Opinion
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
Opinion
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
Opinion
Ask an expert
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
Opinion
Mergers & acquisitions
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
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
Opinion
US Votes 2024
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
Opinion
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
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
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
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
‘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
Analysis
State Parliament
No panacea, but domestic violence bail reforms strike the right balance
Meddling with bail laws is a balancing act state governments often get wrong. By taking his time, the premier has got it right.
- by Michael McGowan
Opinion
Putin's Russia
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
Opinion
Federal budget
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
Analysis
Federal budget
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
Opinion
Federal budget
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
Opinion
Federal budget
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
Analysis
Federal budget
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
Analysis
Federal budget
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
Leadership change is the only route to peace in Gaza
One fine day, probably not in my lifetime, both the leaders of Hamas and Israel will die. Perhaps, and only perhaps, when that happens and a new, compassionate and inspired, leadership of both emerges, willing to bury their respective prejudices, pride, and power play, they may have a conversation and a truce will result.
Opinion
Domestic violence
DV bail changes make a big difference, but Minns missed one big red flag
The NSW government’s proposed laws will make it much harder for the most serious offenders to inflict harm. But there are other protections it can and must deploy.
- by Rosalind Dixon
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
Opinion
Sharemarket
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
Opinion
Homelessness
My neighbour took his life rather than face homelessness. Will Sydney bother to notice?
The last time anyone saw him, he was tearing the development notice off a wall by the lobby entrance and ripping it up in anger, frustration and despair.
- by Sue Williams
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.
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
Opinion
State of Origin
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
Opinion
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
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
Opinion
US Votes 2024
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
Government will pay for dragging its feet on social reform
Being risk-averse has created the impression the government is in a muddle and understandably voters will seek alternative representatives who present more definite ideas and policies.
Editorial
Censorship
Cumberland Council should reverse its same-sex library book ban
One councillor against the book ban says it contradicts Cumberland’s motto of “Welcome, Belong, Succeed”.
- The Herald's View
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
Analysis
Australian cricket
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
Opinion
Domestic violence
Electronic monitoring works, so let’s get on with it
The government has foreshadowed that it will consider bail reform in the coming days – but we know the premier is dismissive of an effective commonsense solution. Our state deserves better.
- by Mark Speakman
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
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
Analysis
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
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
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
Opinion
Housing crisis
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
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
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
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
Opinion
Super Rugby
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
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
Opinion
Federal budget
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
Analysis
Telecommunications
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
There is plenty of life in the old cash yet, thank you
Bec Wilson asserts the banks believe cash will disappear in seven years (“Cash is dead. Why are we still pretending it isn’t?“, May 11). She should have written that the banks want cash to disappear in seven years. This is so they can charge retailers more in transaction fees who can then pass it on to consumers.
Opinion
Housing crisis
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