Stage set for July 2 election, as Senate hands PM the trigger
James Massola 12:27 AM The Senate defied Malcolm Turnbull and gave him the double dissolution election trigger. The scene is now set for an unprecedented 75-day election campaign.
Latest political news
The Eddie Everywhere of Australian politics
Michael Koziol 2:48 PM When Michaelia Cash was asked last month what advice she would give her younger self, she went straight to work ethic.
Telstra 'backflip' on marriage equality support
Michael Koziol 6:51 PM Australia's largest telco, Telstra, appears to have backflipped on its support for marriage equality, vowing to renew its "active position" on the issue.
Aged care told to meet multicultural challenge
Jane Lee 5:47 PM By 2030, almost a third of people over 65 are expected to be from culturally diverse backgrounds and speak languages other than English.
Voter disappointment drives Coalition down
Mark Kenny 1:51 AM The Turnbull government's strong lead has evaporated to nothing as increasingly nervous Coalition MPs gather in Canberra.
Doubts over centrepiece of Pacific Solution
Daniel Flitton 3:52 PM It was the $400 million pay-off for Papua New Guinea's help never to allow refugees to settle in Australia.
Governor-General blanks Labor's Plibersek
Fergus Hunter 12:29 AM Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove has apologised to Deputy Opposition Leader Tanya Plibersek after being accused of snubbing her in an awkward handshake moment.
The day in Parliament: an extraordinary sitting
Stephanie Peatling 8:02 PM The Senate falls on its sword and hands the Prime Minister the chance to call an early double dissolution election.
Court win for student facing deportation
Nicole Hasham 4:08 PM A tribunal wrongly upheld a decision to cancel the visa of a Chinese student accused of child prostitution offences, a court has ruled.
Early election firms as pivotal bill stalled
Adam Gartrell With insufficient crossbencher support for the government's industrial relations bills, Prime Minister can justify an early election.
'My name is not Ruddovich'
Peter Mitchell 2:37 AM Kevin Rudd has played down his and Helen Clark's chances of becoming United Nations secretary-general, joking he would have a better shot if his surname was "Ruddovich".
Comment & Analysis
PM will fight poll as just another politician
Peter Hartcher 11:42 PM Malcolm Turnbull will now get the election he wanted, but without the sort of advantage he'd hoped for.
History keeps repeating in politics
Peter Reith 9:00 PM Many MPs and media commentators have little grasp of Australia’s political past. That’s a pity because knowing the past can explain today.
Battlelines drawn for drawn out contest
Mark Kenny 10:41 PM If the election is reduced to a tale of two grievances, Bill Shorten will win it.
Death in black and white
Michael Gordon Imagine if a royal commission was held into a matter of national shame, and it spent tens of millions of dollars, produced a vast report, but the headline indicators of that shame went backwards.
PM's election pitch stamped 'Made in China'
Peter Hartcher Our economic 'transition' is central to Malcolm Turnbull's election campaign. And China is the key to that transition, happy to play up to the 'all powerful' image.
Australia, why do you hate big ideas?
Judith Ireland It is a much-honoured national pastime to shoot down ideas and resist even the slightest hint of change. We might be surrounded by sea, but we are also girt by the status quo.
Against the odds the stars line up for Labor
Waleed Aly Increasing inequality has allowed Labor to start doing something it hasn't done for decades - articulate a worldview.
Turnbull primed to shine in China
Mark Kenny The Prime Minister has assembled a crack group of advisers for his China visit but they're playing to a tough audience.
Very Fast Train - the mother of all projects
Peter Knight In less than a decade and at a price we can afford, a high-speed link could transform the nation, if only politicians weren't so lily-livered.
Silence will destroy our democratic values
Greg Barns Around the world politicians are raising issues of fairness, equality and social values – so why have Australians gone quiet?
Marriage debate is not about equality
Jeremy Bell If governments make laws about marriage, they must define what marriage is.
Shorten's royal commission call a poll stunt
Peter Reith If Bill Shorten was seriously wanting a royal commission into the banks, he could have voted for it last year when the Greens put up the idea.
Beauty of science lies in unexpected moment
Surendra Verma The CSIRO's pursuit of science will be hampered by the naked hunt for cash.
Better teachers? Better at what, exactly?
Ned Manning We all know it is bureaucratic procedures, lack of funding and poor pay rates that hold back educational standards, not bad teachers.
Bill Shorten a dud no more
Tim Dick Abbott, Abetz, and Andrews are the triple-A batteries of Australian politics: each started full of power, but not as much as they thought.
Gonski opposition doesn’t add up
Jane Caro The voters love Gonski. Astonishingly, every educational sector – public, Catholic and Independent – are also in favour.
Why our new subs should be built at home
Amanda Vanstone On this project, we should be wary of the Japanese.
Turnbull snookered by populist bank probe
Mark Kenny Tell me it isn't so: the more furiously the banks resist public scrutiny of their ultra-profitable dealings, the more their long-suffering customers feel such a probe is justified.
Robb pushes aside pessimism, backs China
Peter Hartcher On the eve of Australia's largest ever trade mission to China, the nation's 'best trade minister' Andrew Robb still has unfinished business.
Special features
Nick Xenophon's pivotal power
Nick Xenophon's preferences could help sway the election outcome and his team may win the balance of power in the Senate.
Double dissolution trigger is live, so what happens now?
Malcolm Turnbull has a constitutional deadline of May 11 to advise the Governor-General to dissolve both houses.
Tumbleweeds roll across the chamber as DD looms
It was almost as if bringing Parliament back was a stunt.
Unions or banks? Battlelines drawn for drawn out contest
If the election is reduced to a tale of two grievances, Bill Shorten will win it.
Voter disappointment drives Coalition down
Michael Gordon The Turnbull government's strong lead has evaporated to nothing as increasingly nervous Coalition MPs gather in Canberra.
Malcolm Turnbull a cautious PM, and voters are punishing him for it
Peter Hartcher Bill Shorten is taking a riskier line, announcing controversial policies, and it's working for him.
No integrity in disguised tax hikes
With just over a fortnight to go, the Turnbull government's first budget is looking a bit green, writes Jessica Irvine.
The highs and lows of Bronwyn Bishop's long political career
In 1955 a 13-year-old schoolgirl named Bronwyn Setright told her friends she was going to be the first female prime minister of Australia.
185th anniversary: view from the newsroom
How has the Herald changed in 185 years? How should I know – I've been working for it for less than a quarter of that time.
Political dinosaur's days are numbered
Chris Johnson Looking back, Clive Palmer's spectacular fall from grace was inevitable from the outset.
Malcolm Turnbull in China
Malcolm Turnbull visits China for the first time as Australian Prime Minister and Andrew Meares is on hand to capture the historic trip.
Australia, why do you hate big ideas?
It is a much-honoured national pastime to shoot down ideas and resist even the slightest hint of change.
Turnbull sets fire to footy, all the way from China
Tony Wright The Prime Minister has entered the eternal debate on which football code is the best, and his verdict has ruffled feathers around the nation.
Barnaby is running the country! What a time to be alive!
Tony Wright When Malcolm Turnbull steps on a plane for China on Wednesday night, he leaves Barnaby Joyce in charge.
Very Fast Train a very pre-election promise
If Australia's high speed train is as reliable as the rate at which it is promised by politicians, it will be a truly remarkable service.
Who is more agile now?
The PM's problem, or one of them, is that none of his big gambles has yet paid off. Not one.
Transport package more to do with politics than rigour
Malcolm Turnbull likes to present himself as a man of sound economic principles.
How the conservatives ended the age of entitlement for all but themselves
The age of entitlement is far from over. It's alive and close to home.
Andrew Robb pushes aside pessimism and backs China
On the eve of Australia's largest ever trade mission to China, the nation's 'best trade minister' Andrew Robb still has unfinished business.
Higher education fees, how did we get to this?
How much to charge students, when to apply the debt and all manner of detail over how a higher education loans scheme should work has long been fodder for heated political debate.
