Environment
John Hirst
How a bike track was considered bad for the environment
John Hirst THE Darebin Creek bike track is at last to be linked to the main Yarra Bike Trail. It has taken 17 years for this 1.8-kilometre stretch of track to gain planning approval and the money to build it.
The Loaded Dog
About eight months ago, I left a job that I liked at a company I loved, which had been the mainstay of my working life for a decade.
Kenneth Davidson
How to save billions: dump the desal deal
Kenneth Davidson It's official. Melbourne Water users will pay $19.4 billion in contract payments to AquaSure.
Gerard Henderson
Talk of dual-citizen disloyalty in Zygier affair simply irresponsible
Gerard Henderson The concept of dual loyalties in Australia has an unpleasant connotation since it invariably implies disloyalty. A century ago, some sectarians labelled Catholics as possessing a dual loyalty.
Patients lose as DNA case puts money before sense
Richard Ackland The genetic disposition of human beings is today's frontier of science, money and disease control.
The Loaded Dog
Should ethics become part of the curriculum?
Ethics classes are available for children who opt out of scripture. But should ethics become part of the primary curriculum? How can the curriculum be made more flexible?
The Loaded Dog
Now that the election has been called, what do Julia Gillard or Tony Abbott have to do to win your vote? What is the most important national issue in your household?
Jane Caro
We can't just go with the flow
Jane Caro During World War II - at the height of the Blitz, when half of London's East End was in flames - Buckingham Palace was bombed.
Jill Stark
The boozer stripped bare: abstaining in a world awash with grog
Jill Stark I was morning-after roadkill. My head felt as heavy as a waterlogged sandbag. Being conscious hurt. When I woke up on New Year's Day 2011, the hangover was so horrendous that I worried I might not...
Raiders of our unprotected parks
Germaine Greer There seems to be a pretty low level of commitment to the real purpose of national parks, which is conservation.
Craig Fry
High on moral panic
Craig Fry Last week we did indeed witness the blackest day in Australian sport. But the low point was the public reaction to this latest drugs-in-sport story, not the apparent truth of the matter.
Paul Collins
Moment ripe for a pontiff from the developing world
Paul Collins I'm still getting over the shock of the Vatican's announcement of Pope Benedict XVI's resignation.
Bruce Neal
For health's sake, time to take on food giants
Bruce Neal A woman dies from a 10-litre a day Coke habit. Children's clothing sports advertisements for Jim Beam bourbon.
Julia Baird
We should shake up our own minds
Julia Baird We've always been a lazy lot. Our desire to outsource the more difficult parts of life - such as housework, study and tax - is not new.
Alecia Simmonds
Why oh why, Gen Y, are you so nauseatingly conservative?
Alecia Simmonds In the late '90s, when raving meant dancing and sun-dried tomatoes meant culinary sophistication, I joined a group at university called the Activist Left.
Amanda Vanstone
The Backpacker has lost his way if he thinks patriotism is out of this world
Amanda Vanstone Nation states are the prime mechanism for citizens to group together for each other's benefit.
Craig Fry
Naming and shaming won't wipe out cycling's dirty secret
Craig Fry Our expectations about drugs and doping-free elite sport are unrealistic.
Greg Barns
Some sex offences are best dealt with out of the courts
Greg Barns Less serious cases of sexual offending could be dealt with in a restorative justice setting.
Clementine Ford
Broadcast media yet to reject tired stereotypes
Clementine Ford I'm largely uninterested in what anyone thinks about breastfeeding in public, particularly those members of the population who don't have breasts.
The Loaded Dog
Do childless people have a right to complain about other people's noisy children in cafes and restaurants? Should staff step in?
