How Shorten has the tactical edge on Turnbull
Ross Gittins 12:00 AM Most of us have highly stereotypical, caricatured views of the parties' respective strengths and weaknesses.
Five ways we could do disaster relief better
![Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop meets with locals during her visit to Koro Island during her visit bringing ...](/web/20160524150544im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/n/i/p/q/n/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.goz2p0.11nabt.png/1464075020411.jpg)
Peter Walton 2:03 PM It's time to reshape aid. It needs to be much less about flying in international relief teams and a lot more about managing crises locally.
Coalition and ALP singing same tune
![<i></i>](/web/20160524150544im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/y/e/h/6/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gp2ane.11nabt.png/1464098864891.jpg)
Sarah Gill 12:07 AM In a campaign likely to go down to the wire, Malcolm Turnbull took to the podium of an Australian Border Force vessel last week to announce border security is a 'political issue'. Well, stop the press.
Easy for the Greens to promise compassion
![Amanda Vanstone.](/web/20160524150544im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/2/t/x/j/g/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gp0hj6.11nabt.png/1464075020411.jpg)
Amanda Vanstone The greens can sip Chardonnay in their inner city electorates or on their rural investment properties indifferent to the consequences of their policies.
The problem with Facebook is us
![Illustration: Andrew Dyson](/web/20160524150544im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/1/j/q/f/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gp0upm.11nabt.png/1464075020411.jpg)
Frank Bruni The internet promised freedom. Instead, it fosters tribalism.
Same-sex apology draws a line in the sand
![CHRISTMAS for gays gay Xmas ham photo illustration.
Original image by Angela Brkic
AFR PERSPECTIVE Illo by SUZANNE WHITE](/web/20160524150544im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/2/4/k/i/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gp1p1s.11nabt.png/1464075020411.jpg)
Anna Brown and William Leonard 4:01 PM Don't underestimate the toll of 'homosexual conduct' laws.
Don't hate me just because I vape
!["Do you actually get any pleasure out of that," they will say. Or "Shouldn't you just stop?"](/web/20160524150544im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/1/n/p/r/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gp1nit.11nabt.png/1464075020411.jpg)
Shane Watson I gave up smoking. And took up something far less socially acceptable...
Farmers pay the price for cheap milk
![Peter Martin dinkus](/web/20160524150544im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/z/q/y/b/x/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gozk9q.11nabt.png/1464075020411.jpg)
Peter Martin The next time a well-heeled retiree complains to me about the budget's superannuation changes and "retrospectivity"...
Refugees are vital part of our future
![Illustration: Michael Leunig](/web/20160524150544im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/0/6/r/v/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gp04s3.11nabt.png/1464075020411.jpg)
Kon Karapanagiotidis We are a nation of boat people on Aboriginal land. We are a country built on immigration by migrants, refugees and First Peoples and most of us are damn proud of this.
A conversation is worth its weight in coins
![A homeless man rests under a pedestrian bridge.](/web/20160524150544im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/o/x/w/t/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gozzep.11nabt.png/1464075020411.jpg)
David Allegretti The man who sleeps on the park bench has dreams too - you just have to ask.
Malcolm and the boats card
![Immigration Minister Peter Dutton.](/web/20160524150544im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/q/e/m/i/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gozsvp.11nabt.png/1464075020411.jpg)
Michael Gordon Malcolm Turnbull had a decision to make this week when Peter Dutton went rogue in his bid to impose border protection and boats on the election campaign.
Turnbull's flubbed it, even if he wins
![Tony Abbott had the political luck for the Labor government to self-destruct.](/web/20160524150544im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/u/r/g/s/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gozq0n.11nabt.png/1464075020411.jpg)
Norman Abjorensen Political predictions are notoriously risky at the best of time, but here goes: Malcolm Turnbull cannot win.
The paradox of the work-life balance
![Julia Baird dinkus](/web/20160524150544im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/4/c/w/i/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.goyvy1.11nabt.png/1464075020411.jpg)
Julia Baird It's time to bin the notion that mothers must suffer, just as children must suffer, and mothers suffer more if they pursue a career.
Mustafa speaks: Why I changed my name
![A change of fortune followed a change of name for young actor Tyler De Nawi.](/web/20160524150544im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/p/y/w/a/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.goxv7n.11nabt.png/1464075020411.jpg)
Tyler De Nawi Tyler De Nawi is the actor Waleed Aly referred to as Mustafa in his Gold Logie speech. Here, he explains the reasons, and the pain, behind his name change.
The unreal world of the election campaign
![Opposition Leader Bill Shorten walks back to his campaign bus after a visit to Heatley State School.
Election 2016 on ...](/web/20160524150544im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/q/w/j/g/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.goz2zp.11nabt.png/1464075020411.jpg)
Latika Bourke Campaigning by parties and politicians isn't confined to elections. It's happening all the time.
Thanks for the offer, but I'm really not that old
![If life is a drama of three acts, my third and final act has begun.](/web/20160524150544im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/z/j/5/e/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.goz9v5.11nabt.png/1464075020411.jpg)
Martin Flanagan It's not the end I mind. It's the bits and pieces dropping off along the way like a rusty old car with the exhaust pipe dropping off.