Views on the news from Canberra’s top columnists
"When community life weakens, the national mood becomes scratchier... More public argument takes place through suspicion rather than trust. Problems that could have been solved around a table are left to harden," writes ANDREW LEIGH.
Cartoonist PAUL DORIN has symptoms the rest of the country is suffering from.
"Michelangelo seemed to recoil from worldly comforts. He ate simple meals, slept in his clothes, and lived with almost ascetic disregard for cleanliness." CLIVE WILLIAMS shares some surprising habits of a towering genius of the Renaissance.
"Development priorities are too often determined by opinion not evidence. The approach has led to misplaced priorities and the community not receiving the best value from limited infrastructure funds," writes planning columnist MIKE QUIRK.
For marathon swimmers, the Strait of Hormuz represents one of open-water sea swimming’s most unusual challenges, writes CLIVE WILLIAMS.
Our Dear Leader is warning us to be vigilant about the rise of One Nation in the ACT and what it might lead to...
Cartoonist PAUL DORIN takes a sardonic look at the potential bird flu outbreak.
"In my view, very few employment roles at the AMC are improving prospects of employment on release or contributing to a reduction in reoffending," writes ACT Custodial Inspector REBECCA MINTY.
Today’s space race could turn fatal if we don’t agree on new rules, writes CASSANDRA STEER.
There's no place like homelessness, says cartoonist PAUL DORIN, ruefully.
A Federal Court judge has called out seven colleagues for taking one, two or more years to give their decision. HUGH SELBY says the "naming and shaming was a step too far, an overreach well understood by those familiar with good teamwork."
"Through melody and rhyme, America's songwriters have turned defeats into moral victories, soldiers into martyrs, and complex conflicts into simple tales," writes Whimsy columnist CLIVE WILLIAMS.
In calling for urgent reform, ROSS FITZGERALD says current policy on smoking and vaping is a train crash, with smoking rates in Australia possibly increasing for the first time in decades.
Look, it's worth asking the question, though the answer will be painfully short, says cartoonist PAUL DORIN.
Treasurer Spinocchio Steel won't shy away from spending what it takes to make Canberra the most progressive city in the world! It's KEEPING UP THE ACT.
"With no macropods to eat it down, it is a firebomb just waiting to go off this coming summer. This is of concern to me, as my wife and I nearly lost our house up near Farrer Ridge in the 2003 event," says letter writer IAN MacDOUGALL.
"It’s time that our feckless political leaders had the courage to share the truth instead of lies. They can make a start with housing: what’s achievable in what time frame," writes HUGH SELBY.
As Pauline Hanson outpolls the PM, Albo may well be asking for explanations, says cartoonist PAUL DORIN.
"If racial prejudice, hostility, stereotyping and assumptions can only ever travel in one direction, then we have ceased talking about racism as most ordinary Australians understand it," writes GWYN REES.
