The Australian government is being sued $103 million for allegedly jailing Indonesian juveniles for people smuggling in adult prisons or holding them in immigration detention between 2008 and 2012.

Tony Abbott has laid out a five-point plan for the Coalition to have a chance at the "winnable" next election.

The time you spend working on a Sunday is still worth more than it is on a Saturday, but not as much as it was in the past, according to the Fair Work umpire.

• EXCLUSIVE

Planning is under way for Malcolm Turnbull to stand side by side with Donald Trump on the deck of a battleship in New York Harbour to affirm the solidarity of the alliance.

RSL rank-and-file call on Veterans Minister David Elliott to intervene over financial scandals.

He was supposed to be the human face of the thousands of weekend workers affected by the cut in Sunday penalty rates.

• ANALYSIS

Former Treasury chief and National Australia Bank chairman Ken Henry is far from a zealot on cutting company tax rates.

• EXCLUSIVE

A group of federal Labor MPs have urged Australian recognition of a Palestinian state, echoing the high-profile interventions of party elders ahead of Opposition Leader Bill Shorten's meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

• ANALYSIS

After laying siege to the Australian labour fortress of weekend penalty rates over decades, employers have finally loosened a few bricks and clambered over the wall.

Ahmed Fahour's successor as Australia Post chief executive is set to receive a massive multi-million dollar pay cut after the Turnbull government stripped the postal service's board of responsibility to set the salary of its managing director.

Who will gain the most from the changes, and who will be the hardest hit? The penalty rates decision in a nutshell.

The Victorian government is demanding the operator of Australia's main electricity grid explain how the state came close to losing electricity during the recent extreme heatwave to ensure NSW avoided power outages, adding to calls for a wider inquiry.

Peter Dutton has backed down on controversial comments suggesting a quid pro quo with the Trump administration over refugee resettlement plans, after being corrected by Foreign Minister Julie Bishop from Washington on Thursday.

The Fair Work Commission's review of penalty rates was three years in the making but it was clear within minutes of its announcement that lowering Sunday pay was a major new political battleground.

Australia Post chief executive Ahmed Fahour - who was criticised by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull for his $5.6 million salary - has resigned from the job after seven years.

Former treasury boss Ken Henry has backed the government's 10-year plan to cut the company tax rate, saying it should be done even sooner.

A new wave of solar energy is about to crest and it won't just be households benefiting.

Former prime minister Kevin Rudd has accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of "torpedoing" plans for recognising a Palestinian state, causing "enduring frustration" for diplomats.

Authorities must be prepared for more foreign fighters to seek to return to Australia, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop warned on Thursday.

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has come out against the government's current $4 billion omnibus savings bill, pointing to paid parental leave measures that she says risk abuse by parents who will have children purely to get the payments.

• EXCLUSIVE

Defence withdraws job ads after complaints that Breitbart News is racist and misogynist.

Australian forces are playing a key role in the escalating battle for the Iraqi city of Mosul.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has emphasised the need for Israel to retain "security control" over any future Palestinian state, and praised Australia as a "clear-eyed" nation "willing to puncture United Nations hypocrisy".

Private-sector wage growth has slid to record low of just 1.8 per cent, throwing into doubt budget projections and confounding the Reserve Bank, which would prefer not to have to cut interest rates again and run the risk of reigniting house prices.

"A simple alteration could deny a claimant millions of dollars and save the company in the process"

Coalition frontbenchers have refused to join Immigration Minister Peter Dutton in linking the contentious US refugee deal with Australia's decision to accept refugees from Central America.

Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen says Labor will not take a "Buffett rule" that cracks down on wealthy tax avoiders to the next election.

"If cane doesn't do well, the town doesn't do well. There's no rocket science in that," says sugarcane grower Paula Langdon.

The controversy surrounding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Australia has intensified.