From the fall of Mosul, it would be easy for people to think the campaign against Islamic State is nearly at an end. But that is not the case, writes Rodger Shanahan.

Australian workers either feel they are going backwards financially or not getting ahead, so whoever can solve the wage-growth puzzle will be best-placed to secure government in 2019, writes Andrew Probyn.

Yet again, we are paying no heed to our farmers. We're stepping over them for a big coal company from another country.

Everything is going Bill Shorten's way, with Tony Abbott rampaging against his colleagues and the Sunday penalty rate cut giving the Opposition Leader a clear policy to sell, Michelle Grattan writes.

Even if Australia decided to invest in ballistic missile defence, it would provide little-to-no protection from a nuclear-armed North Korean ICBM.