Abbott attempts to deflect questions over leadership talk
Lisa Cox 9:47 AM Prime Minister Tony Abbott has attempted to deflect questions about his leadership, providing a less than confident answer when asked if he expects to hold the job by the end of next week.
Latest political news
Bishop weighs into new leadership speculation
![Prime Minister Tony Abbott during a doorstop at Old Parliament House in Canberra on Thursday 26 February 2015. Photo: Andrew Meares](/web/20150226231727im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/1/3/p/f/y/n/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.13q972.119ydf.png/1424991012424.jpg)
James Massola 7:53 AM Julie Bishop has warned her colleagues the Australians will judge the Liberal Party at the next election, amid growing suggestions that key support for Tony Abbott is ebbing away.
I did not seek seek any other job: Triggs
![Gillian Triggs President of the Human Rights Commission appeared before a Senate Committee in Canberra on Tuesday 24 February 2015. Photo: Andrew Meares](/web/20150226231727im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/1/3/o/p/j/b/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.13q51n.119ydf.png/1424991012424.jpg)
Sarah Whyte and Deborah Snow 8:53 PM Gillian Triggs has categorically denied that she instigated any discussion for a new job with the secretary of the Attorney Generals department, after further allegations arose on Thursday.
$630m in counter-terror funding still unspent
![Prime Minister Tony Abbott delivers his speech on national security on Monday.](/web/20150226231727im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/1/3/m/i/2/k/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.13q1fn.119ydf.png/1424958908892.jpg)
David Wroe 7:55 AM A $630 million counter-terrorism funding boost the Abbott government announced six months ago has still not begun to flow to the country's national security agencies, Fairfax Media can reveal.
Metadata laws need changing: committee
![George Brandis will be expected to respond to the recommendations soon.](/web/20150226231727im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/1/3/m/y/m/6/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.13po5h.119ydf.png/1424942067132.jpg)
Ben Grubb 9:58 AM Powerful parliamentary committee scrutinising metadata retention laws makes a number of recommendations.
Hockey under fire for tax reform PR campaign
![Treasurer Joe Hockey.](/web/20150226231727im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/1/3/j/7/3/n/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.13pwxr.119ydf.png/1424991012424.jpg)
Heath Aston 8:57 PM Treasurer Joe Hockey is under fire for launching a taxpayer-funded public relations push to sell the need for tax reform.
'Project Archer': The plan to save the ABS
![The Australian Bureau of Vague Guesswork (formerly Australian Bureau of Statistics)](/web/20150226231727im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/1/3/j/k/1/6/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.13p84c.119ydf.png/1424991012424.jpg)
Noel Towell 9:25 PM Sources says the takeover of the nation's health statistics agency and a switch to holding a census every 10 years rather than every five are 'done deals'.
People believe up-front uni fees will return
![Melbourne Uni](/web/20150226231727im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/1/3/f/d/6/u/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.13pygw.119ydf.png/1424931789702.jpg)
Matthew Knott 8:03 AM Over 80 per cent of respondents to market research commissioned by the federal government mistakenly believed that up-front university fees were being reintroduced as part of the government's proposed higher education changes.
Number of long-term unemployed surges
![28012015. Photo: 123rf.com
Job Search
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Ben Schneiders 12:13 AM Australia is experiencing a dramatic rise in the number of people out of work for lengthy periods since the global financial crisis.
Tax Office claims it's on track to recoup $1b
![ATO](/web/20150226231727im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/1/3/7/d/d/h/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.13pygl.119ydf.png/1424943467451.jpg)
Nassim Khadem 8:37 PM Amid widespread condemnation of multinational profit shifting, Tax Commissioner Chris Jordan says the Australian Taxation Office is on track to recoup $1 billion in revenue from companies.
Joko Widodo 'considering his position'
![Prime Minister Tony Abbott travelled to Yeppoon on Thursday.](/web/20150226231727im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/1/3/p/5/3/w/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.13p571.119ydf.png/1424944492109.jpg)
Latika Bourke 4:15 PM Prime Minister Tony Abbott says Indonesian president Joko Widodo is "carefully considering his position" on the impending executions of two Australians.
Comment & Analysis
What would Turnbull do if he was the PM?
![Mark Kenny](/web/20150226231727im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/1/2/6/8/n/3/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.13pjme.11d82q.png/1424986390628.jpg)
Mark Kenny 8:33 AM The parallels between the Coalition’s woes and Labor are uncanny.
Blood-letting politicians blinded by ideology
![Leave politics aside and focus on the truth about Medicare.](/web/20150226231727im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/1/3/e/a/c/a/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.13o85c.11d82q.png/1424921927759.jpg)
Henry Pinskier 12:00 AM Medicare's slow bleed is entirely preventable, because its general health continues to be excellent.
Political bully boys can't handle smart women
![Clementine Ford dinkus Dinkus](/web/20150226231727im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/2/t/u/y/j/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.13p3wu.11d82q.png/1424959380532.jpg)
Clementine Ford 1:02 AM Sexism in parliament is standard behaviour in a society that fiercely upholds its right to reserve positions of power for men.
What's in a name when it's Daesh?
![Prime Minister Tony Abbott makes his National Security statement in Canberra on Monday.](/web/20150226231727im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/1/3/n/3/e/3/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.13pafr.11d82q.png/1424941625414.jpg)
Maher Mughrabi 12:31 PM If arguments over its name are the measure of a movement's power, then IS has achieved a worrying pre-eminence.
Aggressive PM fuels campaign against himself
![A wink and a ... Tony Abbott in Parliament House on Wednesday.](/web/20150226231727im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/1/3/o/l/x/b/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.13ori0.11d82q.png/1424862685926.jpg)
Mark Kenny "There's a reason fast bowlers make bad opening batsmen," quipped one Liberal, "they can only ever attack".
Attacks are part of a broader disturbing trend
![Attorney-General Senator George Brandis and Professor Gillian Triggs, President of the Human Rights Commission, during a Senate hearing at Parliament House in Canberra on Tuesday.](/web/20150226231727im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/1/3/o/8/d/f/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.13o6e8.11d82q.png/1424920317420.jpg)
Hugh de Kretser The federal government is actively undermining a range of vital checks and balances and stifling criticism of its actions. This is corrosive for democracy and human rights.
Setting sail for a submarine disaster
![Governments have dithered for too long over choosing a new submarine, but making a hasty decision now would be beyond foolish.](/web/20150226231727im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/1/3/b/o/o/2/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.13m1q5.11d82q.png/1424129941725.png)
Hugh White Abbott's subs deal is stacked in Japan's favour and lacks due diligence. Company directors would face prosecution for such an appalling decision.
Triggs set on a course of self-martyrdom
![Paul Sheehan dinkus](/web/20150226231727im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/1/0/6/d/r/b/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.13oook.11d82q.png/1424941625414.jpg)
Paul Sheehan 2:40 PM In response to numerous missteps Gillian Triggs has set on a course of self-martyrdom. This itself is incendiary to the impartiality of the Human Rights Commission.
Stop the boats. Start the charm
![Social Services Minister Scott Morrison was all smiles at the National Press Club on Wednesday.](/web/20150226231727im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/1/3/o/d/k/c/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.13oozi.11d82q.png/1424941625414.jpg)
Judith Ireland 3:45 PM Scott Morrison talked from slides instead of reading an entire speech. He smiled. He joked. People even laughed.
PM clutching at straws to protect support base
![Prime Minister Tony Abbott winks and departs the chamber followed by Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull, after a division at Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra on Wednesday 25 February 2015. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen](/web/20150226231727im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/1/3/o/x/c/g/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.13owou.11d82q.png/1424927744456.jpg)
Peter Hartcher 4:15 PM Tony Abbott is too preoccupied with protecting his own position to notice that Malcolm Turnbull has assumed the "sensible centre" of Australian politics.
Julie Bishop: an emoji for all occasions
![Icon: Julie Bishop.](/web/20150226231727im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/1/3/o/5/9/y/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.13ost4.11d82q.png/1424866304671.jpg)
Tony Wright Julie Bishop may be on to something revolutionary. Given the current level of Australian political discourse, why not dispense with the spoken word and replace it with the living emoji?
Overblown attack rebounds on Brandis
![George Brandis and Gillian Triggs at the Senate estimates hearing on Tuesday.](/web/20150226231727im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/1/3/n/8/y/o/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.13nr0s.11d82q.png/1424817795848.jpg)
Michael Gordon The understatement came from Senator George Brandis after hours of a heated, vitriolic and at times tawdy inquisition. "I can't unscramble the egg," the Attorney-General conceded.
Did the West fail its 'jihadi brides'?
![Julie Szego](/web/20150226231727im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/1/1/s/k/z/8/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.13o7e0.11d82q.png/1416789351522.jpg)
Julie Szego It could be that Islamic State speaks to young people's need for a sense of belonging.
Stripping citizenship undermines core values
![matthew gibney dinkus](/web/20150226231727im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/1/3/n/k/3/p/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.13n1zq.11d82q.png/1424941625414.jpg)
Matthew Gibney There are real dangers in using citizenship as another tool in the battle against Islamic terrorism.
Politicians far too slow to sort out childcare
![Ross Gittins](/web/20150226231727im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/2/t/m/r/g/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.13n46s.11d82q.png/1424819748959.jpg)
Ross Gittins Most people want to see more women in Australia's workforce, but successive governments have struggled to find the right formula to allow that to happen.
Abbott transforms to Mr Whippy
![Tony Wright dinkus. Dinkus](/web/20150226231727im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/2/t/x/j/c/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.13nofw.11d82q.png/1424941625414.jpg)
Tony Wright Amid the confusing clamour that is federal politics, Prime Minister Tony Abbott appears to have misheard his radio mate Alan Jones' advice to become more like Mr Whippy and ring his bell louder.
PM’s terrorism talk all rhetoric, no new vision
![<i>Illustration: Andrew Dyson</i>](/web/20150226231727im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/1/3/m/f/n/5/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.13mcbm.11d82q.png/1424733207415.jpg)
Fergal Davis Tony Abbott speaks the tough language of the post 9/11 era as he pushes for laws we simply don’t need.
Loyalty of migrants to Australia no simple test
![Daniel Flitton](/web/20150226231727im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/1/2/k/k/m/j/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.13mlol.11d82q.png/1424678409099.jpg)
Daniel Flitton More than just spies, cops and terrorist threats, it would be a mistake to ignore the deeper philosophical debate that infuses Tony Abbott’s pronouncements on national security.
A PM on high alert: count the flags
![Tony Wright dinkus. Dinkus](/web/20150226231727im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/2/t/x/j/c/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.13mo2d.11d82q.png/1424941625414.jpg)
Tony Wright Tony Abbott's new emergency alert system is much clearer than the low, medium, high and extreme system employed by the national security apparatus.
Abbott address a siren call to extremists
![Peter Hartcher dinkus Dinkus](/web/20150226231727im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/2/t/m/q/r/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.13mmqo.11d82q.png/1424735300477.jpg)
Peter Hartcher For a moment, let's give Tony Abbott the benefit of the doubt.
Credlin shows she is loyal to Abbott
![Peter Reith](/web/20150226231727im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/3/1/i/z/1/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.13m0l1.11d82q.png/1424748917997.jpg)
Peter Reith A week ago, Tony Abbott was telling people that he would not be changing staffing arrangements in his office.