives. So, why aren't they ready?
Could Australia get its own Boaty McBoatface?
Andrew P Street Environment Minster Greg Hunt needs a hand to name Australia's new icebreaker. Here are a few helpful suggestions.
Bring Norfolk Island back into the fold
Paul Fletcher If you are an Australian living on Norfolk Island today you are effectively a second-class citizen.
There's a bigger threat than North Korea's missiles
David Blair The advent of cyber-warfare means you do not need a missile programme to cause mayhem; the only requirement is a team of able people with laptops and internet connections.
Morrison's delicate economic balancing act
The Treasurer needs to explain his "steady as she goes" budget repair plan without scaring voters into thinking he's tentative because the economy is struggling.
MAY 3
Change gaming law and shift casino back
It is claimed the Casino Control Act prevents the Crown Casino and apartment block being moved back from the waterfront ("Legal spat looms as Crown refuses to budge", May 2).
Column 8
"Could somebody please explain why the various sporting codes insist on having someone sing the national anthem before contests between two local club sides?" asks Norman Pollock, of Bellmere.
The court case that could derail Turnbull’s election plans
George Williams The High Court will hear a challenge on Monday and Tuesday to Australia's new rules for electing senators. If the case succeeds, it will have the impact of a sledgehammer on the 2016 election.
Barangaroo is more insult than icon
Peter Mould Are we prepared to sacrifice public benefit for private profit so that Sydney gains an "icon" of questionable merit?
A building that embraces the future
Chris Johnson The word icon was interpreted entirely differently by those opposing Barangaroo and its supporters at a public hearing on the development application for the Crown Sydney Hotel Resort last week.
Being crazy serves Trump well
Michael Kinsley It’s his entertainment value that explains the rise of The Donald.
View from the Street: Got a solution for Manus Island yet, guys? No?
Andrew P Street Australia is so, so, so much better than this, friends. Your news of the weekend, reduced to a heartbroken rant.
The budget must begin to repair Australia's foreign aid program
We know Scott Morrison values foreign aid. He and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull should start repairing the recent damage to Australia's overseas aid program in next week's budget.
MAY 2
'Tony' Turnbull: public letdown No.1
It is becoming increasingly obvious that the only reason the Coalition dumped Tony Abbott last September was to prevent the ALP running attack ads before the upcoming election showing Abbott making all those promises on the eve of the 2013 poll, which he later broke.
Column 8
"Help, please!" begs John Christie, of Oatley. "How do I undo the fiddly wrapper on a Band-Aid, while elevating the cut hand to assuage the bleeding?"
Previously in Comment
Highlights
The fight China will take to the brink of war
Peter Hartcher: The world's two greatest powers are competing for military dominance of the western Pacific Ocean and the contest is about to intensify.
Wrong museum, wrong place, wrong reasons
Elizabeth Farrelly: Does the Baird government's planned Powerhouse-to-Parramatta move make any sense at all, to anyone?
Why you don't really need health insurance
Marcus Strom: Every year people rail against private health insurance companies hiking up their premiums. I couldn't care less.
The Trump plan that is a real danger to Australia
Peter Hartcher: Donald Trump has made an idiotic and potentially incendiary claim about one of the world's most flammable strategic tinder boxes.
The unfair truth about a woman's handbag
Annabel Crabb: Like our brains, women's bags have to do 10 things at once. And that's tiring enough, even before tax.
With friends like Malcolm, equality is far away
Tim Dick: 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
Jessica Irvine: We know we've got a problem when it comes to sugar and obesity.
Class clown Joyce has centre stage to prove himself
Peter Hartcher: 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 United Nations
Annabel Crabb: One key point of illumination from Julian Assange's announcement on Thursday is the rich impotence of the UN.
Banks are using us to hedge their bets
Ross Gittins: 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
Paul Keating: If Australia goes down this path, it will join 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
John Elder: Thirty years ago this 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
Elizabeth Farrelly: The common or garden hangover is a device of startling ingenuity designed (one can only assume) by the bloodless Calvin himself.
Bystanders struggle to do the right thing
Catharine Lumby: 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
Tim Dick: One of my starkest New Year's Eve memories comes from when I was at university in New Zealand.
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?
