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Opinion

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Letters
Letters

Many voices on power sources, present and future

Nuclear, gas, hydrogen, or burning wood for heating: readers discuss these power sources in a warming world.

Latest

Disneyland markets itself as being the happiest place on earth.
Opinion
Holidays

Planning a theme park holiday for your family? Get ready for the Hunger Games

They’re supposed to be the happiest places on earth. But expensive VIP passes and hours-long wait times are taking the shine off theme parks.

  • by Shona Hendley
Ross Lyon’s frank comments about how his team beat Collingwood were refreshing.
Opinion
AFL 2024

Four Points: A random outbreak of honesty in the AFL, and why the Dons need defence not aggro

Craig McRae, Ross Lyon, Brad Scott and Tom Papley embraced the rarest of football qualities in round two: candour.

  • by Michael Gleeson
Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff saw an 11 per cent swing against the Liberal Party at the weekend state election.

As Liberals navigate a ‘sea of red’, the Greens are making waves of their own

The Tasmanian state election was bad news for the Liberal Party, but the potency of the Greens as a political force is growing, and it spells bad news for Labor in key battlegrounds.

  • by George Brandis
Catherine, Princess of Wales, shares the news that she has cancer.

I jumped on the ‘Katespiracy’ bandwagon. Now I’m flooded with shame

The prospect of a missing princess was a blessed diversion. But now we know the truth, I feel ashamed. What was I thinking?

  • by Kerri Sackville
Prince William and Princess Catherine in November 2023.
Analysis
Royal family

The secret burden of holding the family together when your wife has cancer

Prince William has spent his whole life preparing for his future role, but not this one: a husband and father desperately trying to hold his family together while his wife undergoes treatment for cancer.

  • by Guy Kelly
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Tom Lynch
Analysis
AFL 2024

Why free agency won’t rescue the Tigers or Pies (or nearly any AFL team)

A packed MCG and the buzz of being on Broadway or the more private surrounds offered by the Getaway clubs? Players have options, but free agency is not the panacea for clubs. Here’s why.

  • by Jake Niall
Switching from a poor performing fund into a better one shouldn’t cost you much, but it’s important to think carefully about why you want to do it.

Will I lose money if I switch super funds?

Switching from a poor performing fund into a better one shouldn’t cost you much, but it’s important to think carefully about why.

  • by Paul Benson
The number of ultra-wealthy individuals in Australia has been on a steady incline for years.

Australia has more billionaires than ever. That’s nothing to celebrate

Marking a new high of ultra-wealthy individuals is one record we shouldn’t be cheering about.

  • by Victoria Devine
Immigration levels are higher than the government forecast.

You’re not a racist if you oppose unchecked immigration, you’re a realist

If we want to continue as a great migrant nation, we need an integration plan. Europe is waking up to this challenge.

  • by Parnell Palme McGuinness

The worst thing about Trump’s take-down of Rudd? Dutton’s cynical reaction

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton could have sided with Australia’s national interest over Trump, but he chose a different path.

  • by Jacqueline Maley
Real money newsletter savings cash investing account generic
Opinion
Hip pocket

Should you DIY super? There are risks and rewards

Self-managed super funds allow you to pick exactly how your superannuation is invested – but they’re also a lot of work.

  • by Dominic Powell

My partner wants to celebrate his birthday by doing nothing and I’m appalled

How can he not want a party? Is it possible that he just hates fun?

  • by Kerri Sackville
Marvin the robot.

How Marvin the robo-vac became a (weird) member of the family

When I decided to lighten my domestic load by buying a little, and fiendishly expensive, robot helper, I had no idea how much stress it would cause.

  • by Michael Bachelard
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Letters
Letters

Victoria’s ‘Presidential’ politics problem

Readers discuss the “iron fist” centralised culture of the Victorian Premier’s office established under former premier Dan Andrews, and its ongoing effects.

The internet has decided that being a reader makes you sexy and mysterious, but I remain unconvinced by the hot newcomers

My lifelong hobby has been hijacked by a hot, cool crowd

The internet has decided reading is sexy, but no one actually looks good doing it.

  • by Thomas Mitchell
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Jason Demetriou at Allianz Stadium on Friday.
Analysis
NRL 2024

Why Demetriou may have only three games to save his job

A short run of home matches will have a big bearing on the future of the South Sydney coach.

  • by Christian Nicolussi
South Sydney are angry about media coverage of Latrell Mitchell.
Opinion
NRL 2024

Rabbitohs rage about Mitchell coverage

South Sydney chief executive Blake Solly is fuming at suggestions the NRL gives Latrell Mitchell preferential treatment because he is Indigenous.

  • by Danny Weidler
Catherine, the Princess of Wales, with her husband William, Prince of Wales, and their children following last year’s Christmas Day church service at Sandringham.
Analysis
Royal family

As we sat feverishly speculating, there was a horrible truth confronting Catherine, Princess of Wales

It’s hard to pinpoint the moment when we came to expect the private health concern of a public figure was fair game for clicks or laughs.

  • by Rob Harris
Wayne Barnes in charge of the 2023 Rugby World Cup final in Paris.

Seventeen dead minutes: Why World Rugby had to act after Cup final

The 2011 Rugby World Cup final was by no means a classic. But comparing it to last year’s showpiece event proves that rule changes have turned rugby into a waiting game.

  • by Paul Cully
Pictured in April, the Cambridges and their children, Prince George, 7, Princess Charlotte, 5, and Prince Louis, 3.
Analysis
Royal family

The voice of a naturally private princess cracked as she shared her diagnosis with the world

Having steeled herself for a video message, Catherine delivered in one take a message that will go down in history as one of the most moving royal broadcasts imaginable.

  • by Hannah Furness
Peter Jackson the Melbourne CEO in 2013.
Analysis
AFL 2024

Where have all the CEOs gone? Footy’s problem with finding new leaders

As the competition has expanded to include a national women’s league and soon 19 teams, veteran club bosses have lamented the dearth of emerging off-field leaders across the competition.

  • by Caroline Wilson
Are there water-saving techniques I could employ to make up for my failings?
Opinion
Comedy

Help me, I think I’m a water waster

Are there water-saving techniques I could employ to make up for my many failings around the elixir of life?

  • by Richard Glover
Goals are everywhere in the world of sport. But their simple rigidity should not be applied to the workplace.
Opinion
Workplace

Why career goals should be made to be abandoned

Effective career plans or goals, are ones that can be regularly revised, ditched, or paused as circumstances dictate.

  • by Jim Bright
Retirement spending is a bit of a maze to wind yourself through, but having confidence is key to living a life with lower financial anxiety.

How much can you safely spend in retirement? We crunched the numbers

Retirement spending is a bit of a maze to wind yourself through, but having confidence is key to living a life with lower financial anxiety.

  • by Bec Wilson

Why there’ll be no Olympic rings for Sydney

NSW Premier Chris Minns has poured ice-cold water on suggestions that Sydney could host the 2032 Olympic Games if Brisbane bailed out.

  • by Peter FitzSimons
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Savings accounts no longer require you to give up your firstborn to qualify for a high-interest rate.

Savers, rejoice: You can now get high rates without the hurdles

Savings accounts no longer require you to give up your firstborn to qualify for a high-interest rate.

  • by Nicole Pedersen-McKinnon

You know your country’s in trouble when Pauline Hanson is claiming vindication

Australia’s population is booming during an acute housing crisis. That spells trouble for the government, and for social cohesion.

  • by Peter Hartcher

Yes, nuclear’s an option. But let there be no confusion about its flaws

Nuclear power, as clean and safe as it is, cannot help us in our transition to clean energy this decade or next.

  • by Alan Finkel
Banks are using their smaller subsidiaries to compete on price, Canstar found this week.
Opinion
Home loans

Banks are changing the way they fight the mortgage war

Lenders have started using their second-tier offshoots to chase home loan business.

  • by Clancy Yeates
Nick Andrianakis and Michael Donelly speak outside the Supreme Court of Victoria on Monday.
Analysis
Taxis

Uber’s ugly truths laid bare with $300 million capitulation

The ride-share giant’s promise of urban transportation was always an illusion, built on the back of cheap venture capital money, worker exploitation and taking advantage of regulatory loopholes.

  • by David Swan
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Letters
Letters

Laws must serve all citizens equally

Proposed changes to the Sex Discrimination Act are complicated because the issue is so complex write readers.

Taking on the world
Opinion
NRL 2024

One theme, one dream: Where NRL gets it right … and wrong

Multicultural Round reminds us that rugby league is more than local phenomenon, the obsession of eastern Australia and Lancashire.

  • by Malcolm Knox
Analysis
NRL 2024

The play that (again) highlighted the genius of Nathan Cleary

And to think, ball playing doesn’t even come naturally to the Panthers star. Andrew Johns, Jonathan Thurston and Cameron Smith break down Cleary’s “best performance ever”.

  • by Dan Walsh
The offending snap. But is the use of Photoshop really so heinous?

Where on earth is Kate Middleton? Here’s my wild guess*

Not one of the theories is supported by a single piece of evidence. Unlike mine.

  • by Julia Baird
Oprah Winfrey, pictured last week, once swore she would never use weight loss drugs.

Oprah jumping on the Ozempic bandwagon is, frankly, just sad

Somehow it feels like one of the world’s most celebrated media forces has morphed into a crass shill for Big Pharma.

  • by Kate Halfpenny
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Australian football star Sam Kerr is fighting to have a charge of racially harassing the police officer thrown out of court.
Analysis
Naked City

Sam Kerr is no crook, so why is she being treated as one?

The prosecution is proof the British system of justice has gone bonkers.

  • by John Silvester
It’s common for there to be a tension between feeling a personal responsibility to confront a person on such an issue and being anxious about potential repercussions

Why is ChatGPT trying to gaslight me?

AI chatbots may be sophisticated and slick, but they’re far from being a source of reliable information.

  • by Jonathan Rivett
Citizens queue for food that is cooked in large pots and distributed for free in Rafah.

The cold calculation behind our aid cuts to Gaza

The accusations against the United Nations agency helping Palestinians in Gaza are murky, but the consequences have been painfully clear.

  • by Waleed Aly
Jason Demetriou is under pressure.
Opinion
NRL 2024

When will South Sydney stop blaming everyone else for problems of their own making?

There’s trouble in paradise when you’re skewering Triple M’s social media department for Latrell Mitchell’s potty-mouthed interview.

  • by Andrew Webster
NAB head of fraud, Chris Sheehan, says initiatives at the bank to combat scams have seen a 25 per cent fall in scam losses over the past 12 months
Analysis
Scams

$80 million in scams prevented as NAB rolls out new payment alerts

A new alert system from NAB has saved customers – including many desperate Swifties – a total of $80 million in potential scams.

  • by John Collett
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Letters
Letters

Can civil disobedience ever be justified?

Following recent climate activism protests and the jailing of the West Gate Bridge protesters, readers ponder if, or when, civil disobedience is not only justified, but in extreme cases, necessary.

Why Albanese refuses to take this leap of faith without Dutton

The prime minister has offended all sides by shelving his religious freedom law, yet it may just spare him an unholy political fight.

  • by David Crowe

Supermarket inquiries send Woolworths, Coles into damage control

Governments are already engaged in shadow-boxing matches with the supermarkets, which can’t afford to stand flat-footed.

  • by Elizabeth Knight
Richmond Tigers great and Devonport product Matthew Richardson at the launch of the Tasmanian AFL club’s colours, name and logo.
Opinion
AFL 2024

Tas-mania: How the devil did new AFL club pull so many members?

The Devils have pulled in more than 100,000 members since Monday. The moral here is not just about the volume – which is greater by far than the AFL or the new club had anticipated – but the rush in which they arrived.

  • by Greg Baum
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan at the announcement of the cancellation of the Commonwealth Games in July.

When the public service trembles, we all pay – this time, $600m

Global humiliation and the hundreds of millions of dollars wasted on the Commonwealth Games were preventable if the public service had given frank and full advice.

  • by Annika Smethurst
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Kane Cornes in training for his Gather Round boxing bout.
Opinion
AFL 2024

People want to see me get hurt, but here’s why I’m stepping into the boxing ring anyway

Just before Christmas, I received an unexpected offer: an invitation to join a high-profile boxing event in Adelaide during the week of the AFL’s Gather Round. This is why I accepted.

  • by Kane Cornes
A message for the schools raising future leaders.

If I could gather all the leaders of boys’ schools in one room, here’s what I would tell them

I am not interested in an exposé of male behaviour at any particular school. Our problem is society-wide, but the leaders of all-boys schools can make a real difference.

  • by Chanel Contos
Donald Trump peddles the evil twin of euphemisms, otherwise known as dysphemisms.

Why Trump’s money problems make him so dangerous

The former president’s financial woes are more than just embarrassing. They also make him easy prey for outsiders.

  • by Timothy L. O'Brien
Dejected Magpies after the loss to the Swans.
Analysis
AFL 2024

Do Collingwood have a premiership hangover or is this their sober reality?

The pageantry of their premiership celebrations has not masked Collingwood’s sluggish start to 2024. The question is, can they recover, or has their moment passed?

  • by Greg Baum