Posted
| UpdatedThe Immigration Department is under fire over plans to spend a quarter-of-a-billion dollars to move public servants to a new office nine kilometres away.
Topics: government-and-politics, federal-government, tax, immigration, community-and-society, canberra-2600
Posted
More than 2,300 submissions respond to the Murray-Darling Basin Authority's proposed changes to its northern water-sharing plan.
Topics: murray-darling-basin, water, water-management, water-supply, federal---state-issues, federal-government, agribusiness, agricultural-policy, irrigation, parliament-house-2600
Posted
The Murray-Darling Basin Authority is confident that basin governments and communities will "stay the course" on implementing the Plan. He talks to ABC Rural's Anna Vidot about the year ahead.
Topics: murray-darling-basin, water, water-management, water-supply, federal---state-issues, federal-government, agribusiness, agricultural-policy, irrigation, parliament-house-2600
Posted
| UpdatedFlorence Northern has been using home care for three years after suffering a fall while getting out of bed — and now changes to the way it is funded could benefit her and thousands of other older Australians.
Topics: aged-care, federal-government, perth-6000, wa, australia
Posted
| UpdatedThere is "significant anecdotal evidence" of trauma to frontline personnel caused by having to retrieve bodies of asylum seekers killed trying to reach Australia by boat, the Border Force chief tells a Senate estimates hearing.
Topics: depression, defence-and-national-security, mental-health, suicide, refugees, federal-government, australia
Posted
| UpdatedRefugees on Manus Island and Nauru have not yet been through vetting processes to determine whether they can resettle in the US, the Immigration Department tells a Senate committee.
Topics: refugees, immigration, world-politics, government-and-politics, federal-government, federal-parliament, australia, united-states
Posted
| UpdatedPrime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten have swapped insults over penalty rates, with both parties accusing the other of hypocrisy.
Topics: political-parties, government-and-politics, parliament, state-parliament, federal-government, australia
Posted
| UpdatedSupport for One Nation and the Liberal National Party is neck and neck in the Queensland seat of Dawson, which is currently held by fractious LNP MP George Christensen — who has repeatedly threatened to leave the party if it does not return to its conservative roots.
Topics: liberal-national-party-queensland, one-nation, nationals, government-and-politics, federal-government, federal---state-issues, elections, ayr-4807, bowen-4805, mackay-4740, proserpine-4800, townsville-4810, qld, australia
Posted
| UpdatedSunday penalty rates will be a major issue as MPs head to Canberra for a new sitting week, with Bill Shorten asking Malcolm Turnbull to support a Labor push to keep them.
Topics: government-and-politics, federal-government, hospitality, industry, australia
Posted
| UpdatedYemen is now classified as the world's worst humanitarian disaster and described by the UN as being "on the brink of famine" but Australia has committed no funding to help save lives there.
Topics: disasters-and-accidents, famine, international-aid-and-trade, world-politics, foreign-affairs, federal-government, yemen, south-sudan, nigeria, somalia, australia
Posted
| UpdatedThe Immigration Department cuts the length of time asylum seekers have to apply for protection visas from one year to 60 days in a move it is feared could deny up to 11,000 people the ability to claim asylum.
Topics: immigration, refugees, federal-government, australia
Posted
| UpdatedIndonesian President Joko Widodo hears first-hand the challenges Australian businesses face in investing in his country during Sydney visit.
Topics: federal-government, government-and-politics, trade, international-aid-and-trade, business-economics-and-finance, foreign-affairs, agreements-and-treaties, defence-and-national-security, indonesia, australia
Posted
Parts of Australia's biggest cities could struggle to attract enough disability workers for the National Disability Insurance Scheme, a new report warns.
Topics: disabilities, health, government-and-politics, federal-government, work, australia
Posted
| UpdatedIndonesian President Joko Widodo makes his first bilateral visit to Australia this weekend — a sign a military spat early this year has been resolved and relations between the two nations are stable.
Topics: government-and-politics, federal-government, terrorism, world-politics, australia, indonesia
Posted
| UpdatedDonald Trump's chief of staff Reince Priebus asked a top FBI official to dispute media reports the US President's campaign advisers were frequently in touch with Russian intelligence agents during the election, a White House official says.
Topics: government-and-politics, federal-government, defence-and-national-security, world-politics, donald-trump, us-elections, united-states, russian-federation
Posted
Israel now joins countries such as Cuba, Egypt, Syria, Sudan and Venezuela that have blocked access for Human Rights Watch staff members.
Topics: government-and-politics, federal-government, rights, human, charities-and-community-organisations, world-politics, israel, palestinian-territory-occupied
Posted
| UpdatedAttorney-General George Brandis was involved in the Bell Group matter one month earlier than he said he was, his West Australian counterpart Michael Mischin says, which would mean he misled Parliament over the issue.
Topics: federal-government, federal-parliament, australia
Posted
Paralympian Jan Pike Jan Pike is used to battling. But one of the biggest fights of her life has been dealing with the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
Topics: disabilities, health, health-policy, health-insurance, federal-government, government-and-politics, australia
Posted
About 1,600 kilometres of the Outback Way, billed as Australia's longest shortcut, remains unsealed and backers have asked the Federal Government for another $400 million to finish sealing the route by 2025.
Topics: regional, federal-government, states-and-territories, laverton-6440, winton-4735, alice-springs-0870, kalgoorlie-6430
Posted
| UpdatedIf Tony Abbott abandons hope of ever being prime minister again, he might settle for mortally wounding Malcolm Turnbull and letting someone else bury the corpse, writes political editor Chris Uhlmann.
Topics: federal-government, political-parties, liberals, turnbull-malcolm, abbott-tony, australia
Posted
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull dismisses Ken Henry's scathing attack after the former treasury head claimed populism and partisanship had torpedoed every attempt to reform the tax system.
Topics: federal-government, tax, australia
Posted
| UpdatedFor Jan Pike, one of the biggest fights of her life has been dealing with the National Disability Insurance Scheme - so much so, that she says it almost cost her her life.
Topics: disabilities, health, health-policy, health-insurance, federal-government, government-and-politics, australia
Posted
| UpdatedWhen Tony Abbott lost power one of the first things he did was promise the waiting throng of journalists there would be "no undermining" — so how has the former prime minister fared?
Topics: abbott-tony, federal-government, government-and-politics, australia
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There were winners and losers on the Federal Government frontbench this week. Fran Kelly and Patricia Karvelas, hosts of the Party Room, go through their selections.
Topics: turnbull-malcolm, health, political-parties, federal-government, government-and-politics, australia
Posted
Tony Abbott says there is a risk the Government will "drift" towards defeat.
Topics: liberals, government-and-politics, elections, federal-government, australia