Francis Keany is a political reporter for the ABC's Parliament House bureau. Francis has worked in the media for a decade in radio and TV, including a three-year stint for Fairfax Radio in the Canberra press gallery. He was born and bred in the nation's capital, before working in the NSW Snowy Mountains and Sydney.
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| UpdatedThe Federal Government concedes 1.5 million people will see family payments reduced, but argues 1 million families will get better child care.
Topics: federal-government, government-and-politics, welfare, family-and-children, australia
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| UpdatedRod Culleton vows to fight his removal from federal politics, despite the President of the Senate confirming his disqualification.
Topics: federal-government, government-and-politics, australia, wa
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| UpdatedA retired couple says Health Minister Sussan Ley made an unsuccessful bid for their house in the Gold Coast Hinterland, nine months before she purchased an apartment during a work trip to the region.
Topics: political-parties, government-and-politics, advancetown-4211, australia
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| UpdatedThe Federal Government defends its foreign aid program after former PM Tony Abbott reportedly says funds going to the Palestinian Authority are being used to pay pensions "to terrorists and their families".
Topics: government-and-politics, world-politics, foreign-affairs, federal-government, abbott-tony, australia, israel, palestinian-territory-occupied
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| UpdatedTwo Turnbull Government frontbenchers brush off threats from rebel backbenchers who warn they may abandon the Coalition if it does not embrace conservative principles.
Topics: government-and-politics, federal-government, liberals, liberal-national-party-queensland, australia
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The Australian Institute of Architects calls for an urgent review of plans to build a fence around Parliament House in Canberra, which includes sealing off the grass lawns on the sides of the building.
Topics: federal-parliament, architecture, parliament-house-2600
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| UpdatedNew vehicles in Australia would have to be cleaner and more fuel efficient following a number of proposals being considered by the Federal Government.
Topics: environmental-impact, federal-parliament, environmental-policy, australia
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| UpdatedFederal Government MPs who support a constitutional monarchy question an address by the Prime Minister to the Australian Republican Movement, criticising the timing of the speech amid debate about power prices, pensions, and the economy.
Topics: republic, government-and-politics, federal-government, bill-shorten, turnbull-malcolm, australia
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| UpdatedThe Federal Government lays down the groundwork for a lacklustre mid-year budget update on Monday, warning that a rise in commodity prices may not be enough to counter a decline in economic growth.
Topics: budget, federal-government, economic-trends, markets, money-and-monetary-policy, australia
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| UpdatedThe French company building Australia's new submarines says it was not aware of a major security breach until it was "published in the newspapers", as Christopher Pyne accuses a staffer of Nick Xenophon of being behind the leaks.
Topics: defence-and-national-security, defence-and-aerospace-industries, defence-industry, federal-government, australia
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| UpdatedDefence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne says the Joint Strike Fighter is right for Australia and the United States, despite criticism from US President-elect Donald Trump.
Topics: defence-and-national-security, air-force, government-and-politics, australia, united-states
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| UpdatedA new report by the Australian Energy Market Operator says billions of dollars of investment is needed to ensure the stability of Australia's power grid. But what is the AEMO?
Topics: electricity-energy-and-utilities, energy, federal-government, alternative-energy, australia, wa, vic, tas, sa, qld, nt, nsw, act
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| UpdatedA report by the nation's energy regulator recommends a multi-billion-dollar investment in electricity infrastructure — such as a second interconnector with South Australia — to help secure the stability of Australia's power grid.
Topics: business-economics-and-finance, industry, electricity-energy-and-utilities, government-and-politics, federal-government, australia
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Having survived two brain tumours, Tasmanian Labor senator Catryna Bilyk will lead an inquiry into funding for research into cancers with low survival rates.
Topics: health, cancer, government-and-politics, federal-parliament, tas, australia
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| UpdatedThe Federal Government confirms efforts are underway to extradite the man dubbed Australia's most wanted terrorist, Neil Prakash, after his arrest in Turkey.
Topics: unrest-conflict-and-war, terrorism, international-law, law-crime-and-justice, australia, turkey, iraq, syrian-arab-republic
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| UpdatedIt's taken three years but the Government's two industrial relations bill are back in the Senate. Let's take a look at the bill around the ABCC.
Topics: federal-parliament, australia
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| UpdatedThe Federal Government says Australia is well positioned to take advantage of a "gigantic" expansion of the United States military flagged by the incoming Trump administration.
Topics: defence-and-national-security, world-politics, international-aid-and-trade, united-states, australia
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| UpdatedKey Senate crossbenchers say it will be difficult for the Federal Government to secure enough support for its changes to immigration laws.
Topics: community-and-society, immigration, refugees, government-and-politics, federal-government, australia
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| UpdatedThe White House is backtracking on its promise to honour a one-off refugee resettlement deal with Australia. This is what we do and don't know about the agreement.
Topics: refugees, immigration, federal-government, foreign-affairs, australia, nauru, united-states, papua-new-guinea
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| UpdatedAustralia is on the brink of signing a breakthrough deal with the United States which will see almost 1,300 asylum seekers on Manus Island and Nauru found to be refugees resettled in America.
Topics: immigration, refugees, foreign-affairs, world-politics, federal-government, australia, united-states
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| UpdatedAustralians may not get a chance to vote in today's US presidential elections, but it hasn't stopped our politicians from voicing an opinion about Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump over the past year.
Topics: us-elections, government-and-politics, human-interest, world-politics, australia, united-states
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| UpdatedA Federal Labor MP quotes Baz Lurhmann's Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) in Parliament, which he says is a tribute to those currently holding their year 12 exams.
Topics: government-and-politics, federal-government, education, human-interest, australia
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| UpdatedThe Federal Government's plan for a plebiscite on whether to legalise same-sex marriage has been defeated, ending chances of a public vote on the issue.
Topics: federal-parliament, parliament, federal-government, federal---state-issues, government-and-politics, gays-and-lesbians, marriage, australia
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The Australian Electoral Commission says it needs more funding to update IT systems that run elections, warning they are "at the end of their useful life".
Topics: federal-election, federal-elections, elections, government-and-politics, budget, australia
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One Nation leader Pauline Hanson urges WA Senator Rod Culleton to make an "informed decision about his future" as he faces the prospect of a High Court challenge to the validity of his election.
Topics: government-and-politics, courts-and-trials, law-crime-and-justice, minor-parties, political-parties, federal-government, australia