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Politics

Federal

This Month

The brutal retail politics behind the inflation fight

Relations between the Albanese government and the Reserve Bank of Australia are at an unprecedented low. Only one thing will ease the tension.

  • Phillip Coorey
Wayne Swan makes an unhelpful intervention in the interest rate debate.

David Rowe cartoons for September 2024

David Rowe is a multiple Walkley award-winning cartoonist. He draws a daily political cartoon and one for the Chanticleer column.

  • Updated
  • David Rowe
Pro-Palestine protests at the University of Melbourne on May 3.

Jewish uni students ‘shunned and told to study at home’

Interviews with dozens of students and academics has uncovered a disturbing picture of the ostracism, intimidation and vilification Jews and Israelis encounter.

  • Andrew Tillett

Lift RBA target band, Costello dares Chalmers

Peter Costello has challenged Labor to raise the RBA’s target band for inflation rather than attack the bank over monetary policy, after Wayne Swan’s accusations.

  • Phillip Coorey and Tom McIlroy
Brookfield chief executive Bruce Flatt is the target of the new ad campaign.

Bugger off, Brookfield: Insurers hit back at private hospital chain

The increasingly bitter feud between insurers and private health operators is getting personal.

  • Tom McIlroy
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Was Treasurer Jim Chalmers mean to the Reserve Bank?

Brawls over RBA and ASIO as election season starts

Three institutions – the central bank, the security service, and the national census – all became political footballs this week.

  • Laura Tingle
HMAS Supply docked at Sydney’s Garden Island naval base this week.

Faulty $1.2b navy ships out of action until 2025

Engineers are still trying to determine root causes of engine and drivetrain issues that have stopped the navy from being able to refuel warships at sea.

  • Andrew Tillett
Friday’s National Cabinet meeting discussed the findings of a rapid review.

‘Vile violence’ against women faces $4.7b crackdown

States and territories will review information-sharing systems and alcohol laws under an agreement for urgent action.

  • Tom McIlroy
Former CFMEU boss John Setka.

Setka did not trespass on building site: police

Police clear the former CFMEU leader of any criminal offence; Angus Taylor says Wayne Swan RBA comments “disgraceful”; Mark Dreyfus says $3.9 billion for frontline legal services “critical”. Follow live updates.

  • Updated
  • Lucy Slade
Premiers and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will meet in Canberra on Friday.

Domestic violence services to get millions of dollars in funding boost

On Friday, the national cabinet will consider urgent responses to violence against women and children, following a review delivered in August.

  • Tom McIlroy
The public would have the PM in no doubt that prices are the top issue they face.

Just maybe, the worm has started to turn on the cost of living

The short-lived census row has sharply reminded the government that it cannot take its eye off the economic ball now.

  • Phillip Coorey
Agriculture is already facing challenges from renewable energy projects.

Farmers slam call to create huge forest to reduce emissions

The Climate Change Authority review sparked criticism from the agricultural sector over a call for large-scale forestation.

  • Angela Macdonald-Smith and Ronald Mizen
Bill Shorten with wife Chloe and daughter Clementine after anonuncing his retirement.

From Beaconsfield to Bruce: Labor’s loss will be education’s gain

Bill Shorten will rival, if not supplant, Kim Beazley as the best prime minister Labor never had.

  • Phillip Coorey
Japanese Defence Minister Minoru Kihara, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles pose for a family photo at Fort Queenscliff.

Australia backs Japan over Chinese spy plane ‘invasion’

Australia, Japan and the US will knit their militaries more tightly together following high-level talks.

  • Andrew Tillett
Bugs for dinner.

How changing your diet can help get to net zero

Eating more chicken, pork, kangaroo – and even algae and insects – could be necessary to get to net zero by 2050, according to the Climate Change Authority.

  • Ronald Mizen
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Bill Shorten will become vice chancellor of Canberra University.

Departing Shorten confident NDIS can be brought under control

The former Labor leader and party powerbroker will leave federal politics after six terms to become vice chancellor of Canberra University.

  • Phillip Coorey and Tom McIlroy
Former CFMEU boss John Setka.

Victorian premier refers Setka to police after worksite speech

Bill Shorten quits politics to take up a new role as vice chancellor of the University of Canberra; China offers Africa billions in fresh financing. How the day unfolded.

  • Updated
  • Lucy Slade
NSW Health Pathology has generated $280 million in savings.

How to unlock the productivity power of a forgotten sector

There is a renewed push to get better value from the vast array of government services that make up around 20 per cent of the economy.

  • Tom Burton
Matt Kean after being named the new chair of the Climate Change Authority.

Matt Kean unveils plan to achieve net zero by 2050

The Climate Change Authority’s landmark report downplayed the Coalition’s nuclear ambitions and said wind and solar generation needs to move faster to ensure Australia’s net zero ambitions are not derailed.

  • Ronald Mizen and Angela Macdonald-Smith
WA Senator Linda Reynolds (right) and former staffer Brittany Higgins (centre) with Higgins’ husband, David Sharaz.

‘She’s done’: Sharaz, Higgins ‘mocked’ Reynolds over sick leave

Brittany Higgins and her partner mocked Liberal Senator Linda Reynolds after she took sick leave from parliament, a Perth court has heard.

  • Tom Rabe