Fergus Hunter is a political reporter for Fairfax Media in the federal press gallery at Parliament House
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.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has reiterated his support for the introduction of four-year, fixed parliamentary terms following the preparation of legislation to bring about the constitutional change.
The government has dismissed reports that maverick Coalition backbencher George Christensen drafted a resignation letter and has threatened to "go rogue".
The Australian government has reaffirmed its support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict following President Donald Trump's shock retreat from the plan, a longstanding pillar of US foreign policy.Â
The government will reportedly seek to curb capital gains tax concessions for property investors in an attempt to improve housing affordability and boost revenue as budget cuts continue to falter in the Senate.
The government has raised the prospect of increasing taxes if Labor and the Senate crossbench continue to obstruct its cuts to family tax benefits, paid parental leave and unemployment payments.Â
The ninth Closing the Gap report has again firmly established that government policy is not bringing about equality between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, with six of seven targets failing.
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has condemned the Western Australian Liberal Party's unprecedented decision to preference One Nation ahead of the Nationals at the upcoming state election, a deal that has been defended by Mr Joyce's federal Liberal partners.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says Melbourne and other Australian cities need to tighten up access to busy pedestrian areas to address a "concerning vulnerability" to incidents like the Bourke Street rampage.
"They don't like Christmas, they don't like Australia Day, they're just miserable gutted people and I wish they would crawl under a rock and hide".
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