As the prime minister refuses to discuss the science linking climate change and the bushfires burning in eastern Australia, former Howard adviser Geoff Cousins compares the political strategy to the tactics of the American gun lobby. With photography by Stephen Dupont.

Although the Coalition is talking tough about criminalising consumer advocacy, legal experts say any attempt to do so will be hamstrung by reality.

As the gap between Australia’s rich and poor continues to widen, a new study highlights the fatal cost of economic inequality and the rise of  ‘deaths of despair’.

Privacy experts fear the Home Affairs minister will ignore a warning from parliament’s most powerful committee and push ahead with his plan for national surveillance.

As crossbencher Rebekha Sharkie pushes to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14, experts point to the long-term detrimental effects of early incarceration and a disproportionate racial factor in detention rates.

While the Australian government is quick to criticise other countries for restricting people’s freedoms, its treatment of whistleblowers and climate protesters reveals an alarming hypocrisy.

While the proposal to increase the superannuation rate to 12 per cent has bipartisan support, the reform is likely to be a significant economic burden that exacerbates inequality.

As water supplies remain perilously low across Australia’s drought-stricken east, a group of farmers is launching a $750 million class action against the Murray–Darling Basin Authority.

As prominent lawyer Peter Gordon launches a class action against Centrelink’s controversial robo-debt scheme, the minister in charge claims it’s all a political stunt.