Lessons to be learnt
Josh Gordon 12:00 AM Both the Labor and Liberal parties in Victoria have lessons they can glean from the federal campaign.
The campaign's other big lie
![Peter Martin dinkus](/web/20160707024703im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/z/q/y/b/x/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpzcx3.11nabt.png/1467844463897.jpg)
Peter Martin 8:34 AM There's no evidence that South Australia or any other state will "benefit enormously from the free trade agreements the Coalition has signed", in large part because the Coalition has ensured there isn't.
Should Derryn Hinch really be a senator?
![MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JULY 02: Derry Hinch, a candidate for the senate representing Victoria as the head of 'Derryn ...](/web/20160707024703im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/w/z/j/n/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpzoas.11nabt.png/1467843610730.jpg)
Greg Barns 11:45 PM Victorians now have as one of their 12 representatives in the Senate a man who has over the past 30 years been to jail twice and fined $100,000 for beaching court orders.
Boring or crazy? The choice is yours
![Hillary Clinton: tough, no-nonsense and a sensible choice?](/web/20160707024703im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/z/c/q/5/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpyqq2.11nabt.png/1467814615527.jpg)
David Brooks 1:52 PM Many voters seem to be flocking to tough, no-nonsense women who at least seem sensible.
Younger citizens' votes should be worth more
![Younger voters should receive more attention from politicians, because they will have to live longer with the ...](/web/20160707024703im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/z/5/b/h/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpzq69.11nabt.png/1467789079256.jpg)
Piero Moraro 4:45 PM Younger people should be allowed to cast more votes during elections, because they have much more at stake than someone who is already retired.
The real winners of the Mediscare campaign
![Ross Gittins](/web/20160707024703im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/d/9/g/6/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpyloz.11nabt.png/1467789079256.jpg)
Ross Gittins The success of Labor's Mediscare in this election is worrying - but not for the reason you may imagine.
Hanson's back, but Australia has moved on
![Tim Soutphommasane dinkus](/web/20160707024703im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/i/9/1/p/o/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpypdt.11nabt.png/1467805606063.jpg)
Tim Soutphommasane The politics of Hansonism haven't changed during the past two decades. By contrast, Australian society has moved on.
Think twice before posting that holiday snap
![School holidays means a news feed filled with photos of other people's children.](/web/20160707024703im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/w/4/4/f/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpyp48.11nabt.png/1467789079256.jpg)
Aubrey Perry We have a unique responsibility to protect the physical as well as the digital safety of their children. We are custodians and curators of our child's digital adolescence.
Bedwetters need support, not humiliation
![Peta Credlin: "A hapless set of bedwetters."](/web/20160707024703im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/y/i/m/n/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpywih.11nabt.png/1467789079256.jpg)
Duncan Fine Who do people think they're impressing by using the term "bedwetter" as an insult?
Why I should have voted Liberal
![Australian Greens Leader Senator Di Natale with the Greens Candidate for Higgins, Jason Ball.](/web/20160707024703im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/w/d/o/h/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpymof.11nabt.png/1467789079256.jpg)
Sean Layh I regret my vote: We should have voted decisively Liberal.
Does Australia even need a government?
![Peter Hartcher dinkus](/web/20160707024703im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/m/p/b/c/9/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpy3vp.11nabt.png/1467789079256.jpg)
Peter Hartcher Look around in Australia on the first business day after the country was supposedly rendered "ungovernable" by Saturday's election. On Monday the share market was up and so was the Australian dollar.
Turnbull's last shot with Abbott in the wings
![Malcolm Turnbull's future will be determined by whether he can put together a reform agenda. .](/web/20160707024703im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/x/u/w/k/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpy4ck.11nabt.png/1467805317356.jpg)
Peter Reith If he just proceeds as if "jobs and growth" is enough, he won't last the parliamentary term.
Turnbull has only himself to blame
![He may have been a successful investment banker, but somehow Malcolm Turnbull didn't have a convincing message to win a ...](/web/20160707024703im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/x/d/w/2/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpxwic.11nabt.png/1467805688476.jpg)
Shaun Carney How can someone so well-read, well-informed and long untroubled by the need to make any more money keep making so many unnecessary mistakes?
Chaotic government is democracy at its best
![Will Australia have as long a wait as Belgium did for a new prime minister?](/web/20160707024703im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/x/h/6/c/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpxtg3.11nabt.png/1467789079256.jpg)
Lucy Battersby Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull urged Australians elect a "stable majority Coalition Government" rather than the "chaos" of a minority government during the election.
Unpacking the Halal Snack Pack
![Kebab shops are banned in Verona.](/web/20160707024703im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/n/6/s/v/h/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpxw3c.11nabt.png/1467789079256.jpg)
Matt Holden These five guys in western Sydney made a Facebook page about kebab meat, chips and garlic sauce – you won't believe what happened next.