Cameron Nolan

To stub out smoking, ban cigarette sales to anyone born this century

Cameron Nolan Imagine cigarettes did not exist. Now imagine that some plucky upstart - let's call him Philip Morris - invented them and asked regulators for approval to sell his product.

Tom Switzer

Bald fact is US power is waning

Tom Switzer With the US election just four months away, the American political and media class is focusing on mundane issues such as debt, jobs and taxes.

Phillip Coorey

Jakarta on Abbott's to-do list but no one has told the Indonesians

Phillip Coorey Should Tony Abbott win the next election, his first week in office, by any measure, is going to be a busy one.

Comments 325

Niall Ferguson

Asia stands to gain as Barclays loses its head, and London loses its credibility

Niall Ferguson London's reputation as the world's financial centre is teetering.

Gerard Henderson

Old hatreds resurface in party afraid of a hiding

Gerard Henderson Politics, like much of life, is replete with mythology. A current myth, much embraced by journalists, is that Julia Gillard is prime minister today due to support from the Greens.

Comments 245

House price 'plateau' still out of reach for most

Sarah Toohey Reading Ross Gittins' article earlier this week ("Houses hit affordability ceiling, the price plateau is here to stay") I started to think that perhaps my dinner party crowd is a little different to...

Comments 219

Bob Brown

Last woman standing

Bob Brown Both Labor and Liberal have abandoned voters in the Melbourne by-election.

Comments 158

Brian Caldwell

Substance in the education rhetoric

Brian Caldwell The state government has released a position paper that adds substance to its commitment to lift the performance of Victoria's students.

Craig Reucassel

No laughing matter

Craig Reucassel Laws that prevent Parliament from being satirised on TV make little sense and restrict freedom of speech.

Comments 24

Michelle Grattan

Labor playing with fire in its rush to burn the Green witch

Michelle Grattan Suddenly Labor, or at least many in it, have decided they must burn the Green witch. Prominent players have been stoking the fire all week, tossing the vitriol like kindling onto the pyre.

Comments 182

Richard Ackland

Nothing to hide - just ask them

Richard Ackland Wasn't it Georges Clemenceau who said, ''Military justice is to justice what military music is to music''?

Comments 32

Sympathy for the devils we know

Mike Carlton We must hope Tony Abbott is lying when he says he will turn back the boats. If he is not lying and actually means it, he is ignorant, foolish and reckless. Let me count the ways.

Peter Hartcher

They can't stonewall forever

Peter Hartcher What do slavery, wife beating and child labour have in common? All were once mainstream practices in Western countries. Today, they are unacceptable violations of rights.

Leslie Cannold

Opening the gates to a better deal for women

Leslie Cannold This past Thursday, I 'live tweeted' highlights from London's Family Planning Summit.

Michael Buxton

Planning for disaster

Michael Buxton Hopes have faded that the Baillieu government would continue the moderate approach to land use of former premier Sir Rupert Hamer. Instead this is government in the Jeff Kennett style.

Michelle Grattan

When Melbourne goes national ...

Michelle Grattan When a government is in trouble, there is nothing like a byelection to send a frisson of excitement through the political system.

Paul Sheehan

Muddying waters on way to polls

Paul Sheehan It was no doubt keenly noted in the Prime Minister's office that even though Barack Obama enjoyed a decisive 55 per cent to 45 per cent advantage over Mitt Romney in this year's presidential...

Comments 231

Michelle Grattan

A byelection defeat for Labor will cause shock waves in Canberra

Michelle Grattan When a government is in trouble, there is nothing like a byelection to send shivers up its spine and a frisson of excitement through the political system.

Neil Brown

Abuse inquiry doomed to fail

Neil Brown Questions persist about what sort of inquiry into allegations of child abuse would be best. The state government seems adamant that a parliamentary committee is good enough.

Josh Gordon

Labor is jumping the gun

Josh Gordon Daniel Andrews is jumping the gun by ruling out signing a future power-sharing deal with the Greens, although the hypothetical isn't completely beyond the realm of possibility.