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Opinion

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Taniela Tupou (centre) and teammates celebrate Australia’s win over Wales on Saturday night.
Analysis
Wallabies

Wallabies player ratings: How the men in gold fared against Wales

We take a look at the performances of every Wallabies player following a 25-17 win over Wales in Sydney.

  • by Tom Decent

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From left: Nine CEO Mike Sneesby; Beverley McGarvey, Paramount Executive Vice President; Greg Hywood, Free TV Australia chair; and former Seven West Media CEO James Warburton during a hearing in Canberra in February.

‘Sobering reality’: What the future for Australia’s media giants looks like

With mass job cuts across Australia’s largest media companies, is there a way out of the advertising downturn, or is it time to face up to a new normal?

  • by Calum Jaspan
Zach Merrett and Nick Daicos.
Analysis
AFL 2024

Easy Pies, raging Dons: How handling of Merrett, Daicos showed contrasting mindsets

The space – and lack of close-up attention – permitted to Zach Merrett was the complete reverse of how the Bombers dealt with the similarly destructive powers of Collingwood superstar Nick Daicos.

  • by Jake Niall
The City Tattersalls Club at 194-204 Pitt Street, which is currently closed and being redeveloped into a a 50-storey mixed use tow. The club is being forced into a fire sale of its historic club to pay off debts caused by falling patronage and declining gaming revenue. Photographed in Sydney on June 27, 2024. Photo: Dominic Lorrimer

Goodbye to the City Tatts club and its 130 years of history

Sydney’s Tatts Club is a city institution.

Australia’s Lauren Jackson and Josh Giddey.
Analysis
Paris 2024

‘We have to earn it’: How Opals, Boomers could realise their Paris medal dreams

Australia will head to Paris with dreams of stunning the USA and winning gold. But with world basketball growing ever-stronger, the Opals and Boomers will be tested like never before.

  • by Roy Ward
Wimbledon and the Australian Open can learn a thing or two from each other.
Analysis
Wimbledon

A sporting colossus and ‘the most important tournament in tennis’: What sets the AO and Wimbledon apart

One Melbourne ex-pat calls Wimbledon and the Australian Open “the two best sporting events in the world”. Here’s what separates them from the pack, and what they can teach each other.

  • by Marc McGowan
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Leicester South MP winner Independent candidate Shockat Adam holds up the Palestinian keffiyeh as he celebrates. “This is for Gaza.”
Analysis
UK politics

‘This is for Gaza’: What the UK election means for Anthony Albanese

UK Labour lost five seats to pro-Palestinian independent candidates during the course of the night, all in areas with significant Muslim populations.

  • by Rob Harris
Jason Demetriou.

Too late to save Demetriou, but Souths’ turnaround is still a vindication

Before his sacking, coach Jason Demetriou pleaded for more time at the Rabbitohs, maintaining that the side’s poor form was on the cusp of changing. Turns out, he was right!

  • by Peter FitzSimons
Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley.
Opinion
AFL 2024

Booed, under-paid and over-scrutinised: Who’d be an AFL coach?

The AFL must end the conversation about improving the lot of coaches, and act. Watching Ken Hinkley after last Sunday’s game should have proved another wake-up call.

  • by Caroline Wilson
Clancy “the digger” Glover!
Opinion
Pets

Ten things that man’s best friend could do better

Do dogs really need to follow you from room to room, all day, every day, in the expectation that you’ll do something interesting?

  • by Richard Glover
Getting a bonus on top of your super when you retire is a trick many funds are using to attract new members.

Have you heard of retirement bonuses? Here’s how to get one

Some super funds are paying out up to $22,000 to those ending their work lives. Here’s how that works.

  • by Bec Wilson
Aussie borrowers now know to talk to their lender before they get into serous money trouble, and that’s a good thing.

The ‘brace position’ that could help some homeowners’ budgets

Australian borrowers now know to talk to their lender before they get into serious money trouble – and that’s a good thing.

  • by Nicole Pedersen-McKinnon
Someone who makes your working life unpleasant can be difficult to deal with.

How to artfully deal with an office backstabber

There’s one lurking in every workplace, but dealing with them can be a harder task than it seems.

  • by Nina Hendy

Will Fatima Payman become the Pauline Hanson of the left? That’s up to her

The now-independent WA senator has chosen performative identity politics over Labor Party solidarity. But her next decision could have even more profound implications for Australian politics.

  • by Peter Hartcher
Joe Schmidt with Laurie Fisher.

What we can expect from a Schmidt-coached Wallabies team

Following a shambolic period for Australian rugby, Joe Schmidt steps into the spotlight as Wallabies coach on Saturday against Wales. The Wallabies should be visibly different.

  • by Paul Cully
Letch

Tailgaters are dangerous bullies but the legal onus is on safe drivers

Tailgaters are cowards and idiots, but the bases are loaded in their favour.

  • by Malcolm Knox
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Steven van de Velde
Analysis
Paris 2024

A convicted child rapist will compete at the Paris Olympics. Where is the outrage?

The Dutch Olympic Committee has selected a beach volleyball player who served prison time after pleading guilty to rape charges. The IOC will not overrule his participation.

  • by Darren Kane
China’s leaders vowed to kick-start spending by offering subsidies for households to buy cars and appliances. But many consumers aren’t biting.

China’s desperate bid to fix one of its biggest problems has backfired

Four months ago, China’s leaders announced what seemed like a straightforward and proven plan to recharge the economy, but its citizens are not playing ball.

  • by Keith Bradsher
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Payman’s defection a personal choice

As a Labor Senator or any major party representative, Senator Payman should be prioritising the governance of Australia.

King Donald.
Tony Wright’s Column
US Votes 2024

Donald Trump and the king who could do no wrong, but lost his head

The US Supreme Court grants immunity from prosecution for former presidents like Donald Trump. But could a king really do no wrong and keep his head?

  • by Tony Wright
Feeling the love: Bulldogs players celebrate a golden point win over Cronulla.
Analysis
NRL 2024

The art in Ciraldo’s Dogs of War: How one man’s obsession revived Belmore

The Bulldogs bucking of NRL numbers and conventions, as well as a roster and defensive overhaul, has a finals return looming.

  • by Dan Walsh
Robotinho euro24 quarter finals

Robotinho predicts the result of the quarter-finals at Euro 2024

We’re reaching the pointy end of the Euros and a weekend where some big names will fall. Will Spain and France march on, how far can Turkey go, and can England bore their way through, again? The answers are all here.

  • by Robotinho and Mark Stehle
Jay Shah with Indian skipper Rohit Sharma.
Analysis
India

His dad is Modi’s right-hand man. India’s Jay Shah may soon be running world cricket

Why was Jay Shah on the podium when India won the Twenty20 World Cup? There is an election coming up.

  • by Daniel Brettig
Usman Khawaja spoke at the MCG on Friday, after being charged with breaching ICC regulations.
Opinion
Racism

Batter to boat-rocker … and neither Khawaja nor Dutton will back down

As a breed, Australian cricketers are generally on the conservative side of things, but the softly spoken opener has shattered the convention.

  • by Peter FitzSimons
Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai celebrate victory in last year’s grand final, their third straight premiership win together.
Opinion
NRL 2024

The first team to stem the tide of tries will emerge victorious

NRL coaches can be forgiven for feeling like King Canute when it comes to repelling attack.

  • by Roy Masters
Newly elected UK PM Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria on election day in London.
Analysis
UK politics

Celebrations will be short-lived for Starmer, staring down Britain’s monumental challenges

Britain’s new prime minister faces perhaps the most monumental challenges of any incoming UK leader since Clement Attlee’s Labour Party won in a landslide in 1945.

  • by Rob Harris
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When I met Starmer, he’d have won my ‘least likely PM’ vote. Look at him now

He’s cautious, a bit bland and with no big vision, but he’s ousted the crooked Conservatives in this chaos-weary country.

  • by Kathy Lette
There’s a simple way for men to get in the good books with their partners.
Opinion
Marriage

What makes for a good husband? It’s the small things

At a time when almost half of Australian marriages end in divorce, TV presenter Richard Hammond has some smart advice for men. And it’s got nothing to do with a sexy hotel stay or a Zamel’s catalogue.

  • by Kate Halfpenny
Joe Schmidt with Laurie Fisher.
Analysis
Wallabies

The currency of hard graft: Deciphering Joe Schmidt’s first Wallabies team

Rugby Australia bosses would sell their grannies for a win over Wales on Saturday but Schmidt appears focused on the long game.

  • by Iain Payten
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - JULY 04:  Wallabies head coach Joe Schmidt looks on during a Wallabies training session at David Phillips Sports Complex on July 04, 2024 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
Opinion
Wallabies

Rugby union is not about to collapse, despite what the NRL keeps telling us

A new era starts under new Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt on Saturday against Wales.

  • by Andrew Webster
Self-portrait with the Yellow Christ, 1890–91.
Opinion
Review

Master or monster: The artist equally loathed and revered

Call it charisma, presence or personal magnetism. Paul Gauguin had it in abundance.

  • by John McDonald
Workers should always read their contracts carefully, as once signed, there can be little you can do to change it.

Did my workplace trick me into signing away my bonuses?

Workers should always read their contracts carefully, as once signed, there can be little you can do to change it.

  • by Jonathan Rivett

If you care about your offspring, you should support ‘nature positive’

So much has been lost, and with such serious consequences, a consensus has emerged that we must now commit to nature repair.

  • by Ross Gittins
If a mortgage is out of reach, it is a lot easier to skip jobs, notwithstanding eye-watering rents.
Opinion
Jobs

Why do young people hate their jobs? I’ll give you a clue

Why should young workers slave away at a job they hate when the traditional rewards of hard work, such as owning a house, are so far out of reach?

  • by Jim Bright
Masculinity is in crisis, and young men need support to find their way.
Opinion
Sexism

Gen Z men have a problem with feminism. We need to talk about why

Earlier this year, a global study found one generation of men more than any other thinks feminism has gone too far. That generation, I’m uncomfortable to say, is mine.

  • by Daniel Cash
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Opinion
Column 8

Is shelf stacking the new branch stacking?

And do three lions make an early crow?

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Payman’s exit tells a different story

Senator Fatima Payman’s resignation from the Labor Party is a symptom of the Middle East’s capacity to impose itself on Australian politics, no matter how distant it is.

  • by Rodger Shanahan
Victoria’s gas connection ban will apply to granny flats, but now new homes without planning permits.
Analysis
Gas

Yes, we really are dumb enough to import our own gas. Here’s why

There’s plenty of blame to go around for the current mess we’re in.

  • by Mike Foley
Donald Trump

Forcing Biden out would have only one beneficiary

By building a case for Joe Biden’s incapacity, Democrats risk increasing the probability of the thing they most desperately seek to avoid.

  • by Charles M Blow
Anthony Albanese and Fatima Payman.

Labor’s caucus system a valuable part of democracy

While some may view the Labor pledge of caucus solidarity as a quaint anachronism, it remains the bedrock on which Labor has built a reputation as a stable party of reform and progress.

Senator Fatima Payman during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra on Thursday.

Fatima Payman has hurt Labor badly. And she isn’t done yet

Senator Fatima Payman’s defection to the crossbench has caused major damage to the government. And she isn’t done yet, either.

  • by James Massola
Senator Fatima Payman during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra on Thursday 4 July 2024.
Editorial
Fatima Payman

Payman’s short-lived rebellion ends in a whimper – for now

Mystery still surrounds why Senator Fatima Payman mounted her one-woman rebellion.

  • The Herald's View
England captain Ben Stokes.
Opinion
England

The Bazball reality: England entertain, but their opponents win

England’s lofty Bazball rhetoric is divorced from the reality that Ben Stokes’ team faces. They entertain; their opponents win.

  • by Daniel Brettig
Booktopia co-founder Tony Nash returned to the company after being ousted by the board
Opinion
Insolvency

A series of unfortunate events: Demise of Booktopia is a page turner

A blindingly bright-coloured flag appeared only a month ago when the listed company told the market that directors’ fees for the year would be paid by issuing shares, rather than in cash.

  • by Elizabeth Knight
French champagne cork France bubbly generic sparkling wines celebrating celebrations parties party. SMH GOOD WEEKEND Picture by iSTOCK GW110528
Opinion
NACC

Amid champagne gifts and shameless rorting, one institution is fighting back

The national audit office has released a series of scandalous reports that show our public bureaucracy falling apart, at a cost to us all.

  • by Shane Wright
Our obsession with endless meetings must stop somewhere.

We need to get out of ‘meeting hell’. Here’s how

There are several ways to break our addiction to meetings, ranging from large measures to small tweaks.

  • by Tim Duggan
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A debate watch party at the Nite Owl Drive-In theater in Miami, Florida.

How the Trump-Biden debate increased the chance of a rate rise in Australia

A rise in Australian bond yields this week shows how a showdown between two elderly and less-than-impressive politicians could send ripples of unease throughout the global system.

  • by Stephen Bartholomeusz
AFL football manager Laura Kane (centre) and coaches: (left, top to bottom) Damien Hardwick (Gold Coast), Ross Lyon (St Kilda), Chris Scott (Geelong) and (right) Luke Beveridge (Western Bulldogs), Adam Simpson (West Coast) and Michael Voss (Carlton).
Opinion
AFL 2024

Too many whingers: Why the footy sook-fest has to stop

The constant complaining in the AFL has gone too far and threatens to tarnish the code’s reputation as Australia’s premier sport.

  • by Kane Cornes
Opinion
Wildlife

Fun gal seeks fungi … because mushrooms have had such a bad rap

I won’t settle for any old fungus when I’m out foraging. I’m going for the holy grail.

  • by Jo Stubbings
Great Britain players Jasmine Joyce, Celia Quansah and Ellie Boatman pose for the ‘Strong Is Beautiful’ campaign for London lingerie brand Bluebella.
Opinion
Paris 2024

Sorry, but rugby players posing in lingerie in 2024 is not ‘regressive’

Just as female athletes are transcending stereotypes, their agency is being stripped by former female athletes applying the very paternalistic lens they themselves sought to escape.

  • by Emma Kemp