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Opinion

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Part of solving the current housing crisis needs to be removing financial barriers for people who want to downsize.
Opinion
Pension

Want to help the housing crisis? Bring back the pensioner savings account

Part of solving the current housing crisis needs to be removing financial barriers for people who want to downsize. Pensioners are a good place to start.

  • by Rachel Lane

Latest

Andrew Forrest is delighted with the federal budget

Coalition slams the billionaires’ budget as miners cheer

The likes of Andrew Forrest and Gina Rinehart’s companies will receive an indirect boost to mine and process critical minerals or develop green hydrogen.

  • by Elizabeth Knight
Cracking into your super to top up your income later in life can be a valid strategy.

If I drop to part-time, can I use super to top up my income?

Managing an income while drawing down from your super can be a delicate balance, but there are plenty of ways to make it work.

  • by Noel Whittaker
Duncan Wanblad, chief executive of Anglo American, announced “radical changes”.

Diamonds for sale: Inside the plan to crash BHP’s $64 billion party

Anglo American chief Duncan Wanblad has shown his hand as the company tries to fight off BHP. His Plan B looks a lot like BHP’s Plan A.

  • by Stephen Bartholomeusz
Ange Postecoglou during Tottenham’s loss.
Analysis
EPL

The Premier League has exposed Postecoglou as a purist in an impure world

The Australian is running Tottenham with principle. But English football is not always good and nourishing, and Postecoglou is not always patient with deviation.

  • by Emma Kemp
Former president Donald Trump walks to the courtroom following a break in his trial at Manhattan criminal court on May 9.

If the US election were held today, Trump would win

Trump’s many outrages are plain for all to see, yet thus far he is playing the winning hand against Joe Biden.

  • by Bruce Wolpe
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Students and supporters attend a rally protesting Israel’s war in Gaza at an encampment at the University of Sydney earlier this month.

Students have a right to protest. Peacefully. On campus. Universities must be defended

Calls for “intifada” are antisemitic, but it is not clear that police should end an entire protest in response to isolated criminal offences.

  • by Alan Finkel
David Fifita and Nick Politis.
Analysis
NRL 2024

Why the Roosters won’t lose any more sleep over Fifita flip

“No” is a word the Roosters have heard with unusual regularity in recent times. However, the club isn’t overly concerned about the David Fifita knockback.

  • by Adrian Proszenko
Sam Durham, Jake Kelly, Xavier Duursma, Jade Gresham and Ben McKay of the Bombers sing the song.
Money Talks
AFL 2024

The list-demographics sweet spot fuelling the high-flying Bombers in 2024

We should have seen Essendon’s uprising coming – and the reason why helps explain two other fringe Melbourne-based finals contenders not meeting external expectations.

  • by Marc McGowan
GPS

‘Red light and speed camera ahead’: The ambiguity of Google Maps

Are there two cameras, one for speeding and one for lights? Or just one camera? Voiced messages lack the punctuation to eliminate the doubt.

  • by David Astle
Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin last week.

Unwitting Australians are doing Putin’s dirty work for him

There is a creeping acceptance of views branding Australia and its allies as imperialists and using whataboutism to deflect moral arguments against tyrants. Much of it is home-grown.

  • by Matthew Sussex

This budget will make us better off now, worse off later

It seems the top priority of Anthony Albanese’s government is not to have any priorities.

  • by Ross Gittins
Treasurer Jim Chalmers.

Is this the budget we needed? Our experts deliver their verdicts

Jim Chalmers’ third budget sought to strike a balance between inflation and cost of living. Here’s what our experts thought.

  • by David Crowe, Shane Wright, Jacqueline Maley, Peter Hartcher and Ross Gittins
Cross-class friendships have a stronger impact on future incomes than school quality, family structure and job availability, the study has found.

The Albanese government doesn’t just like women, it needs them

Women voters are growing increasingly progressive which makes them appetising prey not just for Labor but for the Greens and the teals.

  • by Jacqueline Maley
Treasurer Jim Chalmers at Parliament House on Tuesday morning.

Don’t be fooled: this is an election budget with plenty of pork-barrelling

This budget taxes more, and spends more, than any of the others for at least a quarter-century, outside the pandemic years. And it conceals the pork better.

  • by Peter Hartcher
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (left) and Treasurer Jim Chalmers.

Labor’s promised subsidies for everyone. They’re not guaranteed votes in return

The political message in this budget is breathtakingly simple. The broader policy plan is fiendishly complex.

  • by David Crowe
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Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers arrives at Parliament House in Canberra on budget day.

The budget handout that could cruel your next pay rise

Just spending money on handouts to bring down inflation is not Jim Chalmers’ main game.

  • by Shane Wright
Blue Light disco, 1993.
Opinion
Crime

The criminal reason we should bring back blue light discos

How to keep the minds of bored teenagers off pinching a Nissan Skyline or accosting strangers at a train station? The answer is clear to me.

  • by Simon Taylor
The re-emergence of Keith Gill sent GameStop shares soaring.

How a cartoon from ‘Roaring Kitty’ sparked a $6.1 billion Wall Street frenzy

The man who ignited the meme stock mania in 2021 has resurfaced after lying low for years, sending shares flying. We might need a sequel to the movie Dumb Money.

  • by Stephen Bartholomeusz
Jeremy Cameron talks to a Geelong official on the ground after suffering a head knock against Port Adelaide.
Opinion
AFL 2024

‘Embarrassing, terrible, absurd’: AFL criticised for letting Cameron play on after head knock

If the AFL truly wants to treat concussion seriously, it needs to tighten up the process for assessing players immediately after they cop an obvious blow to the head.

Adem Yze.
Analysis
AFL 2024

The Richmond recession: Its underlying causes, and the Tigers’ way out

To strip back the playing ranks to near ground zero would be a road to prolonged recession. Richmond people know too well what that looks like.

  • by Jake Niall
Nathan Cleary comes from the field on  Friday.

Why Nathan Cleary’s hamstring injury isn’t the end of the world for NSW

Michael Maguire is trying to cultivate a next-man-up ethos for the Blues. He’ll have to start straight away.

  • by Andrew Webster

Netanyahu and Hamas know this war is unwinnable. So how does it end?

With impossible war aims, neither side credibly can claim victory. So the conflict grinds on.

  • by Peter Hartcher
Stormy Daniels and Donald Trump.

In the president v the porn star, Stormy Daniels is a legal dominatrix

The compelling part of this case is not whether Trump did something wrong with business papers, but how it shows – in a vivid way – that he’s the wrong man for the job.

  • by Maureen Dowd
X owner Elon Musk and the Albanese government have been locked in a legal battle over the graphic video of the Sydney church stabbing.
Opinion
Elon Musk

Picking fights with social media giants seems to be ending in tears

Australia’s government and regulators have plenty of allies in their attempts to rein in the behaviour of platform owners – but it’s just not that easy.

  • by Elizabeth Knight
Top of the world: Jimmy Anderson celebrates his record-breaking wicket with friend and teammate Alastair Cook.

His career pre-dates YouTube and Facebook, now Anderson’s exit sets stage for a Bazball Ashes assault

They admired his skill and sometimes were taken aback by his sledging. How Jimmy Anderson was seen through Australian eyes.

  • by Daniel Brettig
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People aged under 25 who choose to have children should get much greater government support.
Opinion
Parenting

We should stop funding IVF and pay under-25s to have children

When egg freezing, with all its associated costs and uncertain outcomes, looks more attractive than just getting down to it, we are in the grip of crazy collective thinking.

  • by Ramona Koval
Playmaker Daniel Rioli was in fine form, roaming across half-back for Richmond.
Four Points
AFL 2024

Gold Coast don’t need more pimply kids, but the Tigers do: Why a Rioli trade could be on

The Suns are interested in talented Tiger Daniel Rioli, and a trade could be mutually beneficial for both parties.

  • by Michael Gleeson
Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas militant group’s leader in the Gaza Strip pirctured in 2018.

Sinwar drew up the attack that started the war in Gaza. Now he’s key to ending it

Even as Israel attempts to kill the man it considers the architect of the October 7 attack, it has been forced to negotiate with him to free the remaining hostages.

  • by Patrick Kingsley, Julian Barnes and Adam Rasgon
Joe Biden became his party’s presumptive nominee when he won enough delegates in Georgia.
Opinion
Trade wars

The US is tightening the screws on China

Joe Biden is throwing the kitchen sink at a key part of China’s economy.

  • by Stephen Bartholomeusz
A

Unable to crack the housing market, I went looking for cocaine

No, I’m not contemplating becoming a drug dealer, but I will need something close to a lottery win to get me out of the rental rat race.

  • by Millie Muroi
Wests Tigers coach Benji Marshall (second from left) on the bench in Tamworth.
Analysis
NRL 2024

The Tigers are hurtling to the bottom again. This play sums up why Benji Marshall has a huge problem

The best teams constantly talk about attention to detail. One moment in Tamworth on Saturday sums up how far the Tigers are still off the pace after six straight losses.

  • by Adam Pengilly
Emotions were raw as the AFL paid tribute to former Fremantle and Greater Western Sydney player Cam McCarthy at the weekend.
Analysis
AFL 2024

A reminder that footy is just a game, and why Dees need Petracca to be their Dusty: Key takeouts from round nine

The outpouring of grief for Cam McCarthy underpinned round nine and showed us that footballers are as fragile as the rest of us, while Christian Petracca gave us a glimpse of what might be the answer to Melbourne’s forward woes.

  • by Andrew Stafford
Everyone has a role to play.
Opinion
Family

Bookkeeper or insect killer? Everyone has a role to play in a family

There’s no pleasure in life greater than being asked to open a jar of olives by a loved one.

  • by Richard Glover
Harry Johnson-Holmes is helped from the field.

Engine gloom: Unprecedented injury carnage at Tahs demands answers

The Waratahs started the season with 10 front rowers in their squad. Five months on, they are all injured.

  • by Iain Payten
Remarks by Treasurer Jim Chalmers seem to say there’ll be no one-off increase in the pitifully inadequate rate of unemployment benefits in Tuesday night’s budget.
Opinion
JobSeeker

Labor’s persistent refusal to fix the JobSeeker payment is shameful

Australia has the lowest benefits for the short-term unemployed among 34 countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

  • by Ross Gittins
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.

Both Albanese and Dutton believe they’re on the right track. But one of them must be wrong

The difficulty in politics is that at some point – and you never know when – the risk calculus flips. Tomorrow’s budget might tell us if we’re there yet.

  • by Sean Kelly
A class action lawsuit is been issued against Optus after a major hack last year.

Optus desperately needs a reset. Here’s what comes next

Australia’s second-largest telco is priming for a much-needed reboot after suffering the nation’s worst data breaches and telecommunications outages.

  • by David Swan
Illustration by Andrew Dyson

Housing system is broke and broken, but government alone can’t solve this crisis

No silver bullet is going to fix our housing woes, but there is now a window of opportunity through which real and significant change can occur.

  • by Scott Langford
Family feuds: Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus wants a simpler approach in custody cases that is focused on children.

Too often, alcohol and family violence go together. Now, we need to separate them

The kids who hide in closets and bathrooms – hearing furniture being thrown and adults screaming – know that when drinking is involved, it’s like pouring petrol on a bonfire.

  • by Kym Valentine
NSW halfback options Nicho Hynes and Mitchell Moses after Nathan Cleary’s injury.

NSW have a halfback problem. Here are six contenders to replace Cleary

Nathan Cleary will miss the entire State of Origin series and two other main contenders to replace him are injured. Has the halves curse struck the Blues again?

  • by Adam Pengilly
Yarra Valley Grammar School principal, Mark Merry.

Expelling problem students sounds impressive. But all it does is pass the buck

In kicking the can of responsibility for the Yarra Valley Grammar students who ranked their female classmates to another school, parents are missing the point.

  • by Adam Voigt
Analysis
Aviation

The undoing of Bonza: Can Bazza, Sheila and Bruce be rescued?

Bonza has farewelled the first of its five seized aircraft as it sets off for less financially stricken pastures. Now, the company’s administrators turn to facing its 60,000 creditors and $100 million in unpaid debts.

  • by Amelia McGuire
Jack de Belin on the charge for the Dragons.
Analysis
NRL 2024

De Belin family’s fury after perjury charge

The Dragons star’s parents and sister have lashed out at the police who investigated his case.

  • by Danny Weidler
The new Magic Keyboard looks like a laptop keyboard.
Analysis
Gadgets

With a series of firsts, Apple’s new iPad launch points to changes ahead

At Apple’s new heritage-listed headquarters in London, the company gave hints about the future in its reveal of new iPads and accessories.

  • by Tim Biggs
The government’s plan to pay students $319 a week for placements is a start, but just because something is better than nothing doesn’t inherently make it good.
Opinion
University

Labor’s paid placements are a slap in the face, not a saving grace

The plan to pay students $319 a week for placements is a start, but just because something is better than nothing doesn’t inherently make it good.

  • by Victoria Devine
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Coming into money early on in life can be a wonderful opportunity to learn about investing and financial markets.

What should my daughter do with her $20,000 inheritance?

Coming into money early on in life can be a wonderful opportunity to learn about investing and financial markets.

  • by Paul Benson
 Sex-bots – glamorous, artificial lovers that never complain – are already on the market.
Opinion
Harassment

What happens if a sexbot is your first intimate encounter? Nothing good

Artificial intelligence, particularly its intersection with pornography, could have a huge impact on gender relations offline.

  • by Jacqueline Maley
Apartments offer a more achievable alternative for those looking for a way into the property market, but there are a few factors to consider before signing on the dotted line.
Opinion
Home loans

Downsizing the Australian dream: What to consider when buying an apartment

Apartments offer a more achievable alternative for those looking for a way into the property market, but there are a few factors to consider before signing on the dotted line.

  • by Dominic Powell
What’s the story? Treasurer Jim Chalmers gives some teasers at a news conference on Friday.

Jim Chalmers, the budget and the art of make-believe

The treasurer has rewritten the narrative on federal budgets. On Tuesday night, we’ll get to decide whether we believe his story – or at least want to believe it.

  • by Parnell Palme McGuinness