Bishop scan: government questions preceded airport action
Heath Aston 7:40 PM A Melbourne Airport security guard has lost his job, and at least two other airport workers were suspended, as a result of the botched security screening of Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.
Latest political news
Call for fairer share of bush tucker pie
Nicole Hasham 6:06 PM Advocates are calling for proper recognition and financial rewards for the original custodians of bush foods as the industry expands and its export potential grows.
Defeat of IS in Iraq 'just a matter of time'
David Wroe 7:34 PM Australia's military operations chief says momentum has shifted and it is now a question of "when, not if" Islamic State is defeated in Iraq.
Asylum seeker who lost eye has claim settled
Michael Gordon 5:21 PM Almost two years after an asylum seeker lost an eye and suffered severe facial injuries during a riot at the Manus Island detention centre, his claim for damages has been settled.
Hit corporate giants not welfare, Coalition told
Lisa Cox 4:23 PM The government should not cut benefits to low-income earners if it won't crack down on tax avoidance by large corporations, which costs the budget billions in revenue, crossbenchers say.
ABC to defy Turnbull on editor-in-chief split
Matthew Knott 4:39 PM The ABC will defy Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull by refusing to split the roles of managing director and editor-in-chief, despite its incoming managing director having little editorial experience.
ASIO chief called just two Lib MPs about Islam
David Wroe and Mark Kenny 7:35 PM ASIO chief Duncan Lewis called just two MPs about the political debate around Islam, and neither of those has complained about the calls, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has said.
Hundreds of years' experience lost in MP exits
James Massola 2:07 PM Former cabinet and junior ministers and an ex-speaker are among those quitting Parliament in 2016, with Liberal Michael Ronaldson the latest to join the ranks.
'Target biggest companies for tax billions'
Heath Aston, Nassim Khadem, Craig Butt The Treasurer has been urged to shift focus to the "top end of town" to combat the worsening deficit amid evidence billions of dollars are being lost to corporate tax avoidance.
Lib stoush over ASIO chief's advice on rhetoric
Mark Kenny Divisions have opened up in the government, with conservative Liberals angry that ASIO boss Duncan Lewis has asked some MPs to temper their comments on Islam to avoid causing offence.
Tumultuous News Corp past of new ABC boss
Matthew Knott Incoming ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie oversaw one of Rupert Murdoch's biggest media failures, an attempt to bypass Chinese media ownership restrictions through a backdoor TV venture.
Comment & Analysis
Turnbull will resist early poll temptation
Mark Kenny An early election would carry the risk of being perceived by voters as opportunistic and a breach of faith.
Back-to-basics approach for innovation
Ben Roediger Australian scientists and engineers are among the most inventive in the world. Any initiative that enables their ideas to be tested in the market should be lauded for the forward-thinking policy it is.
Turnbull's dilemma: how to get states on board
Peter Reith Tax reform is vital medicine for the Australian economy, but it takes a lot of time to put together a pill that people will be willing to swallow.
Ugly truth about the budget is what we need
Peter Martin Expect the unvarnished truth in the mid-year update, because there's little point in lying.
Common sense prevails, but only just
Michael Gordon Malcolm Turnbull's authority is in tact and Ian Macfarlane's credibility is in tatters after the former resources minister's bizarre and brazen bid to force his way back into cabinet came a cropper.
Politics of exclusion must be rejected
Tim Dick The choice between the politics of the old and that of the new is not a choice only faced by Australia. It’s faced by the US, by Britain, by any developed country with a significant migrant population – almost all of them.
Treaty would build better foundation
George Williams Australia does not recognise the sovereignty of its first nations by way of a treaty, and the effects have been devastating.
Bishop, Abbott, Trump and politics of delusion
Adam Gartrell Politicians aren't just good at lying to us – they're good at lying to themselves too.
The mad monk and the coming of the raptor
Annabel Crabb The end of the year, when everyone is tired and snippy, is always a bit prone to farce of one kind or another.
Macfarlane defection will end in tears
Michael Gordon The history of political defections in Australia is replete with unhappy endings.
Tax avenger in hunt for millions spirited away
Peter Hartcher Chris Jordan is on a mission to make multi-national companies pay their fair share of tax and is kicking down doors around the world to make them do it.
Vulnerability is the new strength in politics
Judith Ireland Politicians hate showing weakness. But it's time they realised there's a power that comes with vulnerability.
Tony Abbott's 'dangerous' ideas
Anne Summers We have to hope that no one is listening because many of the former prime minister's ideas could make the world a more dangerous place.
Politics, climate, Islam, and the credibility gap
Mark Kenny For politicians, the daily quest to convey conviction is hardly aided by their tendency to shift ground when it suits without even acknowledging they've done so.
Keep unrepentant terrorists behind bars
Dan Tehan Terrorists who remain unreformed by a jail term should be subject to indefinite detention.
Arch conservatives offer nothing but guff
Waleed Aly Abbott and Trump are not intelligently discussing Islam, they’re just demonstrating that their brand of politics is fast collapsing.
Interpreting Australia through Aboriginal eyes
Paul Keating Our identity cannot be separated from that of Aboriginal Australia.
Let Muslim progressives speak for themselves
Reem Sweid Muslims do not need a Western cultural supremacist like Tony Abbott to tell them what Islam needs.
New innovators don't need huge tax breaks
Nicholas Reece The PM's innovation statement is a good start, but it falls well short of being the game changer that the Australian economy needs.
Don't fall for the super industry's scare tactics
Peter Martin Retirees’ cost of living is not as outrageously high as the industry would have us believe.
PM switches to forward-looking formula
Mark Kenny In a rapidly changing world, only the fleet of foot can prosper. That is Malcolm Turnbull's message.
Special features
Best of Canberra 2015
Our best pictures of the federal political year for 2015.
Federal politics 2015: End of year mega quiz
Another year, another prime minister ousted. 2015 was chock-full of political action. Were you paying attention?
Another problem lands on PM's tax reform table
Michael Gordon If the Prime Minister wants an honest debate about tax reform, he now has an even more cogent case for everything being on the table.
Someone's playing politics. It isn't ASIO
David Wroe The war within the Coalition on national security has gone nuclear.
Cuts to hit the most needy, doctors warn
Patients will be out of pocket by up to $62 or more per test for procedures such as X-rays, ultrasounds, CT scans and MRIs, according to a doctors' group.
Morrison thinks we can't handle the full truth, yet
Every year the surplus moves a year further away. It's like driving towards an unreachable horizon.
ABC's preferred new boss 'not afraid of failure'
Matthew Knott At a conference last year, Google executive Michelle Guthrie extolled the virtue of eating your own dog food.
Budget update fails to map out road to surplus
There is nothing in the mid-year budget update to be alarmed about, but nor does it suggest Malcolm Turnbull will do any better than his predecessors at getting the budget back to surplus.
Macfarlane in political wilderness
Mark Kenny As far as political gambles go, this was a big one, and it went seriously wrong.
John Bannon: a quiet giant of politics
Mark Kenny Even now when I'm grinding out the kilometres in Canberra, I often rely on something John Bannon once confided about distance training. He said when your body wants to stop, you can always go a bit further, and you will be glad you made that choice.
Turnbull's tax reform striptease has started
It's time to start ruling out some of the options even if business doesn't like it.
Death, taxes and an expanding security state
This COAG meeting has been a broad consultation, Malcolm style – politics as the art of the positive.
Malcolm is an Abbott in Turnbull's clothing
There is largesse being extended to Malcolm Turnbull that would never have been granted to Tony Abbott.
Shorten: "I never give up. I don't and I won't"
Deborah Snow Bill Shorten might be at record lows in the opinion polls but he is determined to fight it out, town hall meeting by town hall meeting.
Finding the 'thing': Photographing Malcolm, Tony, Bill and Julia
Every politician has their 'thing' that makes them familiar.
Jobs growth is nothing like the 71,375 touted
Peter Martin No one can accuse Employment Minister Michaelia Cash of failing to take advantage of an opportunity.
Why a rise in GST may now be off the table
Peter Martin So out of favour is the idea of increasing the GST that by the time the government releases its tax options paper in the new year a 15 per cent GST might not even be on it.
Family parted by war to be reunited after Australians pitch in
When Arop Majok's village was raided, it kicked off a 21-year ordeal that, thanks to the generosity of Australians, may soon end.
