Abbott calls on 'pragmatist' Shorten to axe carbon tax
Jonathan Swan and Judith Ireland 2:32pm Prime Minister Tony Abbott says he believes Bill Shorten will be forced to back the Coalition's plan to repeal the carbon tax, saying Labor's new leader was “nothing if not a political pragmatist”.
Latest political news
Burke slams Labor's frontbench carve-up
Jonathan Swan and Mark Kenny 12:19pm Anna Burke has attacked the new Labor leader, saying his frontbench feels like it was carved up by a "couple of blokes".
Former HSU boss pleads guilty to fraud
KATE MCCLYMONT 11:30am Michael Williamson, once the president of the Australian Labor Party and the head of the powerful Health Services Union, is now facing a jail term after pleading guilty to a raft of charges, including defrauding his former union of close to $1 million.
MP: union members should get say on fees
HEATH ASTON A Labor MP has called for the relationship between unions and the ALP to be fundamentally recast by giving the nation's 1 million-plus union members the right to choose whether their membership fees go to Labor.
ALP deputy's migrant memories trigger pride
DAN HARRISON Margaret Thatcher might seem an unlikely heroine for a girl who would go on to be one of the leading lights of the Australian Labor Party.
Too big for his books: Brandis Library shelved
JONATHAN SWAN Senator George Brandis' $7000 taxpayer-funded bookcase, built to house $13,000 worth of taxpayer-funded books and magazines, is too big to be moved into his new Parliament House office.
Skype affair cadet linked to initiation ring
Christopher Knaus, David Wroe An Army cadet who secretly streamed images of himself having sex with a female recruit to his friends in the notorious Skype affair has been linked to another, recent case of bastardisation.
Australia has plans to deal with US default, says Hockey
Russian embassy set up to intercept secrets: ASIO
Bushfire risk could rise in coming years
Joe Hockey hedges bets on foreign investment limits
Coalition stands firm on double dissolution threat
Cliver Palmer a tough opponent: associates
Comment & Analysis
Abbott walking tricky tightrope on diplomacy
HUGH WHITE Our Prime Minister needs to think before opening his mouth, both here and abroad.
Australia had its own cliffhanger
PETER HARTCHER God created war so Americans would learn geography, according to Mark Twain. Apparently He created government shutdowns so they could learn how to manage budgets.
Analysis
Melbourne Plan needs healthy dose of reality
TIM COLEBATCH The Napthine government's Melbourne Plan has many good ideas, some not so good, some welcome changes, and some that remain unclear.
ALP displays courage over populism
MARK KENNY For a party with a less than even record of success over its tumultuous 122 years, the ALP is nothing if not optimistic - even courageous.
Labor must free itself from faction chiefs
Clare O'Neil Opinion The members need more say, backroom heavies less.
To frack or not to frack
MICHAEL WEST When you take a risk, you have to be prepared for the consequences, as well as the rewards.
God can't fix US's pear-shaped politics
PAUL SHEEHAN The permanent dysfunction in Washington is a symptom, not a cause, of something much deeper afflicting the US.
Lobbyist trio says the field is far from even
KIRSTY NEEDHAM Opinion It has been open season on lobbyists in NSW, and already one minister has declared they shall not darken his door.
Gillard's fatal flaw: she couldn't do vaudeville
Barry Donovan The consoling words of Paul Keating to Julia Gillard - 'Luv, we all get taken out in a box!'
Tony Abbott is 'a bludger'
MIKE CARLTON We know that you expect us to be as frugal and prudent with your money, which we hold on trust from you, as you would be with your own hard-earned savings.
Blind to our social reality
MARTIN FLANAGAN You don't have to support the annexation of West Papua to support human rights.
Special features
Don't claim weddings as expenses: Burke gives advice to new MPs
Judith Ireland Outgoing speaker Anna Burke may be ''bitter and twisted'' about Labor's frontbench arrangements, but she is full of practical advice to new parliamentarians on how to be an MP.
Shorten win puts paid to conspiracy theory
Gerard Henderson Thank God Bill Shorten was elected Labor leader on Sunday. At the very least, it will diminish an emerging conspiracy.
Cold time looms for Greenpeace activists held in Russia
Andrew Darby The benefit of hindsight tells us a there were clear signs Russia was hardening up before the arrest of the Greenpeace Arctic 30.
Cartoon Gallery
Home of the best cartoons by our resident artists from The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Canberra Times.
Tanya Plibersek: Cool, calm, elected
Anne Summers on why the federal Labor MP's stock continues to rise.
Time for silence on leadership
'For God's sake stop talking about leadership' says John Flannery, former adivsor to Paul Keating and Kim Beazley.
Tale of 'Showbag Bill'
Tony Wright Bill Shorten has made no shortage of enemies on his rise to the Labor leadership.
A spy like Horrie
Philip Dorling ASIO has declassified secret files that shed new light on one of the most dramatic cases of Cold War espionage in Australia's history.
Happy as a pig in perks
Tom Allard Tony Abbott, defiantly facing down the first major political challenge of his prime ministership, may regret his decision to compete in the 2011 Port Macquarie Ironman.
