The question is often whether a preference to support public education and the local community is strong enough, and whether the neighbourhood comprehensive high school is still the best option.

• EDITORIAL

There is a mood for change in the world. Let that mood be expressed in Australia in a confident, optimistic way by a move towards a republic.

Justice was done – and was seen to be done.

The US President-elect's links to Russia are of significant concern.

It's been a rough year for the Baird government. But the latest Half-Yearly Review which updates the state's financial position provides us with the opportunity to step back and look more broadly at the 'core' of how the government travelling.

Countless people will die in the final assault on Aleppo as diplomats work for a breakthrough in Geneva.

• COMMENT

Look at last week's appalling capitulation on constructive climate policy debate to see how dysfunctional and beholden to the Abbott right that the government purportedly led by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has become.

Good intelligence can make police decision-making more efficient and effective ,but the consequences of flawed intelligence can be devastating – and not just for individuals.

Australia needs a policy circuit-breaker to find economic drivers to replace the mining investment boom. Despite claims of agility and innovation from the Turnbull government, they haven't emerged yet largely because so many proposals are ruled out on purely political grounds.

While we oppose the extended bottle shop trading, the boost for live entertainment venues which serve alcohol responsibly is welcome.

Absent the diplomatic reality and risks to stability in Asia, Donald Trump's brazen break with protocol reveals some home truths about Beijing.

The media loves a debate; it thrives on the vigorous interplay of competing views. But we have to say, there's one debate that has dragged on quite long enough. We are long overdue for reform on media ownership laws.

Mr Key was honest with the New Zealand people when he made the shock announcement that his drive had slowed after eight years in the top job.

This has been the Baird government's annus horribilis.

Nothing says hot days are coming more than the launch of the much hyped summer movie blockbuster. While Australians flock to cinemas not just as a way to escape the heat, we also go to escape from the daily grind and to be entranced by stories. But increasingly, this year at least, we've been drawn to films not made on our own shores.The  top three grossing films  in 2016 in this country came out of Hollywood: Captain America: Civil War, Finding Dory and Zootopia, all made by Disney.

We are still waiting for the Prime Minister to reach his potential.

• COMMENT

The growing fear of regional torpor and the backlash against conventional politics bring potentially self-defeating solutions, like a lurch back into protectionism.

Creating a viable cycling culture in Sydney is not just about building bike paths, but also about building a culture of respect on the roads. That's a job for us all.

The appointments is a news legal story in a minefield of bad ones for the Turnbull government and Attorney-General George Brandis.

With Fidel Castro gone, what can we hope for Cuba? We can hope for better.

If more than one in three Australians keep supporting parties other than the Coalition or Labor, the rules of political discourse and negotiation will have to be rewritten

The Immigration Minister did not just call out the minority "doing harm to Australians". He demeaned a whole community by association.

It is premature to introduce a sugar tax in Australia but it is also premature to write it off.

We have to talk about it so that victims feel they can too.

While the Herald recognises and shares concerns about the rise of extremists urged on by Mr Trump's election victory, his campaign pledges and the reality of being President-elect are diverging by the day.

• EDITORIAL

Universities will have to be more transparent about how they use ATARs and other criteria in admissions. That will rob them of a key - yet often misleading - marketing message: that high ATAR admissions equal prestige education.

Rather than playing the migration card, the Turnbull government's priority must be to better match the 457 visas with skills shortages, without disadvantaging Australians who are skilled to do the same jobs.

• COMMENT

Sydney can never be full. In a globalised economy, the city must invariably evolve and grow. The city's industrial composition will change. Demand for different types of housing will emerge. Powerful interests will fight to preserve privilege. New pockets of disadvantage will be created, and should be broken down. These are some of the dynamics that will inevitably shape the future of a city, like Sydney, beholden to the movements of trade, commerce and migration.

The Australian summer music festival season is about to ramp up. The risk to festival fans is ramping up too. For many young Australians drug taking is part of the festival experience, but with illicit drug manufacturers becoming ever more creative in their pursuit of unscrupulous profits the dangers have never been greater.