Australian politics

Anthony Albanese has invoked his mother as the inspiration for Labor’s latest policy reset, declaring older Australians need to be seen as a boon to the budget, rather than a burden. In his fourth “vision statement” since taking up the…

The cashless debit card has failed to reduce family violence in one of the first trial sites and may have actually coincided with an increase in abuse, police data released under freedom of information laws suggests. New figures…

An officer on Australia’s flagship Antarctic icebreaker, the Aurora Australis, was asked by bosses to remove a social media post showing her on deck with a banner critical of Scott Morrison’s climate policies after Australia’s Antarctic…

Boris Johnson should block attempts to extradite Julian Assange to the US, say two Australian MPs who have flown to the UK to visit the Wikileaks founder. Andrew Wilkie, an independent federal MP, said the extradition of Assange, who…

Josh Frydenberg is ineligible to sit in federal parliament because of his mother’s Hungarian citizenship, a court has been told. The treasurer is facing a challenge from one of his constituents, who argues Frydenberg should be…

Scott Morrison has described a report he may adopt a technology investment target to avoid signing up to a commitment of zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 as speculation, but confirmed his government will take a “technology over…

Fossil fuel giant Santos, two of the major banks and Nine Entertainment were among the big corporates that paid tens of thousands of dollars to mix with Labor and Liberal politicians through party business forums in the lead-up to the…

Supermarket giant Coles is the latest major retailer to be caught up in an underpayment scandal, with the company expecting a $20m hit after underpaying managers at its supermarkets and liquor division over the past six years. The…

The Coalition is considering using federal government building contracts to pressure companies not to engage in or to cave in to environmental boycotts. In a sign the government is looking for innovative ways to implement Scott…

The late afternoon sun had begun to turn golden as the camera crews on the lawn of the Holden factory at Elizabeth, South Australia packed away their equipment. Three years of waiting had culminated in an Irish wake on 20 October 2017…

Labor will ask for an investigation into how the Liberal party mistakenly disclosed a $165,000 donation from a key Scott Morrison ally and frontrunner for a $1bn government contract. The opposition will ask the joint standing committee…

Australia’s bushfire crisis has caused a spike in concern about the environment, a hit to the popularity of the Coalition and Scott Morrison and a drop in support for new coal mines, even among Coalition voters. Those are the…

The government has claimed it does not owe welfare recipients a duty of care over the robodebt scandal and has denied alleged debtors were placed under “duress”, despite admitting in court documents that some debts were based on “false”…

The Victorian Liberal Katie Allen has declared the world is approaching an “iPhone moment” when it comes to new technology lowering greenhouse gas emissions, and Australia needs to be part of the revolution, rather than being a…

The Australian government’s ban on Huawei’s participation in building the nation’s 5G network remains a “sore point or thorny issue” between the two countries, the Chinese ambassador said on Monday, as he criticised the government for…

The Australian government is working on a plan to evacuate its citizens off the stricken Diamond Princess cruise ship – now the largest site for coronavirus outside of mainland China. More than 3,700 passengers and crew are on board the…

An Australian family on the average wage typically spends close to A$6,000 out of pocket per year on child care, a new analysis from the Mitchell Institute shows. This is more than the average cost of sending a child to a private…

Mining giant BHP has repeatedly applied and been granted approval to increase its emissions under an Australian government policy that promised to limit carbon pollution from big industry. Government data shows BHP exceeded its initial…

A volunteer firefighter who told the prime minister to “get fucked from Nelligan” in a viral news clip says he was sacked from the New South Wales Rural Fire Service for foul language. Paul Parker told Channel Ten’s The Project on…

The Coalition gave an “unprecedented” $400,000 grant to the administrators of a now-closed aged care home in the electorate of Nationals MP Damian Drum, prompting Labor to question why other financially stressed providers have missed…