Henry Belot is a political reporter in the ABC's Parliament House bureau in Canberra. He has previously worked for The Canberra Times covering the federal public service. Henry has a masters degree from the University of Melbourne and has studied international security. He was a finalist in the 2016 Walkley Young Journalist of the Year Awards.
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| UpdatedThe Prime Minister accepts an apology from his Employment Minister Michaelia Cash, who failed to disclose an investment property on time due to an "inadvertent oversight".
Topics: government-and-politics, federal-government, floreat-6014
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| UpdatedOne Nation leader Pauline Hanson tells LNP MP George Christensen to stay loyal to the Liberal National Party or risk destabilising the Government.
Topics: government-and-politics, community-and-society, work, minor-parties, political-parties, liberal-national-party-queensland, pauline-hanson, australia
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| UpdatedThe Senate clerk recognises concerns the DHS's release of personal information to a journalist could have a "chilling" impact on sources in the Centrelink investigation.
Topics: welfare, community-and-society, government-and-politics, federal-government, australia
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| UpdatedThe Federal Opposition seemingly switches its position on a bill that would allow the Government to release the personal information of veterans, saying strict safeguards need to be in place to protect the data.
Topics: veterans, federal-government, parliament, government-and-politics, australia
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| UpdatedThe Federal Government is pushing for new powers that would allow it to release a veteran's personal information should it wish to correct public statements.
Topics: government-and-politics, federal-government, veterans, defence-and-national-security, australia
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| UpdatedLabor MP Linda Burney asks the Australian Federal Police to determine whether Human Services Minister Alan Tudge broke the law by disclosing a welfare recipient's personal information to a journalist.
Topics: welfare, community-and-society, police, law-crime-and-justice, government-and-politics, australia
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| UpdatedThe Department of Human Services was within its rights to release the personal details of a blogger who criticised Centrelink's debt recovery scheme, the department secretary tells Senate Estimates.
Topics: welfare, community-and-society, federal-government, government-and-politics, australia
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| UpdatedA recruitment video the Finance Department spent thousands of dollars to create is panned by marketing experts as "excruciating" and "cliched".
Topics: federal-government, government-and-politics, business-economics-and-finance, advertising, information-and-communication, australia
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| UpdatedCentrelink's decision to release a welfare recipient's personal information to a journalist is unprecedented and will have a chilling impact on public criticism, lawyers say.
Topics: welfare, law-crime-and-justice, federal-government, government-and-politics, community-and-society, australia
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| UpdatedAustralia Post chairman John Stanhope admits it was a mistake to try and hide its director's $5.6 million pay packet from the public to avoid media scrutiny and reputation damage.
Topics: federal-government, business-economics-and-finance, public-sector, australia
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| UpdatedThe Government's privacy watchdog wants answers from bureaucrats who provided a Centrelink client's personal details to a journalist in a bid to counter her public criticisms.
Topics: government-and-politics, federal-government, information-and-communication, welfare, community-and-society, australia
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| UpdatedImmigration department secretary Michael Pezzullo rejects claims of unlawful and inappropriate personal searches at international airports, calling the allegations published by the National Audit Office "unworldly".
Topics: government-and-politics, federal-government, immigration, australia
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| UpdatedThose who publicly criticise Centrelink's automated debt recovery program could have their personal information released to correct the record, the Department of Human Services says.
Topics: government-and-politics, federal-government, information-and-communication, welfare, community-and-society, australia
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| 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
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| UpdatedPrime Minister Malcolm Turnbull blames poor polling on an "outburst" by his predecessor Tony Abbott late last week, which is being roundly condemned by cabinet ministers.
Topics: government-and-politics, abbott-tony, political-parties, liberals, polls, turnbull-malcolm, australia
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Australian Tax Commissioner Chris Jordan defends his workforce, insisting the vast majority do not "down tools" at 4.51pm, while also disputing claims by union officials.
Topics: public-sector, government-and-politics, tax, australia
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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
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| UpdatedAustralia Post director Ahmed Fahour resigns just weeks after his $5.6 million was revealed by a Senate committee, which dismissed calls for it to be concealed from the public.
Topics: public-sector, government-and-politics, australia
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| UpdatedWith the Fair Work Commission's long-awaited decision on weekend penalty rates handed down, a fierce political fight is reignited between Labor and the Coalition.
Topics: industrial-relations, work, unemployment, hospitality, government-and-politics, australia
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| UpdatedThe United States are not calling on Australia to increase its military presence in Iraq and Syria, Julie Bishop says after meeting with Vice-President Mike Pence.
Topics: foreign-affairs, donald-trump, government-and-politics, world-politics, united-states
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| UpdatedLeading economists criticise the logic behind a failed push to extend working hours at the Australian Tax Office by nine minutes a day, saying productivity is increased by working smarter rather than longer.
Topics: public-sector, government-and-politics, tax, australia
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| UpdatedThe Australian Taxation Office admits its working hours do not meet community expectations, but staff respond with a backlash when asked to work an extra nine minutes a day to boost productivity.
Topics: public-sector, tax, government-and-politics, australia
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| UpdatedWest Australian Liberal Senator Dean Smith says politicians could reach a consensus on same-sex marriage if a free vote was held.
Topics: marriage, gays-and-lesbians, government-and-politics, liberals, wa, australia
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| UpdatedSenior Coalition Minister Christopher Pyne says the Government has no "absolutely no desire or intention" to increase taxes to help pay for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
Topics: government-and-politics, disabilities, community-and-society, federal-parliament, canberra-2600
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Federal Liberal Party director Tony Nutt supports a ban on foreign donations provided it does not exclude dual citizens or companies with established business interests in Australia from the political process.
Topics: government-and-politics, federal-government, political-parties, australia