News

OPINION & ANALYSIS: Mass pro-democracy demonstrations have underscored the fact that Hong Kong residents are fearful of creeping mainland control. From Australia’s standpoint, the disturbances come at an awkward moment.

OPINION & ANALYSIS: The Folau case is an important opportunity to see whether the right to express religious views can halt the steady march of employer control in the era of social media.

OPINION & ANALYSIS: The police raids on the ABC and a News Corp journalist have forced us to think again about the role of the media in a democracy.

OPINION & ANALYSIS: On Wednesday, the AFP raided the ABC's Sydney headquarters in relation to the 2017 “Afghan files” report. One of the most disturbing outcomes is not prosecutions or even the raids themselves, but the chilling of public interest journalism.

OPINION & ANALYSIS: After last week obtaining a place in the shadow ministry and becoming Labor’s deputy Senate leader, with two men standing aside to make way for her, Keneally now takes on one of the toughest players in the Coalition.

OPINION & ANALYSIS: It’s critical that the Australian government take a new direction in refugee policy and move beyond its tired and false rhetoric of deterrence as a justification for detaining refugees on Nauru and Manus.

SPECIAL FEATURE: Take a closer look at the members of Prime Minister Scott Morrison's newly revamped cabinet.

OPINION & ANALYSIS: Julian Assange’s case is certainly exceptional, and the human rights concerns over US extradition could justify exceptional intervention.

SPECIAL FEATURE: Progressive voices have lit up social media with memes blaming Queensland for Labor’s loss in the federal election. But characterising the state as regressive and redneck is misplaced.

OPINION & ANALYSIS: Scott Morrison has proved himself excellent at campaigning. We will find out this term how well he can govern.

SPECIAL FEATURE: While debates about policy are to be expected, young voters are ultimately willing to support leaders who are transparent, honest, and who will advance the national interest rather than the interests of their own faction or party.

SPECIAL FEATURE: If the polls are right, Bill Shorten will become the next prime minister. But what kind of prime minister would he be?

SPECIAL FEATURE: It’s possible to overthink Scott Morrison. A long-time associate and friend says “what you see is what you get”.

OPINION & ANALYSIS: This is certainly not the first time a Labor leader has had a bash at the Murdoch media in a recent campaign. But it was probably one of the more effective.

OPINION & ANALYSIS: A hearing on whether Julian Assange should be extradited from the United Kingdom to the United States was held on last week in London. Our writer Paul O'Hanlon, who is a supporter of Assange, was at the court.

SPECIAL FEATURE: Despite some tightening on two-party preferred measures, the polls have Labor on track for a win on May 18.

OPINION & ANALYSIS: A major step in the right direction and potentially a watershed moment for a more sustainable global future. Is it too much to hope Australia could follow next?

A Labor government would probably have to negotiate with the Greens to get its climate policy through the Senate.

The prime minister has announced that the number of migrants coming to Australia as refugees will be frozen at 18,750.

SPECIAL FEATURE: Despite fighting and dying for Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders still weren’t considered citizens upon their return from the war.

Labor says the situation needs to end where about four in five temporary skilled worker visas are given for occupations for which there aren’t local shortages.

SPECIAL FEATURE: Notre-Dame de Paris is the heart of the city and of France, and an inspiration for the world. We are all cathedral builders, in a moment of sacred union in a secular society.

President of ALP Abroad urges overseas Australians, particularly those in the UK, to make sure they are registered in time to vote in the upcoming federal election.

John Shipton has called on Australia to bring Julian Assange home, saying he was shocked to see his son’s condition upon his arrest in London.

Plight of Julian Assange could lead to other journalists and whistle-blowers being imprisoned, says veteran Australian film-maker.

SPECIAL FEATURE: Australian voters really dislike politicians. This is not new – it was there even in colonial times – but it is potent and growing.

Tasmanian independent MP Andrew Wilkie said: “This decision is environmental vandalism at its most extreme, facilitated by the most useless environment minister the country’s ever seen”.

Bill Shorten lays out Labor's alternative budget plan as Parliament winds up and the nation waits for the election starting gun.

The Morrison government has delivered an election-launch budget with big personal income tax handouts to attract voters and a A$7.1 billion 2019-20 surplus to display its economic credibility. The budget – the first brought down by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg – doubles the tax relief that average earners were due to...

The Australian Conservation Foundation gave Labor’s policy a qualified tick, describing it as “a serious policy response to the existential threat of global warming that recognises pollution must be cut across all industry sectors.”

OPINION & ANALYSIS: The possibility of a general election is very real. If the third vote were lost, an election could offer a way of winning a new majority to implement May’s deal.

No, it wasn't that his visa had run out, nor was he trying get home in time for Brexit (as far as we know).

OPINION & ANALYSIS: The brutal tactics of the gun lobby and the operations of One Nation need exposing. Journalism sometimes has to take on the unsavoury job of extracting the truth from those who do not want to share it.

View from The Hill: For the federal Liberals, the night was a vital morale booster, though the result had been determined mostly on state factors.

"I am not going to single out the comments of one person and ascribe it to a people, whether in Turkey or across Australia. I don’t think it does reflect the views of the Turkish people, or certainly of Turkish Australians,” says Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

Scott Morrison took up Jacinda Ardern’s phrase when she said of Muslims “they are us”, and applied it to Australia.

Meanwhile, William Connelly has been lauded with offers of life-time tickets from Hill Top Hoods, basketballer Ben Simmons dubbing him an "Australian legend", and a mural of the incident appearing on Melbourne's Hosier Lane with the hashtag #eggboy.

OPINION & ANALYSIS: We need to address the permissive political environment that allows such hateful extremism to be promulgated so openly.

OPINION & ANALYSIS: In the current impasse and unusual circumstances, unexpected and unusual things may still happen.

"I was hoping for 20 (years) but realistically I thought maybe 10, but hey, he's incarcerated, he can't hurt anybody," says victim's father.

VIEW FROM THE HILL: Once again, raging energy and climate wars are burning out of control in government ranks.

OPINION & ANALYSIS: Keep Michael Jackson on the radio – but never play him without reminding listeners of what he has been accused of. Do the same with other artists similarly accused, or found guilty of, a crime.

The government is running its border security/refugees scare against Labor on two fronts.

SPECIAL FEATURE: If Bill Shorten becomes prime minister, will he drive the case for an Australian head of state forward? Can the feted republic even come to pass in the absence of muscular support from both hemispheres of politics?

Australian all-rounder Shane Watson could be argued as the most valuable player ever to grace the Indian Premier League with his talented presence.

OPINION & ANALYSIS: Anyone could easily discover Pell’s charges despite the suppression order – so what’s the point?

Australia's most senior Catholic has been convicted of serious child sex offences. The trial concluded with the verdict handed down in December, but due to a suppression order Australia's media have only been able to report on it from today.

The exit of Bishop – the best-known Liberal woman and highly popular with voters - underlines the Liberals’ “woman problem”.

SPECIAL FEATURE: In a time when fewer Australians identify with institutional religion than ever before, the church sign is emerging as an intriguing platform for creativity and commentary.

It is believed the two men may have entered the water to swim on Sunday night. Police have said it would be unlikely they would have survived in the water since then.