Opinion
Opinion
Australian cricket
Warner’s hundreds made headlines, but Australia will miss intangibles more
David Warner’s all-round contribution to the Australian team will be nearly impossible to replace. But there are two candidates who hold a big advantage – and here’s why.
- by Mark Taylor
Latest
Opinion
Competition
Loyalty or laziness? Whatever you call it, the banks are cashing in
Australians are being done over by electricity providers and banks that bet we won’t call it a day. And it’s costing us billions of dollars a year.
- by Shane Wright
Opinion
Corporate ethics
Woke corporatism has started to implode
If companies can get back to making decent products at a fair price, and paying their staff and customers on time, the system will be a lot stronger.
- by Matthew Lynn
Danish royals well versed in modesty and respect
Welcome to the throne, Queen Mary, I trust you’ll like it.
Analysis
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
The war in Gaza is changing, but the end is not yet in sight
Thousands of Israeli troops are returning home because of a faltering economy, a frustrated United States and a changed situation on the ground in Gaza.
- by Matthew Knott
Opinion
New Year
Cummins, Musk, Pezzullo, Swift: Their 2023s can shape our 2024s
Let’s seek new year inspiration from those who were conspicuous – for better or worse – in 2023.
- by Jenna Price
Analysis
Cybersecurity
Protecting passwords: The best ways to keep your data safe
Cyberattacks and data breaches are a fact of everyday life, but there are ways to make sure your passwords – and your most sensitive information – isn’t caught up.
- by David Swan
Editorial
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Israel’s slight change of tactics is a double-edged sword
Israel’s decision to recalibrate its strategy to deal with Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon carries the seeds of both hope and further carnage.
- The Herald's View
Analysis
World politics
What to expect around the world in 2024
Amid hope for less war and a better year, our correspondents take a look at the major issues they will be watching in their patch.
- by Eryk Bagshaw, Chris Barrett, Lucy Cormack, Rob Harris, Farrah Tomazin, Lia Timson and Matt Wade
Opinion
My First Job
‘Is there anything else I can do for you, sir?’ My astonishing summer as a hotel maid
Of all the jobs, it is most astonishing that anyone let me be a professional cleaner.
- by Michelle Griffin
Opinion
My First Job
I’m in a bit of a pickle, get me out of here
Crossing the city to work in a factory on a revolutionary island was an eye-opening experience. There were no two ways around it: I was simply foul.
- by Jason Steger
Opinion
My First Job
My summer job is a love story. Just, not one where anyone loved me
They probably thought they’d hit the jackpot and discovered a Solange to their Beyonce when my older sister asked them to hire me. Unfortunately, they didn’t.
- by Wendy Syfret
Opinion
My First Job
I was toiling to make it pitch perfect. But then the commandos choppered in
Fresh out of school, I’d been appointed for one week in December as a groundsman at the Royal Military College Duntroon. Rolling pitches was dull apart from one strange day.
- by Michael Bachelard
Opinion
My First Job
Some jobs look better on paper. Being an RSL mascot is one of them
After four years it was time for a fresh start. And that fresh start looked like a big blue and white costume that was dirty, unwieldy, and way too hot.
- by David Swan
Opinion
My First Job
My government job was insanely boring. Thankfully, it was the peak of World Series Cricket
It was here that I learnt two invaluable truths about government red tape: One, it actually exists, and two, it makes for excellent cricket balls.
- by Karl Quinn
Opinion
My First Job
A fancy party and I was the hired help. Farm handing had become too real
It wasn’t my idea of fun. I believed a school holiday was supposed to be a holiday. But 30 bucks was 30 bucks.
- by Tony Wright
Opinion
My First Job
I didn’t mean to work at an Irish bagel shop, homesickness made me do it
Not for the first and not for the last time, I gritted my teeth and went with it, rather than trying to cross the cultural impasse.
- by Cassidy Knowlton
Opinion
Cinema
Cinema’s great wives club: the role of women in the male biopic
It’s been a season of biopics of men – building things, going to war, writing music - each with a wife to help us understand her husband’s full complexity.
- by Jessie Tu
Opinion
Global economy
The new economic normal isn’t anything we’ll recognise
We can’t roll back the clock to 2019’s economy, and nobody knows which “normal” we’re supposedly returning to.
- by Jonathan Levin
Opinion
Australian soccer
One code to rule them – why soccer may be the last survivor in world footy
It may take a century, but soccer is on a path to turning league, union and AFL into niche sports in Australia.
- by Roy Masters
Opinion
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
I tell my family’s Holocaust story while I advocate for Palestinians and Israelis
I exist only because a Nazi SS officer saved my mother’s life. History and human behaviour are complicated. And now, we can cry for Gaza’s children and for Israeli victims of Hamas.
- by Karen Kirsten
Opinion
Dating
Geminis swipe left: How star signs and astrological dating became mainstream
In the space of a few years, looking to the heavens to find love has moved from the fringes of woo-woo relationship theory and become the new normal.
- by Madison Griffiths
Missing cabinet papers means that no one is held to account
The government could use the precedent established by the Howard government in 2000. In that year, the Howard government made public, in advance of the then 30-year rule, historical records on Australia and East Timor between 1974 and 1976.
Editorial
Gender equality
Rethink needed over confusing medical language which can lead to error
Researchers and academics are showing common sense in opposing the alteration of medical language to accommodate transgender and gender-diverse people.
- The Herald's View
Opinion
My First Job
In my mind, the job was colossal, I was esteemed and rich. But no one seemed to notice
It was this huge, prestigious company, whose ads I’d watched my whole life. Was I an icon now, by association? Not just Waleed. But Waleed from Telstra.
- by Waleed Aly
Opinion
Political leadership
Future, tense: My rough guide to 2024’s unknowable politics
Only fools would rush in to predict the political year ahead, but here’s my best shot at matters most ponderable.
- by Sean Kelly
Opinion
New Year
Around the world in 40 elections: Welcome to the year of the voter
In 2024, countries representing half the global population go to the polls – more than in any previous year. Some elections will be shams, but it is the year of democracy,
- by George Brandis
Analysis
Aviation
Performance anxiety: How can our airlines do better?
Australia’s long-awaited aviation white paper could suggest sweeping changes to consumer protection, sustainability and Sydney Airport’s slot demand management system.
- by Amelia McGuire
Editorial
Cabinet paper release
Cabinet papers on Iraq War decision MIA
Almost 21 years after the Howard government decided to go to war in Iraq, the cabinet documents regarding the decision should be in the public domain.
- The Herald's View
Going cashless is, as ever, about bigger bank profits
It seems that the cost of distributing cash to Australians isn’t necessarily the banks’ to cover, but possibly for passing on to the government.
Analysis
Australian rugby
After an annus horribilis, can Australian rugby bounce back in 2024?
It would have been hard to plan a worse year for Australian rugby. But with 2023 in the rear-view mirror and new leadership, the code has a chance to regenerate.
- by Paul Cully
Opinion
Global economy
How were so many economists so wrong about the recession?
Economists have yet to figure out why things went so well, but it is already clear that a reckoning is due.
- by Tyler Cowen
Opinion
Racism
He told me, ‘Go back to your country.’ But that’s right here, Australia
Not even in the aftermath of September 11, 2001, when Islamophobia ran rampant, did I experience racism like this.
- by Ramia Abdo-Sultan
Nuclear power no silver bullet for net zero target
Convincing an electorate to host a nuclear reactor or its generational waste would make for a challenging electioneering position.
Opinion
Cars
Bleak reminders of dangers inherent in our most-loved holiday activities
A spate of drownings and an escalating road toll have provided a sobering end to the year.
- by The Herald's View
Opinion
Culture wars
I’m done with outrage, but in 2024 I plan to chat … hard
So here’s my suggestion for a communal new year’s resolution: let’s make 2024 a year for forthright discussion – without all the vitriol.
- by Parnell Palme McGuinness
Analysis
New Year
The stories that shone some light in the darkness of 2023
This was, in so many ways, a horrific year. Thank God for the Tillies.
- by Neil McMahon
Opinion
Religion
This year, make a resolution that will actually make a difference
Only 8 per cent of people are still keeping their resolutions by year’s end. Here’s why make them and quit them – plus an idea for something better.
- by Barney Zwartz
Opinion
Renting
Being a Sydney renter is a moving tale, but all my evictions have all been honourable
If you’re a tenant, you become accustomed to mistreatment. But I’ve embraced the slowmadic lifestyle and you can too.
- by Jayce Carrano
Opinion
Style
In my hunt for the most elusive summer staple, it hit me. I’ve become my mother
Thin cotton, a flattering cut and timeless, the Hot Day Dress is the mythical holy grail of women’s wardrobes.
- by Wendy Syfret
Analysis
Australian cricket
Teams of 2023: Why the GOAT missed our team of the year
The importance of skipper Pat Cummins and Usman Khawaja to Australia’s men’s Test side has been reflected by the pair being the only players to retain their places in our team of the year.
- by Andrew Wu
Opinion
Australian cricket
Money is an unstoppable force in cricket, and the game needs to evolve or perish
Producing cricketers takes years of fertiliser and water from mums, dads, coaches, ground staff, councils and a myriad of volunteers, so cashed-up privateers should be making a serious contribution to the bottom line.
- by Geoff Lawson
Opinion
Australian cricket
Why Warner the destroyer deserves a fond farewell in Sydney
I know how hard it is to do what he has done through 111 Tests, so I hope that David’s harshest critics acknowledge his talent and contribution and forgive his human frailties.
- by Greg Chappell
Opinion
Literature prizes
I leave our library with a greater burden – and that’s my reward
What makes this young writer optimistic about the future of Sydney? Read her winning essay in the 14-18 age group of The Sydney Morning Herald’s inaugural prize.
- by Eliza Hoh
Topless massages to private flights: CEO mishaps around the world in 2023
While some chief executives seemed to relish the spotlight, Elon Musk chief among them, others were inadvertently thrust into social media’s harsh glare.
- by Jo Constantz
Opinion
City life
Sydney must decide the city it wants to be. Paris has some clues
Cities have auras, and Sydney feels as though it is slowly coming into its own again. The cost of living – and housing in particular – remains the greatest impediment.
- by Michael Koziol
Editorial
New Year
The new year can bring hope and promise
Sydney’s New Year offering to the world is that there is a happy land.
- The Herald's View