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Stay informed about Australian government and political developments from trusted news sources.
News is aggregated from ABC News and The Guardian Australia, filtered for government and political content. Updated every 4 hours.
The Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) has won a long-running class action brought by 28,000 irrigators who argued its mismanagement caused lost profits and high water prices.
Snowy Hydro data shows 2026 officially the worst end to a season since records began in 1954. Follow the day’s news live Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The Australian government is working with Russian officials in a bid to secure the release of Australian Oscar Jenkins, Matt Thistlethwaite says. Speaking to ABC news breakfast, the assistant minister for foreign affairs declined to answer whether a prisoner swap was on the table. Obviously, we try and negotiate
The Queensland government's funding cut to its state-owned film and television agency risks undermining the Sunshine State's ability to attract future productions.
Young people in the Kimberley are continuing to share criminal exploits on social media, as WA's hardline "post-and-boast" laws stall in parliament.
Offshore wind developers will now bid for Victorian government support to help deliver their projects.
Barnaby Joyce says people would be "foolish" not to believe the dynamics of politics have changed after One Nation's victory in a West Australian by-election. Follow live.
US Federal Reserve chair Kevin Warsh's warning about entrenched inflation sparks a slide on Wall Street that is likely to impact the ASX. Follow the day's events and insights from our business reporters on the ABC News live markets blog.
If you feel like grocery prices have gone up over the past year, it's because they have. Research shows a typical grocery bill at Woolworths last year was $213.89, while in 2026 the same items cost $232.02, up 8.5 per cent.
The South Australian government is warning proposed cuts to health insurance rebates for older Australians could lead to more people turning to the already struggling public health system.
Labor would put Victorian prisoners to work on road maintenance as part of its plan to fix the state's crumbling highways, if re-elected in November.
Pauline Hanson says she can smash Labor and, given the anger in the community, perhaps that messaging is resonating.
David Bright watches bulldozers clearing farmland around his home for a major housing estate. But some of the proposed lots are smaller than the average new Australian home.
When Jackson Pollock painted Blue Poles, his masterpiece of American abstract expressionism, little did he know it would become one of Australia’s most fascinating political controversies. The piece ensnared everyone from Gough Whitlam to the Shah of Iran, only to end up in Canberra’s National Gallery as a symbol of our nation’s burgeoning modernity. With the news that Blue Poles is relocating from Canberra to Perth, Guardian Australia’s political editor, Tom McIlroy, speaks to Rafqa Touma about
The former treasurer’s new book will hit shelves soon, but he may learn that memoirs can be blunt instruments for political renewal. Just ask Peter Costello Former treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s new memoir, marketed as a coming-of-age story, family history and pandemic retrospective rolled into one, is due to hit shelves soon. Publisher HarperCollins Australia promises it will be a reflection “on what political power can and cannot achieve, on the cost of public life in an increasingly divided worl
Icelanders have rejected a government push to reopen membership talks and side with those who said Iceland's fishing waters were too important to risk.
Even after a week in which Pauline Hanson and One Nation candidates tripped over themselves trying to explain key policies, voters still backed the party Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The One Nation hype machine went into overdrive after Saturday’s Secret Harbour byelection but one thing is clear from the thumping victory. Despite the party’s sustained surge in public support, Labor and the Coalition still don’t have any idea how to calm an angry electorate and di
The Labor and Liberal parties are beginning to lick their wounds after suffering a bruising defeat in a by-election in Perth's south, as One Nation celebrates its historic victory.
Nearly 400 trees will be removed in Adelaide's eastern parklands to make way for a new MotoGP street circuit costing $96 million, the South Australian government has revealed.
The federal government is facing pressure to outlaw strangulation and suffocation in pornography, mimicking a UK ban.
Solomon Islands prime minister and outgoing Pacific Islands Forum chair Matthew Wale makes a shock departure from the PIF leaders meeting to deal with a looming leadership challenge back home.
One Nation candidate Luke Herdegen secures 57% of the vote after preferences as party’s WA leader says result will send shock waves across the country Barnaby Joyce has declared “politics has changed” after One Nation claimed victory in the Secret Harbour state byelection in Western Australia. The One Nation MP celebrated the win on Sunday, and said the results showed his party could convert high polling to on the ground votes. Continue reading...
Victorian Premier Ben Carroll says the government will double the number of potholes it fixes this year to 500,000, at a cost of $352 million.
The Coalition is concerned about further pressure on the public health system, as older Australians consider cutting private health insurance ahead of proposed rebate changes.
A breakthrough by-election in the west raises difficult questions for both Labor and the Liberals.
A group of indigenous people are suing the Japanese government for the return of ancestral remains taken during the brutal colonisation of Hokkaido.
The next five-year plan plan to end violence against women will have to do more than accelerate existing efforts. It will have to prove governments can keep pace with a problem that itself is changing.
One Nation scores a historic win in Western Australia, securing its first lower house seat in the state.
There will be significant changes to the boundaries of her Gaven electorate for the 2028 Queensland election following a review by the Queensland Redistribution Commission released in June.
The United States has struck a deal with Venezuela to secure "majority US control" of more than 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan oil, according to Donald Trump.
Dr Philip Nitschke, who helped a terminal cancer patient through the world's first legal voluntary assisted dying process 30 years ago, welcomes the NT's new laws, but concerns remain about how prognosis will be factored in.
Tasmania's Deputy Premier Guy Barnett has written to an anti-trans feminist group labelling the Greens' bill to ban conversion practices as "fundamentally flawed". His views potentially put him at odds with Premier Jeremy Rockliff.
Can One Nation break into a Labor heartland? A crucial test is underway today in Western Australia.
One day, Peter Malinauskas might bask in the glory of bringing another popular major event to Adelaide. For now, his MotoGP coup is being fiercely resisted.
A decade ago, illegal cigarettes made up about 10 per cent of sales in Australia. Now it's 80 per cent, so how did we get here?
She’s written two books, launched a progressive media firm and plans to dethrone the prime minister – all before she turns 30. What is she about? Hannah Ferguson has just left the home of an older couple who disagree that she should run for parliament when I meet her at the Lewisham West light rail stop on the Greenway in Sydney’s inner-west. It is a perfect sunny winter afternoon and we are in the geographical centre of Grayndler, the electorate she wants to take from the prime minister, Anthon
Tony Barry and Sean Kelly, sitting in for Barrie Cassidy, examine the politics of immigration and asylum after contradictory policy statements this week from Labor and One Nation. They discuss how much Labor is being led by One Nation and whether the government is doing enough to make the case for immigration. They also cover the concessions made by the Albanese government to the states on GST and renewable energy for datacentres, as well as the bumpy economic road ahead for Labor, with new inf
As he negotiates Australia’s AI future, the prime minister is under pressure from leaders of conservative states and territories Australian Politics podcast: Who actually benefits from new datacentres in Australia? Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Tucked away at the end of a media release from the Australian Energy Market Operator this week was a data point worthy of national attention. Releasing its annual snapshot of electricity supply and demand, the regulator re
The brother of former premier questioned over what, if anything, was done in return for $2m from developer turned fugitive Jean Nassif Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Finally, we are hearing from one of the central characters, Charles Perrottet, in a saga that has occupied the Independent Commission against Corruption (Icac) for nearly four years. It began with the dismissal of the Hills Shire council and a late night 2022 speech in NSW parliament alleging secret pa
By focusing on the net overseas migration number, Labor risks making a ‘silly mistake’ experts say Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Anyone looking for an indication of just how hot the politics of immigration are running inside federal Labor need only consider what happened on Thursday. Morning newspaper reports confirmed that Labor would cut Australia’s annual refugee intake, with numbers dropping from 20,000 arrivals to 13,750 from next financial year. Continue r
Bought by the then Australian prime minister, Gough Whitlam, for the yet-to-be-built National Gallery in Canberra, Jackson Pollock’s Blue Poles sparked one of Australia’s most enduring culture wars Moving Blue Poles is never straightforward. At more than 2m high and nearly 5m long, the legendary Jackson Pollock painting has almost always been too big for wherever it needs to go. Continue reading...
Tony Barry and Sean Kelly, sitting in for Barrie Cassidy, examine the politics of immigration and asylum after contradictory policy statements this week from Labor and One Nation. They discuss how much Labor is being led by One Nation and whether the government is doing enough to make the case for migration. They also talk about the concessions made by the Albanese government to the states on GST and renewable energy for datacentres, as well as the bumpy economic road ahead for Labor, with new
Brother of former state premier sent message to wife Anita Perrottet seemingly regarding plan to damage career of rival David Elliott Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Charles Perrottet wrote about a plan to damage a Liberal minister’s career following his brother’s accession to the New South Wales premiership in October 2021, stating “we execute the prick once party room is over”, a corruption inquiry has heard.
National cabinet met on Wednesday to discuss the federal government’s plan for new AI datacentre development. Queensland and the Northern Territory have won a carve-out so that theirs can be powered by coal and gas – rather than renewables. Meanwhile, the fight between the West Australian premier Roger Cook and the Productivity Commission over his state’s generous GST deal persists. And federally, migration arrival numbers continue to spur debate across the political parties. To discuss this wee
Queensland and the Northern Territory will not have control over how data centres are powered, the federal government insists, declaring there will be "no exceptions and no carve-outs" under its renewables plan.
Confusion and politics aside, Australia can’t pretend to be removed from the world – and the millions of people in need of sanctuary Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Messy politics aside, this much is clear: Australia is being cruelly parsimonious in resettling people, at a moment when it is of greatest global need. There are more people in the world requiring protection right now than at any time in human history, but Australia is obsessed with cutting numbers in th
With less than three months until the Victorian election, the resignation of another long-time female MP has left Labor voters in the regional city of Bendigo with not a single ALP candidate to choose from.
Independent advice to help the Victorian government prioritise spending on infrastructure will be axed under the latest pivot from Premier Ben Carroll.
Follow today’s news live Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Greens say Australia needs to ‘step up and really commit’ to aiding rebuilding in Nepal David Shoebridge, the Greens’ spokesperson on foreign affairs, told RN Breakfast earlier the Australian commitment of $5m for affected communities in Nepal “won’t come close to touching the sides” of the calamity. I think Australia needs to step up and really commit to helping rebuild. This is a country with minimal spare r
A messy week of debate on migration has now drawn in the Coalition after Opposition Leader Angus Taylor left the door open to cuts to the refugee intake, a day after his frontbench colleague said humanitarian visas would not be touched.
Northern Territory Treasurer Bill Yan says the government is turning the tide on the Territory's $11 billion debt, supported by progress on major projects including Beetaloo Basin gas and a number of gold and lithium mines.
Note: Taxwatch aggregates news from external sources and does not create or modify content. All articles link to their original sources. We aim to provide a balanced view from reputable Australian news outlets.