Opinion
Opinion
Household debt
Don’t panic! Here’s a plan to help keep your finances intact
There is no need for panic. Here’s how to put a clear, calm and conservative plan in place to get through the rest of the year with your finances relatively intact.
- by Nicole Pedersen-McKinnon
Latest
Opinion
Ask an expert
Is now a good time to pay down your HECS debt?
The HECS debt interest rate is indexed to inflation, so may rise to 5 per cent in the short-to-medium term.
- by Noel Whittaker
Opinion
EU
Europe’s future set to be decided in the next few days
Italy’s woes and Germany’s over-reliance on Russian gas are threatening to devastate Europe and tear it apart. This is the week that could shape its fate.
- by Stephen Bartholomeusz
Opinion
Coronavirus pandemic
Take it from my kid – we can all be superheroes in the COVID battle
Riding out this third COVID-19 wave is in our own hands. We can choose to be superheroes, or we can be left at the mercy of the villain.
- by Marisa Black
Jones approached by RA over potential Australian rugby return
Eddie Jones, who was in charge of the Wallabies from 2001 to 2005, is off-contract with England after next year’s World Cup.
- by Tom Decent
Opinion
ODI
As Stokes calls it quits, we’re witnessing the slow death of 50-over game
With Ben Stokes terminating his 50-over career, credibility is draining from this once vibrant format with each passing day.
- by Simon Briggs
Opinion
Workplace culture
Wartime CEO: Mark Zuckerberg’s ruthlessness is what Facebook needs now
As storm clouds gather around the tech giants, Mark Zuckerberg is the right person for the job as he looks to protect his company’s bottom line.
- by Parmy Olson
Analysis
AFL 2022
Shouldabeen champions: On ‘expected’ scores ladder, Tigers would be equal top
Under the AFL’s newfangled measure of “expected scores”, Richmond would be second on the ladder, trailing Geelong on percentage, had they taken their scoring opportunities.
- by Jake Niall
CBD
City life
Family First, or second: Rivals row over party naming rights
Two outfits are fighting over the right to use Family First Victoria branding at the upcoming state poll.
- by Noel Towell and Kishor Napier-Raman
Opinion
Planning
Docklands should be turned into our next live music hub
Its warehouses hosted Melbourne’s first big raves - the maligned suburb could be reborn as the rebellious counterpart to the high-end culture on offer in the city’s arts precinct.
- by Michael Smith
Opinion
China relations
Collateral damage: China, Sri Lanka and a developing debt crisis
Sri Lanka’s economic catastrophe is a harbinger of further monetary woes in poorer countries. China, the ATM of the developing world, has to decide if it is part of the solution or part of the problem.
- by Peter Hartcher
Opinion
Interest rates
Don’t be fooled: Good economic stories often sound like bad news
These are neither the best nor worst of times. Yes, inflation and interest rates are rising – but unemployment is at an almost 50-year low.
- by Jessica Irvine
Opinion
Parenting
Even at its best, co-parenting is the worst
Co-parenting after a split can often feel like a cosmic test of patience. After all, if it were so easy to get along, you’d still be together.
- by Tracy Moore
Analysis
State of Environment
Australia more willing to catalogue destruction of natural heritage than to preserve it
The nation’s latest environmental report card is out, and the news is bad. Ecosystems are collapsing at a terrifying rate. But the damage can be reversed.
- by Nick O'Malley
Editorial
Education
Surge in school leavers with unscored VCE raises thorny questions
Choosing the unscored route, whether it be for mental health reasons or because an ATAR isn’t needed, is not a decision to take lightly.
- The Age's View
LETTERS
Letters
When science is ignored, devastation follows
Age readers respond to the state government’s attitude to logging.
Opinion
Cameron Smith
While you were sleeping, Cameron Smith conquered the world
From four shots behind, only the true believers would have gone the distance with Australia’s new golfing hero. Like Cameron Smith, they were richly rewarded.
- by Greg Baum
Nuix’s latest horror outlook revealed to sharemarket
The Australian tech company keeps finding new ways to disappoint investors.
- by Noel Towell and Kishor Napier-Raman
Opinion
Marriage
Oh no, J.Lo! Patriarchy is the name of the game
Jennifer Lopez has taken her new husband’s last name. It isn’t just unnecessary, it is regressive, and worse, acoustically displeasing.
- by Kerri Sackville
Opinion
Real Footy Podcast
‘Back in your box’: Why the Cats are so good
Michael Gleeson, Jake Niall and Sam McClure discuss Geelong, who flexed their muscles at the MCG in a clear indicator of what we can expect in September.
Opinion
ICAC
Our democracy will be better for it: Empowering whistleblowers key to effective anti-corruption reform
With the guidance and backing of a whistleblower protection commissioner, the next generation of Australian whistleblowers will not have to pay the price so many others have paid for speaking up.
- by Andrew Wilkie
Opinion
Mergers & acquisitions
Navigating the booby traps hidden in ANZ’s deal to buy Suncorp Bank
ANZ doesn’t want to leave anything to chance, and it’s prepared to invest its way to the Queensland government’s approval.
- by Elizabeth Knight
Opinion
Work therapy
My colleagues and I wished the office was less boring. Careful what you wish for
First the office was dull. Then we got new colleagues, who never stop talking and coming up with new ideas.
- by Jonathan Rivett
Opinion
British Open
Open triumph would be stained if Cameron Smith makes Saudi switch
If the Australian has talked to Greg Norman about joining LIV Golf, hopefully he will come to his senses, run screaming from the room and burn the clothes he was in at the time.
- by Peter FitzSimons
Opinion
Inside China
Flatlining: China’s economy has been crippled by its zero-COVID policies
Xi Jinping has made it clear that trying to keep control of COVID outbreaks is his priority and China’s economy is paying the price.
- by Stephen Bartholomeusz
Opinion
NRL 2022
Why the Dragons must go all-in on Cameron Ciraldo
With Anthony Griffin’s future to be discussed at a board meeting on Tuesday, now is the time to go after the Panthers assistant.
- by Andrew Webster
Opinion
The Verdict
Tedious, nauseating, overblown: why it’s best to leave this ‘classic’ book in the past
Trying to get into the first few chapters of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road while a toddler wriggled all over me on a plane, it seemed like a meaningless list of places I’d never been and people I didn’t care about.
- by Michael Ruffles
Analysis
AFL 2022
AFL round 18 key takeouts and match review news
Our reporters give you the lowdown on all the action from round 18 of the AFL season.
- by Peter Ryan, Steve Barrett, Jon Pierik, Andrew Wu, Roy Ward, Marnie Vinall and Russell Bennett
CBD
City life
Costly commute: Senator Sam’s expenses at the Top End
Former Northern Territory senator Sam McMahon’s travel allowance claims between January and March dwarfed those of her former colleagues, figures show.
- by Paul Sakkal and Kishor Napier-Raman
Opinion
Coronavirus pandemic
Silver linings: The surprising way the pandemic has helped women at work
A move to flexible work has got more women into jobs, but there are still barriers that stop Australian women from reaching their full work potential.
- by Rachel Clun
Opinion
Coronavirus pandemic
Pandemic leave reversal is a teachable moment for Albanese
The federal government’s justification for ending the pandemic leave payment did not wash. It fell over at the first hurdle.
- by Shaun Carney
Opinion
China relations
Australia can safely improve its relations with China. Here’s how
Australia’s relationship with China has sharply deteriorated since 2017. But there are initiatives we can, should and must deploy to improve bilateral ties.
- by Bob Carr
Analysis
Australian rugby
Rennie needs to find answers in Argentina
A Rugby Championship trip to Argentina will offer opportunities and challenges for a Wallabies side still searching for a clinical edge.
- by Georgina Robinson
Editorial
Sri Lanka
Australia must do all it can to help crisis-torn Sri Lanka
Shortages of essentials have left many Sri Lankans struggling to survive. There is an urgent need to get their country back on track.
- The Age's View
LETTERS
Letters
This was an appropriate response, not a ‘backflip’
Age readers discuss the various vexed decisions facing the new Labor government.
Opinion
Mental health
Cutting mental health rebates would cause great harm
The pandemic has taken a shocking toll on our mental health. And yet, the government may soon cut rebates which allow patients to get the help they need.
- by Marjorie Collins
Opinion
Abortion
As Ireland grows less benighted, America turns cruel for women
Ireland has leaped into modernity, rejecting religious reactionaries’ insistence on controlling women’s bodies. America, meanwhile, has gone in the opposite direction.
- by Maureen Dowd
Opinion
AFL 2022
Four Points: Blicavs the utility, Blues’ hopes, battling Tigers, and the fast-rising Daicos
If footy cards still came with a stick of chewing gum and great exaggerated poses from players scooping up a ball one-handed or baulking a non-existent opponent then Mark Blicavs’ card would be appended with the position utility.
- by Michael Gleeson
Opinion
Coronavirus pandemic
COVID mantra of ‘personal responsibility’ is fine – in theory
Victorians are now “strongly encouraged” to do the right thing themselves: mask up, use a RAT when unwell and stay home if sick or a test is positive. But personal responsibility has limits.
- by Emma King
Opinion
Wallabies
Rennie’s record shows that the Wallabies are in a hole
The Wallabies’ winning record under Dave Rennie sits at 39 per cent and that spells trouble for Rugby Australia.
- by Paul Cully
Opinion
Cinema
Even stranger things: How Hollywood is fast-tracking bright young stars
Surely 19 and 22 is too young for two actors to make their debuts as writer-directors.
- by Garry Maddox
Analysis
Wallabies
The Wallabies’ inability to ice England may haunt them at the 2023 World Cup
With a deflated crowd, the end of an historic venue and a grinning Eddie Jones, it was a night of lost opportunities for Australian rugby.
- by Iain Payten
Opinion
Interest rates
Freaking out about interest rate rises? Here are 5 things to do today
It’s becoming clear that people like me – first-home buyers who only shackled themselves to rather large mortgages quite recently – are going to bear the brunt of the interest-rate pain.
- by Jessica Irvine
Analysis
NRL 2022
Tigers made desperate late Ciraldo bid
Before the coaching deal for 2025 was announced with Benji Marshall, a second conversation was had with Panthers assistant Cameron Ciraldo about joining the club. He politely declined.
- by Danny Weidler
Analysis
AFL 2022
Live and die by the surge: The lasting impact of the Richmond revolution
Everyone who cares about the shape of the game on the field should be thanking the Tigers for providing a template that has produced a better-looking, watchable spectacle.
- by Jake Niall
Editorial
Gambling
Time is nigh for broad inquiry into pokies harms
It is well known how problem gambling affects individuals, families and communities.
- The Age's View
Opinion
Literature
On the fear of poetry - and the bounty we are denying our children
Rather than treating poetry as optional added extra at school, it should be central to the subject of English.
- by Gabrielle Carey
Opinion
International affairs
This unlikely British contender for PM is good news for Australia
Even if Tom Tugendhat did not make it into No. 10, he would make a lasting difference in Britain’s engagement with the world and would be strongly welcomed by Australia.
- by Philip Citowicki
Opinion
Coronavirus pandemic
We fought the virus for more than two years, but now we must live with it
Even the most compliant and trusting among us have reached our limits for mandates and restrictions.
- by Jon Faine
Opinion
Five Minutes with Fitz
Reason, religion and tax: should churches still be considered charities?
Politician Fiona Patten of the Reason Party, Reverend Michael Jensen and federal charities minister Andrew Leigh discuss whether religions should lose their tax-exempt status.
- by Peter FitzSimons