Australia is under increasing threat from right-wing terrorism, and to properly combat it we need to understand it and offer better alternatives for those drawn to it.
The Morrison government has shown no enthusiasm for repatriating the family members of IS fighters. But as other nations bring back their own fighters, Australia may find itself forced to act.
Focusing on China policy in a Monday address - released ahead of delivery - Penny Wong says Australia needs to ‘define the boundaries’ of its engagement with China as the relationship is in a new phase.
Australia now has one of the most comprehensive ranges of anti-terrorism laws of any Western democracy. It’s time to think creatively about solutions, rather than continually reworking old strategies.
As the Sri Lankan Tamil family from Biloela prepares to learn their fate tomorrow, Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton can’t avoid looking threadbare in terms of humanity.
While the ministerial direction represents a genuflection in the direction of press freedom, it provides nothing by way of protection for whistleblowers.
Federal home affairs minister Peter Dutton says the government’s “expectation” is that federal police should consider the importance of press freedom before investigating leaks to journalists.
Similar concerns were raised 40 years ago when the Department of Defence was formed, but the decision to merge several agencies is now held up for its strategic vision.
Australia already has an extensive suite of anti-terrorism legislation, and the government hasn’t clarified what gap, if any, this new bill would fill.
The Constitution says that the governor-general can only act to fill a vacancy in the prime ministership if there is one - but in this case, some complex questions would have arisen.
With parliament sitting next week, the home affairs minister is pressuring Labor to support a repeal of the medevac law. But the law has worked just as it was intended.