Social Services Minister Scott Morrison announces that a A$3.5 billion child-care subsidy will begin from July 1 2017 if the Senate passes previously rejected Family Tax Benefit savings.
AAP/Paul Miller
Lost in the political debate about subsidising child care is the fact that universal free preschool care has been abandoned as a goal of good social policy.
Treasurer Joe Hockey has a lot of skin in the game coming into his second budget.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
Budget day is high risk for all the political players.
Maurice Newman, chairman of the Prime Minister’s business advisory council, has written that climate change is a United Nations power grab.
AAP/Julian Smith
As the Abbott government prepares Australia’s post-2020 emissions targets for this year’s Paris conference, the chairman of the Prime Minister’s business advisory council has make an extraordinary intervention in the climate debate.
Joe Hockey, pictured arriving for the Liberal leadership spill in February, would not be delivering his second budget had Tony Abbott lost that vote.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
In just a year, the Abbott government has gone from a radical nation-changing budget to promising a ‘dull’ one. Are we to believe the ideological zeal is gone, or has the survival instinct kicked in?
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has run shotgun on this second budget, knowing his political life depends on it.
AAP/Bohdan Warchomij
Here we are with the budget almost upon us and Tony Abbott has had to assure the public, and Joe Hockey, that the Treasurer won’t be sacked if it’s a flop.
When not employing the description ‘death cult’, Prime Minister Tony Abbott prefers to use the name Da'esh because the group ‘hates being referred to by this term’.
AAP/Lukas Coch
The terrorist group now calls itself Islamic State, but the many names by which it is known reflect both its own evolution and the deliberate choices others make in how they refer to it.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Treasurer Joe Hockey pose for photos as they discuss their second budget.
AAP/Lukas Coch
Joe Hockey sounded almost pleading, in his appeal after the Reserve Bank announced an interest rate cut of 0.25 of a percentage point, taking the cash rate to 2%, a new record low.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott can use the latest Newspoll as evidence to his colleagues that he is clawing back.
AAP/Lukas Coch
The government goes into next week’s budget trailing Labor on a two-party basis but satisfaction with Tony Abbott has risen to a seven month high in the latest Newspoll.
Bill Shorten faces some budget pressure too. His budget reply performance will be judged partly on whether he includes new substance.
AAP/Paul Miller
Against the grim outlook of a continuing massive deficit, Tony Abbott and Bill Shorten are both seeking to frame the debate ahead of Treasurer Joe Hockey bringing down his second budget next week.
Indonesians are sensitive about issues of respect for their nation and its sovereignty, as protests at Tony Abbott’s linking of aid with calls for clemency showed.
EPA/Bagus Indahono
Indonesians have long felt that Australia lacks respect for their nation’s sovereignty, but Indonesia’s status as a rising power adds to the urgency of recalibrating our approach to the relationship.
Australia’s Prime Minister Tony Abbott greets Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo during the 2014 G20 Leaders’ Summit in Brisbane.
AAP/Steve Christo
Since Tony Abbott became prime minister, three issues have strained relations with Indonesia. Before the fracture over the fate of Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, there were difficulties from the Coalition’s tow-back policy and a major crisis after revelations of Australian spying.
The relationship with Indonesia is more important than the protest over two dead drug traffickers and Australians need their ambassador in Jakarta.
AAP/Oscar Siagian
In condemning Indonesia’s execution of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, Australia has relied on the same human rights obligations that it rejects when applied to asylum seekers.
The Australian-Indonesia relationship has become frosty and personal, which will test the diplomatic skills of Tony Abbott and Joko Widodo.
AAP/Eka Nickmatulhuda
Protests on Anzac Day, rather than being ‘utterly alien to Australians’, have a long tradition and embody the democratic right to dissent for which the troops fought.
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and his state and territory counterparts have promised a stronger national response to violence against women – but will they deliver?
Stefan Postles/AAP
Australia’s federal and state leaders have pledged “urgent collective action” on violence against women. But a closer look at COAG’s new action plan reveals we’re already years behind on key measures.
The government is playing “hardball” in the talks over the new Community Pharmacy Agreement, according to sources.
medicine picture from www.shutterstock.com
Bitter battles about money hang heavily over the Council of Australian Governments meeting, though Tony Abbott wants it to concentrate on the less divisive topics.