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The federal government will increase its stake in Snowy Hydro if NSW and Victoria refuse to help finance Malcolm Turnbull's ambitious expansion plan.

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The Business Council of Australia has sounded the alarm over the federal budget, warning the Turnbull government its plan to return to surplus by 2020-21 is "fragile" and calling on the Parliament to back further spending cuts.

Consumer confidence in the Australian housing market has collapsed to its lowest level in 27 years, with the proportion of Australians believing real estate was the wisest place to put savings falling to below 12 per cent, the lowest level since 1974.

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Amount of gambling ads at sporting events now so extreme even gambling companies recognise it's out of control.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has for the first time offered explicit government's support for a cut to penalty rates, saying he agreed with the decision announced this month.

Some of Australia's biggest corporations and business leaders are being bullied by activist groups into supporting same-sex marriage laws, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has warned.

The labour movement has split in the wake of controversial comments from the ACTU's newly minted secretary Sally McManus defending law-breaking industrial behaviour that has sparked a furious government attack on the Opposition.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says he doubts the government can work effectively with new ACTU boss Sally McManus after her comments that union members should break "unjust laws".

Former top diplomat Peter Varghese has warned of headwinds in Australia's most critical relationships, saying "navigating the US and China is going to get harder for us"

The latest instalment of a popular video game franchise has been banned in Australia.

It is easy now, as thousands stream blithely each winter to the ski fields of the Snowy Mountains, to overlook the monumental events of last century on those heights that still affect our daily lives and our industries, and how, in the exploitation of the high country, Australia was transformed, economically and culturally.

A bitter slanging match has erupted on live TV.

Senior Turnbull government figures are rounding on controversial comments by new ACTU boss Sally McManus supporting workers rights to break laws they view as unjust.

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Fairfax Media understands the government is willing to commit to slashing TV gambling advertisements.

Major bank warns government measures designed to address affordability could actually drive up prices.

Some colleagues still believe the Attorney-General will be heading for the exit.

Giant department covertly handed employee's medical file to psychiatrist for mental health verdict.

Dumped Lindsey MP Fiona Scott has called on Tony Abbott to quit politics, saying he is undermining his own legacy and damaging the Coalition.

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Environmentalists warns the project will damage India's image in Australia.

"If you think a law is unjust, use the democratic process to get it changed," the opposition leader said.

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"They have contracts with the owners not to vote," says governance expert.

No new dams would be built, but a fresh series of tunnels and power stations are planned.

The world is 33 months into its biggest recorded coral bleaching event with little sign of it ending, raising the prospect that coral mortality on the Great Barrier Reef will increase "significantly" from the quarter already lost in the past year, scientists say.

Donald Trump's ascension has exposed Australia's differences with the United States and should prompt Canberra to seek a more trusting relationship with Beijing, the Whitlam-era ambassador to China Stephen FitzGerald says.

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One in 10 Turnbull government MPs say nuclear power should be on the table as federal and state governments grapple with Australia's future energy needs.

The country's most powerful unionist says she has no problem with members breaking industrial laws, arguing the rule of law only needs to be upheld when the laws are justified.

Maverick Nationals MP George Christensen's ardour for a rebranded LNP has cooled, but he's warned One Nation's West Australian "speed bump" doesn't mean they won't still have impact.

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.