Police
Napthine's crew in the sights of a loose cannon
Farrah Tomazin You get the feeling that Frankston MP Geoff Shaw enjoys his notoriety.
Nothing illegal about those seeking asylum
Bianca Hall It's gathering dusk at Christmas Island's Flying Fish Cove. A father stands tall and strong on his paddleboard, his infant cross-legged on the board behind him.
To the victor go the spoils, and a trip on troubled waters
Daniel Flitton Barely three weeks after election day, the prime minister will be face with an awkward or disastrous event.
Western Sydney, where pollies would have you think crime control is at sea
Tony Wright Crime in western Sydney is, apparently, out of control. Worse, the inhabitants' borders aren't being protected.
Taking stock on a conflicted whaling season
Andrew Darby As Japan's most tumultuous Antarctic whaling season yet draws to a close, it seems everybody dodged, if not a harpoon, then a bullet.
Historic day as victims file in with power on their side
Barney Zwartz Twenty years ago Bill Nelson left court a crushed man, his solicitors telling him to give up his quest for redress as a child sex abuse victim because the Catholic Church had all the power.
Victim upbeat as commission makes an impressive start
Barney Zwartz Twenty years ago Bill Nelson left court a crushed man, his solicitors telling him to give up.
Bali process grinds on with no sign of results
Michael Bachelard For the fifth time, dozens of the world's ministers flew this week to an over-air-conditioned hotel meeting room in Bali, sat gravely around a very large table and achieved next to nothing.
Giving teeth to racist dogma
Matthew Zagor As Scott Morrison has now confirmed his ''behaviour protocols'' for boat arrivals released into the community is opposition policy, it's worth looking at exactly what the opposition immigration...
How the world saw the big issues
Richard Klass The common reaction to North Korea is to laugh away its threats, along the lines of, ''They'll never do it … have you seen the guy?''
Conroy runs distraction for PM
Peter Hartcher When Bob Carr challenged Julia Gillard's authority to decide how Australia would cast its vote in the United Nations last November, it was a moment of potential crisis for her prime ministership.
Waleed Aly
Without reforms, who will leash the media?
Waleed Aly Everyone's conflicted in this debate, and it's the public interest that loses out.
Lenore Taylor
Facts flee as politicians take low road on asylum
Lenore Taylor Here's what Scott Morrison could have said in his interview with 2UE's Jason Morrison on Wednesday.
When unity is king, Labor can't stop bickering
Josh Gordon A nasty little preselection war now on in a Melbourne seat is proof the party's learnt nothing.
Michael Gordon
The national disgrace that is our asylum-seeker debate
Michael Gordon A month before Julia Gillard's mini-campaign in Sydney's outer west, Tony Abbott took his own mini-campaign to Melbourne's outer east, and reflected with justifiable pride on the diversity of...
Refugees tarred with brush of prejudice
Tony Wright Refugees, barely more than boys, worked on our family farm when I was a child. Not one of them spoke anything approaching ''all the English language skills that you might normally expect''.
Judith Ireland
Dud dress, hot proposal and asylum insanity mark FDD
Judith Ireland The Festival of Dubious Decisions is an ad hoc affair. It's not tied to any particular date, season or location.
Lies, damned lies and Labor claims
Ross Gittins I guess you've heard the news: the Gillard government has obtained new analysis of data from the Bureau of Statistics showing that Tony Abbott's election commitments inflict brutal damage on working...
Michael Evans
Cards, not cash, burning a hole in our pockets
Michael Evans Not long ago, I lost my wallet on the way to work. It fell out of my backpack after I (rather stupidly) failed to zip it up properly after stopping at, of all places, the bank.
Allison Pearson
As Blade weeps in court, we forget the Blonde is the victim
Allison Pearson If you have just accidentally shot dead the woman you love, what do you do?
