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The 2025 campaign will hide policy lethargy behind personal animosity.

A campaign of sound and fury pauses for a moment of constructive policy competition

It’s taken too long for parties to take the housing shortage seriously. Today’s campaign launches offer some hope that might be about to change.

  • by Peter Hartcher

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Peter Dutton pitched himself as a protector at Sunday’s campaign launch.

Dutton’s pitch to protect women and girls will strike a chord. Is it the right one?

Female voters drifted away from the Coalition after its work-from-home misstep. Now the opposition needs to offer women a way back.

  • by Natassia Chrysanthos
Albanese and Dutton campaign launches

The moment Albanese and Dutton both jumped the shark

The third Sunday of the federal election campaign has been one of the costliest in history, as spending restraint by both sides was left in a roadside ditch.

  • by Shane Wright
Illustration by Dionne Gain

Trump’s made his choices to advantage America. We must make ours for Australia

Since the Second World War, there has been a high degree of alignment between Australia’s national interests and American global leadership. Not any more.

  • by Stuart Rollo
Apple and other tech firms were given a major reprieve in the trade war with China.
Analysis
Gadgets

Apple was on brink of crisis before Trump granted tariff concession

Moving iPhone production from China to India or elsewhere would have been a Herculean task for the tech giant. Now it’s been handed a major reprieve.

  • by Mark Gurman and Shawn Donnan

In the biggest job in the world, Trump is looking like a very small man

As everyone else gets yippy – JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon warned of a recession – the president seems to be enjoying centre stage, toying with the strings like a cat.

  • by Maureen Dowd
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During an Easter vigil service, congregants hold tapers lit from pascal candle.
Opinion
Religion

Holy Saturday vigil service marks Easter’s passage from darkness to light

Held between sunset on Holy Saturday and sunrise on Easter Sunday, the service portrays the movement from the dark despair of Christ’s death towards the brightness of His resurrection.

  • by Jane E Sullivan
There’s nothing wrong with being conservative with your super, but depending on your age, you could be missing out on some big returns.

What’s wrong with leaving my super in the default option?

There’s nothing wrong with being conservative with your super, but depending on your age, you could be missing out on some big returns.

  • by Paul Benson
The cost of raising kids is no longer shrinking when children turn 18. Instead, it’s dragging on and on and on, for upwards of an additional decade.
Opinion
Parenting

Parenting costs once ended when a child turned 18. Not any more

Everyone says that raising kids is expensive, but the costs are no longer shrinking when they become adults, with expenses extending for upwards of an extra decade.

  • by Victoria Devine
Spencer Leniu and Johnathan Thurston.
Opinion
NRL 2025

Thurston-Leniu feud the result of lack of communication

There is a lengthy backstory to the unpleasant scenes at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.

  • by Danny Weidler
Trump
Opinion
Trade wars

Trading in lunacy. How Trump’s tariffs will ‘save’ masculinity

Tariffs will bring “manly” jobs back to the US, according to Trump supporters. Economists aren’t so sure.

  • by Jacqueline Maley
Donald Trump and Xi Jinping are engaged in a Godzilla-like scuffle over tariffs.

GFC or UFC? This economic prize-fight has us all on the edge of our seats

Economics is no longer boring. Trump’s decision to pick a fight with China is a heavyweight bout for the ages.

  • by Parnell Palme McGuinness
Westpac chief economist Luci Ellis is questioning the growing US budget deficit.

Why Australia’s well placed to weather Trump’s economic self-harm

Westpac’s chief economist explains why the US president’s tariff fixation will hurt America much more than it will hurt other countries.

  • by Peter FitzSimons
Real Money young investors assets cash newsletter investing generic
Opinion
Hip pocket

Where should you invest your money during sharemarket turmoil?

With the global markets at the whim of Donald Trump, here’s how to weather the volatility.

  • by Dominic Powell
Flowers at the memorial site during the reopening of the Westfield Bondi Junction shopping centre in Bondi last year.

This place once brought me comfort. Then grief. Now, both

The pain of that day has left a scar on us all.

  • by Kerri Sackville
Simon Goodwin and his Demons are desperately in search of answers, and fast.
Analysis
AFL 2025

‘I’ve got the credentials to do the job’: Goodwin stands firm after Dons whip Dees

Melbourne could only muster one good quarter and are now one of only two winless teams. At 0-5, Simon Goodwin was compelled to say he was still the coach for the job.

  • by Jake Niall
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Monday is madness, Friday is a waste. If you’re going to spend one day working remotely then you must choose Tuesday every time.

Why the worst day of the week is the best day to work from home

Amid the furore over the future of flexible work arrangements, people are missing the most crucial question: what is the best day to work from home?

  • by Thomas Mitchell
Perth woman Rosemary Ritorto was thrilled to meet Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, whose charismatic performance on Saturday upstaged her boss.

Dutton had a decision to make. On Saturday, he chose Jacinta Price

The opposition leader could have reined in Price after she vowed to “make Australia great again”. Instead, Peter Dutton gave her carte blanche.

  • by Natassia Chrysanthos
Will Pucovski in the SCG nets just prior to his only Test match appearance to date, in January 2021.

Pucovski may face an uneven playing pitch when it comes to compensation

If Will Pucovski attempts to claim workers’ compensation after retiring due to the impacts of concussions he could find it tough to receive any financial recompense.

  • by Darren Kane
Large-scale hacks are increasingly automated, and are happening all the time.

There’s one way you can make your super more secure

Super funds are attractive targets for hackers, and recent attacks on funds have put the sector’s security practices under the microscope.

  • by Tim Biggs
If you’re feeling stressed by the current market craziness, you’re not alone. But it pays to stay calm and ride it out.
Opinion
Investing

The five biggest money mistakes you can make right now

If you’re feeling stressed by the current market craziness, you’re not alone. But it pays to stay calm and ride it out.

  • by Nicole Pedersen-McKinnon
Markets have had a jumpy week, enough to make even the most confident planner re-think.

Markets keep falling. Should I delay my retirement?

Delaying your retirement by six months or a year isn’t a failure to launch. In fact, it might be the smartest move you make.

  • by Bec Wilson
Five is not alive ... Penrith

Put a fork in the Penrith Panthers. They’re done

A fourth-straight grand final win came just six months ago for the Panthers. Right now, it seems like an eon.

  • by Peter FitzSimons

The politics of grievance was a winner for Trump. It’s not working for Dutton

Excited by dominance in meaningless midterm polls, misled by the false analogy of Trump’s political success, the Coalition allowed itself to think it could win without doing the work required.

  • by Peter Hartcher
Will Reece Robson keep his NSW No. 9 jersey, or lose it to Wayde Egan, Api Koroisau, Mitch Kenny or Blayke Brailey.
Analysis
NRL 2025

Forget the Blues’ backline. This is the big issue facing Laurie Daley

Reece Robson is the most penalised player in the NRL and his form has dipped. If Robson doesn’t wear the NSW No. 9 jersey, who does?

  • by Christian Nicolussi
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese campaigned in Western Australia on Friday.

Labor vowed to take on miners over Indigenous heritage. Now Albanese is their guest

The prime minister’s tour of northern Australia came with no moves to rekindle memories of the Indigenous Voice referendum.

  • by Mike Foley
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Trump’s made nationalism great again, just not in America

Rather than jingoistic chest-thumping, Trumpism has stirred a stoical civic pride in the things that differentiate individual countries from the US.

  • by Nick Bryant
Donald Trump is staring across the table at the “inscrutable” President Xi Jinping, writes Tom Dolan.
Analysis
Trade wars

Xi holds more cards than Trump in trade showdown

With the two leaders standing eyeball to eyeball as global markets whipsaw around them, who will blink?

  • by Lisa Visentin
Gout’s 17 and already the pin-up boy of Australian athletics.
Analysis
Gout Gout

Gout broke sprinting’s magical mark twice in one night, and it wasn’t even his best event

While not official times, Gout has now broken the 10-second barrier for the 100m. Who knows how fast he might run in his pet event; the 200m.

  • by Michael Gleeson
Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii of the Waratahs.
Analysis
Super Rugby

The numbers don’t lie – why Super Rugby is the best club comp in the world

A rugby-loving French data scientist has examined the figures and found that Super Rugby is superior to its European counterparts.

  • by Paul Cully
The big Bunnies question: what does Wayne Bennett do with Latrell Mitchell and Jye Gray?
Analysis
NRL 2025

What to do with Jye and Trell? Bennett’s number one dilemma at the Rabbitohs

Can Wayne Bennett have his cake and eat it too with two outstanding fullback options and a long-term positional move for Latrell Mitchell?

  • by Dan Walsh

There’s an obvious successor for Albanese. The Libs face a tougher choice

Election results trigger, or subsequently lead to, leadership resets. Even in the turmoil of a campaign, players will also have their eyes on the future.

  • by Michelle Grattan
Melbourne’s Xavier Coates scoring what was voted the NRL try of the year in 2024.
Analysis
NRL 2025

Could Melbourne pinch the NRL grand final from Sydney? Here’s how Storm boss says it can happen

Storm chief executive Justin Rodski believes if his club can create a marquee game at the MCG, it could be a precursor to hosting the NRL grand final.

  • by Roy Ward

Call me cancelled, but our po-faced progressives need a good laugh

The war against wrong-think is as dangerous for the canceller as it is for the cancelled.

  • by Anson Cameron
Nathan Cleary couldn’t save the Panthers this time.
Analysis
NRL 2025

The Panthers are in disarray. How did it get to this?

It appeared there would be no end to the Penrith dynasty. But after five consecutive losses, the Panthers are in freefall.

  • by Adrian Proszenko
Essendon need to manage their playing list with discipline.
Opinion
AFL 2025

The four players Essendon should trade, and a couple they should chase

Essendon’s record in the past 20 years is an indictment. Here’s what they must do, according to a former AFL list boss.

  • by Chris Pelchen
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Ange Postecoglou - celebrating, not praying.

Ange says the ‘football gods’ won’t save him, but he still has a pulse at Spurs

Angeball is not dead. Not yet. Worst-case scenario, this project has exactly one week to live, assuming we believe the talk that Ange Postecoglou’s future at Tottenham Hotspur depends entirely upon winning the Europa League. 

  • by Vince Rugari
It’s easy to become absorbed in the lives of beautiful people like Elsa Pataky and Chris Hemsworth.
Opinion
Real life

Blinded to what I had, I spent a mad day stalking my younger, hotter self

They were the best-looking pair I’d ever seen in real life. And I’ve been in the same room as Chris Hemsworth and Elsa Pataky.

  • by Kate Halfpenny
A Gianni Versace SpA logo sits a above a window display at their store in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele shopping mall in Milan, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 24, 2018. Handbag maker Michael Kors Holding Ltd. is nearing an agreement to buy Versace after the Italian fashion house known for its baroque designs drew interest from several suitors, people familiar with the plans said. Photographer: Francesca Volpi/Bloomberg

How Versace’s ‘blunder’ opened the door for Prada’s $2.3b takeover

Fashion executive John Idol made a big shift after acquiring Versace in 2018. It did not go to plan and now rival Prada has pounced.

  • by Jeannette Neumann
Peter Dutton took some leads from the Donald Trump playbook, but it appears to have backfired.
Tony Wright’s Column
Australia votes

Trump-lite dynamite: Did copying the president’s playbook blow up Dutton’s campaign?

The opposition leader clearly thought he was on a good thing when he looked to the approach of Donald Trump and Elon Musk.

  • by Tony Wright
Donald Trump … it’s been a week since he launched Liberation Day. It’s been a hell of a ride since then.
Opinion
Trade wars

‘Drip, drip, drip’: How Trump’s ‘beautiful’ tariff plan gave the world a cold shower

A week ago, Donald Trump announced Liberation Day. We’ve moved to un-Liberation Day and the world is still reeling.

  • by Shane Wright
Having a refrigerator was a point of pride, particularly if you had paid it off.
Opinion
Trade wars

Trump’s trade vision? Been there. Wore the saggy undies

People talk about growing up behind the Iron Curtain, but I grew up behind a Tariff Curtain.

  • by Richard Glover
Meet Rum’un, the Tasmania Devils’ new club mascot.
Opinion
WordPlay

What’s a Rum’un? How this new AFL mascot got its name

Meet a monster with meaning in every snarl.

  • by David Astle
People who bristle at feedback, become defensive or ignore developmental suggestions are often perceived as less open and coachable
Opinion
Jobs

Don’t shy away from feedback at work. Instead, do this

Many professionals assume that they must be doing well if they’re not receiving feedback. Unfortunately, that’s a dangerous assumption.

  • by Michelle Gibbings
The fact this email turned out to be important seems like something you should have been warned about in advance.

I accidentally ignored an important email. Did I deserve to be yelled at?

The fact this email turned out to be important seems like something you should have been warned about in advance.

  • by Jonathan Rivett
The ACCC has found that Coles and Woolworths are some of the world’s most profitable supermarkets.

Supermarkets may not be price gouging, but don’t discount the need for a stick

The competition watchdog has stopped short of calling them out for excessive prices. Here’s why we still need to keep the pressure on.

  • by Millie Muroi
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Bailey Smith starred for the Cats.
Analysis
AFL 2025

A Cat above: Dangerfield, Cameron and Smith show Crows what it takes to be contenders

There are another eight games remaining in this Gather Round, but it’s doubtful that any will exceed the quality of the first.

  • by Jake Niall

There’s a key problem in Dutton’s campaign, and he’s running out of time to fix it

Peter Dutton has run a steady race for three years, and looked at times like he was trouncing Anthony Albanese, but he enters the final three weeks as the laggard.

  • by David Crowe
Donald Trump holds up his chart of “reciprocal tariffs” at the announcement event in Washington.
Analysis
AI

Did an AI chatbot help draft the US tariff policy?

If it did, it almost certainly warned that implementing it would be a bad idea.

  • by Tim Biggs
Presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump.   Trump’s scatter gun approach has wasted an opportunity to challenge China on trade.

Trump has put America into a no-win war just to alienate its closest allies

Instead of uniting the industrial world against China, Trump has made it America against the whole industrial world.

  • by Thomas L. Friedman

Original URL: https://www.watoday.com.au/topic/opinion-1ql