• COMMENT

Another climate policy retreat and you're left wondering, just what, exactly, does Malcolm Turnbull stand for?

• EDITORIAL

All Mr Turnbull seems to currently stand for is clinging to power.

Victoria is the only state whose regional economy went backwards in 2015-16.

Not everyone is going to suffer a slow and excruciating end from terminal illness, but everyone has the moral right, should they be in such extremis, to physician-assisted death.

In 2010, Malcolm Turnbull said Australia "cannot cost-effectively achieve a substantial cut in emissions without putting a price on carbon". He's still right, and the situation is increasingly urgent.

What the thunderstorm asthma event has done is shine a light on the state of Victoria’s ailing ambulance and paramedic services.

Australia cannot say it is doing everything possible to save its most precious natural icon until it commits to what scientists and experts advise is necessary on climate change.

• COMMENT

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

• COMMENT

Addressing crime is a huge challenge for the Andrews government, but it is not one that will be solved by ill-conceived, reactionary measures.

Whether it is universal suffrage, equal pay, Indigenous rights, or the present campaign for marriage equality, no social advance towards equity has come without struggle and often polarising disputes.

The watchdog is purpose-built for taking on the repeated lawbreaking seen by some unions.

''The Age'' has for years been arguing that prohibition should be dumped in favour of a harm minimisation strategy based on decriminalisation, regulation and education.

Many women are experiencing verbal and physical harassment from customers daily. Common responses by employers and perpetrators show just how much work needs to be done to disabuse people of the notion this harassment is somehow normal or acceptable.

The surprise election of Donald Trump continues to reverberate around the world, triggering a revaluation of political, social and economic assumptions. One institution feeling the tremor is the media, including Australia's.

• COMMENT

For the past two years, The Age's journalists have exposed the often dodgy and sometimes corrupt practices that are used to exploit low-paid and foreign workers.

The protections are welcome, but whistleblowers should also be compensated for the risks they take.

It is obvious Mr Dutton is not interested in learning from the past, but instead has a political aim in the present.

Cutting back on the consumption of high-sugar soft drinks is only one of many strategies needed, but it is an important goal.

For all the heat and argument, Australian society is perhaps not as riven as you might think.