Andrew Hastie will appear at a WA Liberals fundraiser advertised as 'an evening with Peta Credlin'.

Employees of the Spanish government in Australia are striking over a nine year pay freeze.

Outages have hit the Tax Office's IT system on Wednesday.

Australia's return to budget surplus will be built on the back of a 14 per cent increase in the income tax take.

A fresh battle has erupted over the Turnbull government's direction and its second budget after leaked audio revealed former prime minister Tony Abbott's latest attack on the Liberal Party's leadership.

A carbon price in Australia is probably inevitable, Queensland Resources Council chief executive Ian Macfarlane says.

Many Catholic and private schools will be over-funded unless state governments overhaul the way they fund schools, including by slashing funding to some private schools.

The federal government was warned more than three years ago of security deficiencies surrounding personal Medicare data.

The government-commissioned report also declared it would be "impossible" for Australia to meet its emissions reductions targets under the Paris Agreement.

The $165 million Plutus tax scandal has "tarnished" the reputation of Australian Taxation Office, the commissioner of taxation Chris Jordan has conceded, saying the wealth allegedly accumulated by members of the syndicate was "staggering".

The Immigration Department wrongly sent two Australian citizens to immigration detention, including one who was taken to Christmas Island, Fairfax Media has confirmed.

• EXCLUSIVE

Former prime minister Tony Abbott used a guest appearance at assistant treasurer Michael Sukkar's branch meeting to bash Malcolm Turnbull's second budget and call on members to rise up against the Liberal Party's current direction.

The Turnbull government insists "traditional" criminals - rather than sophisticated hackers - are likely to blame for selling Medicare numbers on the internet.

Outspoken Nationals senator John "Wacka" Williams has hit out at the tensions plaguing his Coalition partners the Liberals, warning that "division is death".

• EXCLUSIVE

Malcolm Turnbull says he has enough conservatives on his frontbench, and effectively confirmed there will not be a reshuffle over Parliament's mid-winter break.

• EXCLUSIVE

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will urge Donald Trump to demand that American tech companies break into encrypted messages sent by suspected terrorists.

A confronting report shows that a vendor on the dark web can pull up the full Medicare card details of any Australian on request — and is selling them for around $30 each — indicating a security hole somewhere in the health system.

The head of the federal government's Australian Border Force has left active duty following an external investigation.

"Africa made its own problems. Quit having ten kids. Famine is nature's way of saying there are too many people. Stop reproducing."

Greens MPs have rallied behind party leader Richard Di Natale after rogue senator Lee Rhiannon labelled his leadership "disappointing" and raised the stakes in the party's bitter internal conflict.

Federal ICAC? Don't want it, don't need it, says the public service authority.

The author of a landmark report into Australia's petroleum tax regime has warned replacing the existing tax would have damaging consequences despite claims Australia is missing out on billions of dollars in tax from multinational gas exporters.

Australian universities have angrily rejected the Turnbull government's assertions they are receiving "rivers of gold" from the taxpayer and can easily absorb the funding cuts announced in the May budget.

Former prime minister Tony Abbott has warned the Liberal Party is "hemorrhaging members" and needs to change, calling for the party's membership to be "liberated" from factional powerbrokers

The one-year anniversary of Malcolm Turnbull's election was overshadowed on Sunday by continuing in-fighting over policy interventions from former Prime Minister Tony Abbott including stoking dissent among conservative NSW Liberals.

The federal government has been accused of abandoning tax reform of the $200 billion gas export industry after it failed to consider replacing a regime that allowed some multinationals to never pay a cent in tax for the Australian resources they extract.

As most Queenslanders enjoyed their relaxing weekend, more than half a million workers endured their first day of penalty rate cuts, as the three-year rollout began.

• EXCLUSIVE

The "lazy" and "self-indulgent" Liberal Party is facing an existential crisis after a horror week that exposed deep wounds from which it may never recover, the head of the influential Institute of Public Affairs think tank has warned.

• EXCLUSIVE

A champion wrestler who has dispatched his rivals with ease and finesse, Amir Gholizadeh is ready, willing and able to represent his country. The only problem is he doesn't really have one.