Prime Minister Tony Abbott reminded cabinet members of their responsibilities and the consequences of leaking, after an unusually detailed leak from cabinet.
AAP/Lukas Coch
Tony Abbott has told his party room that in cabinet on Monday there was a “come to Jesus moment” – by which he apparently meant a moment of collective clarity.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott threw aside cabinet processes last week – and he’s been singed as a result.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
Quizzed about last week’s sensational cabinet leak, Tony Abbott says people around Parliament House want to focus on “process but the public want the government to focus on "outcomes”.
Tony Abbott risks having same-sex marriage used against him electorally – just as his Liberal Party once tried to use it against Labor.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
As opposition leader Bill Shorten prepares to introduce an amendment on Monday to the Marriage Act to legalise same-sex marriage, why has Australia lagged so far behind?
The Abbott government has announced a plan to strip dual nationals involved in terrorism of their Australian citizenship.
AAP/Lukas Coch
A number of countries – including Canada, France, the US and the UK – allow for the deprivation of citizenship on national security grounds. But the scope of ministerial discretion varies significantly.
These Rohingya women and children, rescued by fishermen in Aceh, are among thousands in need of resettlement.
EPA
A summit in Bangkok is discussing the fate of thousands of people who were stranded at sea. Australia is represented but refuses to resettle any refugees, casting doubt on its commitment to a regional solution.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott wasn’t happy with Treasurer Joe Hockey offering up GST revenue.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
A defeat for Indigenous constitutional recognition would be disastrous and demoralising. But history tells us that even worthy proposals with bipartisan support are not assured of success.
Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton, Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Philip Ruddock at parliament house on Tuesday.
AAP/Lukas Coch
The government will soon introduce legislation to give the immigration minister wide discretionary power to strip Australian citizenship from dual nationals involved in terrorist activities.
‘Millions of children in overseas orphanages … would dearly love to have parents’, claims Tony Abbott, and his government is making intercountry adoption easier.
Screenshot/Intercountry Adoption Australia
Most of the world’s ‘orphans’ are not orphans at all and many are caught up in a global trade in meeting demand for adoption. Making intercountry adoption easier adds to the risks for these children.
Treasurer Joe Hockey has announced that the government will not pursue an inquiry into iron ore prices.
AAP/Tracey Nearmy
The government has given into the pressure from the big miners and formally abandoned the idea of a parliamentary inquiry into the iron ore sector.
Giving constitutional status to an Indigenous advisory body would give Indigenous Australians a say about laws that directly affect them.
AAp/Tracey Nearmy
Proposals for constitutional recognition of Indigenous people are gaining momentum but also raising legal concerns. Here is a form of words to create an advisory council that overcomes those concerns.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott is in a nasty squeeze, with Andrew Forrest, founder of Fortescue Metals Group, and some of the other smaller miners on one side, and the big producers, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, on the other.
AAP/Dan Himbrechts
Australia has cut aid to Indonesia by 40%. That may cause diplomatic displeasure, but the country has restructured its development programs in recent years to be less dependent on foreign money.
More mines, more roads, as the government puts its drive towards economic development ahead of all else.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
Amid talk of paths to surplus and investing in infrastructure, both sides of politics seem to have forgotten Australia’s longstanding responsibility to govern sustainably, and not just for the economy.
A swing and a miss: instead of taking its own advice to ‘have a go’ in its second budget, the government is like the captain who sends in a nightwatchman instead of himself.
AAP/Tony Ashby
Joe Hockey’s second budget has two large deficits: the fiscal one, plus the lack of a coherent and creative plan for Australia. The Abbott government failed to ‘have a go’ at building the future.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott and his government have been encouraged by the budget’s initial reception.
AAP/Sam Mooy
A soft budget - if you overlook the nasty bits still there from last year – with more giveaways than takeaways inevitably fanned talk of a possible double dissolution this year.
Spending on infrastructure in the federal budget appears to serve mainly political aims.
AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts
The two announcements in the federal budget beg the question: is a piece of infrastructure really needed or is it being built to buy popularity?
In his first budget and in opposition, Joe Hockey’s single-minded focus was on cutting the budget debt and deficits. For his second budget he’s telling a different story.
AAP/Paul Miller
Joe Hockey’s first budget was a declaration of ideological belief. The second is about political survival and depends on breathing life back into the economy – the ideological urgency can wait.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has said metadata is essential to most counter-terrorism investigations.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
The government will provide telecommunications companies with $131 million in the budget to help with the costs of retaining metadata, as part of further measures to strengthen intelligence capabilities and counter extremist messaging.