West Australian MP Andrew Hastie has issued a stinging rebuke to the "progressive left" and the South Australian brewery involved in an internet video in which he discussed his views opposing gay marriage with a parliamentary colleague.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says national leadership is required to avert a looming gas crisis in Australia.

Labor MP Kate Ellis is pregnant with her second child, it was announced on Wednesday.

Decision signals clear fears even among close US allies about the superpower's commitment to Asia.

The ABC has demanded an explanation from Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party after its reporters were blocked from attending election night celebrations on Saturday, describing the move as an attack on independent media.

• EXCLUSIVE

Japan is collecting more tax revenue from Australian liquefied natural gas than the Turnbull government

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will confront some of the nation's biggest gas companies on Wednesday and ask the energy giants to supply gas locally to ease household cost pressures and avoid future blackouts.

Greens leader Richard Di Natale believes many Australians would be better off with a four day working week or a six hour working day even if it meant less money. This would allow people to spend more time on the things that make life worth living, such as family, sport, and volunteering.

The sacking of her school teacher among thousands of others was the first sign that Sally McManus' calling would be in the union movement.

Criticism of voting process "groundless mischief making'' says top tax man.

• ANALYSIS

Forced to act by catastrophic blackouts eliciting little more than ridicule from the federal sphere, the South Australian Labor premier has cast off the threadbare fabric of Australia's patchy national energy nework.

A new gas power plant is the cornerstone of SA's $550 million plan to provide energy security and avoid a repeat of damaging blackouts that struck last year.

Having campaigned successfully against same-sex marriage, the Australian Christian Lobby is turning its attention to the foreign aid budget.

New evidence shows 'Claire' was wrongly blamed for coming up with the widely ridiculed line.

Labor MP Matt Thistlethwaite has suggested Australia's big four banks could be broken up into smaller entities if the ALP's proposed royal commission into the sector recommends it. 

The minister charged with pulling together the Turnbull government's looming housing affordability package is open to allowing Australians to raid their superannuation when buying their first home, but only as part of broader policy changes.

The unprecedented death of Australia's northern mangrove forests has been put down to a lack of water.

Treasurer Scott Morrison has linked housing affordability to Australia's birth rate, suggesting would-be home buyers are delaying having kids so they can get into the property market.

Coalition is trashing the legacy of one of its giants, says Canberra MP.

Tax Office bosses secretly handed over employee details to private firm.

The Trump administration must step up and play a great role in our region, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said on Monday evening, as the rise of China and disputes over maritime boundaries present fresh challenges in the Indo-Pacific.

The ability of employers to exploit casual workforces made up mainly of women and students would be reduced if the Turnbull government removes a $450 minimum income level for superannuation guarantee payments, a federal inquiry has been told.

Cash withdrawals have plummeted by 7 per cent as Australia gets ready for a new payments system.

"The thinking process is, we give them enough time to do our job for us".

The mood is bleak. This party feels more like a wake than a celebration.

The backers of three large solar farms have locked in the final piece of their funding puzzle after securing debt financing from a group including the federal government and Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

• ANALYSIS

There's a message here for the PM: cut the ideological clap-trap, and get the budget under control.

A defiant Pauline Hanson has declared her party's performance at the weekend's Western Australian election was "fantastic", and claimed her party will pick up as many as five upper house seats.

Doing away with a Medicare levy exemption would affect 20 per cent of Australian households.