Opinion | Comment & Analysis | The Age

We’re sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. We’re working to restore it. Please try again later.

Opinion

Advertisement
The Bulldogs celebrate another goal against the Tigers on Saturday night.
Analysis
AFL 2024

The moment star Tiger would want back in horror loss to Dogs

Throughout their previous seven defeats, Richmond had performed admirably while undermanned, competing hard only to be overwhelmed late by more experienced teams. Not so against the Dogs.

  • by Andrew Wu

Latest

<p>
Letters
Letters

Parents don’t need more money, they need to instil values

A moral vacuum can’t be addressed by stuffing it with cash and mission statements, writes a reader.

No book should ever be banned, but if you’re really worried about kids’ safety, maybe we should start censoring some of the classics.
Opinion
Literature

Scared of same-sex parents? Wait until you meet this caterpillar with an eating disorder

No book should ever be banned, but if you’re really worried about kids’ safety, maybe we should start censoring some of the classics.

  • by Thomas Mitchell
The Wallabies and All Blacks doing battle in Melbourne in 2022.
Analysis
World Rugby

World Rugby ushers in law changes to speed up game, but have they opened a new loophole?

With the goal of reducing stoppages and making rugby more appealing to fans, new laws and law trials have been announced. But some people aren’t happy.

  • by Iain Payten
A young Richmond fan.
Opinion
Family

I know which footy team my family supports. Not all of them have realised it yet

When your firstborn taunts you with pictures of them wearing another team’s colours it’s enough to make you question your parenting skills.

  • by Claire Heaney
Last year’s Norm Smith medallist Bobby Hill would be on top of the All Stars wish list.
Analysis
AFL 2024

‘It’s bigger than that’: The match the AFL wants to revive after a decade in the wilderness

The AFL is pushing to stage an Indigenous exhibition game on the eve of next season in a bid to address the decline in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander footballers playing the game.

  • by Caroline Wilson
Advertisement
Is retired AFL superstar Buddy Franklin roast-worthy?

Time for an Australian sporting superstar to be roasted

If it’s good enough for the great Tom Brady, it’s good enough for one of our own.

  • by Peter FitzSimons
Carter Gordon

Rebels have handed RA an all-time hospital pass

Australian rugby has plenty of issues, but as the Rebels’ shambles shows, many have been self-inflicted.

  • by Paul Cully
Noosa was expecting a bumper Easter before the Brisbane lockdown.

Many of us aren’t engaged at work. What’s so bad about that?

A significant number of the workforce have always seen work as a means to an end, rather than an end in and of itself.

  • by Jim Bright
Many of us, especially older Australians, are still holding on to cash. It’s time to let it go.
Opinion
Cash

Cash is dead. Why are we still pretending it isn’t?

Cash will be gone in just seven years time, but many of us are still trying to hold on to the past. It’s time we move forward and embrace it.

  • by Bec Wilson
Interest rates are unlikely to drop soon, so it’s best to find savings where you can.
Opinion
Home loans

The five best quality home loans charging under 6 per cent

With rate cuts now not likely until next year, anyone who hasn’t already optimised their interest really ought to.

  • by Nicole Pedersen-McKinnon
Employers should focus on uncovering individuals who bring new and valuable perspectives to the table.
Opinion
Hiring

Should you hire for equity or for excellence?

Should the focus of recruitment be on ensuring fairness and inclusion, or on securing the highest level of individual talent? Is there a way to hire for both?

  • by Lauren Anderson

Chalmers has navigated a steady course. But can he nail a tricky landing?

Like a pilot negotiating fierce crosswinds, Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ dexterity will be judged on whether the economic landing is soft or hard.

  • by Peter Hartcher
Foreign Secretary David Cameron prepares to address guests in his first keynote speech since returning to politics.
Analysis
UK politics

One more time, with feeling: The reinvention of David Cameron

The former British prime minister’s shock return to politics was cynically received by the public. Now he’s got less than a year to rewrite his legacy.

  • by Rob Harris
Elon Musk, billionaire and chief executive officer of Tesla, at the Viva Tech fair in Paris in June.
Opinion
WordPlay

When it comes to names, does Elon Musk have the X-Factor?

The decision to ditch a brand name that has become part of the vernacular has sparked lively debate on a social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

  • by David Astle
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Premier Jacinta Allan touring the North East Link site on Thursday.

State’s finances tied to a runaway debt train of government’s own design

Victoria is the financially weakest state in the federation. It didn’t have to be this way.

  • The Age's View
Advertisement
The image used to promote the National Gallery of Victoria’s new Pharaoh exhibition shows a figure that is probably Thumose III.
Opinion
Arts

Why I won’t go to the NGV’s perplexing and problematic Pharaoh blockbuster

When Indigenous artefacts are being returned, and there is global recognition of the sanctity of the dead. Why do we make an exception for Egyptian rulers?

  • by Alan Attwood
<p>
Letters
Letters

Holding all Jews responsible for Israel is unacceptable

Readers debate students’ right to protest Israel’s actions in Gaza and what are its implications when it threatens Jewish students.

Tarryn Thomas is serving an 18-match AFL suspension and was sacked by North Melbourne.
Opinion
AFL 2024

Latest allegations should spell the end of Tarryn Thomas’ career

If new allegations of harassment against former Kangaroo Tarryn Thomas are verified, his case to return to play AFL football must be ruled off for good.

  • by Greg Baum
Stormy Daniels testifies as a promotional image for one of her shows is displayed on a monitor.

‘It could boomerang’: Stormy Daniels testimony on sex, lies and money is risky for both sides

The porn actor’s account was explosive in her indignant delivery and in the details of a sexual encounter with Donald Trump that at times sounded non-consensual.

  • by Shayna Jacobs, Perry Stein, Marianne LeVine and Devlin Barrett
Jim Chalmers’ comments about Australian families has started a population debate that will continue for years.
Analysis
Population

Chalmers wakes the baby debate the country needs

Jim Chalmers is not planning a fertility police squad in next week’s budget, but his comments on the birth rate go to an issue the world needs to debate.

  • by Shane Wright
President Bill Clinton meets Monica Lewinsky at a fundraiser event in 1996.

Can Trump survive a Stormy sex scandal? Just ask Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton accustomed the American people to political scandal. Donald Trump may benefit from their consequent ambivalence to politicians behaving badly.

  • by Nick Bryant
Wayne Bennett.
Opinion
NRL 2024

Why Wayne Bennett loves the game, but doesn’t chase the game

He’s into his fifth decade as an elite coach, but Wayne Bennett’s traits suit the way the modern game is played.

  • by Roy Masters
Sven Lindemann, Monique Lezsak
Analysis
Naked City

‘Stop the crocodile tears’: How a judge silenced a remorseless killer

Mother of twins Monique Lezsak died in a frenzied knife attack at the hands of her then partner, Sven Lindemann, as her daughter desperately tried to help. In court, the monster was revealed to be a coward.

  • by John Silvester
Ivan Cleary, Nick Politis, David Fifita
Analysis
NRL 2024

‘You know I barrack for Queensland?’ How Roosters won race for Fifita

Fed up with waiting, Roosters supremo Nick Politis was contemplating pulling the four-year, $3.3 million offer on the table to David Fifita. Then his phone rang.

  • by Michael Chammas
The company attracted investors including Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, Jack Ma and the Walton family and were billionaires before reaching age 40.

Warren Buffett has a $285 billion problem

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has become too big, and it’s getting bigger by the day. It makes it a lot less exciting.

  • by Justin Fox
Advertisement
ARLC chairman Peter V’landys and Canterbury Bulldogs supremo Phil Gould.
Opinion
NRL 2024

‘It’s not personal’: V’landys dismisses talk of Gould fallout after NRL breach notice

But the ARL Commission chairman has promised greater scrutiny on club officials who slam the game in their media roles.

  • by Andrew Webster
It might seem like your potential employer was discriminating against your youth, but the truth is probably more complex.

I didn’t get a job because I’m Gen Z. Why did that happen?

It might seem like your potential employer was discriminating against your youth, but the truth is probably more complex.

  • by Jonathan Rivett
No matter which way you look at it, the way we are working is broken.

Why open-plan offices are bad news for ADHD workers

Bright overhead lighting, noisy phone calls, unpredictable office temperature and smells from the kitchen are all triggers that can overload workers with ADHD.

  • by Adam Mawardi
Opinion
GDP

The economy’s just the means to an end. So, are we getting our money’s worth?

Our materialism puts us on a “hedonic treadmill”. We think buying a bit more stuff will make us happier and, at first, it does. But pretty soon the thrill wears off.

  • by Ross Gittins
Premier Daniel Andrews celebrates Labor’s win on election night last year.

Pallas says Labor’s promises have been delayed. Many would say they’ve been broken

Parents whose children will never attend promised childcare or see promised school upgrades are unlikely to be satisfied by the treasurer’s postponement of election pledges.

  • by Annika Smethurst
Players who suffered a concussion in the last NRL season: (Clockwise from top left) James Tedesco, Alex Johnston, Kalyn Ponga and Jordan Rapana.

Five ways to kick off the concussion debate without stopping the game

This problem is too complicated to reduce it to the kick-off debate.

  • by Michael Morgan and Anthony Boyd
Jim Chalmers, delivering his third federal budget, faces his toughest challenge yet.

If Chalmers gets the budget wrong, interest rate rises may kill his government

For Treasurer Jim Chalmers, this budget is existential. Bad decisions could increase unemployment or provoke more interest rate rises. Both would be political nails in the government’s coffin.

  • by Shane Wright
<p>
Letters
Letters

No scientist can’t be shocked by this cut to cancer research

Readers are floored by the Victorian state budget cuts to a cancer research centre.

By cancelling Mother’s Day, this school is so inclusive it excludes mums

Hunter Valley Grammar School has cancelled its Mother’s Day gift stall for children in K-6 and replaced it with a “Family Gift Stall”.

  • by Brad Emery
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and US President Joe Biden.

Biden had hoped to send a quiet message, then Israel leaked it

The US decision to pause the delivery of bombs represents a significant turning point in its relationship with Israel. But it may not necessarily be a breaking point.

  • by Peter Baker
Advertisement
Earnings season showed the big four banks experienced a fall in profits and the themes were remarkably similar.
Opinion
Big four

CBA lowers the curtain on a profit season banks would rather forget

This season was not one that banks will be crowing about – all experienced a fall in profits and the themes were remarkably similar.

  • by Elizabeth Knight
An uneasy stand-off formed at Melbourne University this month between a Jewish community rally and students protesting against university ties to weapons companies and Israel’s war in Gaza.

When uni students endorse terror, it’s time for political intervention

The university protests in Australia arising from the Israel-Gaza conflict have moved beyond a debate about free speech.

  • by David Crowe
Lengthy ban: Gold Coast’s Wil Powell.
Opinion
AFL 2024

Homophobic and dumb: Why the punishment is right for Powell’s slur

Gold Coast player’s language shows that changing behaviour takes both time and decisive action.

  • by Peter Ryan
Aisha Khodary has spent almost every night at the Monash encampment.

Uni protests are messy, but they prove that campuses have come back to life

A sad legacy of lockdowns is that too many of us are unable to stop and listen to another side. But the noise of the encampments shows that campuses have come back to life.

  • by Alexandra Wake
iPad
Opinion
Gadgets

Apple’s tone-deaf iPad ad triggers our darkest AI fears

Apple has made its worst marketing faux pas since it forced everyone to listen to U2.

  • by Dave Lee
The Russian invasion of Ukraine pushed up oil prices.
Opinion
Energy

It’s not easy being green for UK and European oil giants

The oil super majors are eyeing shifting their primary stock exchange listings to New York as a stronger push to reduce fossil fuels in their home markets weighs on their share prices.

  • by Stephen Bartholomeusz

The world’s turned a blind eye, but I’ve seen Gaza’s horrors

More than half a million children are sheltering in Rafah. Families I spoke to there as an Australian aid worker told me they were terrified, wondering how they will protect their kids.

  • by Sacha Myers
Adam Simpson, Luke Beveridge, Ken Hinkley.
Opinion
AFL 2024

Why AFL needs to embrace the coaching merry-go-round

In overseas sports, head coaches often transition swiftly between roles, quitting or being fired from one franchise to resurface as the head coach at another. The AFL’s landscape with more entrenched coaches underscores the need for more open minds on changing clubs.

  • by Kane Cornes
Moses Suli was nudged out of position just before the tackle on Jared Waerea-Hargreaves.

Why I will continue to argue for concussion victims – past and future

The column written by my colleague last week shocked me, but this issue is far bigger than a difference of opinion.

  • by Peter FitzSimons
Nicho Hynes takes on the Dragons.
Opinion
NRL 2024

Why this is the most important three weeks of Nicho Hynes’ career

Over the next month, the Sharks have a golden chance to shake their tag as flat-track bullies – and their star man can prove he belongs at Origin level.

  • by Andrew Johns
Advertisement
Blake Acres celebrates the winning goal.
Analysis
AFL 2024

Courage, a near miss and a shoulder hanging by a thread: The 20-second passage of play that shook the MCG

We break down the key moments from a play Blues fans will never forget the last time their side took on the Demons at the mighty MCG.

  • by Andrew Wu
With tax rates at an all-time high, getting your house in order tax-wise is more important than ever.

Why sorting your tax early this year is more important than ever

You need to look for every tax deduction and defer any income you can, and take advice on your particular circumstances so you don’t overdo it.

  • by Julia Hartman
<p>

Albanese’s is an ‘experimental’ government – and it looks like the experiment is failing

It’s the first federal government I’ve seen that has sought to build most of its political and policy mandate after winning office rather than before it.

  • by Shaun Carney
“Buy your mum some flowers and go spoil that goddess rotten.”

Mums, learn to put yourself first for once in your life

“Motherhood is as easy as climbing Everest in high heels and hotpants, carrying a disco ball.”

  • by Kathy Lette