Political reporter Tom Iggulden has been based in Federal Parliament since 2011. A Walkley award winner and former China correspondent, Tom is a graduate of the University of Queensland and hails from the small New South Wales town of Bellingen. He enjoys surfing, skiing and playing the guitar badly. Follow him on Twitter @tomiggulden.
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| UpdatedThe Coalition's election victory was born in a "sliding doors" moment almost 12 months ago when a matter of votes could have swayed May's election outcome, writes Tom Iggulden.
Topics: government-and-politics, political-parties, scott-morrison, bill-shorten, federal-election, federal-elections, anthony-albanese, australia
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| UpdatedWith the recent exodus of Cabinet ministers and expectations of rewards for well-performing states in the election win, Scott Morrison has a lot to consider as he assembles his new frontbench.
Topics: government-and-politics, scott-morrison, liberals, nationals, federal-parliament, federal-government, federal-elections, elections, anthony-albanese, bill-shorten, chris-bowen, alp, australia
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| UpdatedLabor is calling for Prime Minister Scott Morrison to sack Liberal candidate Jeremy Hearn after a recent social media post surfaced that revealed controversial opinions he now says are "not right".
Topics: government-and-politics, federal-elections, one-nation, pauline-hanson, alp, liberals, liberal-national-party, nationals, bill-shorten, scott-morrison, australia, melbourne-3000, vic, mentone-3194, mordialloc-3195, keysborough-3173, dandenong-3175
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The Greens say a "veritable army" is ready to thwart plans for a new Chinese-backed, coal-fired power plant in New South Wales, while the Coalition says it's "exactly what the market needs".
Topics: coal, industry, business-economics-and-finance, government-and-politics, federal-government, nsw, australia
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According to a damning new report, the Government has exaggerated the amount of water being returned to the Murray-Darling, which may account for some of the river's ecological issues.
Topics: water-management, murray-darling-basin, federal-government, environmental-management, irrigation, environment, canberra-2600, wentworth-2648, st-george-4487, shepparton-3630, goolwa-5214, mildura-3500, albury-2640, toowoomba-4350, dirranbandi-4486, renmark-5341, griffith-2680, wagga-wagga-2650, dubbo-2830, menindee-2879, wilcannia-2836, bourke-2840, dareton-2717
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The strongly-worded comments follow the Australian Government's recently-unveiled "pivot to the Pacific", with Prime Minister Scott Morrison promising closer defence and security ties with Australia's Pacific neighbours as a bulwark against rising Chinese influence.
Topics: world-politics, government-and-politics, foreign-affairs, scott-morrison, jinping-xi, apec-economic-leaders-meeting, china, australia
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| UpdatedBackbencher Barnaby Joyce relishes a return to Question Time as Labor seizes on apparent Nationals leadership instability to direct a question at the former deputy prime minister.
Topics: government-and-politics, politics-and-government, federal-parliament, nationals, joyce-barnaby, australia
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| UpdatedAgriculture Minister David Littleproud says he's not interested in the Nationals leadership while Barnaby Joyce indicates he'd be open to returning, amid speculation over the likelihood of a spill to unseat Michael McCormack.
Topics: government-and-politics, parliament, federal-parliament, australia
Posted
| UpdatedIndonesia's relationship with Australia could be "thrown under a bus" following Canberra's provocative move to consider relocating its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, a trade expert is warning.
Topics: foreign-affairs, government-and-politics, elections, federal-elections, australia, indonesia, israel, palestinian-territory-occupied
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| UpdatedPM Scott Morrison says he has heard the concerns of Liberal colleagues worried by the plight of asylum seeker children on Nauru, amid suggestions a resettlement offer could be on the table if a "back door" from New Zealand is closed.
Topics: refugees, immigration, government-and-politics, political-parties, prisons-and-punishment, law-crime-and-justice, nauru, australia
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| UpdatedSenior Constable Stephanie Bochorsky struggled with post-traumatic stress after rescuing two young girls from their father who doused them with petrol and set one alight. The winner of a bravery award is now calling for more help for officers like her.
Topics: mental-health, stress, police, awards-and-prizes, perth-6000, australia
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| UpdatedPeter Dutton's supporters remain confident they can replace the PM as early as this week but Turnbull loyalists believe their man has the upper hand after frontbenchers who voted against him pledge their loyalty.
Topics: federal-government, government-and-politics, turnbull-malcolm, australia
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| UpdatedTony Abbott is shirtfronted by his own side, with Nationals backbencher and former AFL player Damian Drum taking the former prime minister on, as leadership tensions build in the Government.
Topics: federal-government, nationals, liberals, abbott-tony, government-and-politics, australia
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The issue of tax cuts is expected to dominate in the upcoming super Saturday by-elections in the seats of Longman and Braddon, with the Coalition calling the by-elections a referendum on corporate tax policy.
Topics: elections, government-and-politics, tax, federal-government, federal-parliament, bill-shorten, turnbull-malcolm, parliament, australia
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| UpdatedThe Prime Minister dismisses new television ads from Labor designed to show he will benefit personally from company tax cuts, accusing the Opposition of wanting to attack him and his wife for "working hard" and "having a quid".
Topics: business-economics-and-finance, tax, turnbull-malcolm, federal-parliament, federal-government, government-and-politics, australia
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| UpdatedA draft of the Government's NEG obtained by the ABC shows a "reliability requirement" would "incentivise" large energy users to help put more dispatchable power back into the grid if a nationwide shortfall looks likely.
Topics: business-economics-and-finance, industry, electricity-energy-and-utilities, government-and-politics, australia
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| UpdatedOne Nation leader Pauline Hanson fights tears on television after revealing her colleague Brian Burston has tried to defect to the Shooters and Fishers Party, hitting out at "self-serving" members and apologising to voters.
Topics: government-and-politics, parliament, federal-parliament, political-parties, one-nation, pauline-hanson, australia, parliament-house-2600
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| UpdatedThe banking royal commission has unleashed a deluge of fresh complaints and admissions about misconduct in the finance sector, the corporate regulator reveals.
Topics: royal-commissions, law-crime-and-justice, banking, business-economics-and-finance, industry, australia
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| UpdatedA massive case of mistaken identity in the UK shows the technology is "not up to scratch", according to the Law Council of Australia, which calls for a rethink of plans to use the technology to track down terrorists in Australia.
Topics: information-and-communication, government-and-politics, law-crime-and-justice, australia, united-kingdom
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Rebekha Sharkie's fellow crossbenchers are backing her campaign to win back Mayo, but Liberals think they can outspend her.
Topics: federal-elections, parliament, liberals, political-parties, minor-parties, government-and-politics, federal-parliament, australia, sa
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Victoria's gambling regulator is under more pressure to investigate the use of small plastic picks on poker machines at Melbourne's Crown Casino, amid allegations they're leading to an "astronomical" increase in losses for problem gamblers.
Topics: gambling, government-and-politics, australia, vic
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| UpdatedLiberal backbencher Julia Banks is challenged to live on $40 a day, after saying the current Youth Allowance is sufficient, and a proposal to increase the figure amounts to "socialism".
Topics: welfare, community-and-society, government-and-politics, federal-government, australia
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| UpdatedFixing "unnecessarily cruel" dole payments is a more urgent priority than budget repair, a leading economist says.
Topics: budget, federal-government, government-and-politics, economic-trends, federal-elections, welfare, australia
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| UpdatedPoliticians from across the divide say more pill testing trials at music festivals will save lives, after 128 people made use of the first trial at Canberra's Groovin the Moo festival on Sunday.
Topics: drugs-and-substance-abuse, drug-education, community-and-society, carnivals-and-festivals, events, arts-and-entertainment, government-and-politics, australia, canberra-2600, act
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| UpdatedIf Malcolm Turnbull's assurances this week that his economic plan is working is to have any resonance on the ground, voters need to see it when they look at their bank balance. So far, by and large they haven't, writes Tom Iggulden.
Topics: work, business-economics-and-finance, government-and-politics, federal-government, community-and-society, australia