PM seriously considers radical super change

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is seriously considering a radical change to the superannuation system in a move that could save the budget $6 billion a year and help his government prosecute its tricky reform ambitions.

10 companies have taken over: Senator

Gareth Hutchens   Labor senator Sam Dastyari warns there is something "fundamentally wrong and rotten" with Australia's political system, claiming there are 10 companies with toxic power and influence.

Complementary protection changes slammed

Jane Lee   Australia risks returning asylum seekers to countries where they face torture, family violence and honour killings under planned changes to complementary protection laws, lawyers say.

The day our hopes for justice were dashed

A detainee in the offshore "prison" tells the inside story of frustration, fear and hopelessness.

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Scientists defend monkey experiments

Fergus Hunter   Government-appointed scientists have defended the use of monkeys for biomedical research as essential to developing life-saving treatments for humans.

Lebanese furious at being singled out

Adam Gartrell   Lebanese Australians have expressed fury over a leaked federal government document that singles them out as particularly prone to extremism, calling it "dangerous and divisive".

Watchdog criticises proposed terror laws

The government's national security legislation watchdog has called for stricter safeguards in proposed laws that would deny terrorism suspects subjected to bail-like "control orders" access to some of the evidence against them.

Women poised to start flying RAAF fighter jets

David Wroe   Australia could soon have its first woman fighter pilot and is likely to have at least five women in the cockpit of the Joint Strike Fighter when the cutting-edge warplane comes into operation at the start of next decade.

Why PM killed white paper and probably GST

Peter Martin   The tax white paper is dead. So too (most probably) is an increase in the GST.

Leaked cabinet paper links migrants to terror

Michael Gordon    Confidential cabinet document obtained by Fairfax Media contains explosive recommendations.

• 'Dangerous and divisive': Lebanese community furious at being singled out
• Comment: Citizenship revamp a threat to most basic resettlement goals

Looking for a national leader

On the tax debate and asylum-seeker policy, we need better than what we've got.

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The day our hopes for justice were dashed

A detainee in the offshore "prison" tells the inside story of frustration, fear and hopelessness.

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'It's more complex than where you live'

Terrorism and migration experts have warned that radicalisation is "more complex than where you live" in response to a draft cabinet document that suggests refugees should be settled outside of major cities.

COMMENT

Tax reform a test of PM’s courage

Peter Hartcher   What is the point of Malcolm Turnbull as Prime Minister if he is merely a more personable salesman selling the Abbott government’s policies?

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How long can we keep lying to ourselves?

Waleed Aly   The history of asylum seeker policy in Australia will be remembered as a story of how successive governments legislated their lies to justify a world of make-believe borders and compliance.

GST: political hot potato chips away unity

An unpopular policy could deal a blow to the goodwill that Malcolm Turnbull's government has so far enjoyed.

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GST rise does not tackle fundamental problem

Josh Gordon   Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas has a point. If we are going to "reform" the tax system let's be very clear about what we are trying to achieve. Because reform for its own sake isn't really reform at all.

From climate denial to climate outsourcing

Marcus Strom   If the Abbott era was about climate-change denial it seems that with the Turnbull zeitgeist it is all about climate-change outsourcing.

GST hike is a solution in search of a problem

Peter Martin   We need a clear goal if the attempt to change the tax system is to succeed.

High Court decision puts the onus on Turnbull

Michael Gordon   Now that the legality of detaining asylum seekers indefinitely on foreign shores has been upheld by the High Court, Malcolm Turnbull has some big decisions to make.

Asylum seekers on Nauru in legal black hole

George Williams   All this means that Australia’s treatment of asylum seekers by way of offshore processing will now raise few legal questions. Instead, it will be governed by the politics of the day.

The government could fix what's broken

Peter Martin   What's left to reform if Morison's push for a 15 per cent GST goes south?

For voters, elite is a dirty word

Paul Sheehan   Voter distrust towards the political class has become potent. It is potent in the United States, it is volatile in Europe and it is evident in Australia.

Raising the GST to 15 per cent is fiscal folly

Paul Keating   If Australia goes down the path of increasing the GST to 15 per cent, it should realise it will be on the way to joining West European countries which are the highest taxed countries in the world.

Logic says no to Valizadeh

Tim Wilson   Daryush "Roosh" Valizadeh's freedom of speech won't be suppressed if the Immigration Minister, Peter Dutton, denies him a visa. 

Canberra makes Iowa looks exciting

Tony Wright   Exciting political times in Canberra. You could tell. You needed only wander the corridors of Parliament House.

The $30b schools savings con

Matthew Knott   They are the $30 billion in education "cuts" that helped make the Abbott government's first budget so unpopular, infuriated state premiers and helped spark a national debate on increasing the GST. 

How cheap petrol will reshape world politics

Daniel Flitton   Petrol prices have slumped – and that has profound ramifications for global politics and countries that rely on oil revenue.

Flag-bearing won't work for Tony Abbott

Peter Reith   Who knows what persuaded Tony Abbott to stay in Parliament but a lot of people will surmise that he is positioning himself as a comeback leader under the banner of conservatism. If that is his plan, he is making a mistake.

More years of bile ahead over marriage 

Tim Dick   Most Australians find little controversial in marriage equality, yet the political fix that delivered The Lodge to Malcolm Turnbull will result in years of vileness being published and broadcast in the name of debate.

Big business-biased 'reform' won't fly

Ross Gittins   I'm confident this year will see the economy performing better than many people expect - those who underrate the importance of domestic influences - but I'm far from confident it will be a year of great progress on economic reform.