Political parties around the democratic world have been grappling with how to better engage with voters in the face of challenges from new populist forces, often on the extremes of the left and right.
The bigger Assembly now has to deliver results. Twenty-five members must do better than seventeen. The increase in size was introduced not just to reflect a larger population but to enable better executive government, parliamentary processes and representation. That is the challenge facing the members of the new Assembly.
Every time someone presumes that I'm all right, I feel as another part of me begins to die. And because of that decision, I feel I have lost everything.
What can you do when your dreams come true, and it's not quite like you planned?
Calling incarcerated ice users on welfare 'cold hard bludgers' is tantamount to blaming the mentally ill for being too unwell to work.
The opposition to coal mines doesn't spring from rabid environmentalism. It is a vital health issue which causes preventable human suffering in Australia and many other countries.
Ever since the writer Thomas Carlyle coined his rude epithet about economics, the world of letters and the "dismal science" have circled each other warily.
Pokemon Go is in rapid decline. Since launching in July and soaring in popularity, it had lost at least a third of its daily users by the middle of August. By mid-September, daily revenues had fallen from US$16m per day to US$2m (excluding the 30 per cent app store fee) and daily downloads had declined from a peak of 27 million to 700,000.
The controversy whether Australia should allow the importation of the Adler A110 lever-action shotgun has certainly delivered some over-the-top political theatre. If you believe hyperventilating sectors of the media, the Adler is a newly invented death machine. If you believe some politicians’ rhetoric, allowing the Adler into the country dramatically waters down Australia’s 1996 gun laws.
"Brunch is for jerks!" wrote David Shaftel in The New York Times a few years back, adding his 1000 words to a ig sub-genre of foody opinion. Google "why I hate brunch" and you open a rich seam of people hating on one of the best meals of the day.
In a presidential election marked by its rancour, divisiveness and at times, downright depravity, Michelle Obama may be the only major political figure to emerge with more goodwill than she started with.
I'm not saying gluten-intolerance isn't a thing for a tiny minority of people. But the endless fixation on therapeutic and wellness eating is ruining food for the rest of us.
Barring any unforeseen catastrophe, on November 8, US time, I'll be raising my glass.
US president Jimmy Carter invited Ball to conferences on arms control
Political issues are rarely straightforward and it's a good rule of thumb to be suspicious any time a politician tries to suggest otherwise. As much as we want black and white, yes or no scenarios, invariably there is always much more going on.
Music in public houses
Reality bites as we're caught between our parents' generation angrily shaking their fists at the natural passage of time and the digital natives in our offices who know how Snapchat works.
It shouldn't be like this.
Australia's present wealth has been built largely on mineral resources and our future wealth will depend largely on new discoveries.
Last year these siblings lost their father, Kevin07 creator and Ka-Ching documentary maker Neil Lawrence. Now they are taking up his battle to help young people avoid gambling addiction and have access to more pokies-free entertainment like live music.
Do you ever feel that the weather is worse on the weekend? Well you might be right.
It's bigger than Brexit, at least for us
At a time when freedom of speech and press freedom are under seemingly constant attack, it is important for courts not to tip the balance too far in favour of personal reputation.
In the first US presidential election debate, Donald Trump was challenged by Hillary Clinton on his apparent avoidance of tax. His reply – "that makes me smart".
The planned Tatts-Tabcorp merger could be the long-awaited realisation of a dream for growth in racing.
Australia has the legal and administrative capacity to bring all refugees in Nauru to Australia for resettlement, and to process any outstanding asylum claims onshore.
In my humble share house, we gather, six of us, sometimes more, to chow down on bargain avocado, smashed onto cheap bread, with homemade coffee.
The fact is no factional grouping within the NSW Liberal Party attends Saturday's meeting with clean hands.
The decriminalisation of abortion is as close as it has ever been to a serious parliamentary debate.
It is becoming increasingly apparent that the government is putting private profit ahead of working people.