Former prime minister, John Howard, has described Australia's leadership of the so-called RAMSI mission to stabilise the Solomon Islands, which come to an end this week after 14 years, as one of Australia's and his government's greatest foreign policy achievements.

Government minister Christopher Pyne has apologised for his "unhelpful and damaging" same-sex marriage speech

Senator Lee Rhiannon has been suspended from taking part in any contentious decisions in the Greens' party room until her NSW wing reforms.

Another public service agency lays down its arms.

March of public service casualisation reversed. In one department at least.

The university sector has attacked the government for pushing through the biggest set of school funding reforms in a generation while slashing funding to their institutions and hiking student fees.

Attorney-General George Brandis has cleared the decks of the troublesome Administrative Appeals Tribunal, making more than 60 appointments including several people with Liberal Party links.

The Australian Taxation Office's high-profile area targeting high-wealth individuals that former deputy commissioner Michael Cranston headed will be a key focus in a wide-ranging review of the agency.

More than 200,000 of us forgot our first names.

Popularity of myGov sent department scrambling for extra $57 million as 11 million users send internet bills soaring.

Eva Zhuang is the face of a fast-changing Australia.

• COMMENT

For the first time, Malcolm Turnbull has lashed out at "fake news" to describe stories he doesn't like. He should stop.

Australians born of Australian parents will soon be a minority.

Malcolm Turnbull has sought to kill off the latest backbench push for a free vote on same-sex marriage amid rising factional tensions.

A decision on the numbers of electorates in Australia is imminent.

Compared with the country described in the 1966 census we're more Asian, less Christian and more openly gay.

Labor will overrule the independent workplace umpire and legislate to fully restore Sunday penalty rates if it wins the next election.

Tony Abbott has outlined a sweeping series of policies he says the Coalition should adopt to restore its political fortunes and rebuild trust with conservative voters.

Melbourne is set to overtake Sydney as Australia's most populated city, for the first time in history the majority of Australians born overseas are from Asia not Europe and there has been a 39 per cent surge in the number of people declaring themselves in a same-sex relationship.

Home ownership hits lows not seen since the fifties, while a record number of properties are vacant.

• EXCLUSIVE

Two Liberal MPs have been secretly working on a plan to legalise same-sex marriage in Australia as soon as August, with a draft copy of the laws well advanced and consultation with advocates underway.

Rogue Greens senator Lee Rhiannon says there is a behind-the-scenes campaign underway to destroy her reputation and she feels "bullied and harassed" by her treatment.

• EXCLUSIVE

The Greens have twice censured rogue senator Lee Rhiannon for disloyalty and fear she will continue to destabilise the party if they impose a similar sanction for undermining their school funding negotiations.

Blast resistant doors, bullet-proof panels and anti-intruder fences will be installed at embassies.

Proposed cuts to Medicare-funded after-hours home visits by doctors will force more than 2700 extra people into the nation's hospital emergency departments every night, the sector's peak body has warned.

One of the Turnbull government's most senior ministers says legalising same-sex marriage in Australia could happen "sooner than everyone thinks".

Rogue Greens senator Lee Rhiannon could soon be expelled from the party after all of her federal colleagues made a formal complaint about her conduct during recent school funding negotiations.

Barnaby Joyce has laid a wreath by London Bridge in tribute to victims of the recent terror attack.

The new war launched by so-called Islamic State in South East Asia in recent weeks will be a big problem for Australia for decades, according to a top US military and intelligence figure.