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Opinion

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There are no fun facts about the next UK PM, but that’s his strength

Sir Keir Starmer looks certain to lead Britain with the most left-wing Labour government on economic matters since Harold Wilson was PM.

  • by George Brandis

Latest

Trump delivers remarks at Trump Tower the day after his guilty verdict.

New York, the city that made Trump rich and famous, has turned on him

Trump’s conviction was the third and heaviest blow he has been dealt in New York – a series of challenges to his ego, his bottom line, and now, perhaps, his freedom.

  • by Jesse McKinley and Maggie Haberman
Downsizing.

Can we downsize into a more expensive home and still add to super?

There are a raft of conditions to consider when making a downsizer contribution that you need to keep in mind.

  • by Paul Benson
The truth is, I wouldn’t wish an inheritance on anyone, but as generations get older, it’s a tough conversation many of us are having.

You’re not entitled to an inheritance, so here’s how to ask about it

The truth is, I wouldn’t wish an inheritance on anyone, but as generations get older, it’s a tough conversation many of us are having.

  • by Victoria Devine
Joseph Suaalii warming up with the NSW Blues at a training camp in the Blue Mountains.
Analysis
NRL 2024

Return to NRL after rugby no done deal, says Suaalii

Rejoining the Roosters is no certainty for Joseph Suaalii when his contract with Rugby Australia runs out in 2027.

  • by Danny Weidler
A moment to celebrate: Young Bulldog Sam Darcy.
Analysis
AFL 2024

Darcy, Daicos brilliance shows why father-sons must cost more

Nick Daicos is a generational footballer and Sam Darcy has the tool kit to become one. They show the inadequacies of the father-son rule, which is to be reformed.

  • by Jake Niall
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Laura Tingle, chief political correspondent of the ABC’s “7.30” current affairs television program.
Opinion
Racism

If Australia’s a racist country, it’s not just a black and white issue

There is an authorial arrogance to writers’ festival anti-racism, in which whiteness is forever and always the protagonist.

  • by Parnell Palme McGuinness

‘It was the first time they had heard Alan Jones afraid’: Sally McManus

The union “nun” talks about Albanese, Dutton, pizza, and why she has grudging respect for Michaelia Cash.

  • by Peter FitzSimons
Australians lose hundreds of millions of dollars every year to scams.
Opinion
Hip pocket

That sinking feeling: What to do if you fall for a scam

You’re probably kicking yourself, but you’re far from alone – Australians are losing about $20 million a month to scams, and many fall victim more than once.

  • by Dominic Powell
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra

The six reasons Anthony Albanese could still go for an election this year (and get married soon after)

Anthony Albanese has said he plans to serve a full term, but there are at least six good reasons for him to consider going to the polls early.

  • by James Massola
William places a wedding ring on Kate in 2011. The prince prefers not to wear his wedding band.
Opinion
Marriage

I’m with Prince William – you don’t need to put a ring on it

Carats don’t always lead to marriages that stick, so why bother with a wedding band? The course of true love surely runs no smoother with bling wrapped around your fourth finger.

  • by Claire Heaney

Where do all the bookish kids go if their school doesn’t have a library?

They need a retreat to the quiet world of imagination sometimes, away from the hurly-burly of the playground.

  • by Jane Caro
The worst of part of being an adult? No one cares about your birthday.

Unhappy birthday to me: How Facebook ruined my big day

The decline of Facebook means no one knows it’s your birthday any more which means I don’t get to hear from people I almost never think about.

  • by Thomas Mitchell
Daly Cherry-Evans
Analysis
NRL 2024

‘I’m enjoying this too much’: Cherry-Evans not ready to retire from Origin arena

This year, like last year, the Maroons skipper has had to field questions about his plans beyond this Origin series. But he’s not ready to walk away from rep footy just yet.

  • by Christian Nicolussi
Luke Keary
Analysis
NRL 2024

212 points in five weeks: The secret sauce that finally has Roosters’ attack firing

This time last year, the Roosters couldn’t score for 79 minutes, and never looked like scoring either. Now the NRL’s most scrutinised attack has left the rest of the competition for dead.

  • by Dan Walsh
Ah, now that’s a proper office space.
Opinion
Comedy

Give me back my landline, my desk drawers, and my dreary old office

The modern office space is a noisy, annoying, overcrowded travesty.

  • by Richard Glover
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Helen Toner in May cautioned against over-relying on AI chatbots, saying there was “still a lot we don’t know” about them.
Analysis
AI

Australian at the centre of the high-stakes battle over AI has a warning for the world

There’s a war raging about the future of artificial intelligence - and Melbourne-born Helen Toner is in the thick of it.

  • by David Swan
North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson.
Opinion
AFL 2024

Why Clarkson is in danger of becoming North’s greatest liability

Appointing the four-time premiership coach was meant to herald a bright new era for the Kangaroos, but things haven’t gone according to plan.

  • by Caroline Wilson

NRL to take back seat, for now, as Origin behemoth emerges again

There is a solution to the mundane nature of the NRL regular season – bring back the “final five”.

  • by Peter FitzSimons
Nicole Pedersen McKinnon
Opinion
EOFY

My three-step hack to stack EOFY sales discounts

Brace for incessant ads and annoying jingles: EOFY sales are on the way. Here’s how you can make the most of the savings.

  • by Nicole Pedersen-McKinnon
When you look at people retiring comfortably today, it’s easy to see what the most important foundations of a happy retirement are.

Six financial foundations you need in place (long) before retiring

When you look at people retiring comfortably today, it’s easy to see what the most important foundations of a happy retirement are.

  • by Bec Wilson
People celebrate after former president Donald Trump was found guilty on all counts at Manhattan Criminal Court on Thursday.

The bad thing about the Trump verdict? That people celebrated it

Trump’s business model is tribalism, and the guilty verdict will further entrench it. So, for his political opponents, there is little cause for celebration.

  • by Jacqueline Maley

Why a guilty verdict won’t dethrone King Donald

If the American people elect Donald Trump president for a second term, they will be doing so very deliberately, in full knowledge of the man, his character and his record.

  • by Peter Hartcher
Phil Gould rallies his troops as NSW coach in 2004.

‘We’d be open to Gus being involved’: Why Queensland gets Origin, and NSW does not

Why is there an indifference to Origin in this state as opposed to Queensland, whose entire identity is defined by what happens in three interstate matches each year?

  • by Andrew Webster
Opinion
Taxis

How’s your Uber rating? Mine came as a shock

Four drivers gave me one star. Four! When it comes to tiny metrics of anonymous condemnation, that’s a caning.

  • by Julia Baird
Are men willing to call out misogynistic comments that are made when women aren’t around?

His shocking comments made the men stare at their shoes. Good men must do better

We have a culture that feels impotent to the power that certain men wield in creating a narrative of women.

  • by Jacinta Parsons
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Just a few years ago, Xi Jinping’s economy was on the brink of world domination.

The West is completely unprepared for Xi Jinping’s next masterstroke

The US and its allies face a grim choice if China escalates tensions with Taiwan. It could lead to an economic catastrophe.

  • by Philip Pilkington
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt

Super Rugby struggles turn blowtorch on new-look Wallabies

The Tests in July against Wales are so important for brightening the national mood that they are in the must-win category.

  • by Paul Cully
Former US president Donald Trump after the verdict was read at the Criminal Court in New York.

The jury was unanimous. What happens next to Donald Trump is far less clear

The guilty verdict hit like a thunderclap across New York, the city where the former president made his name.

  • by Farrah Tomazin
David Warner.

‘Fearless’ Warner chasing grand slam of world titles with Australia at T20 cup

Australia are aiming to add the world Twenty20 trophy to go alongside their Test championship and one-day cup triumphs over the past 12 months.

  • by Malcolm Conn

Purist, obsessive, intense: Why the Michael Maguire I know is an extraordinary competitor

A year after he won the premiership with Souths, I worked on a book with Michael Maguire. I don’t think I’ve met anyone who wants to win so badly.

  • by Malcolm Knox

Trump’s the guilty one, but it’s Biden who needs a ‘get out of jail’ card

Donald Trump is still favoured to snatch the presidency in November. Joe Biden’s opportunity for a reset will come on June 27.

  • by Bruce Wolpe
Australians seem to think they’re prudish, and yet love to strip off.
Opinion
Body image

Australians are the keenest nudists in the world. I want in

After a passenger was arrested for streaking 32,000 feet in the air on a Virgin flight, you have to wonder about the psychology behind getting your gear off.

  • by Kate Halfpenny
Tornetta owned just nine shares of Tesla when he sued the electric car maker six years ago, claiming a $US56 billion pay scheme awarded to the company’s chief executive Elon Musk was excessive.

$85 billion battle: The drummer who started the fight to block the biggest payday in history

Richard Tornetta is an unlikely campaigner against one of the world’s richest men.

  • by James Titcomb
Wests Tigers coach Benji Marshall (second from left) on the bench in Tamworth.
Opinion
NRL 2024

Benji Marshall puts his family ahead of football. Why are we attacking him?

The Wests Tigers coach has been criticised for taking a mid-season trip to Fiji.

  • by Andrew Webster
There’s a desire in our society to believe most companies exist on a reasonably narrow spectrum with nothing radical at the extremes. But that’s a myth.

Can my job make me work on a public holiday without extra pay?

While being rostered on to work on a public holiday can feel like a tough gig, if your work has given you enough notice, there may not be much you can do.

  • by Jonathan Rivett
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Australia’s future to be made under Treasury’s watchful eye

Treasury’s “national interest framework” in the planned Future Made in Australia Act provides stronger grounds for hoping that the oversight will keep the crazy decisions to a minimum.

  • by Ross Gittins
The remnants ofatent city in Rafah set alight by an Israeli airstrike, burning its inhabitants to death.

When you force people into a ‘safe zone’ then bomb it, ‘whoops’ doesn’t quite cut it

What happens you instruct a million people to go to a tiny area, then bomb that place? Melting bodies. Netanyahu can’t call the Rafah deaths a “tragedy” of hindsight.

  • by Waleed Aly
Phil Waugh

The Rebels are victims of a long-overdue austerity drive in Australian rugby

Is Rugby Australia’s decision to axe Melbourne another episode of calamity in the 15-man code, or a necessary act of leadership?

  • by Iain Payten
The Coalition has been leading calls for Andrew Giles to be sacked.

Four reasons why the prime minister won’t sack Andrew Giles

The Coalition has dominated the debate on the release of criminals from immigration detention, yet Anthony Albanese won’t sack his minister. To fix the politics, Labor needs to fix the policy.

  • by David Crowe
I was seven before my mother finally escaped my father. We have both been repeatedly let down by authorities who made excuses for the violent men in our lives.
Opinion
Real life

‘Honey, you’re overreacting’: The reason why too many men get away with it

My father went berserk and admitted his obsessive control of my mother. My ex-partner stalked me and attacked me. But doctors and police just wouldn’t listen.

  • by Jennie Hollamby
How long can you hold your breath for?

Is Chris Minns leading us into a Portaloo apocalypse?

Cities must build more homes for our people – and fast – but there are consequences.

  • by Kerri Sackville
Services Australia accounts for half of the total amount of money spent on office furniture across all government agencies between 2017-22.

Who’s going to win the return-to-office tug of war?

There’s a colossal battle happening right now in many workplaces across the country, pitting WFH employees against their office-obsessed bosses.

  • by Tim Duggan
A weakening iron ore price has pushed the Australian sharemarket down on Monday.

BHP walks after Anglo breaks off the engagement – but never say never

Anglo American’s refusal to engage with BHP forced the world’s largest miner to abandon its $74 billion mega-deal.

  • by Stephen Bartholomeusz
Saints forward Max King.
Opinion
AFL 2024

Forget the contract, Max King must leave the Saints

The St Kilda forward is at a crucial moment in his career and needs to start asking the hard questions about his future.

  • by Kane Cornes
Reece Walsh and Queensland will be favourites for game one.

Origin in reverse: Queensland are raging favourites – and they can’t hide from it

Always the team which picks the no-nonsense workers and rises above their underdog status, the Maroons are in new territory this year.

  • by Andrew Johns
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Peter Fitzsimons: These are the stories I want to read about the Olympics.
Opinion
Olympics

Forget the medals and PBs, I want Olympic poetry and romance

Higher, faster and stronger is far from the whole story when it comes to the Olympic Games.

  • by Peter FitzSimons
Before there was Gina, there was Barbra.
Opinion
WordPlay

Why the Streisand effect could be morphing into the Gina effect

The moment you tell us to look away, we can’t stop gawking, as Gina Rinehart recently found out to her detriment.

  • by David Astle
Kendall Jenner (from left), Olivia Rodrigo and Hailey Bieber are all fans of the crew sock.
Opinion
Trends

Forget skinny jeans, Gen Z are now coming for our socks

Ankle socks are the latest fashion item to be cancelled by Gen Z. What’s a Millennial to do?

  • by Jenna Guillaume
High-profile ABC journalist and board member Laura Tingle has blown open a debate about the public broadcaster’s approach to the Voice referendum, arguing an obsession with balance has degraded coverage of the debate.
Opinion
Racism

Why ABC chiefs should back Laura Tingle for calling out racism

As is often the case in Australia, the person who calls out racism faces far more scrutiny than the racism itself.

  • by Giri Sivaraman