• 49 mins ago

Only 71 asylum seekers failed to lodge their bid for protection by the October 1 deadline.

On the third day of the "citizenship seven" hearings, the High Court justices became impatient with the arguments presented by SC Robert Newlinds.

Remaining members of the fledgling Nick Xenophon Team cannot say who will lead them, nor how they will conduct themselves.

"It is not the time for hyper masculinity or bravado - it is a time for empathy," Trevor Khan told the NSW Parliament.

A manager at the Australian Signals Directorate has revealed that the hackers stole 30 gigabytes of data including on the defence projects.

More than one million Australians will be hit with higher taxes over the next five years, with middle income earners set to be most affected by rising incomes pushing them into higher tax brackets.

Hackers stole 30 gigabytes of data, including sensitive information about Australia's $14 billion Joint Strike Fighter program.

Peter Dutton is the first senior conservative cabinet minister to publicly predict a majority of Australians will support a change.

• COMMENT

The ATO was working with the government to ensure that it had the right public "messaging" before releasing its tax gap figures, Freedom of Information documents reveal.

In what amounted to a searing assessment of the Coalition's chances of recovery, John Hewson said Malcolm Turnbull looked weak for not standing up for what he believed on climate change.

Unions, business and the Parliament should come together and do something radical, Bill Shorten says.

Lawyers for government senator Matt Canavan say the former cabinet minister should be spared the axe.

Refugees on Manus Island have been told they can transfer to Nauru, Australia's other offshore processing location, before the detention centre on Manus closes at the end of this month.

Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg has pointedly reminded Tony Abbott that "climate change is real".

Former prime minister John Howard has slammed Donald Trump's communication style and said he wished the US President did not use Twitter.

Everyday teenage behaviour such as sexting or consensual sex could become criminalised under government changes.

Tony Abbott's speech to the Global Warming Policy foundation, which the opposition has labelled "loopy", was privately funded, his office has said.

• UPDATED

Labor, the Greens and climate change activists have rounded on Tony Abbott for a "loopy" speech minimising the effects of climate change.

Social security systems that have underpinned Western economies since World War II will not be able to cope with changes, the IMF has warned.

• EXCLUSIVE

"This threat of nuclear attack against another country is arguably the most dire of our times."

An estimated $3.5 billion in revenue from large corporates and multinationals is at risk to the economy, but through audit activity this will reduce to $2.5 billion, according to the Australian Taxation Office.

Every Australian would receive a "lifelong skills account" to spend as they wished on university or technical education under a new proposal from the Business Council of Australia.

Government appoints 68-year-old John Pascoe to serve as Chief Justice of the Family Court for just 14 months.

Rebel reverends in Sydney are openly fuming about the decision.

"Exorbitant" foreign laws that impose citizenship on Australians should not disqualify them from federal Parliament, lawyers say.

A grassroots anti-same-sex marriage campaign has claimed responsibility for a large 'no' written across the clear blue sky above Melbourne.

Tony Abbott's speech to the Global Warming Policy Foundation provides a mix of partial truths that are designed to create a plausible whole.

The government refused to suspend data matching and defended procedural fairness in payment recovery.

"The lesson I've taken from being in government, and then out of it, is simply to speak my mind."