Secret tunes in the budget opera
Budget opera - or is it soap opera?
Latest comment and opinion
Why we need more Irish dancers in Parliament
We need fewer union bosses, political apparatchiks and self-serving businessmen.
Anatol Kovarsky, New Yorker cartoonist, dies at 97
Illustrator Anatol Kovarsky's sense of the absurd made him a fixture at The New Yorker magazine.
View from the Street: Mathias Cormann pledges to stop the journalists
And who is Australia set to accidentally elect to the senate in three weeks? Your election news of the day, reduced to a snarky rant
Orlando was a crime born from homophobia
Nothing prepared me for the emotions that I have felt after the events of Orlando.
The way Australian billionaires earn their wealth
Australia has a disproportionate share of the world's billionaires.
For a minority of a minority, two worlds collide
There has been plenty of conversation about whether this was an indiscriminate act of violence or a deliberate terrorist attack.
What might the defeat of IS look like?
What might victory for the Iraqi and Syrian governments, as well as their external supporters, and defeat for IS, look like?
Pioneer of ironman racing
Barry Rodgers was a pioneer of Australian surf lifesaving.
The festival that Sydney would never allow
There's fires everywhere. In Sydney there would be a carefully guarded perimeter. Not here.
Going grey disgracefully
As a symbol of gender double standards, grey hair is up there with equal pay.
Young voters should form their own party
With the election campaign now into its second half, it is apparent there will be little in the offering for younger voters.
A sickness in the American soul
- Alan Attwood 13.06.2016
Attacks on freedom
Both the Orlando and Paris atrocities were attacks on freedom itself.
Killed by a gun? That's hardly unusual, if you live in the United States
It's not unusual for dozens of Americans to be killed by guns in a single day.
How did the FBI miss Omar Mateen?
If you follow social media on the topic of the FBI and terrorism, you will find two themes predominate whenever a terrorist incident occurs in the United States. The first is promulgated by conspiracy theorists, anti-law enforcement social activists, and progressive-minded publications that assert that the FBI manufactures terrorism-related crimes to entrap innocent individuals – primarily young Muslims. These are crimes that would-be terrorists are incapable of committing on their own, they say, without the help of an FBI informant or undercover agent. In these scenarios, the FBI leads the poor, unsuspecting proto-terrorist by the hand through the various stages of planning, commitment, obtaining a weapon of mass destruction, and ultimately pulling the fake trigger. When the proto-terrorist is finally arrested, certain segments of the public, press, and pundits howl about how the FBI abused its power and authority to railroad an innocent person.
Life is too short to want to escape it
Why are we trying to escape the life we have created for ourselves?
Why I light candles after tragedy
Prayers still matter to me, even though they seem useless to some.
Paralysed with fear: why do we freeze when frightened?
Most people are probably familiar with the fight or flight response.
Orlando shooting: Prayers from hypocrites don't help
The enemy of my enemy is my friend, as the old saying would have it. Unless they're gay, in which case… awkward!
Canberra family violence reforms risk being only semantic
Developments in the ACT Government's response to family violence risk being largely semantic.
For Republicans, it's easier to ban Muslims than guns
Over 40,000 Americans are dying each year partly because they live in a society in which it is more politically viable to propose banning Muslims than regulate gun sales.
Why Turnbull says China won't get what it wants
The strategic pressures that threaten Australia's main commercial artery continue to build.
Canny Pole fled Nazis, married Australian actress
Polish bomber pilot who escaped Nazi concentration camp by feigning illness.
World's best 50 restaurants list just one big rank
Sure, this campaign continues but now something far more important than mere political promises is being announced.
Why Turnbull is right about the Greens
However important the minor parties may think they are, the truth is that they remain minnows.
Cardinal was faithful secretary to the ‘Good Pope’
OBITUARY
Fairport’s electric fiddler played on long after he got to read – and sell – his own obituary
OBITUARY
Politicians need to say this was an attack on the LGBTI community
All I want is politicians who can express sympathy for the victims of crime.
Lone wolf attacks almost impossible to predict
An organised plot leaves a long trail that can be detected by authorities – but it's enormously difficult to pick up on an angry loner until it's too late.