The president and his wife took the Australians for a spin in the eight tonne "beast".

Australia is set to become the world's largest exporter of gas but its level of resource tax transparency falls behind Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Mongolia, a new global report has found, as the country forfeits billions of dollars in tax to multinational mining giants.

Fractured by conflicting agendas and rogue actors, what will the G20 hold for global security?

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Australia needs to consider deploying a missile defence system to defend against attack from nuclear-armed North Korea, according to former prime minister Kevin Rudd.

Five men have nominated to fill the West Australian Senate vacancy, including two former state MPs, official nomination papers leaked to Fairfax Media reveal.

South Australia will attempt to ease pressure on its crisis-prone electricity grid with a world-leading battery station more than three times the size of its nearest rival, to be built by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk.

The prospect of the first three-way race since 1993 has caught party insiders' attention.

The nation's most respected constitutional law experts won't dare predict how the High Court is likely to rule on Labor's high stakes challenge against a sitting Turnbull government minister but believe it has a chance of succeeding.

South Australia has announced Elon Musk's Tesla as the principal builder of the world's largest battery.

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The Greens will launch a fresh assault on the Labor Party over Adani's Carmichael coal mine on Saturday, mounting a door-knocking campaign in some of the opposition's most marginal, inner-city seats in an effort to force their hand on the potentially toxic issue.

Supporters of the Senator say her battle with federal colleagues has seen her popularity soar

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If David Gillespie is forced from Parliament it could be the end of the Turnbull government.

Acting Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has said Australia has "sympathy" for trade sanctions against China in response to North Korea's latest threat, as the international community grapples with the rogue nation's nuclear missile defence program.

Air safety officials will question One Nation leader Pauline Hanson over a drone flight they believe may have breached regulations and could see the senator fined up to $9000.

The Great Barrier Reef has again avoided being listed as "in danger" by the United Nations' World Heritage Committee, a decision Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg declared a success for Australia and the Turnbull government.

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

The security barriers are up, the polizei are on patrol and large parts of Hamburg, Germany's second largest city, are in lock down as leaders arrive for the G20 summit of the world's largest economies.

Eden-Monaro is shaping up as a bitter three-cornered fight at the next election, sparked by growing Liberal-National Coalition tensions.

Defence chiefs have sought to reassure Australians that North Korea's new long-range missiles pose "very little risk" to the nation's north.

Energy and Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg has sharply rebuked his one-time ally Tony Abbott, publicly accusing the former prime minister of helping to elect the Labor Party with his "constant critiquing" of the Turnbull government.

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

The Australian government said it had full confidence in the Dutch legal system to deliver justice.

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