Opinion | Comment & Analysis | The Age

We’re sorry, this service is currently unavailable. Please try again later.

Opinion

Advertisement
Tokyo is preparing to host the Games from July 24.

Older, slower, weaker: Olympics piles pressure on Japan’s spluttering economy

Instead of boosting the struggling Japanese economy, the 32nd Olympiad could set the country back even further.

  • by Liam Halligan

Latest

Labor’s economic team has worked with deputy leader Richard Marles and Anthony Albanese to settle on a position on tax cuts and negative gearing.
Analysis
Income tax

A sore point in the ranks: Inside Labor’s tax cut decision

After three terms of opposition, it might have appeared obvious Labor should dump two signature policies, but it did not come easy.

  • by Rob Harris
Us President Joe Biden speaks during a media conference during a NATO summit in Brussels.
Opinion
Defence

America’s recent military history points to strategic shortcomings

Before signing up to another US-led military campaign, Australia would be well served to cast an eye to recent history and the superpower’s less-than-super record.

  • by Peter Hartcher
It has been estimated that by a child’s thirteenth birthday xxxx pieces of data about them have been collected.
Opinion
Privacy

TikTok: Time’s up to protect children’s privacy

It is up to state governments to protect young people from being exploited by companies that profit from data about their lives, habits and interests.

  • by Anne Hollonds
LETTERS
Letters

The push to open schools exposes teachers to risk

Age readers discuss various issues surrounding vaccination against COVID-19 in Australia.

Former PM, Malcolm Turnbull.

Turnbull’s under foreign influence

The former prime minister has no qualms about putting his name on a list recording his overseas interests, unlike some of his rivals.

  • by Stephen Brook and Nick Bonyhady
Advertisement
Ringwood railway station car park in the Melbourne seat of Deakin - planning is still ongoing for an upgrade that was promised at the 2019 election.

Strong powers needed to park pork-barrelling where it belongs

The federal Coalition’s 2019 commuter car park scheme was shoddy and shameless. Our democracy deserves better.

  • The Age's View
Ariarne Titmus, Ian Thorpe, Betty Cuthbert, Sally Pearson
Opinion
Olympics

A swim for the ages and a swim for the moment

In so many ways, Ariarne Titmus’ 400 metres freestyle win in Tokyo belongs in the all-time great Australian Olympic stories.

  • by Greg Baum
David Teague started off speaking plain English.

Carlton’s ‘gigantic risk’ on Teague with coaching talent available

This week on the Real Footy podcast, Caroline Wilson, Jake Niall and Sam McClure put the coaching landscape under the microscope and examine Carlton’s next most likely move.

Winner: Ariarne Titmus.
From the futon
Tokyo Olympics

Ariarne Titmus fires up to win gold — and, finally, so does Thorpey

Sure, the 20-year-old’s performance in beating Katie Ledecky was breathtaking, while Dean Boxall’s victory celebration was something special — but Ian Thorpe was the real winner on day three.

  • by Andrew Webster
People queue on day two of the Sydney lockdown for COVID-19 vaccinations at the NSW Health Vaccination Centre at Olympic Park 28th June, 2021. Photo: Kate Geraghty

Time for vaccine generosity, not ‘state of origin’ jingoism

Vaccines should be deployed where the risk is greatest. Right now, that’s in Sydney. But other state leaders seem unmoved by the unfolding crisis in NSW.

  • by Peter McIntyre
Kindness and connection.

From coffee and can openers to kindness: How neighbours are spreading joy

Connection is crucial – and in one Southbank apartment complex, it has also brought a touch of home and real friendship.

  • by Maida Pineda
Please Explain podcast.

Should you have the AstraZeneca vaccine?

Today on Please Explain, science reporter Liam Mannix joins Tory Maguire to discuss the latest health advice for the people of Sydney to ‘strongly consider’ getting the AZ vaccine.

  • by Tory Maguire
Top AFL marks: Cody Weightman and Shai Bolton.
Analysis
AFL 2021

AFL mark of the year battle rises to another level

Shai Bolton, Jack Riewoldt, Tim O’Brien, Cody Weightman and Isaac Heeney have taken some of the stand-out marks this year but who should win the top prize?

  • by Jon Pierik
Team USA’s Kevin Durant.

Team USA has faltered but will this help the Boomers?

Team USA’s loss to France will buoy the Boomers’ hopes of a breakthrough medal but it’s debatable as to whether the Australians really want to meet them.

  • by Jon Pierik
Quade Cooper at Wallabies training, July 2021
Opinion
Wallabies

Welcome back Amigo: Why I am overjoyed about Quade’s return

After a rollercoaster career of brilliant form, feuds and fall outs, Quade Cooper’s improbable return to the Wallabies is the story we needed in 2021.

  • by Wayne Smith
Advertisement
US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman.
Opinion
Trade wars

Cold reception: US diplomat arrives in China for a ‘good tutorial’ in how to behave

Wendy Sherman arrived in China on Sunday hoping to reset the tense relations between the two powers. Instead she may receive a lesson in how to get along with other countries.

  • by Stephen Bartholomeusz
In normal times, having older children breeds anxiety in parents.

Lockdown has a silver lining for parents of older children

Lockdown is truly awful for young people, but I can’t help enjoying the fact that every single night, when I go to bed, I know my three children are safely in their rooms.

  • by Kerri Sackville
Police arrest a woman on Broadway during a large Anti-lockdown protest in Sydney 24 July, 2021. Photo: Brook Mitchell

Anti-lockdown protests a sign of chaos growing in NSW

There was something about those images that reflected the current moment: the burgeoning chaos, the sense of order fraying, the childish focus on self at the expense of others.

  • by Sean Kelly
Bob Hawke and Paul Keating in 1991.

Partisan shibboleths and popularity contests: Why we’re stuck in policy gridlock

We each have our theories on why policy reform has stalled, but now someone sensible has analysed the reasons behind it.

  • by Ross Gittins
LETTERS
Letters

These acts harm chances of getting on top of this

Age readers discuss the weekend’s protests in Melbourne and Sydney about lockdown measures.

Early signs of tough leadership: Paul Whittaker.

Paul Whittaker’s school days

The future News Corp editor learnt about kicking heads while a high school student

  • by Stephen Brook and Samantha Hutchinson
Anti Vax and Anti lockdown Protest March in the streets on Melbourne CBD today. Picture by Wayne Taylor 24th July 2021. The Age

Simple measures needed as lockdown exhaustion hits

Nearly 18 months into this pandemic, Australia still finds itself in a similar position to where we were at the start.

  • by Osman Faruqi
The decline of the Reef, documented by Australian scientists, is undeniable.

No more excuses about danger to Great Barrier Reef

Thanks to intense lobbying, Australia convinced the World Heritage Committee to defer the reef’s “in danger” listing. But this pyrrhic victory may well have painted Australia into a corner.

  • by Terry Hughes
For most people, their experience of COVID-19 is of drudgery rather than drama.

Our COVID testing strategy needs updating

The fast-moving Delta variant has exposed the failures in our current system, and why we need to immediately deploy daily rapid antigen testing nationally in all high-risk settings.

  • by Dean Whiting
A police line forms at a lockdown protest in Melbourne’s CBD.

Lockdown protests were wrong-headed in the extreme

Saturday’s events were at best unedifying and poorly executed, and at worst a display of misguided defiance, defeating the entire point the crowds were trying to make.

  • The Age's View
Advertisement
The Blues look dejected after their loss against North Melbourne on Saturday.
Opinion
AFL 2021

Four Points: Carlton’s real problem; Bont the best; Cats selection dilemmas

Carlton may decide they need a new coach at the end of the season but if they think David Teague is their biggest problem, they are kidding themselves.

  • by Peter Ryan
I used alcohol to cope.

Staying sober in the pandemic is both a blessing and a curse

This December marks 13 years since I quit drinking. Keeping off the booze in lockdown has proved to be the hardest challenge.

  • by Mel Buttigieg
Ariarne Titmus ... The not yet recognisable but new face of Australian swimming.
From the futon
Tokyo Olympics

Ariarne Titmus is the golden girl Australian swimming needs

Our swimmers produced their usual mixed bag on day two in Tokyo: gold, silver, bronze and duck egg.

  • by Andrew Webster
Remote learning disparities have become clear during lockdowns.
Opinion
Education

We must improve remote learning to reduce school closure harm

If we fail to act, children will emerge from this pandemic bearing the consequences of starkly different remote schooling experiences.

  • by Jordana Hunter
Alastair Clarkson is contracted to coach Hawthorn in 2022.
Analysis
AFL 2021

Not a Rudd nor a Turnbull: discarded Clarkson takes the high road

Alastair Clarkson has been extremely disappointed by Hawthorn’s decision. Gutted. But he says he’s coaching Hawthorn in 2022 and we should believe him. He has given his word to players and staff.

  • by Jake Niall

From lockdown, our horizons keep vanishing. But look, is that an apology! No, sorry, false alarm

Home schooling is a cosmic joke enacted on locked-down working parents – overwhelmingly women. We’re all doing our bit. A heartfelt apology might have been too much to expect.

  • by Jacqueline Maley
“Ring-of-steel″⁣ roadblocks became a fixture on Melbourne’s perimeter for four months in 2020.

‘Corruption’ can thrive in a space where weak regulation is parked

The chain of decision making on two federal grants scandals goes deep into Scott Morrison’s own office. Will it cost him?

  • by Jon Faine
Prime Minister Scott Morrison is the man who can save the nation and his party from disaster.

NSW begs you Scott Morrison, please use your authority to redirect Pfizer to Sydney

In a bushfire you rapidly shift resources to extinguish the hotspots. Yet we are not doing that in south-western Sydney.

  • by Catherine Cusack
Alan Jones has made a bad situation worse.

If Sky can put Jones’ dangerous stuff to air, what can’t you put on Australian TV?

The broadcasting watchdog doesn’t have the teeth to bite down on Alan Jones’ anti-vaxxer nonsense.

  • by Peter FitzSimons
“I am learning that climate grief is to be welcomed. It honours what you love, shows you care, and can be used as a bounce point to go forward with courage, motivation and hope.”

‘I could no longer look away’: a science reporter’s tipping point

I don’t know why I thought snow would be magically immune to climate change. But logically, can you think of anything more vulnerable to rising temperatures than snow?

  • by Jonica Newby
Advertisement
How far Tevita Pangai jnr goes in rugby league is up to him, says Sonny Bill Williams.
Analysis
NRL 2021

‘I want to be there for him’: SBW takes Pangai jnr under his wing

Sonny Bill Williams was Tevita Pangai jnr’s idol as a kid. Now the retired superstar is set to mentor the Bulldogs-bound enforcer.

  • by Danny Weidler
Annabel Crabb hosts Ms Represented on ABC.

Feminism’s gatekeepers deaf to its conservative trailblazers

Any feminists worth their salt should want to celebrate the pathfinders, regardless of their politics.

  • by Parnell Palme McGuinness
Faith groups of many traditions have been central to our resilience during the lockdowns and have gone about feeding, caring, supporting, and responding to many different needs without fanfare or wanting publicity.
Opinion
Religion

Deeds, not words, the essence of faith

Let’s hope that as we rediscover the importance of community and relationships, we do not go back to old ways and lose sight of the richness of faith.

  • by Ray Cleary
Prime Minister Scott Morrison arrives at a press conference about the Covid-19 pandemic at Kirribilli House in sydney.

Morrison’s political calculus: bare his throat now, go to the polls in May

Scott Morrison’s standing with the Australian public has taken a major hit over the past few weeks for his government’s handling of the vaccine rollout.

  • by James Massola
Age LETTERS DINKUS
LETTERS
Letters

Nuclear is not feasible

Age readers have their say.

American actor Caleb Landry Jones plays a disturbed young man who becomes a mass murderer in Justin Kurzel’s Nitram.

‘Evil ignored is evil repeated’: Why I will see the Port Arthur movie

Nitram is sparking an uncomfortable and confronting conversation about Australia, guns and our culture - but it’s a discussion we need to have.

  • by Andrew Hornery
Opinion
Investing

6 things I’ve learnt since becoming a newbie sharemarket investor

The thing that has surprised me most about direct share ownership is the sheer volume of paperwork involved. Like, actual paper, delivered via good old fashioned mail!

  • by Jessica Irvine
Online shopping can be fun but it is better to use you time to shop around for cheaper financial products.

Websites to save you a small fortune in lockdown

How to turn lockdown into a financial check-up that will likely yield bonus bucks.

  • by Nicole Pedersen-McKinnon

How to calculate total return on an investment property

There are various methods to calculate how much you have made on a property investment. It’s complex but here are a few examples.

  • by George Cochrane
Prime Minister Scott Morrison is losing skin as the vaccine rollout fails to deliver.

Scott Morrison’s reckoning has arrived

But he still has 10 months to reverse the damage done to his fortunes by the bungled vaccine rollout.

  • by Peter Hartcher
Advertisement
Illustration: Simon Letch

What’s changed 17 years after I wrote a book about the media, women and politics

Now we know the way to shift an entrenched culture of misogyny it is to expose it.

  • by Julia Baird
Q&A host Hamish Macdonald is leaving the show. 
Analysis
Q&A

What’s wrong with the ABC’s once-mighty Q+A, and how to fix it

The departure of host Hamish Macdonald after 18 months has prompted questions about Q+A’s future - and an opportunity to get it right.

  • by Karl Quinn
 The steelworks and coal loading facility at Port Kembla. Australia learned this week its coal and gas exports will be hit by Japan’s plans to almost halve its use of the fossil fuels by 2030.

The world gallops to Glasgow while Australia trundles the other way

Countries are acting with increasing urgency on climate change. Australia is not among them.

  • by Nick O'Malley
Collingwood president Mark Korda (left) and challenger Jeff Browne.
Opinion
AFL 2021

Jeff Browne's faltering campaign for Pies presidency

It’s time for Jeff Browne to stand up and be counted, or call the challenge off.

  • by Caroline Wilson