Wind farm commissioner insists he's providing good value for taxpayers

Tom Arup   Australia's wind farm commissioner insists taxpayers are getting good value for money out of his $200,000 a year salary.

Poll shows just 3% of voters support likely budget centrepiece

Michael Koziol   Devastating poll that will put further pressure on the Coalition's pre-budget planning.

Belgian envoy decries Malcolm Turnbull's 'dangerous' comments on Brussels bombings

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's linking of the European refugee crisis with the Brussels bombings is dangerous, the Belgian ambassador says.

Liberal donations scandal highlights ICAC's important work

Michaela Whitbourn   The ICAC exposed donations irregularities striking at the heart of our democracy.

Reliance on mental health drugs in remote areas

Jane Lee   People living in disadvantaged or remote areas are more likely to rely on medication to treat their mental health problems because they have less access to psychiatric treatment than people in cities, experts say.

Up to $15,000 loaned out to Australian travellers

Nicole Hasham   Australians travelling in Thailand, Indonesia and Italy are the most likely to run into financial strife and call on taxpayers at home to bail them out – but some loans are never repaid, new data shows.

Labor calls for Sinodinos to stand aside

Michael Koziol   Labor has called on the Turnbull government's cabinet secretary Arthur Sinodinos to stand aside following the "extraordinary finding" of the NSW Electoral Commission on illegal donations to the NSW Liberal Party.

Challenge to Senate changes based on 'hopeless' grounds

Michaela Whitbourn   A High Court challenge to Senate voting changes is based on "hopeless" or "weak" grounds, the federal government's top lawyer has said.

MPs caught short over campaign costs

Stephanie Peatling   We are not only in the midst of the longest election campaign but possibly the most expensive.

PM warns of Europe's perfect storm

Mark Kenny, David Wroe   European authorities have lost control of their own security in a perfect storm of poorly integrated Muslim communities, and an inability to know who is within its borders, Malcolm Turnbull has declared, delivering a dire prognosis of the acute threat facing the continent.

Canberrans 'dislike construction unions': Lib polling

Markus Mannheim   Survey coincides with Turnbull's attempt to capitalise on anti-union sentiment.

Comments 5

Plenty sleight of hand in Malcolm Turnbull's clean power play

Tom Arup   Whatever they are paying the spinners in the Turnbull government it is not enough.

Politician 'entitlements' should be renamed 'work expenses', review finds

Michael Koziol   Report says the current system is too ambiguous, lacks transparency and has undermined public confidence.

EXCLUSIVE

States buckle on federal schools funding cuts

Mark Kenny   NSW Premier Mike Baird is proceeding with a new compromise deal which would spread out the final two years of Gonski funding over four years.

Chopping block recommended for one of the classic pollie perks

Judith Ireland   One of the most treasured pollie perks could be on the chopping block.

'Politics not economics' holds key to HECS-from-dead plan

Matthew Knott   Collecting student debts from the dead would not put people off university study, but any revenue gains could be undermined by creative estate planning, the architect of the HECS repayment system says.