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SMH Editorials

MPs' expenses: how hard to fix is it really?

Health Minister Sussan Ley: forced to stand aside pending an inquiry into her travel expense claims.

Our readers are having trouble understanding why setting clear rules around politicians' work expenses is such an insurmountable task for the Parliament. It's so hard to get the guidelines right, apparently, that every few months we must have a fresh scandal about MPs making spurious claims on the taxpayer's purse.

Computer bites government: PM's Centrelink debacle

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For the Turnbull government these days, ineptitude comes in many forms, success in few. One of the latest examples is the decision to let Centrelink's computers loose on Australia's least wealthy and most vulnerable citizens in the weeks before Christmas.

Trump and the post-truth world

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A fortnight before Donald Trump's inauguration the President-elect has already begun to exercise his power, revealing to the world what sort of leader he might prove to be. He has given us some cause for hope and more for concern.

Our cars are choking us

The draft proposals cover three things: higher fuel-efficiency standards for vehicles, higher air-pollution standards, ...

The government's project to improve the quality and efficiency of fuel and cars on our roads is a worthwhile one.

One Nation dysfunction adds to Turnbull's headaches

Pauline Hanson faces a challenge in keeping her party united.

The Senate the Prime Minister insists is working already looks more like a Mad Hatter's Tea Party than an austere house of review. How much more intractable will it be if Pauline Hanson loses control of One Nation?

Indigenous Australians must be involved in renewed push for justice and equity

Sun-Herald editorial dinkus.

Each new year, the release of cabinet documents from 25 years ago reminds us of old battles. They can look rather quaint – passion recollected in tranquility. A set of documents released this year, though, has a different effect: it shames us. After a quarter of a century, the issue of Aboriginal deaths in custody remains as intractable as ever.

We need to clear the air on fuel emissions

Petrol bills could fall but the cost of new cars could climb under any tightening of Australia's fuel standards.

We Australians love to reflect on our good fortune, on the things that make our country special and precious and among the best places in the world to live. For example, that we get to breathe some of the cleanest air in the world. How good is that?

Christmas and the inner child

The fun and true meaning of the season, without the burden of adult life.

They are unscarred by the anger and hurt caused by disappointments, bad decisions or broken promises. They lack a deflating knowledge of the fears and frustrations that accompany grown-ups through life.

Turnbull right to get tough over Badgerys Creek

Minister for Urban Infrastructure Paul Fletcher and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull have various options should Sydney ...

With interest rates at record lows, governments should take on so-called "good debt" to build productive assets then sell them off later. And plenty of super funds would be interested in the new project.

Value for money puts the joy back into Christmas giving

When it comes to Christmas gifts, an expensive surprise may not be the answer.

Here we are in the busiest shopping week of the year. We are spending billions - $48.1 billion to be precise, according to retailers' predictions - on gifts for each other, on food and drink to load up our Christmas tables, and on bars, restaurants and fast food to celebrate the festive season. Thursday is expected to be the busiest day of the week, but peak frenzy will be the fifteen minutes after 1pm on Friday, according to the National Australia Bank, which expects to process 360 transactions per second in that brief interlude. To avoid the rush, shoppers are advised to brave the aisles in the early morning or late afternoons.

Great schools focus on student needs

There's a fine line between raising standards and putting too much pressure on students.

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.