The executive order which bans nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US for the next three months is unprincipled, from a man whose principles are hard to discern. In the war against terror it is also, to borrow the mild language of the playing field, an own goal.

Being a maths or science teacher is a tough job, but someone's go to do it. In fact, many more people need to give it a go.

The Premier has the potential to be a talented leader, although the danger is that she will be more focused on the views of shock jocks rather than doing what she knows is right.

We salute those whose work ethic and drive to better themselves and their children have grasped Australia's myriad opportunities in education and business.

Becoming one of his neighbours might be financially appealing but it won't solve the housing affordability crisis.

Lachlan Macquarie's name is everywhere: Sydney has Macquarie Street, Place, Fields, Lighthouse,  University and Shopping Centre – and more besides; NSW has Port, Lake, Mount, River and Pass, as well as a brace of towns he founded – the Macquarie towns.

Donald Trump has began a process of turning America in on itself. It is the end of an era for US trade and foreign policy.

With her appointment as premier, Gladys Berejiklian's steady rise through the Liberal Party has now reached its culmination. ustra

• Editorial

Everyone with an email address has received them - messages publicising a petition that seeks government recognition in some form for a medical condition; recognition of the condition itself, or for a particular treatment, or a Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme subsidy for a new drug.

• Editorial

Once the gravity of the office and its responsibilities sinks in, a humbled Trump will modify both his speech and his behaviour, this theory goes. Such optimism is needed. But is it justified?

The founding myth of suburbia is that each landholding is a farm in miniature: a house on a plot of land, however small, in which a family may grow food.

• Editorial

By setting himself apart from the machine of career politics so unpopular with voters, the cleanskin with the "dad-next-door" image was able to pursue bold policies eschewed by others.

The take-home for this year's students is not to give up on their hopes if their marks fall just below the cut-off for the course they most wanted.

• Editorial

That state transport bureaucrats might cut safety corners in rail construction to get a project finished on time and on budget by the next state election defies common sense and decency.

Euthanasia is once again up for debate. The subject can arise for families anywhere, whenever relatives watch someone they care for suffer a lingering, painful death. Surely some means can be devised, the thinking goes, to shorten this suffering by earlier termination of life.

Sunny skies are forecast for Melbourne, with a top of 31 degrees for the start of the Australian Open. We hope the tournament is successful, and we wish all participants the best of luck.

• EDITORIAL

Homeless statistics are a serious reproach for all Sydneysiders. They tell us that our current efforts are not good enough.

Barack Obama failed to achieve the "post partisan" political change promised by his campaign but the expectations pinned on him were too much for one man to meet.

• Editorial

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.

We wanted a fairytale, but we're getting a horror story. 

Michael Chamberlain's legacy is a lesson to the nation.

The Prime Minister has quite rightly asked his Health Minister, Sussan Ley, to stand aside pending an inquiry into her use of ministerial travel entitlements. She, equally rightly, has agreed.

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.

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.

For some older Australians when they enter a nursing home, the loss of independence is a heavy blow.

There are changes Mike Baird could make to the organisation of his cabinet this month or next that would be both substantial in their effect and consistent with the traditions of conservative government. He should consider them.

To have people drown in NSW in unprecedented numbers is not just an accumulation of personal catastrophes. It is more like a challenge to this country's identity.

• COMMENT

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

With summer heat settling in over the next few months, plenty of us will be returning to beaches in favourite holiday spots up and down the NSW coast. Will we notice any changes there?