The new plan for Sydney's CBD strikes the right balance between seeking to grow the economy of central Sydney while preserving the amenity of public space and sunshine.

• COMMENT

Let's not pretend that politicians, public servants and many Northern Territorians did not know that illegal abuse of children was occurring in detention centres. It's just that too few people cared enough to stop it.

The Herald reluctantly accepts that indefinite sentencing for the most dangerous convicted terrorists may be needed to protect the community.

The stand-off and final compromise to keep Kim Carr on the frontbench with the support of Bill Shorten's Right colleagues shows that Labor's structures are still broken.

• COMMENT

His stirring speech developed a clear yet disturbingly bleak narrative, He claims to be uniting American but is more likely to divide it.

NSW MPs from across the political spectrum who have banded together to organise next month's Harm Minimisation Summit are to be congratulated.

Days ago the people were rallying to save Turkey from a military coup; soon they may be trying to save their country from its elected President.

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The drop in basic skills among NSW students has been identified in a thorough process that offers a pathway to improvement.

"Is it ignorance, malice or bigotry that persists in conflating Islam as a whole and Muslims in general with the outlying radical fringe of Muslim extremist groups such as Islamic State?"

With such a slim mandate, the Prime Minister has to juggle internal critics and a disparate Senate crossbench.

A poor country landlocked in the middle of Africa balances on the edge of civil war, in which ancient tribal rivalries, thinly disguised beneath a veneer of post-colonial politics, erupt in horrifying bouts of rape and massacre.

In the Australian cinema classic Muriel's Wedding, BIll Hunter plays an unscrupulous local councillor in the fictional town of Porpoise Spit.

Win or lose, the key is vengeance. If NSW win, sweet revenge for so many losses and vindication for skipper Paul Gallen in his last origin game. If NSW lose, then the vengeance thing weakens further because we never win.

President Barack Obama's ongoing calls for gun law reform have been ignored by a Congress in thrall to the National Rifle Association despite a marked increase in the incidence of mass shootings and the gun deaths of around 33,000 Americans each year.

This modern form of conflict - technocratic, clinical, mainly confined to the realm of defence experts, the pace glacial, the combat quiet and over the horizon - may frustrate idealists but it is surely preferable to the bloody land-based conflicts of centuries past.

Gender will explain some things about Mrs May's prime ministership, but it will be a long time before she can reflect on that, given the enormous task she has set for herself in making a success of Brexit.

A prison sentence has "real bite" as a deterrent in white collar crime cases.

The sooner the nation knows what government policies are achievable, the sooner economic confidence rises and budget repair begins.

The procedures are risky and the consequences can be painful and disfiguring.

A culture of denial and expectation of hands-off treatment has allowed the unethical core of the greyhound racing business model – inhumane treatment of animals – to prosper away from the public eye. And the industry probably would have collapsed soon anyway.

The Herald has long argued that Parliament must be consulted before troops are sent to fight overseas, except in the most extreme cases. Iraq was not one of those.

The inquest into the Lindt cafe siege raises troubling questions about the adequacy of the police response.

This Senate outcome is a natural result of people protesting about not being heard. Both major parties must recognise that.

If the Turnbull coalition secures the most seats, many will argue that all independents should side with him.

The swing to minor parties and independents at this election was greater than the swing to Labor.

• COMMENT

Australians are realistic, pragmatic people. We want whoever wins on Saturday to lead us towards being a smarter, cleaner, more tolerant, more inclusive, more compassionate country.

At many school polling booths this Saturday, the Australian neighbourhood looked alive and well: community-spirited volunteers ran sausage sizzles, local kids knocked about together while parents queued, chatted and did their democratic duty.

• COMMENT

Given the choice between a coalition led by a socially progressive economic reformer and a Shorten-led Labor party run by reform-resistant unions, we trust the Turnbull government.

At election time our democracy is on display but on corruption, which sabotages the system that serves us, our federal MPs are letting us down.