Mr Roberts has so betrayed public trust that he should have the honour and decency to resign from Parliament.

There is room to adjust education policy, but it would be short-sighted and a false economy to fail to deliver adequate needs-based funding. If the government cannot do that within its fiscal constraints, it should look at re-allocating to education some of the money set for other things including marginal company tax cuts, a plebiscite and wildly expensive offshore detention centres.

The first debate in the US presidential race left the whole world is wondering what dangerous strangeness might unfold should Donald Trump actually prevail.

Change will come. The government can do it the decent way, or be judged by history to have been craven and unworthy of high office.

Crucially, far from all of those who are given the means and knowledge to end their lives actually do it, but every one of them benefits from a reduction in fear and anxiety.

If every country adopted Australia’s present stance towards asylum seekers, the suffering would be enormous.

The biggest shift is likely to be forced by allowing and encouraging the growth of a revamped system that is increasingly decentralised. With the rapid falling cost of solar power and improvements in battery storage, this is now within grasp. This is a future in which households become “prosumers” – both producers and consumers.

The suicide rate for health professionals, and female practitioners in particular, is a major community concern.

Syria is at the heart of the refugee challenge. A resolution to this vicious conflict is sorely needed.

Treasurer Scott Morrison is short-changing Victoria by as much as half a billion dollars.

When he took over as AFL chief executive, Gillon McLachlan stated one of his top priorities would be ‘‘engaging with our fans’’. The fans, he told us, were as important to him as the clubs and the players. The Age hailed Mr McLachlan for those words at the time, but now the AFL has failed fans of GWS and the Bulldogs.

There is no defensible reason that it should overwhelmingly be women at home keeping the family on track.

Yet another inquiry seems to be yet another excuse to limp on with a clearly broken system. Turnbull must act now.

Mr Turnbull has opened the door for greater collaboration; we urge all federal lawmakers to calmly step through it in the national interest, for the things that unite them outweigh their differences.

One speech united people by presenting facts and a personal story of the widespread tragedy of suicide. The other divided people by presenting misinformation and by fanning fear and prejudice, primarily about immigration and Muslims.

The world appears remarkably complacent about the danger from North Korea's nuclear ambition.

A year ago, Mr Turnbull promised to treat voters as sophisticated and mature, amid historically exciting times laden with potential. He hasn’t, and the phrase ‘exciting times’ is sadly becoming a national joke. But the potential remains.

A criminal culture where guns have become fashion items for deluded thugs and fools is an unacceptable threat to many innocent people, and must be stopped.

• EDITORIAL

The current approach is a pseudo climate policy, more about planting trees than cutting industrial emissions. Wise heads in both major parties know this, and want an end to the years of aggressively oppositional politics on climate change.