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Opinion

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Illustration by Dionne Gain.

Confrontation in the workplace: ‘I got yelled at, and I still can’t work out why’

An angry colleague may have been reacting to something that happened to them or between you in the past, but there’s a good chance they now regret their outburst.

  • by Jonathan Rivett

Latest

Shrill critics of Chalmers’ essay are missing the point

The Treasurer’s essay is being painted as a repudiation of the free market and a wholesale rejection of “supply-side” economics, when it is no such thing.

  • by David Crowe
Sydney Harbour/Dutton

Can Peter Dutton pass the Sydney Harbour test?

Seats surrounding Sydney Harbour used to be sure-things for the Liberal Party. It can’t reclaim federal government without taking some of them back.

  • by Nick Bryant
Letters
Letters

Pain and heartache of victims never a priority for the late cardinal

Thank God for all the dignitaries who exercised their consciences and did not attend Cardinal George Pell’s funeral.

In the Herald

In the Herald: February 3, 1981

PM slams Chappell, Parky’s remarks and in a flap.

  • by Harry Hollinsworth
Column 8 granny dinkus
Opinion
Column 8

Glitches join life’s certainties

Blue-ribbon racquet racket.

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King Charles III speaking to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at Buckingham Palace.

No more pussyfooting: Australia’s monarchists take five to respond to Anthony Albanese

Australia’s monarchists, apoplectic that King Charles III’s visage won’t feature on the five-dollar note, shift into top-gear condemnation.

  • by Tony Wright
Australia should oppose FIFA’s decision.

Saudi Arabia sponsoring the Women’s World Cup? As hosts, we must block this

Australian sport must refuse this sponsorship until further reforms for Saudi women. It’s our responsibility to be leaders and active catalysts for women’s and human rights around the world.

  • by Craig Foster
Alan Joyce
Opinion
Aviation

Despite the hype, Qantas’ mid-air turnbacks are a sign of strong safety systems

If you’re flying on a plane that has an issue, it’s not because it’s not well looked after. It’s because they are incredibly complex pieces of equipment.

  • by Alan Joyce
King Charles $5

Timing of new $5 note without King could be better

Anthony Albanese has made a commitment to ending the monarchy but there is no reason to do anything more while he focuses his energies on the Voice campaign.

  • The Herald's View
Shares in Facebook’s Meta gained 15 per cent in the week following massive layoffs.
Opinion
Jobs

Who got shafted in the big tech purge?

Meta’s mass job cuts were arguably the most aggressive and brutal among the recent spate of worldwide sackings undertaken by the big US tech firms. Although percentage wise, Twitter takes out first position.

  • by Elizabeth Knight
The number of Victorians waiting longer than 24 hours for emergency care in the state’s hospitals has risen tenfold over the past year.
Opinion
Medicare

Can’t afford a doctor? Australia’s GP system is heading the way of America’s

As three Australian doctors based at Harvard, we witness the problems in the US first-hand. As GP costs and demand rise in Australia, those who can’t afford treatment end up in overwhelmed emergency departments.

  • by Tori Berquist, Bethany Holt and Edward Cliff

Perrottet is no slave to his ‘Catholic gut’, but religion does cross into politics

While we think of ourselves as a secular nation, that is not the case in practice.

  • by Margot Saville
Tarryn Thomas has stepped away from North Melbourne for an undefined time.

Behaviour comes first, football ability comes second

There is an unavoidable conclusion to be drawn from the belated decision to stand Thomas down, which is that the club only acted once the publicity around his alleged behaviour became too great.

  • by Michael Gleeson
Pair the Mac Mini with Apple’s own display and accessories, or whichever ones suit your needs.

Why the Mac Mini is Apple’s most exciting new computer

Apple’s smallest desktop Mac has been given a new lease on life with powerful new internals, and a price drop.

  • by Tim Biggs
Jerome Powell

How the Fed chief lit a fire under markets with a few words

Wall Street’s immediate response to the US Fed’s interest rates decision was to start falling. But then Jerome Powell gave a press conference.

  • by Stephen Bartholomeusz
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Michael Clarke celebrates his triple century at the SCG in 2012.

Michael Clarke’s hall of fame limbo underlines his complicated legacy

Michael Clarke has a hall of fame record. Exclusion from the company of other greats underlines his complicated legacy.

  • by Daniel Brettig
Premier Dominic Perrottet on his first day in the job in October 2021. Ever since, he’s rebounded from the shocks.
Opinion
NSW Votes

Can this ‘Teflon premier’ reclaim power, or has too much stuck to his team?

Dominic Perrottet has challenged preconceptions. He has taken blows but survived them. Will it be enough to save his government at the election?

  • by Alexandra Smith
Delaying kindergarten entry is far more common among wealthy families than poorer ones.
Letters
Letters

‘Elitism and segregation’: Without a coherent policy, schools are left in sector-driven fiasco

Harmony in the broader community comes from integration, exposure to diversity and a breaking down of barriers, all learnt at public schools.

In the Herald

In the Herald: February 2, 1979

Tapped by Sir John, cut-price overseas flights begin and Khomeini’s hero’s welcome.

  • by Stephanie Bull
Column 8 granny dinkus
Opinion
Column 8

Don’t cry for me, Freddo

You can lead a frog to water ...

Does “Neighbours” define Australian television drama?

Why is Australian TV failing to punch through internationally?

Northern Europe has Nordic-noir shows like The Killing and The Bridge, South Korea has K-dramas like Squid Game and Sky Castle, and the Brits have their BBC crime dramas. But Australian television seems to lack its own distinctive genre.

  • by Osman Faruqi
Trevor St Baker, Anthony Pratt, Clive Palmer and Graeme Wood.

Donation caps needed to make federal elections fairer

Unlike the states, there is no federal cap on donations to political parties by individuals, which can result in the party with the biggest chequebook wins.

  • The Herald's View
Every ribbon has a voice.

As George Pell departs, every ribbon tells a story the church tried to silence

On a whim a few weeks ago, I posted some Google Earth photos of the front fence of St Mary’s Cathedral on Twitter, and suggested that we cover them with ribbons.

  • by Simon Hunt
Jayne Hrdlicka says airfares will have never been cheaper.
Opinion
Aviation

Will revenge travel be enough to sell Virgin to Australian investors?

Virgin will have to convince investors that this is not the top of the earnings cycle for airlines, and that the post-COVID sugar hit is sustainable.

  • by Elizabeth Knight
Education accounted for 24.3 per cent of General government sector expenses by purpose, 2018-19.
Opinion
Satire

Welcome to class, kids, here are all the ways you’re getting dudded

By the time you state schoolers are in year 9, many of you will be five years behind the kids in Posh Grammar in reading, and four years behind in maths – more than double the gap between you and them in year 3. The more you’re schooled, the relatively dumber you get!

  • by Julie Szego
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The market in China for skin booster injections is forecast to reach $US62.1 billion by 2023.

It wouldn’t take much to derail the global economic recovery

The IMF thinks this year could be a turning point for the global economy. There are, however, plenty of uncertainties that could change things quickly.

  • by Stephen Bartholomeusz

Stop throwing shade at beach cabanas, they might just save your life

Seeing more cabanas on the beach might be inconvenient for your Instagram selfie but surely there are other summer hazards to get your cossie in a knot about.

  • by Antoinette Lattouf
Much ado about nothing ... Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ essay avoids the reality that, to solve our great social problems, the government must act.

Treasurer’s essay is an incoherent assortment of kumbaya capitalist thought bubbles

I don’t recall ever having read so many words – almost 6000 – that contained so little. No clear proposition, no coherent framework, no tangible plan of action.

  • by Steven Hamilton
Greens leader Adam Bandt.

The crucial climate test looming for the Greens

The Greens hold the key to new pollution caps on big emitters, but there are two reasons why Labor is highly unlikely to agree to their demands, leaving the party with a defining choice.

  • by Mike Foley
Tapping a recent iPhone on the top of the HomePod can move the music from one device to the other.
Analysis
Home tech

Take two: Why Apple’s new HomePod has a better chance of success

Apple’s HomePod is back, and looking nearly identical to the device the company removed from shelves in 2021. But this one is different.

  • by Tim Biggs
Moorabool Wind Farm has 104 wind turbine generators each with a nameplate capacity of 3MW.

Better than a Tesla: Changing super one of the best ways to go green

The potential of the $3.3 trillion that Australians have in their super to help mitigate climate change trumps most of the other actions that individuals can take.

  • by John Collett
Thanks to a surge in interest from younger generations, the drumbeat around vinyl is getting louder.
Analysis
Investing

Alternative investments: Should you add some ‘blue chip’ vinyl to your portfolio?

Thanks to a surge in interest from younger generations, the drum beat around vinyl is getting louder, with the 12-inch discs becoming increasingly popular.

  • by Stefan Von Imhof
Treasury has outlined three options for tightening buy now, pay later regulation.
Analysis
BNPL

Buy now, pay later users more likely to double up on risky ‘pay advance’ products

Those who use buy now, pay later apps are much more likely to also use advance-pay apps, making them more susceptible to falling into financial difficulties.

  • by John Collett
32-year-old Sandy Gokal says she wants to pass on her financial learnings to her child from as early an age as possible.

Why school alone can’t fix our financial literacy problem

Theory taught in school can quickly be undermined if those ‘money lessons’ are not reinforced or role-modelled at home.

  • by Paridhi Jain
The electorate has moved to the left but Peter Dutton continues to look right.

Dutton is driving the Liberals off a cliff - and his colleagues are passengers watching on

There’s a cult-like feel to today’s Liberal Party, with too many of its MPs meekly following their leader. As the electorate swings to the left, Peter Dutton continues to look to the right - it won’t win back the voters they lost.

  • by Shaun Carney
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Once a person becomes quite old, they could well decide they are better off taking their money out of superannuation tax-free while they are still able.

How do I stop my family being taxed on my super when I die?

Once a person becomes quite old, they could well decide they are better off taking their money out of superannuation tax-free while they are still able.

  • by Noel Whittaker

An apology to my grandkids for not fighting in the war of our times

Do politicians think we will all be dead before the next generation fully realises the hell we’ve left them?

  • by Ross Gittins
New research suggests resources and energy companies will be at the centre of M&A action this year.
Letters
Letters

Mine approval would march us closer to climate disaster

Once again our state government is willing to put all of its citizens into more peril from increased weather disasters by considering the approval of yet another coal mine expansion.

In the Herald

In the Herald: February 1, 1904

Smallpox outbreak, quarantined passengers and the Far East.

  • by Jacqui Martinez
Column 8 granny dinkus
Opinion
Column 8

Friday’s on my mind

Is this the work of eighth columnists?

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet.

‘Catholic gut’ attack cheap, offensive and a serious strategic miscalculation

ClubsNSW can either be a helpful participant and good social citizen or continue its destructive and divisive tactics.

  • The Herald's View
ClubsNSW chief executive Josh Landis leaves NSW Parliament House after meeting with Premier Dominic Perrottet last year.
Analysis
Gambling

With Landis gone, ClubsNSW has chance to put civility back into gaming reform debate

Josh Landis pulled off a rare feat. He managed to get the leaders from the two major parties offside, and may have spurred renewed momentum for gambling reform.

  • by Alexandra Smith
Australia needs to radically rethink how our schools are organised.

Teaching kids that sex is shameful can harm them for life

Shaming practices are not the only danger – silence is hardly better.

  • by Katrina Marson
Tracey Spicer, seen here in a photo from 2018.

Tracey Spicer’s slow road to recovery from the ‘living death’ of long COVID

Journalist and author Tracey Spicer lived with crippling tiredness and chest pain for almost a year after contracting COVID – then suddenly she felt better. Does this mean there’s hope for long-COVID sufferers?

  • by Liam Mannix
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, second right, and French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu, second left, welcome Defence Minister Richard Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong.

The gunpowder pact: Australia, France cast aside past for unity on Ukraine

Eighteen months ago, adding gunpowder to Australian-Franco relations might have scorched the earth across Paris. Now, both sides have shown they’ve moved on.

  • by Rob Harris
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The Cutaway during the opening of Frida Kahlo: The Life of an Icon during Sydney Festival 2023.
Opinion
Review

‘Exactly what theatre should be’: Sydney Festival 2023 climbs back towards its best

Sydney Festival shrugged aside the Covid years with a reminder of how great it can be.

  • by John Shand and Helen Pitt
Tangara School for Girls in Cherrybrook.

Why we should defund private schools and examine their values

I once believed you should choose the right school for your own child. Instead, we should be fighting for a school system insisting on equity, not entrenching privilege.

  • by Jenna Price
Consumers start to close their wallets.
Opinion
Retail

At last, consumers reach the spending cliff

The enormous reservoir of savings consumers accumulated during COVID has been gradually tapped and households enjoying low fixed-interest mortgage payments are due for a rude reality of much higher rates.

  • by Elizabeth Knight
China’s reopening is set to provide a welcome boost to global growth. But there’s a catch.

The world’s next big inflation surprise is looming in China

China’s reopening is set to provide a welcome boost to global growth, offsetting weakness in Europe and a looming recession in the US. But there’s a catch.

  • by Enda Curran, Chang Shu, Bjorn Van Roye and Tom Orlik