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On the eve of discussions with the states about how schools will be funded in what he is calling a post-Gonski world, federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham is huffing and puffing about how Gonski (which he knows is extremely popular with just about everyone except federal Liberal education ministers) has been "corrupted" anyway.

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Ouch. That was my reaction upon reading that a sizeable portion of the Australian want to stop Muslim immigration.

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Being a "minor" party in a deeply entrenched two-party system is never easy, particular when eschewing the big developer and corporate donations that the "major" parties rely on so much.

Son born with cerebral palsy changed life's focus for GP

There is growing evidence that behaviourally informed approaches can help officials to tackle the largest challenges, including persistent poverty, inadequate education, climate change and crime.

Heroic woman saves sons from fire

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull refuses to show leadership on detention centres.

Where's the research showing tablets will help students?

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Malcolm Turnbull's cowardice has further tainted the plebiscite proposal with bad faith and it deserves to be voted down in the Senate. His persistent appeasement of the religious lobby undermined the integrity of the plebiscite concept.

Philanthropy is an innovation engine, providing funding which drives new approaches to solving complex and seemingly intractable social and environmental challenges.

The real difficulty is that we're dealing with the realm of the made-up. And if there is a truth in fiction it surely has to come, as Shriver says, from the free exercise of the imagination.

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The stakes are high for all involved in an increasingly bitter dispute over the decision to ban greyhound racing in NSW from July 2017

Curtis Hanson, the screenwriter and director, who has died aged 71, was a Hollywood also-ran – best known as the journeyman director-for-hire of hit thrillers such as The Hand that Rocks the Cradle (1992) and The River Wild (1994) – until he made LA Confidential (1997), a film noir thriller adapted from James Ellroy's labyrinthine novel set in the sun-drenched streets of 1950s Hollywood.

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Mr Doyle has spoken in support of 'New York style' no-tolerance policies where 'vandals' are imprisoned for up to a year and police have the power to issue multiple charges for each piece of graffiti. So it seems more that a bit rich for him to now be welcoming the world's most famous street artist to Federation Square with such open arms.

It is likely that the international focus on the race will be even higher than in 2012. Then, according to a Pew Global Attitudes Project report, more than a third of populations in countries as diverse as Britain, Germany, Jordan, Lebanon, China, India, and Japan where either "closely or somewhat closely" following the presidential campaign.

The messiah was probably the biggest sign. He took the form of a boy wearing phys-ed gear, which was all blue ("the right colour blue") with red-and-white bands around the arms and waist.

Holding Israel up as an example for cohesion and equal society is flawed.

You'd be forgiven for thinking that money matters to everyone except those who don't have it.

Two weeks ago in Sydney I gave a speech entitled the "Case for Openness", in which I argued that openness to trade and immigration has been vital to our economic success over the last quarter of a century and is going to be equally important to keeping our economic growth story going into the future.

Ever since having seen my late mother suffer so much when all she wanted was to slip away peacefully, I have been a strong public advocate, for others and for myself, of Dying with Dignity.

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Women are often enlisted to humanise their parents on the campaign trail - but Ivanka's task is something much bigger.

Why my vote, should club members ever get one, is for the club to change its name to the Perth Eagles.

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The Prime Minister explains that when it comes to refugees, we have to be cruel to be kind. And also leave out the "kind" bit.

Ultimately, and remarkably, for all 10 Victorian teams to survive in their current form, the Giants need to be successful. The game needs to continue to grow. Australian football is not yet ingrained in Sydney's culture. In Sydney's west, it's not even close.

Payments on the three Metro Trains Melbourne contracts have grown well ahead of inflation, and, in 2015, cost at least $1.1 billion in tax dollars and fare revenue. Public reporting on this billion-dollar annual expenditure should make the government blush with shame.

Gender equality is currently a hot topic in Canberra, partly due to the Australian Government's stated commitment to removing barriers which may be impeding women's progress in the Australian Public Service. Views on how best to achieve this, however, differ.

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By corralling mathematics and science as (male) subjects for the unimaginative and the arts as (female) subjects of expression, we commit educational crimes.

Williams was at home in the corridors of Canberra, in his surgery or on his surfboard

'In Harry Potter the Devil acts in a crafty and covert manner, under the guise of extraordinary powers, magic spells and curses.'