Lib MPs beg Abbott to rethink paid parental leave
MARK KENNY 7:22am Prime Minister Tony Abbott is being urged by Liberals to follow his own advice by scaling down his signature $5.5 billion paid parental leave scheme in the interests of sharing the burden in the budget.
Latest political news
'Deficit tax' to cost earners on $80,000
7:59am People earning more than $80,000 a year could be hit with a ''deficit tax'' in the May budget with the scale rising with income, according to reports.
Pyne pushes US-style universities
MATTHEW KNOTT 9:00pm Education Minister Christopher Pyne has given his strongest sign yet the Abbott government will extend taxpayer funds to for-profit universities in a bid to cultivate a US-style college system in Australia.
Fears of clash over disaster funding
Peter Hannam and Peter Martin The federal and state governments may be headed for a fiscal fight, with the Productivity Commission launching a probe into natural-disaster funding.
Fix drug price loophole, expert says
DAN HARRISON 6:25am Fixing the way combination drugs are priced could save the budget $120 million a year, according to Melbourne University professor of health economics, Philip Clarke.
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.
ICAC: corruption claims, MP steps aside
5:36pm Former state energy minister Chris Hartcher and other Liberal MPs corruptly solicited hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal political donations, a corruption inquiry has heard.
MH370: search of larger area of ocean floor
LISA COX 6:21pm The search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 will enter a new phase after 52 days of searching failed to find any sign of the plane wreckage.
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.
Report predicts cuts won't be bad as feared
Pensioners 'not to blame' for rising costs
'Deficit levy' would be a broken promise
Chinese spies may have read MPs emails
Super fees eating into income: study
Labor MP once supported GP fee
Details at mercy of hackers: IT experts
NSW top of economic growth league
Palmer trying to 'buy' NT government
Drop race law changes, Baird urges
Feds stump up for Melbourne road link
ICAC's reality politics better than reality TV
$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
Comment & Analysis
Reputations on the line in first budget
PETER REITH 11:45pm The only politics that matters today is the forthcoming budget. The government’s professed goal is to wipe away Labor’s legacy of massive debts and deficits.
Have your say on race-hate laws
Vic Alhadeff 7:23pm Australians who care about the social cohesion of our society have until Wednesday to make our voices heard before the deadline for submissions on the proposal to amend section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act.
Armed services resisting change
Nicholas Stuart 11:02pm Despite all we hear and experience about changing career patterns there hasn’t been any real desire among any of the services to accept that it may be necessary to alter structures or the way things are done.
World giants flex their muscles
PETER HARTCHER 11:45pm For the last quarter century, the world enjoyed a luxurious moment, rare in modern history, where all the great powers seemed content with the scope of their territories.
Melbourne in dark on link planning
Andrew Herington 8:23am Melbourne's road tunnel lacks the transparency of Sydney's infrastructure projects.
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.
Special features
Ex-minister, tycoons and a super yacht
Hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal political donations were used to bankroll the Liberal Party's 2011 state election campaign after being funnelled through a slush fund run by former energy minister Chris Hartcher, a sensational corruption inquiry has heard.
Defence challenge: shopping list v reality
Hugh White Tony Abbott wants us to believe there's a full piggy bank for defence, but there isn't.
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.
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.
