News Corp chief Rupert Murdoch has made an extraordinary intervention in the Coalition controversy over Tony Abbott’s chief of staff, Peta Credlin, declaring via Twitter that she must go. In a series of…
Queensland-born broadcaster Alan Jones isn’t backing down from allegations he has made against the state’s Premier and Deputy Premier, despite the pair suing him.
AAP/Tracey Nearmy
Legal experts warn that the Queensland Premier and Deputy Premier are taking a risk by suing radio host Alan Jones for defamation – particularly because Jones does not necessarily have to prove his allegations…
Australian Human Rights Commission President Gillian Triggs has come under attack from sections of the media and government.
AAP/Quentin Jones
Australian Human Rights Commission President Gillian Triggs has been the subject of unusually fierce criticism by sections of the media and government, including Prime Minister Tony Abbott. Senior Australian…
Senator Arthur Sinodinos has resigned, as prime minister Tony Abbott prepares to reshuffle his team.
AAP/Paul Miller
Senator Arthur Sinodinos has announced his resignation from the ministry, clearing the way for Prime Minister Tony Abbott to fill the position of assistant treasurer in a reshuffle. Abbott is believed…
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has launched a joint inquiry with the NSW Government into the Martin Place siege.
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
The Abbott and Baird governments have announced an urgent review into the Martin Place Lindt cafe siege, including an investigation of how gunman Man Haron Monis slipped through state and federal security…
Treasurer Joe Hockey and Finance Minister Mathias Cormann have said the government will get the budget back into surplus.
AAP/Lukas Coch
The budget is projected to return to surplus in 2019-20, according to the budget update which shows this financial year’s deficit has blown out from less than A$30 billion to more than $40 billion. Treasurer…
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has said the motivations of the gunman were unknown, but could be politically motivated.
AAP/Lukas Coch
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has appealed to Australians to “go about their business as usual” as a gunman holds a group of people hostage in the Lindt cafe in Martin Place, Sydney. After a meeting of cabinet’s…
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has rejected all three options for questions put up by the parliamentary committee on indigenous recognition.
AAP/Dan Himbrechts
Tony Abbott wants Australia’s Indigenous people recognised in the constitution on May 27, 2017, the 50th anniversary of the 1967 referendum, which gave the Commonwealth power to make laws for Aborigines…
Labor elder John Faulkner has served as a cabinet minister under three prime ministers.
AAP/Alan Porritt
ALP national president Jenny McAllister will replace John Faulkner in the Senate when parliament resumes following the veteran Labor figure’s announcement that he is retiring after a quarter of a century…
Prime Minister Tony Abbott was previously dismissive of the Green Climate Fund.
AAP/Mal Fairclough
The government has moved to scrape off another “barnacle” by announcing it will provide A$200 million over four years to the Green Climate Fund, despite its earlier criticism of the initiative. But it…
Indigenous leader Noel Pearson speaking to Prime Minister Tony Abbott during the PM’s visit to the Gove Peninsula earlier this year.
AAP/Tracey Nearmy
Tony Abbott and Bill Shorten will make their first joint appearance to promote the constitutional recognition of Australia’s first people on Thursday night. The function, in the Redfern area, is a dinner…
Environment minister Greg Hunt has said uncertainty about the RET is hitting investment in the renewables industry.
AAP/Paul Miller
The government has again appealed to Labor to immediately recommence negotiations over the renewable energy target (RET). Environment Minister Greg Hunt has written to opposition climate spokesman Mark…
Treasurer Joe Hockey said that there were reasons to be optimistic about Australia’s economic growth.
AAP/Alan Porritt
The current economic environment, with its “headwinds”, reinforced the importance of getting the budget back into order, Treasurer Joe Hockey has said in a ministerial statement as parliament prepares…
Christopher Pyne’s higher education reforms have been knocked back by the Senate.
AAP/Lukas Coch
The Senate has voted down Education Minister Christopher Pyne’s higher education measures – one of the budget’s key reforms – in a major defeat for the Abbott government. But Pyne announced the government…
Glenn Lazarus has confirmed the Palmer United Party won’t support the government’s higher education reform package.
AAP/Lukas Coch
Palmer United Party Senate leader Glenn Lazarus has warned Education Minister Christopher Pyne to “stop harassing” him and other crossbenchers as the government tries desperately to get its higher education…
Tony Negus with Prime Minister Tony Abbott earlier in 2014.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Tony Abbott is appointing the former chief of the Australian Federal Police, Tony Negus, as Australia’s new high commissioner to Canada. Meanwhile, career diplomat Paul Grigson is being sent as ambassador…
Labor, led by Daniel Andrews, has swept back into power in Victoria after only one term in opposition.
AAP/Joe Castro
With all election night votes counted, Labor has definitely won 44 of the 88 Victorian lower house seats, with the Coalition definitely winning 35 seats. The Nationals’ seat of Shepparton was lost to an…
Jacqui Lambie quitting the Palmer United Party means the party no longer has the numbers in its own right to block legislation.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Jacqui Lambie has finally quit the Palmer United Party but vowed to continue her opposition to government proposals for university fee deregulation, a Medicare co-payment and welfare measures that “hit…
Clive Palmer says the Palmer United Party is investigating Senator Jacqui Lambie.
AAP/Julian Smith
Clive Palmer has suggested renegade Palmer United Party senator Jacqui Lambie was deliberately planted in PUP to disrupt it. He said PUP was currently investigating Lambie, including how she got endorsement…
Labor, under opposition leader Bill Shorten, leads the Coalition by ten points in the latest Newspoll.
AAP/Tracey Nearmy
Labor’s support is at its highest for nine months in the latest Newspoll and Bill Shorten is ahead of Tony Abbott as better prime minister. In two-party terms, the opposition leads the government by 55-45…
Chinese president Xi Jinping said Australia and China should be harmonious neighbours who stick together through good and bad.
AAP/Lukas Coch
Chinese President Xi Jinping has declared that “big guy” China is dedicated to pursuing peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region in a speech urging that China and Australia “jointly meet various…
Tony Abbott used his closing remarks at the G20 to reaffirm his commitment to coal.
AAP/Lukas Coch
G20 nations have supported “strong and effective” action on climate change, but included some equivocal wording on the timing for issuing post-2020 targets and on the Green Climate Fund to accommodate…
US President Barack Obama addresses a crowd at the University of Queensland.
AAP/Dan Peled
US president Barack Obama has given Australia a sharp prod on climate change, saying he wanted his future grandchildren to be able to enjoy the Great Barrier Reef. Obama, addressing an enthusiastic audience…
Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki Moon speaks to the media during a press conference at the G20.
AAP/Lukas Coch
US president Barack Obama has pledged US$3 billion to the Green Climate Fund (GCF), as United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged other G20 nations to make contributions to it. The American announcement…
British Prime Minister David Cameron said we have to deal with the ‘root causes’ of terrorism.
AAP/Alan Porritt
British Prime Minister David Cameron has said that “a new and pressing challenge” in the fight against terrorism is getting extremist material taken down from the internet. Addressing a special sitting…