The Nationals are on a wild ride. But it's a road to nowhere
The Coalition wagon is puttering precariously towards the end of the year. The fuel light has been on for the last 20 kilometres and it's not clear where the next servo is.
A reckoning is needed if we're to have confidence in our elected representatives
Australians need to have confidence in their elected representatives, and an inquiry is needed.
Conservatives after their Queensland loss
There's no quick fix for the deep divisions among Coalition voters and MPs.
Banking probe divisions expose Coalition shortcomings
For a Coalition at war with itself, this banking inquiry is a potentially life-and-death question.
Another military mess: this time it's patrol boats
The impossible task of balancing the demands of the navy, industry and thrift.
George Brandis' powerful same-sex marriage speech, in full
"By passing this bill, we are saying to vulnerable young people: there is nothing wrong with you. You are not unusual. You are not abnormal. You are just you."
The real lesson for Malcolm Turnbull in Queensland
Who do you think would perform worse in an election: Malcolm Turnbull running as a local candidate in George Christensen's regional Queensland seat of Dawson, or Christensen running in Turnbull's inner-Sydney seat of Wentworth?
Shorten will laugh at Coalition's dilemma until the election
Pauline Hanson's populist movement is shown to be not so much anti-incumbent as anti the conservative establishment.
Turnbull's toxic truths north of the Tweed
The PM's formal opponents will be ruthless following this shellacking, but it will be friendly fire from his right flank posing the most immediate danger.
Govt's big talk, but short pockets, on transparency
Australia joined the Open Government Partnership but seems reluctant to actually do anything.
Queensland. Perfect one day, crucial the next
Queensland attracts a lot of national attention and not just because the Gabba test match kicks off the summer around this time each year.
The billionaires are match-making. Now to make it work
Australia's richest and brightest are on to something. Super can fund business.
Postponing of parliament shows our democracy is fragile
An unelected official and a weak PM prevented the people's representatives from being heard.
Trust deficit: Risks multiply amid cabinet leaks and poor polls
Among the overreactions a weakened Prime Minister can commit is to order a leak inquiry into his own cabinet.
How a worried Australia should deal with a mighty and demanding China
Australia is a country worried about a future under a mighty and demanding China, and afraid that American leadership has already checked out.
Queensland Greens plan on 'doing a Northcote'
Australian Greens leader Richard Di Natale stood Wednesday on a high park lawn with a sweeping view over Brisbane city and its inner suburbs and declared "we are going to make history at the weekend".
Discipline has left the building and Turnbull is in danger of leaving too
Suddenly the question is everywhere: can Malcolm Turnbull survive?
The survey changed party politics? Not really
The major parties are a deeply entrenched part of our political culture. One vote won't change that.
Turnbull wants us to keep calm? That usually means start worrying
Nothing to see here. Keep calm. Everything's under control.
Her town: Pauline Hanson, a Jersey cow called Nola, and deep frying the ALP
A country gentleman led a Jersey cow named Nola down the street, ambling towards Pauline Hanson who was holding court outside her old fish 'n' chips shop in Ipswich, Queensland.
We're still preparing for the wrong war
The ADF seems keener to fight in 20th-century battles than to defend against today's threats.
Why would Turnbull cancel Parliament? Try survival
When a Prime Minister cancels a parliamentary week for no apparently good reason, there is usually a very pressing concealed reason.
Does Abbott's defeat on marriage mark his final decline?
Turnbull government moderates believe the character of the government changed last week when Australians backed marriage equality.
The yes and no city: Why Sydney is so divided on same-sex marriage
Why Sydney – home of the gay and lesbian Mardi Gras – was so divided over same-sex marriage
So far so good in Labor's Kristina Keneally gamble
Alexander needs Turnbull and Turnbull, sure as hell, needs Alexander, if he is to hang on to his one-seat majority.
Special currents in the western suburbs bun
A divide on a social policy issue more profound than on any since Federation.
The simple reason conservatives are in crisis
Why are these professional politicians so determined to back ideas they know the public hate?
Men of God hold no mortgage on the national soul
Who knew that not discriminating against people would be so good for the soul?
We need freedom from religion, not freedom of religion
The legal concessions given to religions in Australia are already too wide without giving them any more.
Of marriage, football, ethnicity, and progress
Wednesday November 15, 2017 was a good day for Australia. Even great. Two joyous things happened.
- Video duration
- 03:40
Campaign highlights - and lowlights
The hurly-burly of the 2016 election campaign, as seen through the eyes of Fairfax reporters and photographers.