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
Carter Gordon was thrown to the wolves at last year’s Rugby World Cup.

Rugby’s latest clown show is more tragedy than comedy

Gold Coast Titans recruit Carter Gordon has not let rugby down with his impending NRL defection. It’s the other way around.

  • by Paul Cully

Latest

Dr Michael Mosley heads up a new series about battling insomnia and sleep apnoea in Australia.
Opinion
Ageing

Michael Mosley’s death reminded me of what an ER doctor once told me

The modern truism that 80 is the new 60, and 60 is the new 40, ignores the fact that not everyone’s body is going to get the memo.

  • by Deborah Snow
Voluntary assisted dying is considered suicide under law, the Federal Court has ruled.
Editorial
Euthanasia

Victoria’s assisted dying laws need updating

Victoria, once viewed a trailblazer on the important issue of dying with dignity, has now fallen behind other jurisdictions with such laws.

  • The Age's View
Dylan Wright

Origin Welcome to Country deserves bouquets not brickbats, but as for the anthem ...

Ours is a dud anthem to begin with – but when sung with very nearly a Nashville twang, it was the exemplar of the rising damp of Coca-Colonisation on the Australian national spirit.

  • by Peter FitzSimons
For as long as I can recall, I’ve squirmed when I’ve heard the comparison of work being someone’s “baby”.
Opinion
Careers

You don’t need to find a job you love, and that’s OK

“Find a job you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.” No one knows who first said that, but whoever it was, they were lying.

  • by Tim Duggan
A comfortable retirement can take many forms, and can be achieved even with less than optimal superannuation.

How to retire sooner with less (and still be comfortable)

Here’s what to consider if you want to retire before you reach age pension age but don’t have a big superannuation balance.

  • by Bec Wilson
Advertisement
If you’re a regular gym-goer with a physical ailment, you could be in line for a $400 private health payout.

How to instantly claim an extra $400 if you have private health

Would an instant extra $400 help right now? Because if you have private health, that may be on offer.

  • by Nicole Pedersen-McKinnon

Dutton needs to emulate a former president named Donald. No, not that one

At first glance, making the Liberal Party more illiberal aligns with the global rise of hard-right parties. Delve deeper and an alternative conservative narrative emerges.

  • by Nick Bryant
Bridgerton season 3.

What makes Bridgerton so bingeable? It holds men to women’s beauty standards

The one thing we’ve learned over decades of watching actors arrive on the world stage and be labelled heart throbs is that the burden of attractiveness rests much more easily on men than it does women.

  • by Zoya Patel
Max Chandler-Mather with Greens party leader Adam Bandt.
Opinion
Greens

Five reasons the Greens believe the next election could be their best

The balance-of-power party had a breakthrough at the 2022 election, but the next poll could be even more consequential.

  • by James Massola
Analysis
Gadgets

We tried the $2000 baby tech dividing parents

We road-test the controversial Snoo smart bassinet: how much tech is too much for your baby?

  • by David Swan
Gillon McLachlan is out of the race to become the next Racing Victoria chairman.
Analysis
Horse racing

How Gillon McLachlan’s running mate could be embroiled in a fresh racing fight

Gillon McLachlan’s name was nowhere to be seen when two new Racing Victoria directors were appointed on Friday. Instead, it was reported that McLachlan had signed as a senior adviser to a New York-based private equity company.

  • by Danny Russell
<p>
Letters
Letters

No taxpayer funds for schools that discriminate against gay teachers

Readers are appalled by the sacking of a young music teacher who lost her job with a Sydney Christian school after a parent saw her changed relationship status on Facebook.

Robotinho

And the winner is … Robotinho predicts the Euro 2024 champions

After a mixed return at last year’s Women’s World Cup, our resident AI football expert is back to find the winner of the European Championships, which kicked off on Saturday.

  • by Robotinho, Mark Stehle and Emma Kemp
Sheffler
Opinion
US Open

Why Scottie, and God, never miss tricky two-foot downhill putts

Longtime world No.1 Scottie Scheffler and his omnipotent caddie make a formidable team, but I miss the pagan celebrations of Tiger Woods on a Sabbath.

  • by Malcolm Knox
Tate McDermott has weighed in on the Reds season of promise that ended bleakly.
Analysis
Reds

A dozen Queensland Wallabies? Four things learnt from Reds’ season

A season of promise ended in frustration, but there are signs a bright future could be ahead for the Reds, with up to a dozen names in the Wallabies’ mix.

  • by Nick Wright
Advertisement
Angus Taylor, James Paterson, Hollie Hughes, Peter Dutton.

Dutton’s frontbench problem laid bare by Hughes’ feud with Taylor

Behind the hardman Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, there are problems in the Coalition frontbench as the election nears and the government sharpens its focus on the opposition.

  • by Paul Sakkal
Brisbane player Lachie Neale leans in to give Channel 7 reporter Abbey Holmes a kiss at Marvel Stadium last Friday.
Opinion
Sexism

It seemed a simple kiss on TV after the game, but it crossed a boundary

Is kissing at work cool and contemporary, or something best left to 1970s Christmas parties? When someone is just trying to do their job, it can be difficult to say no.

  • by Kate Halfpenny
Opinion
Chicken

I’m fed up with food labels that come with a side-serve of guilt

It was the label on the chicken thawing on our kitchen bench that undid me. It read: “Our chooks forage and socialise outdoors.”

  • by Jo Stubbings
CatholicCore
Analysis
Religion

A TikTok priest and a surfing nun: The new wave of conservative Christians

Young Australian Catholics are embracing social media but simultaneously going back to traditions like wearing veils and cassocks and celebrating Latin Mass.

  • by Jordan Baker
Trent Robinson, Brandon Smith and Nick Politis
Opinion
NRL 2024

Cheese on toast: Can Brandon Smith win back the support of Roosters?

After trumpeting his signing in 2021, the glamour club is uncertain about what to do with their erratic hooker.

  • by Andrew Webster
Three quarters of Australians say their salaries don’t match their performance.
Analysis
Jobs

Vast majority of Australians think they don’t get paid enough

Workers are keen to look for work elsewhere as most do not believe they are paid enough, according to Australia’s largest report on salary trends.

  • by Sue White
In the office, subtle methods are required to halt prattlers at meetings.

I can’t stand the way my new boss speaks. Should I leave?

Feeling frustrated with your boss’ useless corporate lingo is valid, and might mean a new start could be your best move.

  • by Jonathan Rivett
Leader of the Opposition,  Peter Dutton and Victorian opposition leader John Pesutto in a rare public meeting at the launch of the Melbourne Holocaust Museum in November 2023,

Dutton could help Pesutto, if only the two weren’t drowning in bad blood

Pollsters say the Queenslander is not as unpopular in Victoria as many think. But the Liberal leaders continue to blame each other for their troubles when they could be working together.

  • by Annika Smethurst
Opinion
NACC

Robo-debt wasn’t fair or legal. Because of a loophole we’ll never know if it was also corrupt

Australians have been left with the troubling conclusion that the national anti-corruption body doesn’t believe in the importance of its role in a case like this.

  • by Waleed Aly
Bottled Water

Does your bottled water contain cancer-causing forever chemicals?

The industry is moving to reassure Australian consumers, who are among the most enthusiastic drinkers of bottled water in the world.

  • by Carrie Fellner
Advertisement
This Moonee Ponds tobacco shop has been torched three times.
Analysis
Naked City

Where there are smokes there are fires: Inside Victoria’s tobacco war

Property owners knowingly making money from an illicit source could find their income and the property subject to asset seizure.

  • by John Silvester
Globalisation and the powerful economic forces it has unleashed have awarded unparalleled wealth and power to a tiny new elite.

Globalisation might be worsening inequality, but I’m OK with that

It’s important to look at exactly how globalisation has tipped the scale when it comes to equality.

  • by Millie Muroi
<p>
Letters
Letters

No more pretty pictures, phonics will improve kids’ literacy

Readers mostly agree that the return of phonics is the best way to get children to learn to read and spell.

Instagram side-by-side of Jelena Dokic for use in an opinion piece.

Jelena Dokic has lost 20 kilos. If only she could shed the trolls

By deciding to lose weight, the former tennis champ turned commentator is still inundated with online body commentary.

  • by Hannah Vanderheide
Josh Hazlewood makes his point.

Our cricketers play to win, even if it means giving the old enemy a second chance

A mischievous suggestion that Australia could manipulate results to squeeze England out of the World Cup has prompted apoplexy. It’s unlikely to happen.

  • by Greg Baum
Letch

Dutton’s policy of astonishing weakness risks a Liberal wasteland

The opposition leader’s sudden shift on climate caught Liberals off guard, and it may cost them dearly in metropolitan Sydney and Melbourne.

  • by David Crowe
Former prime minister Scott Morrison

Scott Morrison denied membership of Sydney’s all-male Australian Club

Australia’s 30th prime minister was nominated for the ultra-exclusive club by Liberal luminaries John Howard and Bruce Baird in 2022. But so far, he has had no luck.

  • by Michael Koziol
The Chemist Warehouse and Sigma Healthcare merger has received an amber light.

The ACCC’s bitter pill to Chemist Warehouse’s $8.8b pharmacy merger

Putting aside the strength of arguments from the merger parties and the regulator, the facts are that an ACCC amber light more often turns to red than to green.

  • by Elizabeth Knight
Employees may cringe at the idea of getting feedback, but reports indicate many of us would like to get more than we do.

How to give (and receive) feedback at work without upsetting people

Employees may cringe at the idea of getting feedback, but reports indicate many of us would like to get more than we do.

  • by Téa Angelos
Opinion
Cars

Monster utes have taken over the roads. Now they’re coming for our car parks

I love my local supermarket, but these days the car park terrifies me.

  • by Margot Saville
Advertisement
Fed chairman Jerome Powell: “You don’t want to be too motivated by any single data point.”

Fed’s rate cut caution can’t spoil Wall Street party

The US central bank has dialled back expectations of rate cuts this year. The US sharemarket still hit another record overnight as investors bet on a soft landing for the world’s largest economy.

  • by Stephen Bartholomeusz
Is Nick Daicos untaggable? Alex Neal-Bullen didn’t think so.
Opinion
AFL 2024

My opponent squirmed and I knew I had him. This is the player at your club who must be tagged

The AFL’s best onballers have had it too easy. Until now. It’s time to rein them in.

  • by Kane Cornes
Roger Federer was an elegant, dominant force in tennis.
Opinion
ATP Tour

‘Grit greater than gift’: How Federer made hard work look easy

Roger Federer was always cool on court, but no one saw the hard work he put in to look that way.

  • by Peter FitzSimons
Reece Walsh was concussed in the State of Origin series opener.
Opinion
NRL 2024

One way to make sure Origin is not ruined again – stop hitting people in the head

The Origin contest might have been ruined, but the NRL can’t go soft on acts of foul play.

  • by Andrew Johns
Umm-ahh: Once a playground staple, the story behind the uniquely Australian gibe remains a mystery.
Opinion
WordPlay

Umm-ahh! Whatever happened to this popular childhood taunt?

Once a playground staple, the story behind the uniquely Australian gibe remains a mystery.

  • by David Astle
The Australian Defence Force is struggling to meet its recruitment targets.
Opinion
ADF

Want Gen Z to sign up to the army? Give them $50,000 for a house deposit

The Australian Defence Force is facing a major shortfall as it tries to boost personnel numbers. Could generous housing policies unlock a flood of new recruits?

  • by Matthew Knott
Timothée Chalamet, Josh O’Connor and Jeremy Allen White have been labelled as ‘hot rodent boyfriends’ by the internet.

Timothée Chalamet isn’t a ‘rat boy’ and neither am I

Hot rodent boyfriends are social media’s latest questionable crush.

  • by Damien Woolnough
Andrew Dyson
LETTERS
Letters

A right earned to a peaceful and painless death

Cherryl Barassi’s story has touched the hearts and minds of many Age readers.

Jarryd Hayne and Peter Costello brought back my PTSD as a photographer

There is little sympathy for a photojournalist with PTSD. I suppose people think it’s all part of an “interesting” day’s work.

  • by Sam Mooy
Writer Clare Kermond.
Opinion
Trends

Next time you’re paying hundreds of dollars for a jab, spare a thought for the message you’re sending

I don’t love everything about ageing, but it has its good points. I want to thrive in this stage, not feel burdened with pressures.

  • by Clare Kermond
Advertisement
President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.

One thing everyone is missing about Hunter Biden’s case

As the daughter of first a governor and then a president, I know what it’s like to live under a glaring, unforgiving spotlight that never dims.

  • by Patti Davis
Girls are more likely to look at social media online, which is directly correlated with their increasing anxiety levels.

Thirteen is too young to be on social media. We have an idea to fix that

At present, there is no minimum age requirement under Australian law to access social media. That needs to change.

  • by Michael 'Wippa' Wipfli
Jack Viney’s face during Melbourne’s loss to Collingwood matches the faces of Demons’ fans around the country.
Opinion
AFL 2024

Take it from a long-suffering fan, the Demons’ dynasty looks over before it began

The long drive back home to Canberra seems even longer after making the journey to witness yet another Dees loss. My curse continues.

  • by James Massola
John Paulson

The billionaires backing Trump have selective memories

Billionaires tend to get very creative with history when they explain their reasons for backing Trump’s bid to return to the White House.

  • by Robert Burgess