Indulgence of readers this is Short Takes I of an issue, or a development, or a happenstance, or simply something that catches the eye, or maybe gets under the skin.

The history of the most contentious day in the life of the Australian Federation has been jolted forward in ways that are both….

You started your career at Melbourne-based The Age. In the late 1970s, you started your life as a foreign correspondent, first in China for Fairfax and…

This may turn out to be a major threat to Australian security, but it is important that the political class – including the media – not overreact to the "China threat".

Budgetary pressures will dictate a re-balancing of an unfair tax system in which younger taxpayers continue to underwrite a wealth transfer to an older generation.

The public’s right to know should be encompassed in a charter of rights that enshrines basic freedoms taken for granted in comparable western democracies.

Two major initiatives will be on the agenda at the weekend's summit: a mega trade deal and a regional security framework.

America risks becoming a bit player confined to the margins of the Middle East where its stabilising role has long been taken for granted.

An agreement may be in sight in the long-running US-China trade war. But history warns us of mirages.

In a raw geopolitical game in one of the most volatile corners of the world it is hard to exaggerate the degree of irresponsibility displayed by an American president in this instance.