![Labor MP Anne Aly.](/web/20170118132547im_/http://www.watoday.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/u/2/q/4/image.related.landscape.460x307.gth735.png/1483159017705.jpg)
The MPs whose names you'll know by the end of 2017
Politics is an occupation increasingly concerned with personalities as much as it is with policies.
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.
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.
Crossbench powerbroker Nick Xenophon said federal Parliament could learn lessons from other jurisdictions and establish an effective anti-corruption body - "the sooner we do it, the better."
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.
Australia's immigration chief has conducted a secret trip to the United States to reach out to Donald Trump's officials.
Search pagination