Social
Richard Horton
Drug use is an issue for society, not the criminal justice system
Richard Horton Last week, my 11-year-old daughter started senior school in London. In some ways, it was her initiation into the foothills of adolescence. She is a smart and sensible girl.
Tim Soutphommasane
If Australia is egalitarian, its schools funding plan is wrong
Tim Soutphommasane Class was traditionally one of the great dividing lines in Australian society. But for some time now, it has been thought that class distinctions have withered away.
Anne Summers
Conspiracy of silence lets persecution of PM fester
Anne Summers In recent weeks we have learnt that Julia Gillard has been the subject of 'vile and misogynist' assaults on websites and Facebook.
Nicholas Gruen
GDP's blind spots ignore full impact of education spending
Nicholas Gruen There's plenty wrong with gross domestic product as a measure of national wellbeing. As Bobby Kennedy said, it measures everything in life except what's most important.
'All we want is to fish within the rules'
Gerry Geen The federal government's decision to legislate to give it power to selectively stop the Abel Tasman from fishing is a reaction to the controversy and anxiety stirred up by environmentalists.
Shane Green
Triumphalism over growth while the poor go without is crass
Shane Green Economic success is not the only measure of national character.
Henry Winter
Hillsborough truth might bring justice, but never closure
Henry Winter Wednesday was a hugely significant day for the families of those 96 Liverpool fans who set off one sun-strewn morning in 1989 for a football match and never returned.
Dean Dudley
It's not how much you spend but where you spend it that matters
Funding of education in Australia has dominated both federal and state politics in recent weeks. The federal government is seeking to increase funding in light of the Gonski review's findings, while...
John Warhurst
A battle not worth winning
John Warhurst The Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, and the leader of the Greens, Christine Milne, were shaped by the same Christian tradition.
Richard Ackland
Sometimes, it takes a troll to know one
Richard Ackland How blessed we are The Daily Telegraph has launched a campaign to protect us from beastly comments on Twitter.
Peter Hartcher
Wanted: message in a battle
Peter Hartcher The Labor Party didn't fare well in the local government elections held across NSW last weekend, especially in its traditional stronghold of western Sydney.
Lenore Taylor
Political tweeters may troll too close to home
Lenore Taylor Suddenly, politicians of all persuasions have begun worrying that we need to ''do something'' about ''trolls'' and the misuse of social media.
Dave Sweeney
Life in the shadow of the Fukushima disaster
Dave Sweeney The signs that all is not as it was or should be start gently enough in Fukushima.
Dave Sweeney
Japan's radiation catastrophe was made in Australia
Dave Sweeney The signs that things are not as they should be start gently enough: weeds appear in fields, the roadside vegetation covers signs and there are few people about.
Paul Sheehan
Rort comes back to bite bottom lines
Paul Sheehan One of the most odious things I've seen from a government agency, real Orwellian double-speak, is in the latest annual report of Waverley Council.
Mary Crooks
Democracy in distress
Mary Crooks Discord is created by a clashing of harsh sounds. Jarring and unpleasant, it jangles the nerves. Our reflex action is to shut our ears.
Peter Hartcher
Puff for magic dragon ignores China's fragility
Peter Hartcher Australia is entering something of a China frenzy. The federal government is preparing to launch its Asian century white paper.
Nicholas Stuart
Once again: where will the money come from Mr Abbott?
Nicholas Stuart Back in 1987, while working for Bob Hawke's second re-election campaign, the advertising man John Singleton created what was, quite possibly, one of the most obnoxious characters ever to appear on...
Connors and McMorrow
Partisan battles over school funding should get a big fat F
Lyndsay Connors and Jim McMorrow If international comparisons are any guide, Australia is starting to pay a price for its long-standing inability to engage in informed and rational debate about its national public investment in...
Martin McKenzie-Murray
The hunting of the snark, or the martyrdom of St Julian
Martin McKenzie-Murray Our moral and political positions too often derive from tribal loyalty.
