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Opinion

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‘Frustratingly depressing’: What is the root cause of our housing crisis?

Readers offer up ideas on how to fix the country’s housing problems, with many suggesting it’s time to put a lid on population and urban sprawl.

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Matildas star Sam Kerr.

It’s not just the Matildas. Why all women footballers deserve better pay

FIFA boss Gianni Infantino dismissed talk of pay equity on the eve of the World Cup. For how long can he remain silent?

  • by Andrew Webster
Anthony Albanese and Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather have clashed repeatedly in parliament over housing policy.

Why this young Green Turk troubles Albanese to the Max

They both hail from the Labor left, but Max Chandler-Mather is out to snare ALP votes for the Greens - and the housing crisis is fertile territory.

  • by David Crowe
Column 8 granny dinkus
Opinion
Column 8

Bourns continue to show their identity

And rustle up more family folklore.

Margot Robbie, Mary Fowler and Taylor Swift have helped make shared cultural moments cool again.

Who do Barbie, Taylor Swift and the Matildas have in common? Us

I thought Netflix had killed shared cultural experiences, but the zeitgeist is back in a way unseen since Seinfeld, Jurassic Park and Patrick’s death.

  • by Waleed Aly
Love on the couch? David Thewlis and Olivia Colman keep up appearances, at least, as the Edwards in Landscapers.

Romance isn’t quite dead in our house. We like to watch

In fact, romance is streaming episodically into our lounge room. Who needs to go out for date night?

  • by Julie Power
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Eddie Jones at Allianz Stadium at Moore Park in Sydney in June.
Analysis
Wallabies

Crazy, courageous or just essential change: Deciphering the shock World Cup squad of Eddie Jones

Eddie Jones is full of surprises but dumping a number of senior players and naming the Wallabies’ least experienced World Cup squad in the professional era left many stunned.

  • by Iain Payten
 The King’s School’s headmaster Tony George

The Kings School goes for a row over headmaster’s jaunt

The idea of headmaster and his wife swanning off for tea and scones at Henley-on-Thames sits awkwardly beside sacrifices most parents make to send their children to the private school system.

  • The Herald's View
Commonwealth Bank reported its full-year results on Wednesday.

Profits of rage: Don’t bank on earnings dissent changing anything

There is not much greater obscenity than the announcement of a $10 billion profit by an Australian bank, followed by the news that its executives have seen their pay packets soar.

Opinion
Aviation

The half-billon-dollar economic boost the government won’t let fly

What inflation-fighting government would take a position that promotes airfares remaining higher for longer?

  • by Elizabeth Knight
Finn Maginness did a great job shadowing Nick Daicos in Hawthorn’s upset round 21 win over Collingwood.
Opinion
AFL 2023

If your club has fallen for this myth, they are in trouble

Don’t believe the rumours; the tagger lives. Sam Mitchell has used one to rejuvenate Hawthorn’s season, but Andrew McQualter has refused to follow suit, and that might cost him the Tigers coaching job.

  • by Kane Cornes
US President Joe Biden has just upped the stakes with China by introducing new restrictions.
Opinion
Trade wars

Higher and higher: America keeps raising its fence against China

Concerned about the transfer of know-how for military or intelligence-gathering applications, the Biden administration restricts investments by US firms in Chinese tech companies.

  • by Stephen Bartholomeusz

Despite 10 billion reasons to hate the banks, it’s not that simple

In these times of ‘greedflation’, businesses like the CBA have too much power to push up prices. But wages growth will outpace prices in the years ahead. You can bank on it.

  • by Chris Richardson
Beyond Meat's shares rallied by more than 40 per cent last week.

The fake meat fad has finally been exposed as a complete waste of money

Beyond Meat was supposed to be the poster child for the vegan movement but instead it risks becoming a symbol of the worst excesses of the cheap money era of the last decade.

  • by Ben Marlow
Robotinho prediction

Robotinho predicts Women’s World Cup quarter-final results

After another successful round of predictions, we once again turn to our resident AI football expert for a hint of what’s to come in the quarter-finals.

  • by "Robotinho" and Mark Stehle
NSW sexual assault trials are dogged by persistent myths about the way a “genuine victim” acts, stymying attempts to reform the justice system and help survivors get justice, a government-commissioned report has found.
Editorial
Courts

Myths and stereotypes alive and well in NSW sexual assault trials

A new report has laid bare the trauma many sex assault victims feel in NSW courtrooms.

  • The Herald's View
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Gossiping is a fun recreational activity we can all enjoy for free.

Gossiping is an activity we can all enjoy for free – and it’s good for us

Socialising lowers blood pressure, while bonding with others boosts the release of endorphins.

  • by Kathy Lette
Josh Schuster celebrates a Manly try.
Opinion
NRL 2023

We know Schuster has brilliance, but Manly need so much more than that

The Sea Eagles five-eighth produced another highlight reel play last week – but his team need a marked improvement if they’re to squeeze into the finals.

  • by Andrew Johns
Underutilised churches could be repurposed as social and affordable housing.

Old churches could be the answer to our prayers for new housing

More than 2500 places of worship in NSW might be able to support social and affordable rental housing for communities in need.

  • by Rob Stokes
Former Department of Human Services secretary Kathryn Campbell.

Do top public servants deserve $900,000 a year? The short answer is yes

Is it ever possible to rationalise extraordinary pay packets for a few at a time when so many Australians are struggling?

  • by Kirstin Ferguson
Column 8 granny dinkus
Opinion
Column 8

Fiery exchange results in a shore thing

And beer drinkers see red.

Fans watch the Matildas against Denmark at Melbourne’s Federation Square.

Matildas pave a path to greatness for the future

The Matildas are not only moving forward in the World Cup, they are inspiring a generation of young people along the way.

Illustration: Dionne Gain

Boy oh boy has the Women’s World Cup kicked the patriarchy

Staging global sporting events can’t conquer all of our social ills, but it does advance Australia as a nation.

  • by Nick Bryant
Commonwealth Bank reported its full-year results on Wednesday.

What keeps CBA’s boss awake at night? It isn’t stressed borrowers

Any board that ticks off a share buyback and a higher dividend payout ratio is sending a message that it is not concerned about the strength of its franchise.

  • by Elizabeth Knight
Three former Liberal premiers announce their resignations after encounters with the ICAC: Nick Greiner, Barry O’Farrell and Gladys Berejiklian.
Opinion
ICAC

I’m a Laborite, but I’m appalled ICAC felled three Liberal premiers

NSW is no better for the introduction of the ICAC 35 years ago. I didn’t like the idea then, and I still don’t.

  • by Stephen Loosley
A Foxconn iPhone production line in  Shenzhen.
Opinion
China

China’s exports are crashing. Is this the end of the world’s factory?

A weak domestic economy and structural shifts in global trade since the pandemic have triggered a massive slump in China’s trade performance.

  • by Stephen Bartholomeusz
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Diamonds, Stephen Bradbury, Tommy Raudonikis

Cattledog! Bradbury and Diamonds: Lessons for the Matildas against France

The Matildas are proving to be the perfect national team - but there are a few tricks they can learn from other Australian sports.

  • by Peter FitzSimons
Donald Trump, Yumi Stynes and the Yes campaign for the Voice as articulated by Noel Pearson have become popular triggers for culture war arguments.

Don’t mention the (culture) war. Even I’m shutting up

Listening to intolerance and fear rather than challenging it is easier said than done. But I’m trying.

  • by Antoinette Lattouf
Adam Reynolds, Jake Trbojevic, Viliame Kikau, Nicho Hynes and Jahrome Hughes.
Analysis
NRL 2023

Expert breakdown of NRL round 24 matches

There’s just four rounds remaining in the regular season, and round 24 kicks off with Manly’s campaign going on the line when they face the NRL’s toughest test.

  • by Christian Nicolussi, Dan Walsh and Adrian Proszenko
President Joe Biden and his son Hunter leave a church service last year.
Analysis
US politics

Republicans hunt for Hunter Biden scandal big enough to sink Joe, save Trump

The danger is that ongoing ructions surrounding the Biden family will continue to be a headache for a president heading into an election.

  • by Farrah Tomazin
 Melbourne’s median lot price rose by 1.3 per cent to a record of $385,000 in the second quarter.

‘Recovery fragile’ but land sales show first green shoots

Land sales for new housing at greenfields estates across Melbourne and Geelong rose 13 per cent in the second quarter, ending a run of six straight quarterly declines. The median lot price also jumped 1.3 per cent to a record $385,000.

  • by Stephen Miles
Being focused on what you “should” do financially can leave you missing out on living a good life.

Why the best money decisions don’t have to make financial sense

The point of life isn’t to make the most money. The point of money is to make the most of life.

  • by Paridhi Jain
Tramonto a New York sofa by Gaetano Pesce – Cassina, courtesy of Mobilia.
Analysis
Collectables

The ’70s and ’80s furniture back in fashion, and worth thousands

From today’s perspective, the late 1970s and early ’80s remain radical, pushing the boundaries of what furniture could be.

  • by Stephen Crafti
When you fall victim to an investment scam, it’s possible to claim it as a loss for tax purposes.

I’ve been scammed by my broker, can I claim it as a tax loss?

When you fall victim to an investment scam, here’s what you can do.

  • by Noel Whittaker
Anthony Albanese (left) and Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather have clashed repeatedly in parliament over housing policy.

The Greens could seize control on housing, and the PM didn’t see it coming

Australia is now less binary, more ternary, which bodes ill for our political duopoly if they continue to get it wrong on housing.

  • by Tone Wheeler
Illustration by Simon Letch
Opinion
University

I’m starting to worry about Albanese and his government

This smart, well-intentioned Labor government is discovering that, just as in our dysfunctional university sector, some problems can only be solved by spending a lot of money.

  • by Ross Gittins
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A local reacts as the flames burn trees in Gennadi village, on the Aegean Sea island of Rhodes in Greece on Tuesday.

Looming insurance crisis could make the GFC ‘look like a picnic’

If the blowout in insurance premiums – both here and overseas – is not dealt with soon, we could be forced to face a reckoning nobody is ready for, least of all the global economy.

  • by Shane Wright
Column 8 granny dinkus
Opinion
Column 8

Laying claim to the clam

While tellers face the sack.

An artist’s conception of magnetic levitation above a superconductor.
Analysis
Science

Superconductor or super-suss? The strange story of LK-99, the internet’s new scientific obsession

A South Korean team says it has found a new room-temperature superconductor, but does it stack up?

  • by Liam Mannix
The Matildas match against Denmark.

It’s not just their football skills that make the Matildas champions

The Matildas’ run through the home World Cup has led some readers to reverse a lifelong aversion to sport.

Former cabinet minister Stuart Robert met tech giant Infosys multiple times when the company was seeking lucrative contracts with the federal government.
Editorial
Stuart Robert

Robert should face anti-corruption body over scrapped $191m software deal

Former cabinet minister Stuart Robert held multiple meetings with a tech company that won lucrative contracts to build a government payment system.

  • The Herald's View
Mitchell Lewis (main) arrived at Hawthorn just weeks after the departure of club greats Sam Mitchell and Jordan Lewis.
Snap Shot
AFL 2023

Will they do it again?: Will Day shows Hawks’ willingness to play the name game

The Hawks seem to have a name-based recruiting policy. The good news is it’s working a treat for them.

  • by Peter Ryan
Hayley Raso (C) of Australia celebrates with teammates after scoring her team’s second goal during the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023 Round of 16 match between Australia and Denmark at Stadium Australia on August 07, 2023 in Sydney, Australia.

The two words that prove the Matildas can go all the way at World Cup

We knew the Matildas prefer to play with their backs against the wall. What we didn’t know was if they could beat a team they should beat, and in the manner that good teams do? Their performance against Denmark answered that.

  • by Vince Rugari
The 14 per cent dive in the share price on Tuesday reflects the size of Myer’s earnings problem.
Opinion
Retail

Why taking the top job at Myer could be a career killer

Myer’s largest shareholder, Solomon Lew, is now the company’s kingmaker. And in this case, (John) King replacer.

  • by Elizabeth Knight
Payments fraud losses have stabilised while losses to scams balloon.
Analysis
Payments

New digital ID methods could help stem scam losses

Industry bodies are hoping the introduction of new digital identification methods will stem the amount of money lost to scams.

  • by John Collett
Many argued for months that the possibility of Russian President Vladimir Putin triggering a nuclear incident was far-fetched.

Vladimir Putin is getting a cash boost and the West needs to stop it

Surging oil prices are allowing Russia to generate more revenue to fund its war. It might be time for the West to step in.

  • by Stephen Bartholomeusz
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WhatsApp groups for school parents are becoming increasingly cliquey and politicised.
Opinion
Parenting

Help! My school WhatsApp group is making me hate other parents

It’s not just the frequent pings. It’s the passive-aggressive nastiness. And anyone can be targeted – principals, teachers, and even volunteers.

  • by Shona Hendley
Proposed solutions for funding aged care are plagued with issues. But there is one way we could solve the problem.
Opinion
Aged care

How to fund aged care without plundering our super

Proposed solutions for funding aged care are plagued with issues. But there is one way we could solve the problem.

  • by Noel Whittaker
Despite their loss to the Hawks, and losing Brownlow Medal favourite Nick Daicos to injury, the Magpies remain two games clear on top of the ladder.
Analysis
AFL 2023

This is not the selection dilemma Collingwood hoped to face

Collingwood could look to using old faces in fresh ways as they plan for a period without Nick Daicos.

  • by Peter Ryan

Why Putin is losing his war, and Xi is winning his

Putin chose to launch a kinetic war to expand his territory. Xi chose “grey zone” warfare – distinctly aggressive, but without firing a shot.

  • by Peter Hartcher