Opinion

MARK RILEY: Armed with critical minerals and a $1.5 billion cheque, Albanese must draw focus from global conflict to secure Australian interests.

SOPHIE GANNON: If this trade period has shown us anything, it’s that the inner-Melbourne bubble has lost its sparkle and some of the league’s biggest players want out. 

Alyssa Healy’s epic World Cup century set up a famous victory, but it was what she said after the win that really hit home.

As the David Pye trial kicks off amid beefed up security measures, Ben Harvey outlines the prosecution’s case against the man who allegedly masterminded the assassination of Nick Martin.

EDITORIAL: It’s unlikely we will be able to birth our way out of this problem without radical — and likely unwelcome — cultural change. 

KIERSTEN DUKE: This filly has tasted recent success and could give the red-hot favourite a real run for his money.

JENI O’DOWD: Years ago, the so-called ISIS brides walked away from Australia, pledging allegiance to a barbaric movement that beheads innocent people and is at war with everything we stand for.

AARON PATRICK: The ceasefire in Gaza has left Hamas free to hunt down and murder its opponents.

Jim Chalmers’ ‘tweaks’ to his plan to wind back superannuation tax breaks will punch a multibillion-dollar black hole in the Budget, as economists say the Government will have to find the revenue elsewhere.

EDITORIAL: That Iran might accept Donald Trump’s ‘hand of friendship’ may be wishful thinking, but at the end of the war it is now time for that sort of optimism.

LISA STHALEKAR: Alyssa Healy’s century stole the show against India, but it was what injured superstar Ellyse Perry did to get herself back on the pitch that her teammates will not forget.

DVIR ABRAMOVICH: A people who had dwelt in fear stepped, trembling, into light. The long night that began on October 7, 2023 was finally broken, its darkness yielding to dawn.

SARAH STINSON: Every morning Viki Cohen woke not knowing what - or if - her hostage son Nimrod had eaten, if he was warm, if he was scared, if he was safe. But she refused to give up.

With Israeli hostages finally returned to Tel Aviv by Hamas, Ben Harvey speculates whether Donald Trump has pulled off the ultimate triumph or whether long running conflict runs too deep for lasting peace.

EDITORIAL: Chalmers has handled what could’ve been a crippling ignominy with typical composure. His spin – that this was a mutual decision rather than a concession – helps save some face.