'Deficit levy' would be a broken promise from Abbott: Labor
LISA COX 4:19pm Tony Abbott has not ruled out a short-term tax on high incomes to pay down Australia's deficit, as the opposition accused the Prime Minster of preparing to break an election promise of no new taxes.
Latest political news
Report predicts cuts won't be bad as feared
GARETH HUTCHENS The Abbott government is finding it harder to cut spending programs than it thought it would.
Nauru to put five year limit on stay of refugees
SARAH WHYTE 6:36pm Asylum seekers found to be refugees on Nauru have been told they will be resettled on the island for five years where they will be given work rights and the opportunity to establish their own businesses.
Committee recommends new pap smear test
DAN HARRISON 8:24pm Women would have their first screening for cervical cancer at 25 and would be tested only every five years under dramatic changes recommended by the Australian government's expert advisory committee on medical procedures.
Pensioners 'not to blame' for rising costs
Peter Martin and Gareth Hutchens The notion that pensioners are about to become a burden on Australian workers is ridiculed in a research paper.
Chinese spies may have read MPs emails
10:47am Chinese spies may have been inside Australian parliamentary computer network for up to a year and seen documents and emails that reveal the political, professional and social links across the political world.
Super fees eating into income: study
PETER MARTIN The government should take control of default super funds and award contracts by tender after a study showed fees were cutting retirement incomes.
Labor MP once supported GP fee
MATTHEW KNOTT One of Labor’s chief economic spokespeople, shadow Assistant Treasurer Andrew Leigh, was once a strong supporter of a compulsory fee for visits to the doctor.
Details at mercy of hackers: IT experts
Ben Grubb and Noel Towell The private details of millions of Australians are at the mercy of cybercriminals because of flimsy security around a critical government website, experts warn.
NSW top of economic growth league
Matt Wade A resurgent housing sector is helping NSW climb towards the top of Australia's economic league ladder.
Palmer trying to 'buy' NT government
Northern Territory Chief Minister Adam Giles has accused businessman politician Clive Palmer of trying to "purchase" the NT government by signing up three government defectors to his Palmer United Party.
Drop race law changes, Baird urges
ANNA PATTY Premier Mike Baird has urged his federal colleagues to back away from proposed changes to racial discrimination law, declaring: "If it's not broken, don't fix it.''
Feds stump up for Melbourne road link
James Massola and Henrietta Cook The Abbott government will commit more than a billion dollars to fund the second stage of Melbourne's East West Link road under a deal hammered out with the Napthine government.
ICAC's reality politics better than reality TV
Kate McClymont, Michaela Whitbourn The stench of corruption surrounding developers, their hefty donations to political parties and possible favourable outcomes caused then Labor premier Nathan Rees to ban the practice.
$6 bulk-billing fee hits poor, spares rich
Muir's girl, 8, in burnout video
Defence one sector Hockey's budget won't cut
Fraser warns Australia risks war with China
Asylum seeker deals 'not just about safety'
Stealth jet deal gives industry fighting chance
Direct action could fail even without Palmer
Private eyes to probe mental health claims
Western Front as important as Gallipoli: PM
Hockey to cut $300 billion to reach target
Carbon questions still unanswered
Abbott offered olive branch by SBY
PM's indigenous adviser calls for funding
Abbott ally called as ICAC witness
Reduce costs of medical devices: insurers
Rudd, Garrett face inquiry next month
Auditor-General slams Medicare handling
Cambodia asylum deal moves closer
Running costs double jets' price tag
Unis urge free market to dictate fees
Hockey sells case for pension age rise
Duke and Duchess full of praise for Australia
ASIS witness to appear in Timor legal battle
Comment & Analysis
Wrong way on higher education
James Athanasou Federal Education Minister Christopher Pyne and the heads of our universities are barking up the wrong tree if they think expanding the university sector is the answer to increased competition from overseas.
Our banks can't turn a blind eye to money trail
Helen Szoke Australia's big four banks have a duty of care to the community, whether in Australia or overseas.
Facing the very heart of life and death
AMANDA VANSTONE Make healthcare directives mandatory and readily available to hospital staff.
Tough task in higher learning
PETER HARTCHER With the tertiary education sector facing challenges on a range of fronts, huge change is afoot.
PM must persuade the motormouths
JACQUELINE MALEY Opinion Little is known about Senator-elect Ricky Muir, of the Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party, beyond his self-evident enthusiasm for motor vehicles.
Good journalism ruled by head not heart
JULIA BAIRD Attacking journalists is hardly a new phenomenon. It's been a blood sport since the 19th century, when, not coincidentally, the rise of the press coincided with the rise of democracy in the West.
PM free to work on US lines
DANIEL FLITTON Tony Abbott has a real chance to spell out in some detail over the coming weeks what he'd like to achieve abroad.
Look the other way for Hockey's budget crisis
PETER MARTIN There is a budget crisis, but it isn’t coming from where the Treasurer is telling us to look.
Palmer's jive seals his party's fate
MARK KENNY Opinion Parties built around a strong individual rarely succeed and never last.
Curious notion of our 'birth' at Gallipoli
John Hirst The first Anzac Day passed unremarked in Australia. Australians did not receive a good account of the Gallipoli landing until two weeks later.
Gallipoli not only war to define warfare
Gary Foley As an Aboriginal person who had family serve in World War I, I am acutely aware that there are many Aboriginal families who had relatives who fought at Gallipoli.
Special features
Budget battle
Tony Abbott uses YouTube to set budget expectations, Bill Shorten responds to reports of a new levy. Nine News.
Banks face land grab claims in poor nations
Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker Australia's major banks are funding large-scale illegal "land grabs" in the developing world and enabling illegal logging, child labour or other human rights abuses.
Super fee rip off
Australians pay some of the world's highest superannuation fees. Now there are calls for the government to step in.
Doctor challenges euthanasia law
Julia Medew For nine years, Dr Rodney Syme has kept his silence about the lethal drug he gave to a dying man.
Hockey hones his razor
Matt Wade Treasurer Joe Hockey is softening up the public for a whole lot of budget pain.
Malcolm Fraser: An unlikely radical
Robert Manne Hated by progressives for his role in Gough Whitlam's dismissal and his ultra-conservative foreign policies when Liberal PM, Malcolm Fraser today believes Australia should cut all military ties to the US.
The China connection
John Garnaut reports on how Beijing is asking Chinese Australians to inform on each other for the motherland.
'We cannot go back, we cannot go forward'
Some 620,000 refugees have come to this country since Australia became one of the first signatories to the refugee convention, report Michael Gordon and Jane Lee.
Joint Strike Fighter commitment a boost for high-tech manufacturers
David Wroe Australia's commitment to buy more F-35s is a boost for a high-tech manufacturing sector hurt by car industry woes.
Celestial reminders capture Gallipoli spirit
Tony Wright A thin crescent moon slipped from behind the Sphinx, casting magic on the old hills and gullies hunkered in the dark.
Pomp, ceremony and politics
There was Easter, royalty and Anzac Day, but also plenty of politics - the political week as told through music, photos and video.
Last day of royal visit
Live blog On the tenth and final day of their Australian tour, Prince William and Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, will commemorate Anzac Day in Canberra. For full coverage of the Royal visit, head to our dedicated page.
How exactly will the $6 GP fee work?
How will the $6 fee for GP visits that is expected to be announced in the forthcoming budget work?
The Senate - now and July 1
The Senate contains 76 seats. Which party will hold the balance of power come July 1?
Investigating MPs' expenses
Fairfax Media has conducted an extensive investigation on MPs claiming expense entitlements. Read our coverage here.
Cartoon Gallery
Cartoon Gallery: Home of the best cartoons from our resident artists from the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Canberra Times.
