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The government agency responsible for the Great Barrier Reef says urgent action is needed to save the world heritage site after yet-to-be-published surveys found the record coral bleaching damage earlier this year was even worse than initially thought.

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The Cambodian government has criticised Australia for failing to take some responsibility for an unfolding human tragedy as dozens of surrogate mothers carrying babies for Australian biological parents have gone into hiding.

Lebanese Australians have demanded Immigration Minister Peter Dutton release the ethnic backgrounds of other criminal offenders or explain why he chose to "demonise" their community in his comments to Parliament.

Attorney-General George Brandis is facing fresh calls to resign amid explosive claims he directed the government's chief legal adviser not to raise an argument in the High Court that would have scuttled a secret political deal.

Malcolm Turnbull's political agenda for the final week of parliament could be on hold after a crucial cross bench grouping announced it would not vote for any government bills until a water dispute is resolved.

The comments put the Baird government a collision course with the federal Coalition.

Former prime minister Paul Keating is the latest public figure to lay into the besieged ABC, saying it it is failing as a news gathering organisation and was letting Australia down.

Attorney-General George Brandis may have acted corruptly, Labor has said following reports the federal government agreed to a secret deal allowing the Western Australian government to pursue compensation from the collapse of a company despite legal issues with their plan.

Computer giant IBM has paid about $30 million to the Australian government for the botched 2016 census, entirely covering the additional cost to taxpayers, it can be revealed.

A former federal public servant who says she suffered six years of racism from her boss is claiming more than $1 million in compensation from the Commonwealth.

The architect of the GP co-payment says the Turnbull government has no health policy. He has also savaged the performance of Health Minister Sussan Ley and her predecessor Peter Dutton, saying the latter should have been sacked.

Dutton is damaging the government's attempts to engage Islamic communities, expert says.

• EXCLUSIVE

Hours before the Labor MP catapulted herself to national attention, she closed the door to her office and started typing.

The Greens will attempt to wedge One Nation and the Nick Xenophon Team by proposing amendments to the Turnbull government's controversial bill to resurrect the Australian Building and Construction Commission.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics made the right call to shut down the disastrous 2016 census but the website's troubles were avoidable and rooted in years of bad decisions, a parliamentary inquiry has found.

Security officers have blocked parliamentary staff from campaigning for improved pay inside Parliament House.

Labor frontbencher Terri Butler has lashed out at a "hypocritical" lawsuit commenced against her over a remark on the ABC's Q&A; program.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has promised to review legal advice that led to a retiree being threatened with court action unless he pulls down his "save Medicare" website as intellectual property experts questioned strength of the government's position.

The staggering figure was revealed in the British government's seasonal budget update, known as the Autumn Statement.

Bank employees who break the rules would be publicly named and shamed within five days under changes proposed by a parliamentary committee examining the big four banks.

Australia's alliance with the United States should not be taken for granted or questioned on the basis of who is in the White House, Department of Defence secretary Dennis Richardson has warned in a highly unusual public commentary on politics.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has turned the heat on those who have criticised him for his comments on terrorism problems in the Lebanese-Australian community, asserting that everything he has said is factual and that Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has been deceptive.

Greens senator Richard Di Natale has lost 16 staff in the 18 months since he became party leader, out of a total office complement of 23 people.

Your personally curated news with six things you need to know before you get going.

With one speech Labor MP Emma Husar has shone a spotlight on the often hidden crime of domestic violence. This is her full speech.

• EXCLUSIVE

Former prime minister Tony Abbott is preparing to put pen to paper and write a sequel to his 2009 book Battlelines.

Women are invisible at the top of Australian business, Labor MP Anne Aly said on Wednesday.

After four rejections of proposed workplace deal, department secretary says it's all the union's fault.

Labor legal affairs spokesman Mark Dreyfus threatened to resign from the front bench if Bill Shorten backed the appointment of a key ally, Kimberley Kitching, to casual senate vacancy.