Tag: Australian politics

Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced new laws that will see the termination of welfare benefits for any Australians posing a national security threat.

Clive Palmer has commended Joe Hockey's leadership in managing the budget but remains unsympathetic to the government's plans.

Australian senator Jacqui Lambie told a radio show she would only date a man with “heaps of cash and they’ve got to have a package between their legs,” adding that she would prefer if he didn’t speak.

Chairman of UK’s Committee on Climate Change lambasts government’s carbon tax repeal as “reckless and deeply retrograde”.

Tony Abbott’s chief indigenous advisor has called the PM's reference to Australia being "unsettled" before British colonisation as "silly while Nova Peris has branded them as "highly offensive".

The RBA is closely watching the debate raging over the budget with its monthly board meeting scheduled for Tuesday.

The Australian Labor party says the government's assertions that the welfare system is unsustainable are exaggerated.

The price of abolishing the carbon tax might be keeping Australia's car enthusiasts happy.

Clive Palmer and former US vice-president Al Gore presented as an odd couple but they had nothing but admiration for each other as they talk over carbon tax and emissions trading scheme.

The Abbott government has dismissed reports that the four pillars banking policy is at risk as Labor says any change would be irresponsible.

Treasurer Joe Hockey is not worried about the latest opinion poll, saying the government was elected to fix the economy.

Education Minister Christopher Pyne has rejected claims that Malcolm Turnbull is not doing enough to sell the budget.

Here’s a fun little pub game for you and your mates this weekend. Read the quotes and see what people think.

Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull and broadcaster Alan Jones have had a feisty on-air exchange.

The US has received a crash course in Prime Minister Tony Abbott's missteps and controversial comments, thanks to TV show Last Week Tonight.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has once again gotten backs up when he used his speech at the D-Day commemorations to advocate his government's policies.

Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews says a proposal to drug test people on the dole is off the table.

Tony Abbott has been criticised for talking about the D-Day landings and his aim to scrap the carbon and mining taxes in the same video message.

Billionaire MP Clive Palmer says he was helped by the dole when he was an out-of-work teenager.

Queensland Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney says Clive Palmer is an embarrassment to Australia who is damaging relations with China.

Although highly criticial of the budget, Labor has helped pass one of its key measures - the temporary tax hike on the wealthy.

A member of Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s ruling Liberal Party protested against budget cuts when he smuggled a pipe bomb in to a parliament sitting on Monday night.

Labor has failed to secure an investigation into Speaker Bronwyn Bishop's use of her parliamentary suite for a Liberal fundraising event.

The prime minister says he winked because he became momentarily distracted while taking a call during an ABC radio interview.

Joe Hockey has taken Fairfax Media to court over a front-page story suggesting the federal treasurer was for sale.

With the federal government facing protesting premiers, street marches and a drop in the polls, Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey step up their budget pitch.

Budget 2014: It's more than just cuts to welfare, education and health you know ...

As the premiers organise a fight-back meeting over the federal budget, Prime Minister Tony Abbott says there's still money available for them.

The federal opposition says Prime Minister Tony Abbott has broken election promises with his first budget.

The federal budget is written for big business and the young, sick and vulnerable will be the hardest hit, the Australian Greens say.

Pensioners, the sick, students and high-income earners will all bear the brunt of the Abbott government's first budget.

"The age of entitlement is over. It has to be replaced, not with an age of austerity, but with an age of opportunity," Hockey says as he delivers his maiden federal budget.

Peter Garrett says while everyone involved in the pink batts program had a role to play minimising risks, he bore ultimate responsibility.

Treasurer Joe Hockey expects his first budget to be criticised if people just look at their own interest rather than for the good of the nation.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott says it'll be "pain with a purpose" in the budget as a new survey shows consumer confidence at its lowest in five years.

Tony Abbott says that when it comes to fixing the federal budget, everyone has to chip in and do their bit.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has hosed down claims lobbyists are buying influence within the Liberals.

Chair of the Commission of Audit Tony Shepherd has faced a Senate inquiry after the release of his review of government spending.

Can't live with them, can't live without them: political donations are an awkward fixture in modern politics but banning them may not be the answer.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott's scaled-back paid parental leave scheme might have won over internal critics and maybe the Greens.

The Greens want the Australian government to look at getting more out of wealthy business interests who back the coalition.

Federal MP Clive Palmer says it's not right that Queensland state funds will be used by premier Campbell Newman to defend him against defamation claims.

Former Howard government foreign minister Alexander Downer will replace Mike Rann as Australia’s top diplomatic representative in London.

ALP Abroad has expressed concern that London based voters seem unaware of the crucial Senate election currently being held in Western Australia.

The Abbott government is pushing ahead with plans to sell Medibank Private next financial year.

Clive Palmer says unless the government rethinks plans to scrap payments for children of dead or injured soldiers, he won't support the mining tax repeal.

Negotiations have begun between two key independent MPs and the two major parties as South Australia's election looks set to deliver a hung parliament.

Tasmanian premier-elect Will Hodgman has spent the day after his crushing election win learning the ropes.

The Greens say the environment would come under "massive attack" if wall-to-wall conservative governments take power across Australia.

ALP Abroad urges South Australians in London to have their say in state election.