![Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull refuses to disclose details of his phone conversation with Donald Trump.](/web/20170202111701im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/3/x/l/s/image.related.landscape.460x307.gu3x7e.png/1486028611389.jpg)
Trump tweets he will study 'dumb' refugee deal with Australia
President Donald Trump has thrown the US-Australia refugee deal into grave doubt with a single post on Twitter.
James Massola is chief political reporter in the Canberra bureau. He was a Walkley finalist in 2015 and has worked in the federal press gallery for eight years, including stints for The Australian Financial Review and The Australian before joining the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
President Donald Trump has thrown the US-Australia refugee deal into grave doubt with a single post on Twitter.
Australia is falling behind modern Asian economies and could become an "unskilled enclave", according to Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, because low-cost labour is taking Australian jobs.
Labor is preparing to fire a fresh salvo in the political fight over penalty rates, ahead of a long-awaited decision from the Fair Work Commission on whether to cut Sunday penalty rates.
Politics is an occupation increasingly concerned with personalities as much as it is with policies.
For Malcolm Turnbull, 2016 has been a year of political compromises, dashed expectations and the occasional policy win.
Motorists could save up to $519 a year on their petrol bills but the cost of new cars would climb substantially, the government's own modelling suggests.
Crossbench senators say they are not convinced by Treasurer Scott Morrison's call to back his full company tax cut plan, following the release of the mid-year budget update.
Australia's last four treasurers have predicted a return to surplus 12 times but so far none have delivered.
When people switch on the television news, or open a newspaper or website, invariably the story of the day in federal politics is reported as one politician besting the other, or putting the other in his or her place.
Australia Post is shaping up as one of the big winners of Christmas 2016, according to chief executive Ahmed Fahour, with parcel volumes booming as Aussies turn to online shopping this year.
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