One in the hip pocket
RACHEL BROWNE With premiums steadily rising, many people are cutting back their healthcare cover, writes Rachel Browne.
Spying crisis
Australia's spying was hypocritical
TOM ALLARD For Kirsty Sword-Gusmao, the news that Australia had spied on her adopted homeland under the cover of an aid program cut especially deep.
Eddie Obeid
Make Obeids pay, says ICAC
Michaela Whitbourn The coal licences at the centre of two sensational corruption investigations involving former Labor figures Eddie Obeid and John Maitland are set to be torn up and at least $60 million in profits confiscated following recommendations by the corruption watchdog.
Afghanistan
Fears for safety of 600 Afghan interpreters
RORY CALLINAN An Afghan interpreter who worked for the Australian army in Afghanistan has been killed in a suspected Taliban revenge attack while he waited for promised resettlement in Australia.
Child abuse
Secluded hills hid a family's darkest secret
Anne Davies This is a distressing story. But it deserves to be told because it reveals how several generations of children have fallen through the cracks of Australia's child protection system.
Rebates for sex
Medibank clamp down on 'massage'
EAMONN DUFF Brothel patrons are gaining extraordinary cash bonuses by claiming sex services on health insurance.
The HSU scandal
Williamson owns up to fraud, faces time in jail
KATE MCCLYMONT Michael Williamson, former high-flying union boss and president of the Labor Party, is bankrupt, about to be booted out of home and facing jail.
- Former HSU boss Michael Williamson pleads guilty to fraud
- Tracing where Williamson's many millions went
- The case of the corrupt union boss and how he tried to cover his tracks
- HSU members 'want to see Michael Williamson go to jail'
- Whispers never reached ALP ears
- Michael Williamson to be sentenced in March over HSU fraud
Gay hate crimes
Up to 80 men murdered, 30 cases unsolved
RICK FENELEY Dozens of killers are now walking free: Rick Feneley investigates the epidemic of gay-hate violence that no one noticed.
Passports cancelled
ASIO acts on 'jihadi' group
Natalie O'Brien Australia's domestic spy agency ASIO has suddenly cancelled the passports of 20 men from across western Sydney, accusing them of being prepared to ''engage in politically motivated violence'' if they were allowed to travel overseas or of having a ''jihadi mentality'' making them a threat to national security.
Made in Bangladesh
A win for human rights
Sarah Whyte, Ben Doherty Target Australia and Pacific Brands have promised to publish the location of their supplier factories in Bangladesh, in what human rights groups described as a 'watershed moment' for Australian retailers.
Nick Lalich
The MP, the nephew and $70K in gift cards
Michaela Whitbourn He courted controversy for choosing a luxury Chrysler 300C as his official mayoral car. Now state Labor MP Nick Lalich, the former mayor of Fairfield, is facing questions about $70,000 in gift vouchers that Fairfield City Council bought from his nephew's business.
Highlights
Howard govt knew Hicks would not get a fair trial
Papers reveal the Howard government knew the US would allow evidence obtained by torture in David Hicks' court case.
Many charities still banking on a lack of transparency
About to donate to charity? Good luck finding out where your money goes.
Community up the creek
One of the country's largest Aboriginal organisations is being investigated over the misuse of public funds.
Inquiry told of cruelties as greyhound slaughter continues unchecked
Thousands of healthy greyhound puppies are disappearing, presumed killed, every year, but their deaths are not reported or investigated by the $144 million greyhound racing industry.
The meltdown: How Labor self-destructed
Together, Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard had the support of the nation and the party. Divided, their feud would be the undoing of a government. An investigation by Peter Hartcher.
Tainted Sydney water
A senior NSW Health official encouraged his staff to ''go for the jugular'' in an attack on an academic who publicly disagreed with the official government explanation for the Sydney Water tainted tap water scandal.
Building giant rife with corruption: claims
Corruption and cover-ups in Leighton Holdings' international construction empire were rife and known to top company executives and directors, according to internal company files.
RBA's illegal bid for Saddam deal
The Reserve Bank used a ''frontman'' to secretly liaise with Saddam Hussein's brother-in-law and bodyguard in an illegal effort to sell plastic banknotes to the dictator at the height of UN sanctions, according to confidential RBA files.
