• EXCLUSIVE

Turnbull government cabinet minister Darren Chester completed the purchase of an investment property on a taxpayer-funded trip to Melbourne in which he also attended the Australian Open tennis and a soccer match.

• EXCLUSIVE

Sidelined Health Minister Sussan Ley charged taxpayers $13,000 to fly herself along two busy commercial routes.

Calls for reform of the parliamentary entitlements system have again intensified following the latest expenses scandal, which has centred around Health Minister Sussan Ley's Gold Coast travel. 

• EXCLUSIVE

Staff inside Centrelink warned officials from the Department of Human Services that automated data matching would lead to incorrect debts being issue, an insider says.

Pauline Hanson should sack her "controlling" chief of staff James Ashby because he's a danger to One Nation's future, a dumped candidate says.

When it comes to the employment and training sector, the names do not get any bigger than Sarina Russo.

It's bad now but going to get much worse, warns CPSU as Centrelink denies "pecking order" in debt case reviews.

The Commonwealth Ombudsman has produced two scathing reports on practices by Australian immigration authorities.

Health Minister Sussan Ley travelled to the Gold Coast twice at taxpayer expense for lavish New Year celebrations hosted by a multimillionaire political donor whose company has won major contracts from the Coalition government.

The Commonwealth Ombudsman has launched a wide-ranging investigation into Centrelink's automated debt-recovery processes.

A $2 million federal grant to a trades training school associated with former Family First senator Bob Day is under investigation by the Commonwealth Auditor-General.

Former speaker Bronwyn Bishop has jumped to the defence of Sussan Ley, accusing socialists of tearing her down and arguing that double standards exist for women and men in politics.

Health Minister Sussan Ley has stood down from the frontbench while the secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Martin Parkinson, investigates her use of taxpayer funded entitlements

East Timor will abandon the multibillion-dollar oil and gas treaty at the centre of sensational spying claims by Australia.

Centrelink is either lying or unacceptably incompetent, says former public service digital guru.

Health Minister Sussan Ley is facing fresh calls to resign after revelations she has taken 27 taxpayer-funded flights in and out of the Gold Coast over recent years, including over two consecutive years during the New Year's Eve period.

Embattled Health Minister Sussan Ley has admitted she made an "error of judgment" by charging taxpayers for a trip to the Gold Coast in which she bought a $795,000 apartment and will repay the cost of the trip.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has called on the Turnbull government to immediately suspend Centrelink's controversial automated debt recovery program, describing it as a "toxic mix of incompetence and cruelty".

Dumped One Nation candidate Shan Ju Lin has hit out at the party's hierarchy over her disendorsement as a candidate in the wake of inflammatory statements she made on social media.

• EXCLUSIVE

President-elect Donald Trump is coming under renewed pressure from Republicans in Washington to scuttle a refugee deal agreed between Barack Obama and Malcolm Turnbull last year.

One Nation has dumped a Queensland candidate who aired homophobic views on social media.

• ANALYSIS

At the heart of the controversy over Health Minister Sussan Ley's investment property in Surfers Paradise is a simple principle.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is facing calls to sack Health Minister Sussan Ley after revelations she bought a $795,000 Gold Coast apartment from a large Liberal donor while on a taxpayer-funded trip.

Labor has called on Health Minister Sussan Ley to explain why she purchased an investment property on the Gold Coast during a taxpayer-funded trip classified as official business.

The $795,000 Gold Coast apartment Liberal Minister Sussan Ley bought on a taxpayer-funded trip last year was purchased from a large Liberal Party donor who knew her "in a professional capacity".

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has said the government makes 'no apology' for pursuing people's debts as it continues to face the furore surrounding Centrelink's troubled $4.5 billion debt recovery mission.

• EXCLUSIVE

Linda Burney, Labor's human services spokeswoman, has written to the Australian National Audit Office requesting they investigate Centrelink's controversial $4.5 billion debt clawback project amid ongoing concerns it is unfairly targeting people and miscalculating bills.

A New Zealand politician has labelled senator Malcolm Roberts's call for sanctions against New Zealanders in Australia "absolutely nuts", passing it off as using "the politics of hate and division for self promotion".

Amid growing controversy about Centrelink's new automated debt recovery methods, the agency is using Twitter to refer welfare recipients to a crisis support hotline.