Like many a relationship between close neighbours, Australia and Indonesia have had their ups and downs. More down than up, in the last few years.

It might feel better in the sort term. But eventually a new swamp will emerge with new pests.

Australian parliaments should champion change that allows women and men to balance their family and work responsibilities.

Disturbing discrepancies between reported and actual violence around Pyrmont require a rethink pending more accurate figures.

The Day case is particularly concerning given it involves deals with the government and taxpayer-funded schemes that could give rise to doubts about undue influence, not to mention constitutional breaches. Inevitably, that erodes public trust in government.

We deserve a much more detailed explanation about the deal to privatise Ausgrid

We unite to cheer on 24 nags, most from overseas and most worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and most owned by millionaires or billionaires. Why?

The Herald's report this week the Greater Sydney Commission will require new developments on rezoned land to include up to 10 per cent affordable housing is encouraging in multiple ways.

Ardent seems to have its remuneration priorities all wrong. Safety and transparency must rank above profit. In the long-term this will benefit everybody.

The freshman leader's pivot towards Beijing creates instability with flow-on effects in Australia.

Anti-corruption watchdog must not be neutered.

The Attorney-General is wrong on the substantive issue of independence of solicitor-general Justin Gleeson and bears significant blame for his resignation.

The Treasurer's blinkered approach when it comes to tax breaks makes for bad and costly policy.

There are limits to the value of being a high-profile friend of Beijing's.

Financial abuse is a way of controlling victims, robbing them of the self-esteem and the funds they need to escape abusive relationships.

Few people buy the former leader's claims he is not interested in a comeback.

The focus will be less on the standard of play this summer than on the behaviour of players and the future of Tests.

The anti-renewables panic in reaction to the South Australia blackout was misguided and politically skewed.

No doubt these MPs made valuable contributions to Australian political life and to the constituents they served, for which they are entitled to some gratitude. The question is, how much gratitude is enough?

Labor and the coalition must ask themselves why voters are deserting major parties.

A simmering feud between the country's two most senior lawyers has reached a dangerous new low.

If the North Coast is to have shark nets, they must be the most high-tech and environmentally friendly possible and work must continue on alternatives. Otherwise, it will be hard not to conclude the human they are mainly protecting is the Premier.

Will - or should - Dylan's work be elevated for further study?

A piece of paper with a number on it is not you or your child; it is a socially constructed measure of one aspect of knowledge at one point in time on certain – and not even the most important – criteria.

Some proponents are prepared to wait for the next election. But even if Malcolm Turnbull survives, the issue will fester and divide the community, with no guarantee of passage thereafter.

With a lavish and repeated mea culpa for the cameras over his decision to ban the greyhound racing industry, Premier Mike Baird asks us to believe his about face in granting a reprieve is all about principle.

The Herald called for Bill Clinton to quit over sexual misbehaviour in 1998 and Mr Trump's continued candidacy raises similar concerns.

It is a short jump from using politically savvy consultants to donating money to political parties.

• COMMENT

Revelations in today's Sun-Herald of evidence of an entrenched homophobic culture in a Sydney police Local Area Command are disturbing in their own right. That the LAC in question happens to be in Newtown, a hub of Sydney's large and vibrant gay community, is even more worrying.