The US will begin flying its deadliest fighter plane, the F-22 Raptor, out of northern Australia next year, the most senior American commander in the Pacific has revealed.

Consumer confidence has dived to its lowest level since April in a "jolt to stability and confidence", plunging into doubt retailers forecasts ten days before Christmas.

State and federal energy ministers have agreed to steps promised to stop companies price gouging on electricity bills, but been blocked from going further by the NSW and Queensland governments.

CANBERRA, Dec 14 AAP - A new solicitor-general has been appointed after a stoush with Attorney-General George Brandis drove the previous one to resign.

LISTEN: Leanne doesn't have a last name - or a return number - but she does have a tough message for the PM.

Police called in after the NSW government intervened in the growing scandal.

The harried Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children is seeking another four months to complete its report into juvenile justice in the Northern Territory.

The true cost of the National Broadband Network to taxpayers has been detailed for the first time, with a new report showing the project has wiped $8.8 billion off the federal government's balance sheet since it began.

The Turnbull government is to consider a ban on the $100 note and a crackdown on all but small cash payments as part of an assault on the cash economy to be unveiled in Monday's mid-year budget update.

The nation's top judge has questioned whether "thoughtful and courteous" political debate can exist in the age of social media.

The former prime minister says Australia is in danger of developing a welfare mentality with too many people preferring to be unemployed than take jobs.

Pauline Hanson personally loaned her One Nation party almost $200,000 to fund its federal election campaign.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has warned the United States and Russia must urgently broker a peace deal to stop the bloodletting in Syria following "appalling" reports of mass atrocities in Aleppo.

Vast amounts of data stored by the ATO have been lost in an IT crash.

The Australian National Dictionary Centre has picked the word of the year and it tastes good

The abrupt closure of the giant Hazelwood coal plant next year is expected to push up annual electricity bills by an average $78 across the country.

• EXCLUSIVE

Former NSW president withdrew more than $200,000 in cash on his RSL credit card and was quietly forced to resign over expenses, rather than health reasons as claimed.

A decision to postpone the Japan-Australia "two-plus-two" talks between the two nations' Defence and Foreign Affairs ministers has sparked a fresh round of talk about Marise Payne's future in the Defence Portfolio.

Controversial Liberal preselection candidate Stephanie Ross has won the backing of a Turnbull government MP who has declared the 25-year-old a ministerial prospect.

Dylan Voller's former case manager has described a Northern Territory justice system that failed the offender from a young age, neglecting diversionary programs, adopting a punitive and not rehabilitative approach, turning him violent, and failing to help him re-enter society.

A lamb advertisement starring SBS newsreader Lee Lin Chin that was accused of inciting violence against vegans was the most complained about advertisement of the year.

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The embankment, technically called a "berm" and commonly used as a defence against tanks, would have encircled the building.

Australia does not need a taxpayer bill of rights, a review has found, but the Tax Office must take greater steps to educate the public about their rights and apologise when it makes errors.

The JSF jets, once they are delivered, will be the backbone of Australia's air combat force over the next 50 years.

The Prime Minister will give a major speech on one of the issues with which he is most closely associated - an Australian republic.

• EXCLUSIVE

Australia's immigration chief has conducted a secret trip to the United States to reach out to Donald Trump's officials.

The Lowy Institute has proposed opening Australia to workers from Pacific nations including Fiji, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands as a way of easing some of the shortages predicted as a result of changes to the backpacker tax and as a way of helping workers from those nations far more powerfully than could foreign aid.

Northern Territory prisoner staff forced a teenage detainee to endure a 15-hour road trip to hell with little water and no toilet stops, the royal commission into juvenile justice has been told.

The Turnbull government will seek to introduce a new levy on telecommunications companies to help pay for the roll-out of the NBN in regional areas, a change it admits will lead to higher prices for internet consumers.