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Medicinal cannabis was recently legalised in Queensland but there are still restrictions.

Medicinal cannabis: Don't light up that 'prescription' just yet

Reports about the benefits of medicinal cannabis are growing and Queensland has now joined New South Wales in passing laws approving the drug for use as a medical treatment, but that doesn't mean you can just light up in the Sunshine State and say it's a prescription.

Trump has hurt America right in the sweet spot

Donald Trump railing in Ocala, Florida.

It's bad enough that ordinary American people are being ritually humiliated by a presidential election campaign whose hitherto-implicit need for a Benny Hill soundtrack is now almost physically palpable.

Turnbull's incrementalism fits the times

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

 In good times and in bad, the federal government's duty is clear: to keep our country safe and to maximise Australians' ability to get ahead. This is never easy and could get even harder under an America led by Donald Trump or more likely by a second president Clinton, especially economically.

The upside of Donald

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has rocked the political elite to its core.

As the American presidential election descends into an ever-more sordid debacle, we need to keep in mind its deeper, positive potential.

Don't they know who I am?

"On a bullet-train to Osaka, the carriage was spotless, the seats were comfy, and the toilet was immaculate - I mean, ...

Everywhere I went in Japan, the people were polite, relaxed, low-key, and happily going about their daily lives - but not for a moment did it occur to them that this was actually all about me.

Burston barking up the wrong tree

New NSW One Nation senator Brian Burston has called for a break-up of the ABC.

When NSW One Nation Senator Brian Burston called for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation to be defunded and replaced instead by the Patriotic Broadcasting Corporation, he revealed much more than his poor skill with names.

Don't want to waste your vote? Number all the boxes

When you vote, remember that every box you leave blank on a ballot paper is a vote for someone.

It's one of the most important features of our electoral system. It can decide who wins seats and who forms governments. It can see tens of thousands of ballot papers effectively going into the bin. Yet few politicians or even journalists want to talk about it.

The thing about Blue Poles

Jackson Pollock's Blue Poles is currently on loan to the Royal Academy of Arts in London.

Three months ago, I rounded a corner of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and beheld Jackson Pollock's "One: Number 31 1950". I was staggered.