Executive
Sean Nicholls
When chief of staff becomes chief executive
Sean Nicholls There's nothing new in senior political staff jumping ship to join the private sector, but proximity to the milestone of one year in office for the O'Farrell government appears to have triggered a...
Ross Gittins
Commission will not stop outrageous executive salaries
Ross Gittins The rich and powerful are never short of experts happy to fly to their defence. But there is often a shortage of knowledgeable people willing to hold them to account.
Abbott, O'Farrell have equal claim to Menzies' legacy
Gerard Henderson Premier Barry O'Farrell is a proud follower of Robert Menzies (1894 to 1978), the founder of the modern Liberal Party.
Recognising local government needs rethink
Cheryl Saunders There is no good reason for this referendum now.
Coalition must be smarter when it issues preferences
Gerard Henderson Julia Gillard, Wayne Swan and Greg Combet appear to believe Labor will win the election.
Territory given little cause for celebration
Emma Macdonald and Peter Jean Federal largesse to the ACT was minimal in the budget, despite the announcement it would claw back $74 million.
Seeing sense as end nears
Peter Hartcher Labor's budget this week is like the pyramid of an Egyptian pharaoh, says one of the party's federal MPs: "Gillard is building the monuments for her legacy, and she's sacrificing us slaves in the...
Softer tone, but China wariness remains
John Garnaut The Rudd government's defence white paper of 2009 exploded like a bomb beneath the China relationship.
Fear builds as election looms
Paul Daley Yes, it's arrived. We have arrived at that time in the cycle of public life where everything is viewed through the opaque window of a looming election.
Free-rein proposal by Canberra should be hobbled before the pass
Chris Berg If the government has its way, we'll have an extra question to answer at the federal election in September.
Opinion
When did the lucky country become selfish?
Tim Soutphommasane There isn't a better time to introduce a national disability insurance scheme.
Gonski changes mean all can reach learning potential
John Falzon The Gonski review tells us 79 per cent of the most socio-economically disadvantage students go to public schools.
Farewell to good times, something's gotta give
Tim Colebatch Thank you, Joe. Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey scored a vital win for fiscal sanity last week when he finally persuaded Tony Abbott that the Coalition should drop its pledge to have the budget in...
Uni dividend is counter-productive
Michael Gallagher The Gillard government's university efficiency dividend provides no sustainable basis for funding Gonski increases in schools.
See what public thinks on same-sex marriage
Gerard Henderson The media in Australia is obsessed with same-sex marriage. It is far from clear, however, that this is a priority for many Australians living in the suburbs and regional centres - far away from the...
Healthcare is 'universal' for those who can pay
Carol Bennett Hip pocket pain is replacing the once soothing notion of universal, free access to health services. For over a decade "out of pocket" health costs have been rising in Australia, making a joke of...
Revive the body politic
Michael Short There will be at least some debate ahead of the federal election about policies and ideas. And there will be the banal and brutal attacks.
James Brown
Kim Jong-un dances to dangerous tune
James Brown While Kim Jong-un is threatening destruction of US cities, North Korea's elite can't get enough of US popular culture.
Super tax nibble fails to tackle gross inequity
Tim Colebatch From little things, big things grow. But from big things, even bigger things grow. And yes, that will remain true – even if Labor's new plan to take a small nibble at superannuation tax breaks ever...
Foster ties with China, but do so in broad context
Gerard Henderson Perhaps the most compelling of the paintings in the 2013 Archibald Prize at the Art Gallery of NSW is Xu Wang's Self-portrait (interviewing Maoist victims).
