The government has temporarily put on hold its highly controversial dilution of consumer protections in the financial advice laws while it consults with stakeholders. The announcement by Finance Minister…
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Treasury secretary Martin Parkinson has announced an Australian Treasury Advisory Council, including leading business figures, to “help replicate the discipline provided by a private sector governance…
Assistant Treasurer Arthur Sinodinos has bowed to political pressure and stood aside from the ministry during the Independent Commission against Corruption’s inquiry into a company he chaired that was…
The Productivity Commission has slammed the assessment and development processes for Australia’s public infrastructure projects, finding “numerous examples of poor value-for-money” because of bad selection…
Dealing with the rise of homegrown terrorism has prompted governments to take novel approaches in combating such threats. The UK government, for example, has recently pushed for schools to teach children…
Qantas has done a backflip over the role of the carbon tax in the problems it faces. After declaring on Monday that “the major issues Qantas faces are not related to carbon pricing”, it now says this cost…
Members of the Human Rights Commission are sharply at odds over plans to water down the Racial Discrimination Act. Race Discrimination Commissioner Tim Soutphommasane, in a speech to be delivered tonight…
A $280 million scheme for concessional loans enabling farmers to borrow up to $1 million is a centrepiece of the government’s drought relief announced today. The $320 million package includes more generous…
The House of Representatives has made an unprecedented apology over the false statement made to the parliament by disgraced former Labor MP Craig Thomson. The apology, moved by Leader of the House Christopher…
Tony Abbott has warned that the rate of increase in spending on health and schools must be reduced “in the longer term”. He has also pledged that all new spending in the May budget will be fully funded…
Unemployment among Australian young people has risen to an “alarming” 12.2% in the year to January, compared with 8.8% in 2008, the Brotherhood of St Laurence says, launching a national campaign to get…
The Australian Election Study has found that Tony Abbott is the most unpopular leader to win an election since the ANU began to track public opinion in 1987. The study, done after each election, confirmed…
The Australian Electoral Commissioner, Ed Killesteyn, has resigned a day after confirmation that Western Australians will go to a fresh Senate poll caused by the AEC losing 1370 votes. The government has…
Western Australian voters are set to face an unprecedented fresh Senate election after the High Court signalled it would strike down the result of the September poll because 1370 ballot papers were lost…
Tony Abbott will outline limited and mixed progress on targets for addressing indigenous disadvantage in a report to federal parliament on “closing the gap”. No progress has been made against the target…
Labor has held on to the federal seat of Griffith, but the byelection has seen a small swing against the ALP in Kevin Rudd’s former electorate. The Liberal National Party refused to concede tonight, as…
The chief of the Australian Workers’ Union, Paul Howes, has called for a “grand compact” between business, unions and government to reduce conflict and pitch Australia’s industrial relations towards the…
The ABC has admitted the wording in its initial reporting of asylum seekers’ claims that the Australian Navy mistreated them should have been “more precise” and conceded it could have been misleading…
The federal government has rejected the bid by the embattled food processing company SPC Ardmona for $25 million, in a victory for the Liberal economic “dries” and “a marker” for industry policy. Announcing…
Governor-General designate Peter Cosgrove wants to visit “stressed” indigenous communities in tandem with Australian of the Year Adam Goodes to see what their conditions are like. But Cosgrove, 66, whose…
Tony Abbott has said Australia wants the G20’s Brisbane meeting to produce a three-page communique explaining precisely how countries’ “good intentions are being put into practice”. Laying down his priorities…
Immigration minister Scott Morrison has reversed the freeze he announced earlier this month on the granting of protection visas for asylum seekers. Morrison’s backtrack came after a move by refugee lawyers…
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has sent a strong message to businesses not to expect handouts from his government, as he announced a $A100 million fund to cushion the impact from Holden’s decision to end manufacturing…
Australia’s debt would hit A$667 billion – more than a quarter of GDP – in a decade on present projections, according to the mid year update that also shows the federal budget has deteriorated by A$101…
The budget update released today will reveal that without policy changes, Australia’s cumulative deficits would total more than $120 billion over the forward estimates. On the basis of revised numbers…