Mike Seccombe

As the attorney-general considers whether to dissolve the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, freedom of  information documents show the body has been so stacked with government appointments that they are radically affecting its decision-making outcomes.

Today, national correspondent for The Saturday Paper Mike Seccombe on the turnaround in how Beijing views Canberra.

The Labor government needs to rethink relations with China as the country vies with the US for dominance in the Pacific.

An extraordinary letter, sent to the new treasurer and other ministers, reveals details of a staggering deal done in the Morrison government’s final month in office.

National correspondent for The Saturday Paper Mike Seccombe on why the Reserve Bank is so secretive, and the push to change it.

As a review is set to begin into the Reserve Bank of Australia, questions are being asked about its opaque operations and the absence of qualifications on its board.

The near collapse of the east coast energy market has its roots in decades of political appeasement directed at fossil fuel interests.

Mike Seccombe on if we are seeing the beginning of the end of Australia's Liberal Party.

After John Howard’s loss, the Liberal Party was transformed again, with branches taken over by religious sects, and the voters he targeted from a distance becoming members.

The crumbling of the Liberal Party can be traced back to John Howard’s leadership even in opposition, and his remaking of Menzies’ party in his own image.

Following unprecedented success in the house and the senate, Adam Bandt explains how the Greens orchestrated their strongest result with a campaign that stretched from doorknocking and community gardens to Grindr and ‘the chaos of the internet’.

The Coalition will lose government if it drops just one seat. Labor needs to win eight. Here is an essential guide to the electorates in close contention.

Mike Seccombe on what the Coalition is offering voters at this election.

The Coalition is targeting wealthy retirees in an attempt to secure another ‘miracle’ election win. But its policy platform contains little substance beyond the purchase of votes.

In the campaign’s final weeks, the Greens are counting on surprising swings in key Brisbane seats.

The Labor Party officially launched their campaign on Sunday, unveiling new policies and making their most comprehensive pitch to voters so far. But the policy offering remains slimmer than it was three years ago, which is part of what has been described as the party’s small target strategy.

In drawing up its plans for the election, Labor gave up on looking for policies to offset spending. Neither side is pretending it has a plan to pay for what it promises.

The Coalition’s latest scare campaign over Labor’s climate policy highlights the real mess surrounding adequate planning for a shift towards renewables. Half of the experts cited say they were misquoted.

The Saturday Paper’s national correspondent Mike Seccombe on the state of the Human Rights Commission and what a downgrade would mean for Australia’s voice on the world stage.

After a decade in which the Coalition has attempted to undermine and abolish the Human Rights Commission, the body is almost broke and facing international sanctions.

As Josh Frydenberg outlined the lowest unemployment figures in almost half a century, he failed to note that the increase in jobs had been accompanied by a decrease in real wages.

Mike Seccombe on the man blowing the whistle on the Morrison government’s sham carbon projects.

For nearly a decade the Coalition has been attempting to dismantle the country’s green energy infrastructure – first trying to defund it, then hollowing it out, then using it to fund fossil fuel projects. Through all this, careful drafting has made it almost impossible for the government to fully implement its plans.

Analysis by a former chair of the government’s carbon pricing integrity committee shows almost all the money spent on emissions reduction has gone to projects that did not contribute to reductions.

A few weeks ago, Energy Minister Angus Taylor made changes to the Australian carbon market that crashed the value of government-issued carbon credits. The changes made it cheaper for big companies to pollute.

A decision by Angus Taylor to open up the market for carbon credits has made it cheaper for companies to pollute and has transferred billions in value to the private sector.

As Scott Morrison tries to leverage personal support on the back of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, his tough-guy rhetoric reflects a similar about-face in his dealings with China.

Mike Seccombe on the Morrison government’s interventions in the energy market, and why it’s lost the trust of the sector.

Following revelations the Morrison government pressured AGL to sack its last chief executive, energy companies have increasingly isolated Angus Taylor.

Mike Seccombe on the challenges facing Australia’s third party, and what kind of power they might wield after the election.

As the Greens draw up election maps, choosing seats they believe they can win, they are hoping the so-called teal independents will boost their chances of up to 12 senate spots.

Today, national correspondent for The Saturday Paper, Mike Seccombe on the revolt over the Religious Discrimination Bill, and the political faultlines the bill has exposed.

As the government’s Religious Discrimination Bill collapsed, and five Liberals crossed the floor, the prime minister wedged only himself.

Saul Griffith, a former climate adviser to Joe Biden, has moved home to Australia. He argues policy changes made here could accelerate the world’s transition to renewables by 10 years.

Two parliamentary inquiries into Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s religious freedom legislation are under way, with many, including Liberal Party supporters, wondering why the divisive bill has not been scrapped.

Right now most of Australia is living without restrictions, lockdowns or border closures. But with tens of thousands of people, including essential workers, being forced into isolation everyday our economy is still under intense pressure from the pandemic.

As supply chains collapse, government policies have created a situation where as much as 40 per cent of the trucking and freight workforce has Covid-19.

According to a new book by Labor frontbencher Andrew Leigh, humanity has a one-in-six chance of ending in the next hundred years. The biggest threats are not the ones he expected.

Mike Seccombe on the real reason Scott Morrison wanted to enlist Gladys Berejiklian, and what it reveals about the Prime Minister’s weakening authority in his home state.

Liberal insiders say the election will be won or lost in NSW, where chaotic preselections show the PM has lost authority over his party.

Mike Seccombe on what is motivating this wave of independents, and how they could end up shaping the future of Australian politics.

A string of independents who have broken away from conservative politics could define the next parliament.

Mike Seccombe on the sale of Powershop, and what it tells us about the future of green energy in Australia.

Shell is one of the worst polluters in the world. What does that mean for Powershop, the green energy provider in which it just bought a 100 per cent stake?

Beyond its efforts to frustrate action at the Glasgow climate summit, Australia has been using international forums to ensure there will still be foreign funding for fossil fuel projects.

Mike Seccombe on the documents that reveal who’s behind the federal government’s climate modelling - and what it tells us about the way science is being spun for political purposes.

Emails show the man hired to review Scott Morrison’s climate model helped Angus Taylor with last election’s climate scare.

Three former heads of the prime minister’s department on the corruption of process under Scott Morrison.

Mike Seccombe on what happened when Gladys Berejiklian went to ICAC, and what the corruption investigation reveals about NSW politics.

As former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian faces ICAC, it is abstemious public servants who have exposed her conflict of interest.

Mike Seccombe on why COP26 is so important, and how Australia might undermine global efforts to stop runaway climate change.

Mike Seccombe on what impact a Palmer-Kelly alliance could have on the next federal election.

For all the noise surrounding Scott Morrison’s supposed shift on climate targets, his changes are actually insignificant. But there is a straightforward, three-point path to cut Australia’s emissions by 2030 – if only there were the political will.

As membership of the United Australia Party surges, its policy platform remains built almost entirely around Covid-19 conspiracies.

Despite the attention given to his religious conservatism, it is Dominic Perrottet’s reformist economic zeal that will likely define his premiership.

Mike Seccombe on how climate politics has wedged Scott Morrison, and why he’s running out of time.

Mike Seccombe on why Gladys Berejiklian resigned and what happens next in New South Wales.

As Scott Morrison attempts to balance his weak climate policies with US ambitions, a key Biden adviser is returning to Australia to help revolutionise state responses.

The Catholic Church has historically been one of the most powerful institutions in Australia, influencing both sides of politics.

Cardinal George Pell has spent the past several months in Sydney, as the Catholic Church prepares for its first reform conference in more than 80 years.

Governments and car manufacturers all over the world are preparing for a future where most vehicles will be powered by electricity.

Australians are taking up electric vehicles in increasing numbers, but the country is still a long way behind Europe. Now states are offering incentives, and charging infrastructure is being planned, with price parity only a few years away.

Although not official, Australia is currently in a recession. The reasons for this are almost wholly due to the decision-making of the Morrison and Berejiklian governments.

As scientists, and the United Nations, continue to warn about the likely impacts of climate change, the federal government is spending big to help prop up the gas industry.

The Morrison government has awarded $21 million to a fossil fuel company that helped draft the regulatory regime for the gas reserves it intends to exploit.

NSW is currently experiencing its worst outbreak of Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic. With case numbers continuing to rise, the government has slowly acknowledged it’s losing control.

As other states enter lockdown, NSW has abandoned plans to return to Covid Zero. It intends to begin opening up in a month.

Questions remain about the allocation of bushfire relief funds after the Black Summer fires. But as new minister Bridget McKenzie takes over the programs, there is also increasing concern the money is being used for pork-barrelling.

Hosting the Olympics is an honour that cities have competed for over a century

As Brisbane prepares to host the 2032 Olympics, there are questions over contracts that siphon off revenue and invest almost all power in the International Olympic Committee.

Scott Morrison has regularly praised NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian for her government’s so-called ‘gold standard’ approach to contact tracing, and unwillingness to enter lockdown. But behind the surface there are growing tensions between key Liberal party figures in NSW and the federal government.

A power-sharing relationship inside the NSW Liberals has given the party stability – and edged out the influence of Scott Morrison.

Four years ago the mining giant Adani was struggling to fund its massive coal project in Queensland’s Galilee Basin. So they turned to the Chinese government to try and secure financing. Today, Mike Seccombe on how a group of Australians stopped China from backing Adani, and what the story says about our approach to fossil fuels.

Bob Carr and Geoff Cousins led an unlikely coalition to block Chinese funding for Adani. Not a cent has flowed to the company since.

Six years ago one Australian energy company tried to shift from coal to renewables. Now, new details have emerged showing the role played by the federal government in stopping that from happening.

As AGL attempted to clean up its energy, Josh Frydenberg intervened to have its chief executive sacked. Now the company is de-merging to salvage its failing coal assets.

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is one of the seven natural wonders of the world, but now it’s on the cusp of being declared “in danger” by UNESCO.

Two decades ago an Australian scientist warned climate change would kill the reef. Since then, governments have steadfastly ignored what is happening.

The South Australian Liberal Party has frozen new memberships after an apparent Pentecostal takeover, but the move speaks to a vulnerability both feared and exploited in conservative politics.

Dismayed by huge profits made on rezoned land, a Liberal MP is pushing for the federal government to tax windfall gains at 75 per cent.

Frustrated with the federal government’s beleaguered vaccination plan, the states and territories have stepped in. But experts warn the race to vaccinate the nation is becoming a ‘free-for-all’.

Christian Porter’s decision to settle his defamation suit against the ABC is the end of one battle. But the former attorney-general, accused of a historic rape he strenuously denies, is still fighting on at least two other fronts.

Former attorney-general Christian Porter has discontinued his defamation case against the ABC. But it seems his battles, in and out of the courtroom, are far from over.

Last month, under the cover of the federal budget, the Coalition government rushed through new laws legalising the indefinite detention of refugees. Today, Mike Seccombe on how Australia got to this point, and what it means for those seeking safety in our country.

A 20-year fight over the indefinite detention of asylum seekers has culminated in a law advocates fear will strand refugees behind bars for life.

The Morrison government is contemplating new laws which could see charities held responsible for minor legal breaches by their members and supporters. The sector says the changes are an attempt to stifle protest.

Sweeping new laws that could strip charities of their non-profit status for minor offences are intended to stifle protest, the sector warns.

The budget surprised many as the treasurer shrugged off long-held fears of spending and deficits, which may be the result of consultation with some unexpected advisers.

Clive Palmer is running a multimillion-dollar campaign against the corporate regulator. The only question is: What does he hope to achieve?

While Joe Biden looks set to double America’s emissions reduction target at a meeting of world leaders next week, Australia’s ‘gas-fired recovery’ sees it increasingly isolated.

While the government pushes ahead with its major tax cuts, despite the pandemic, new analysis shows they will have a negative impact on women.

The federal government has reduced or removed the supports that helped millions of Australians survive the pandemic. JobKeeper’s end could cut 150,000 jobs and push millions into poverty, particularly women and children.

While the pandemic raged, the country’s richest people became vastly richer – due to booming commodity prices, policy failures and sheer luck.

Little is known about the extent of species extinction among insects, but research shows that Australia’s farming practices, land clearing and susceptibility to climate change are making the problem worse.

The rarefied and entitled boys-only private school network has created massive imbalances and injustice in the halls of power, public policy and broader society.

The government’s rollout plans have been stymied by untrained doctors, spoiled doses and communication failures with the states.

When Facebook flexed its muscles and temporarily banned Australian news content, negotiations around the media bargaining code took a dramatic turn.

Despite the damaging effects of Covid-19, higher unemployment and flat wages, the Australian housing market has snapped back. But home ownership is becoming increasingly unaffordable for young people, with dire consequences for their future.

A generation of Australian entrepreneurs is readying for a carbonless future, even as the Morrison government remains stubbornly committed to gas and coal.

For as long as it was useful, the prime minister allowed the member for Hughes to spread conspiracy theories online. This week, the political calculus changed.

While the Coalition continues to stall on a net zero emissions target, the biggest buyers of our coal are rapidly shifting to renewables.

With his inauguration this week, America’s 46th president has vowed to heal the US. But Joe Biden inherits a country more paranoid and polarised than ever.

Having outperformed the world in containing coronavirus, Australia’s lack of action on climate change will precipitate a much greater crisis.

In his first major interview since passing a landmark energy package, NSW Environment Minister Matt Kean outlines his philosophy for a new kind of politics.

Despite howls from some of the loudest voices in the media and politics to ‘let it rip’ in response to Covid-19, the latest economic figures show Australia’s health-first approach saved lives and the country from a long and painful recession.

Australia’s fertility rate is the lowest it has been in history. While successive governments have paid scant attention to this, Covid-19 has made the issue more urgent than ever.

As a senate inquiry investigates Rio Tinto’s destruction of the Juukan Gorge caves, Senator Pat Dodson says a royal commission into the entire Native Title Act may be necessary as the law ‘has been basically brought into disrepute by the capacity of those who are rich and powerful’.

Pressure is mounting against News Corp, led by former prime ministers Malcolm Turnbull and Kevin Rudd. They say democracy is damaged by the company’s ‘propaganda’ and ‘vendettas’.

The tightness of the US election tells us two things: Trump’s first win was not an aberration; and the plutocratic electoral system, with its roots in slavery, still grossly distorts outcomes.

Mining magnate Clive Palmer is pouring millions into political advertising for the Queensland election and, as at the federal poll, he is pushing a lie about a death tax the Labor Party never proposed.

As politicians play a tough-on-crime game to win votes, pushing Australia’s incarceration rates ever upwards, an initiative led by high-profile patrons aims to reform the justice system and end a narrow-minded reliance on prison sentences.

The real story this week is not Gladys Berejiklian’s relationship with Daryl Maguire but whether she knew the details of his deal-making – although her supporters would rather you focus on the former.

At this week’s NSW inquiry into Crown Resorts, former executive chairman James Packer acknowledged some ‘shameful’ behaviour in his leadership of the company, but often claimed ignorance of – and blamed others for – the casino’s alleged links to organised crime.

In the teeth of the pandemic, government spokespeople are no longer just obfuscating – they are hiding from the public the truth about what is really happening.

On everything from policies regarding water capture to koalas, the NSW Nationals – led by the controversial John Barilaro – are fast losing popularity with their rusted-on constituents and the support of their own party members.

While the prime minister’s newly announced gas funding is politically useful – soothing the Coalition backbench and wedging Labor – it will imperil Australia’s climate targets.

News Corp’s decision to launch a newswire could be part of a larger plan to torpedo AAP and further concentrate Murdoch’s media influence.

The ACCC thought it was leading the world in pushing major reforms – but the result might harm journalism.

Another branch stacking scandal shows the practice is not just about numbers: in both parties, it is about furthering conservative agendas.

While the government continues to push for a gas-led recovery from the coronavirus-induced recession, the ACCC has another message – that Australia pays far too much for domestic gas.

The politics of dealing with coronavirus are beginning to come into view, as the stakes in each state become clearer.

The Morrison government’s superannuation changes risk turning the scheme into ‘privately funded unemployment insurance’.

As the treasurer lauds supply-side economics, a once-controversial recovery theory is gaining traction.

As coronavirus bites, two-thirds of volunteers have left non-profits and many organisations in the sector face becoming ‘zombie charities’.

The government quickly stepped in to prevent a potential collapse of the health system under the weight of Covid-19 cases. But will it go all in to head off economic disaster or let the market decide what happens come September?

Leading economist Bruce Chapman says the government’s plan to raise fees for certain courses won’t drive students into more ‘job-relevant’ degrees.

The precarious situation of asylum seekers in Australia has been heightened by Covid-19, as they struggle to find work, keep their children in school and put food on the table with little to no support from the government.

The political power of tradesmen helped put Scott Morrison in office – and now he has a scheme to repay them.

With the government set to refund $721 million over the robo-debt fiasco, the scheme’s early critics are feeling vindicated. And the damage in cash terms could be far worse following a class action trial set to begin next month.

Experts called during the opening week of the bushfires royal commission warned the Black Summer will not be an isolated event.

While Scott Morrison drops hints about a deal with the unions to boost Australia’s economy, the unions say a modern Prices and Incomes Accord is not on the table. But one of the original scheme’s architects, former ACTU boss Bill Kelty, has a plan of his own.

Questions are being raised about the government’s National Covid-19 Coordination Commission – its appointees, purpose and ties to the fossil fuel industry – but the group’s chairman is offering no answers.

Staff members reveal the significant pressure they are under as the public broadcaster continues to face budget cuts of more than $100 million a year.

As Treasury secretary Steven Kennedy seeks to explain the rollout of Australia’s three-phase relief package, questions mount about timings and exclusions.

As details emerge of the government’s plan for economic recovery, it is clear young people will suffer the brunt of the pandemic’s fallout for years to come.

As Australia curbs coronavirus infection rates, some are calling for an ‘elimination’ strategy that would seal our borders, while other countries are taking a ‘let it rip’ approach.

With the nation’s focus fixed on the fight against Covid-19, Energy Minister Angus Taylor has forged ahead with a new program that includes measures designed to prop up coal-fired electricity generators and weaken environmental protections.

The federal government has left the enforcement of coronavirus laws to the states, creating great confusion and uncertainty. One federal MP is even advising constituents on how to get around them.

As well as trying to contain the catastrophic outbreak of Covid-19, health authorities, governments and social media platforms must also try to combat the rampant spread of misinformation about the virus.

As the number of cases escalates, experts say the PM moved too slowly to contain the threat of Covid-19, straining our already under-resourced health system.

Scott Morrison moved quickly to contain the threat of coronavirus; the bigger challenge will be convincing the public that his government can be trusted in a crisis.

As Scott Morrison announces emergency COVID-19 measures and medical experts ‘war game’ worst-case scenarios, a looming recession may prove the greatest threat to Australia.

While Labor’s commitment to a 2050 emissions target reinvigorated well-practised attacks from the Coalition, the cost of inaction is only becoming clearer.

While Chinese-owned businesses struggle through a downturn, questions remain about whether Australia’s coronavirus response stoked racist fear.

Elevated to Resources minister after Matt Canavan’s resignation, Keith Pitt has moved quickly – announcing a feasibility study into a new coalmine.

Clive Palmer spent almost $84 million on his party’s failed tilt at the 2019 election, but former UAP candidates now say the real goal was to prevent an ALP victory.

With Scott Morrison refusing to budge on reducing emissions, state governments and the private sector are leading the way on going carbon neutral.

In Australia’s quest to become one of the world’s leading weapons exporters, the line between government and industry is becoming increasingly blurred.

As governments and police increasingly rely on algorithms and automation, legal experts warn these systems could undermine key discrimination protections.

While the government celebrates the medevac repeal, Labor and the Greens push for detail – and documentation – of the pact struck with Senator Jacqui Lambie.

Although touted as a clean energy project, the government’s investment in hydrogen production is in fact protecting the fossil fuel industry – a paradox that may limit the value of the new technology.

Despite the successes of Australia’s renewable energy sector, the federal government is stalling on further development of this industry, instead maintaining its dogged commitment to coal-fired power.

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.

Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe is flouting convention, publicly calling on the government and business to do more to save Australia’s foundering economy.

The revelations at the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption this week serve as a timely reminder that the federal government’s proposed Commonwealth Integrity Commission would be a watchdog with some bark but hardly any bite.

As the country faces stagnant wage growth, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has asked Australian companies to stop returning profits to wealthy shareholders. But the federal government is doing little else, reluctant to put its long-promised surplus at risk.

With his controversial op-ed, Liberal backbencher Andrew Hastie set off a debate that has riven Canberra along unexpected lines.

The crushing rejection of a parliamentary push for an investigation into Crown Casino highlights how much the major parties are in the thrall of the gambling lobby.

While the government argues it needs tough new powers to break up thuggish, militant unions, experts say the average union member is a 50-something woman working in aged care.

As the upper house this week backs an inquiry into raising Newstart, analysis shows it is Australian seniors who are most likely to be living on just $38 a day.

Organised, connected and efficient, older voters have campaigned hard for concessions from the government and won time and again.

Scott Morrison says there will be no cuts to health, education or services to pay for his tax package. The numbers tell a different story.

The major consultancies are not just a preferred employer for former ministers – they have helped privatise the bureaucracy by stealth.

The government is adamant its proposed three-stage tax package be passed in its entirety or not at all – thus potentially denying a slowing economy some much-needed stimulus.

With the growing popularity of ethical investments, superannuation funds are lobbying companies to clean up their act. But some say the funds should focus squarely on maximising profits for their members.

As the Coalition stalls on emissions reduction, moneyed climate activists are turning to direct investment, led by tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes.

As Sino–American relations further fracture, Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s visit to the Solomon Islands exemplifies Australia’s commitment to strengthening Pacific bonds and pushing back against Chinese influence in the region.

The Queensland Labor government has taken the Coalition’s election victory as a warning it must fall in line and green-light the Carmichael coalmine.

If the Labor Party wins today’s election, it will likely need support to pass its reforms from Centre Alliance, whose senators have vowed not to back changes to franking credits.

With the election poised to be a referendum on climate policy, the junior Coalition partner finds itself out of touch with voters, even in its traditional strongholds.

Despite Clive Palmer’s outlandish claims of his party forming government, the United Australia Party leader has a canny election strategy: to benefit his mining interests.

Data shows the Coalition’s 2016 election victory hinged on just three ethnically diverse seats – Banks, Reid and Chisholm. This time around Labor is shaping its campaign around winning back these communities.

The progressive group is gearing up to spend its $12.7 million war chest on unseating six key members of the Coalition’s hard right and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg.

While older Australians reap the benefits of the government’s fiscal policies, it is millennials who are fast becoming the nation’s largest voting bloc, but they are not becoming more conservative as they age.

The government was quick to deride Labor’s latest action plan on climate change, particularly its electric vehicle target. Meanwhile, experts, including the NRMA, say the policy didn’t go far enough and that Australia risks falling woefully behind on motoring technology.

The federal government claims it lacks the constitutional power to fund advocacy activity, although it refuses to release its advice and legal experts uniformly reject the assertion.

Scott Morrison’s words following the Christchurch massacre were sensitive and well chosen, but how can they be read as ingenuous when they follow on from almost two decades of his party deliberately cultivating disunity and fear?

With wages stagnating since the Coalition took office, Labor is hoping to make the election a fight on industrial relations – even if it doesn’t have solutions.

Despite Scott Morrison’s claims, more asylum seekers have arrived under his government than under Labor. These people are becoming an underclass of cheap, exploited labour.

Scott Morrison says his new $3.5 billion climate fund will cut Australia’s emissions, but experts warn he is playing a numbers game that is ‘essentially dishonest’.

As the Federal Court prepares to make a ruling on the AWU raids, and it emerges Michaelia Cash refused to give a statement to the federal police over her office’s involvement, The Saturday Paper reviews the minister’s position to date.

While Resources Minister Matt Canavan insists Adani has the full support of the Wangan and Jagalingou people, the legitimacy of a land agreement with the mining giant is the subject of a Federal Court appeal.

As the last children are transferred off Nauru, the government is claiming compassion. But its attempts to kill off Kerryn Phelps’ medical transfer bill set the scene for an ugly fight in parliament next week.

As the Greens continue to fight internally ahead of the NSW election, their dysfunction across branches is threatening the party’s prospects federally.

Companies are increasingly using advertising to persuade consumers of their social responsibility as much as to spruik their products, in a high-risk strategy known as ‘purposeful marketing’.

As public faith in democracy collapses, the institution is further undermined by suspect polling, gormless politics and a media dependent on both.

As the increasingly powerful crossbench this week pushed for an anti-corruption body, Attorney-General Christian Porter scrambled to find excuses as to why it would be dangerous.

The purging of experienced members at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, and the abandonment of merit-based appointments, has created a backlog of 53,000 unresolved cases.

With the debate raging afresh over Australia becoming a republic, the main players seem stuck in 1999 and First Nations people remain largely ignored.

The expulsion of a group of neo-Nazis from the Young Nationals highlights the way extremist and special interest groups can infiltrate major political parties, especially as falling party memberships put takeovers more easily within reach.

Behind the snap decision to remove all asylum-seeker children from Nauru was a carefully orchestrated campaign to harness the power of the News Corp tabloids.

Liberal moderates, corporations and the voters of Wentworth have all called on the Morrison government to act on climate change. But the country’s top scientists say its effects are already wreaking havoc across Australia.

The mild response to the apparent murder of writer Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul is further evidence the West will turn a blind eye to the kingdom’s terrors to protect its oil and arms trade.

Politics is being held in stasis as the government awaits the outcome of the Wentworth byelection – even as the Liberal candidate is missing in action.

The long-running practice of stacking the ABC board with politically partisan appointees has come under renewed criticism after the rancorous departures of Justin Milne and Michelle Guthrie.

As former managing director Michelle Guthrie considers legal action against the ABC, leaked details of Justin Milne’s conduct may aid her fight.

The range of candidates running in the Wentworth byelection reflects an electorate that has less and less in common with the Liberal Party, which has held the seat since the party’s foundation.

With the ascendancy of a Pentecostal Christian leader, the Liberal Party slides further to the religious right. But can it find salvation without the coffers of Malcolm Turnbull?

As the change of leadership steers the Australian government even further from action on climate change, the Coalition’s efforts to appease the powerful domestic fossil fuel industry could jeopardise trade deals with the European Union.

In among the collapse of the Turnbull government was a final gasp of influence from the right-wing press.

Throughout all the thrills and spills of federal politics this week, the Coalition’s wilful torching of planned action on climate change escaped scrutiny.

The government’s surprise $444 million grant to a private foundation is allegedly being used to fudge its commitment to UNESCO on Barrier Reef protection.

In a final interview as race discrimination commissioner, Tim Soutphommasane condemns politicians and media organisations for profiting from racism, and warns it will get worse. Mike Seccombe reports.

The government’s rhetoric on race takes it into territory that is uglier and more targeted than even John Howard’s campaigns.

Unexpected disclosures in Gina Rinehart’s protracted family legal battle have revealed the mining magnate funds up to half of the Institute of Public Affairs’ activities.

The government’s use of harsh national security laws to pursue Bernard Collaery and Witness K is the latest cynical act in its dealings over Timor Sea mining rights.

The Ramsay Centre fiasco highlights the dangers of universities ceding academic independence in return for private money, in the manner of billionaire philanthropy in the United States.

The Liberal Party’s federal council endorsement of privatising the ABC is a sign of the deep schism between the religious right of the party’s rank and file and its more pragmatic parliamentary leadership.

The falling out between the Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation and the ANU highlights the right’s hypocrisy over the values it purports to defend.

Consistent attacks against the ABC by Communications Minister Mitch Fifield point to a man on a mission to destroy the independent authority of the national broadcaster.

With Serco handed the contract for Centrelink’s call centre, and the NDIS saddled with inexperienced labour hire staff, the government is privatising the public service by stealth.

The small business testimonies to the banking royal commission revealed a more nuanced area of questionable practices, but one that still turns up stories of personal hardship.

After two High Court decisions, the fight against federal funding for religious-only school chaplains is set to end with a test case on state anti-discrimination law.

While the government trumpets its jobs figures, it refuses to engage with wage stagnation. The truth is, nobody knows by what formula wages will go up again.

Successive governments have maintained high levels of immigration to stoke the economy. The argument against this is growing, bringing together odd bedfellows.

The treatment of politicians who fail to properly report their personal circumstances is markedly different to the draconian system imposed on the poor.

While the government remains focused on neoliberal solutions to inequality, homelessness and hunger worsen. Some in the sector wonder whether it is deliberate.

Gross underpayment of Australia’s migrant workforce has become institutionalised in a variety of industries, and with the Fair Work Ombudsman under-resourced and unions kept at bay, the government appears unwilling to address the problem.

Malcolm Turnbull is promising his next budget will be a pitch to the boomer generation, serving only to deepen intergenerational inequality.

The government’s assessment of Indigenous disadvantage ignores how far behind remote communities are compared with cities, and how top-down policy-making reinforces economic disparities.

Aided by enthusiasm in the Murdoch press, Peter Dutton’s concern for white South African farmers shows a minister detached from facts.

In declining to support international action against the new US steel and aluminium tariffs, Malcolm Turnbull damages our standing on trade.

The legislative record of the 45th parliament is hidden behind a sideshow of scandal and division – and even then it’s not very impressive.

A focus on hugely lucrative water buybacks has left the Nationals vulnerable to accusations they have abandoned family farmers.

Two recent controversies at the ABC – the handling of the secret cabinet files and treatment of chief economics correspondent Emma Alberici – have left senior staff furious at what they see as incompetent managerialism.

All the evidence suggests Treasurer Scott Morrison’s zeal to adopt Trump-style corporate tax cuts will not deliver increased investment and wage rises, but could create huge budget deficits in the future.

As the government looks for easy votes in national security, clumsy legislation finds an unexpected enemy in the News Corp tabloids.

Malcolm Turnbull is intent on launching the government into a series of Howard-era culture wars. The problem is he’s not very good at it.

A study of the Minerals Council’s membership reveals the extent of foreign ownership, unchecked by the government’s crackdown on political influence.

A decade after the fall of the Howard government, Australia remains unable to escape or undo the insular and unfair policies it enacted.

While the federal government boasts of decreasing carbon emissions from land clearing, state records show rapidly increasing rates of clearing, at great expense to the Emissions Reduction Fund.

While Treasurer Scott Morrison and the IPA say income inequality is falling, the number of Australians worth more than $50 million has grown by 30 per cent in a year.

In the wake of the survey on same-sex marriage, the notion of a silent majority has been disproved and conservative battlelines are being redrawn.

A NSW ‘predictive’ policing initiative appears to be as much about presuming guilt among young Indigenous people as it is about preventing crime.

The Greens believe they have put a difficult year behind them, and are seeing their ‘Cassandra’ foresight picked up by other parties.

The AWU raids reveal the strange nexus between the Turnbull government, the federal police, The Australian newspaper and the new unions commission.

As the Coalition steps up its campaign against GetUp!, it is revealed Turnbull leant on the group to do numbers for his leadership.

This week’s failed senate attempt to tighten control over the national broadcaster highlights the sway One Nation has over the Coalition.

While Australian gun laws are lauded as the world’s most stringent, fringe political parties and lobbyists are doing their best to erode them.

With the collapse of Murdoch’s takeover plan for Ten, something else ended: the designs for his Sky roster to take a de facto Fox News to the mainstream.

Legislation for same-sex marriage overseas provides a series of natural experiments on social, economic and personal benefits.

Following revelations about inappropriate dealings with irrigators, the first of six inquiries finds a regulator captured by vested interests.

The federal government is ignoring the realities of climate change – mirroring trends towards inaction in American politics.

The ‘Yes’ campaign is refusing to get sidetracked by bitter personal fights with those opposed to same-sex marriage, focusing instead on inclusion.

A senate inquiry will consider how donations to political parties influence policy and how they’re hidden, calling on representatives from the biggest donors in the mining and banking industries to explain what they’re buying.

While most religious leaders accept climate change, the Christian right in Australia and the US make scepticism a tenet of their politics.

The government is waging a multifaceted campaign to reduce the influence of charities, requiring disclosure of how donations are spent, seeking to ban electoral campaigning if overseas funds are received, and choosing not to renew the tenure of the respected head of the sector’s regulatory body.

After leaving her post as president of the Australian Human Rights Commission, Gillian Triggs is as forthright as ever in describing the country’s slide backwards in its social policies and treatment of the vulnerable.

As politics comes to reckon with inequality, Bill Shorten’s former defence of discretionary trusts has morphed into a policy to more harshly tax them.

The Uluru statement’s call for a voice to advise parliament surprised some for its pragmatism, sidestepping earlier recognition debates. As a result it will test the major parties’ avowed commitment to give greater power to Indigenous Australians.

Just as BA Santamaria’s forces once split the Labor Party, hardline Catholics are again threatening to divide politics – this time on the conservative side.

As big pharma continues to wine and dine medical practitioners, and over-prescription is rife, the ACCC is still waiting for the industry’s peak body to undertake promised reforms in reporting payments.

While a new government program claims to boost youth employment prospects, the reality is that a different kind of intergenerational theft is at play.

Back with headland speeches and a renewed manifesto, Tony Abbott has taken off the gloves in his fight to knock out Malcolm Turnbull.

An attack on the Victorian judiciary by three government ministers highlights a larger campaign against the powers of independent office.

Meet the Pentecostal lawyer West Australian Liberals want to replace Gillian Triggs as president of the Human Rights Commission.

Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord, and his visceral unpopularity, may actually lift efforts to halt climate change.

Once seen as a journal of intellectual weight, today’s Quadrant has gone off-leash to become a ranting voice of the reactionary right.

The massive alleged payroll tax scam, carried out through government contracts, reveals the vulnerabilities of a cynical labour market.

The government’s ‘Australians first’ rhetoric is a response to hardening community attitudes over immigration and job security.

Fairfax’s latest staff cuts signal a crisis in Australian journalism, but international models offer a ray of hope.

If the government’s new schools funding plan represents an ideological change, its cuts to universities reflect a calculated antipathy.

The majority of the Emissions Reduction Fund is poured into questionable abatement schemes to discourage land clearing, while mass deforestation cancels out any climate gains.

The campaign against Safe Schools is reaching its final chapter, but in many respects the program has already done its work.

As the Great Barrier Reef suffers record bleaching, Malcolm Turnbull courts a mining giant that will only hasten its death.

As Centrelink shares further personal data to defend criticisms of its debt recovery, the legality of its actions is in question.

The refusal of politicians to define ‘rich’ plays to a social confusion about how well off people actually are.

Long-term mismanagement of Australia’s gas industry has seen price gouging by cartels and the possible need for imports. Even if the government can put things to right, natural gas will never again be a cheap alternative fossil fuel.

Despite a Federal Court win over Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion, a foundation supporting sufferers of a crippling genetic disease across remote Aboriginal communities is still waiting on funding promised under the previous Labor government.

The crisis in housing affordability traces back to John Howard’s actions half a century ago and the lack of political will since.

Social businessman and microcredit pioneer Muhammad Yunus has devoted his life to helping millions of people – mostly women – escape poverty.

A suite of policy settings, from wage cuts to unaffordable education, shows the government turning its back on a generation.

In the wake of their controversial fundraising dinners, the Q Society explain their roots and their paranoid vision of Australia’s future.

The further Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull gets into defending the Coalition’s climate change policy, the clearer it becomes that he is living two lives.

A push into cattle has made Gina Rinehart the NT’s biggest landholder, and seen her enlist the help of former chief minister and fracking proponent Adam Giles.

The US administration’s gag on state agencies is the other side of the Trump team’s own skill at fostering dissent online.

Centrelink’s flawed system of debt recovery has proved a debacle for the government and a tortuous struggle for those wrongly accused of owing money.

Despite promising there would be no sniping or wrecking, Tony Abbott’s year has been a litany of episodes that undermine his successor.

With wage inequality at record highs and technology plundering jobs, a universal basic income is being championed. But how to foretell the problems, let alone possible solutions?

As the Coalition fractures over climate policy, the follies and waste of the demobilised Green Army have become clear.

As staff revolt against programming changes, ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie struggles to describe her vision for the broadcaster.

As calls intensify for a recount in key states, the impact on the American election of post-truth ‘news’ is becoming clearer.

SA’s citizen jury, which rejected the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission's pro-storage stance, reveals the democratic tension when governments open decision-making to the people while seeking a predetermined outcome.

Feeding on the power of negativity, opposition parties are able to win over the electorate. But, as former Liberal opposition leader John Hewson points out, it means no one is rising to power with a clear policy agenda.

Recent attacks on those who receive social security payments – and on the welfare system itself – are born of manipulated statistics and the government’s philosophy of a carrot for the rich and a stick for the poor.

A veteran of Britain’s central bank, Paul Fisher says climate change will have a massive impact on the global financial sector. He talks about managing the risks.

Senate committee attacks on statutory officers reveal a government prepared to undermine independent institutions and hound advisers out of office when their counsel is politically unwelcome.

Bob Day’s resignation from the senate this week amid the collapse of his building companies raises questions about Family First’s funding arrangements and its future without him.

The NSW premier's backdown over his ban on greyhound racing threatens his government and reveals the limits of his dictatorial style.

As elite private schools continue to benefit from government funding, Australian education standards are sliding in global terms and politicians remain reluctant to take a stand.

China’s plan to increase coal production and keep global prices low is bad news for Australian miners and their political allies.

With plotters using the labour movement as a means to amass power, unions have become vulnerable to rorting and the erosion of workers’ rights.

In the face of consistent public support for same-sex marriage, the right is pushing the prime minister to delay, obfuscate and ultimately scupper reform.

The body that provides government with advice on global warming is being pulled apart by politics, yet may prove more effective than ever.

With reduced powers to name corrupt individuals, ICAC’s findings are increasingly shaped by politics.

After early co-operation with Bob Hawke, Roger Neave watched as the IPA became the radical propaganda arm of the Liberal Party.

Deleted text messages and botched directions underscore the flaws in an operation senior police say was not their responsibility.

The attack on the census website highlights concerns over more damaging cyberwarfare, potentially state-sponsored, leading some experts to caution against foreign investment in critical infrastructure.

At the heart of the NT government’s perpetual shambles is a crisis of fiscal racism that for decades has squandered federal money.

A potentially influential, unclaimed political constituency is lurking in our suburbs.

Pauline Hanson is back exhorting the same old message: fear and racial intolerance. And once again she’s set to change the political landscape.

As the coronial inquiry into the Lindt cafe siege draws to a close in Sydney, a litany of police errors have become apparent.

Activist group GetUp! made 40,000 phone calls in seats selected to target Abbott-aligned parliamentarians, helping Labor win its key gains.

When it comes to election campaigns, it’s easier to sell the negative over the positive – at a massive cost to taxpayers.

The PBO has proved a boon for accountability, preventing political parties from citing fanciful costings or embarking on ‘black hole’ scare campaigns.

Donations from a Liberal Party-owned company, through which thousands in taxpayer dollars have been funnelled, expose deep flaws in political fundraising.

Mike Baird’s winning ways are losing their lustre as critics accuse him of pushing NSW towards being a privatised police state.

As the long election campaign grinds on, political dirt units remain the most reliable source of interest, leaking within parties and between them.

A new political nous in economic research groups has seen them capture debate and set the policy course for the election.

In any ordinary circumstances, Malcolm Turnbull would be out selling last week’s budget. Instead, he’s on the hustings, largely ignoring it.

Following a sponsored visit by Reagan adviser Arthur Laffer, Malcolm Turnbull’s budget is based on the fallacy of his trickle-down economics.

In exchange for its part in Australia’s offshore detention regime, Papua New Guinea’s corrupt governance has been ignored, leaving the country on the brink of collapse.

The first reports on the charity sector reveal staggering duplication and a nation less willing to give than it likes to imagine.

Conservatives against a banks royal commission argue it would damage the economy – because of the criminality it would reveal.

As sports gambling becomes more ubiquitous – stimulated by TV advertising targeting young men – an inquiry focused on the illegality of offshore wagering rather than the dire social consequences is being sat on by government.

The government’s $70m budget for border protection propaganda is the latest in a long line of taxpayer-funded “messaging” exercises.

Malcolm Turnbull’s decision to grant a stay of execution to two government green energy agencies hinges more on cooling the heat on him than the environment.

They are some of the country’s biggest corporate tax avoiders. Now their directors make up the board advising the government on innovation incentives.

Lost in the tax debate are the billions hidden in the cash economy, and the complex systems concealing the incomes of the very rich.

Twenty years after he won government, the economic and political damage of John Howard’s leadership is becoming clearer.

The coal industry uses flawed economic models to persuade gullible governments to approve new mines and expansions, grossly inflating employment benefits and ignoring profitability questions.

Sydney’s lockout laws answered a media panic in the wake of two violent deaths on the streets. Assaults in trouble spots have since dropped, but are protests about ruining nightlife businesses misguided?

The Stuart Robert scandal highlights deep flaws in the system when it comes to political donations, accountability and influence.

There’s a new vogue in mine rehabilitation: sell the mine for nothing, and let someone else sort it out.

A 30-year war that is once again spilling over destroys Malcolm Turnbull’s claim the Liberal Party is free from factional infighting and backroom deals.

During the past two years, Clive Palmer’s Queensland Nickel donated $21 million to the Palmer United Party. Now it can’t afford to pay its workers.

A policy of ‘indirect action’ may be one way Malcolm Turnbull can hang on to the reins of the Coalition while keeping his emissions reduction dream alive.

Hundreds of uncapped bores have for decades been leaking methane, a gas more polluting than CO 2 – and the government knows almost nothing about them.

A year on from the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa, Australia’s slow, privatised and ineffective response has come in for questioning.

A controversial figure, Australia’s Grand Mufti is of more importance to The Daily Telegraph than he is to many Muslims.

International criticism hardens opponents of the Chinese coalmining giant’s plans for the Liverpool Plains, as governments roll over.

As Cardinal Pell prepares for another child sex abuse hearing, his ‘company man’ style has made him enemies within the Vatican.

The PM’s Big Australia vision, with high levels of immigration, requires a greater urban density than Australians are accustomed to. It also means serious infrastructure shortfalls in our cities cannot be ignored.

Australian governments must engage in a negotiation of the nation’s need for good economic relations amid unease about Chinese investment.

Heavily represented and funded by the biggest polluters on the planet, the all-powerful Minerals Council of Australia continues to spruik the benefits of coal to a largely compliant government.

Precipitously declining Western populations will not support growth without greatly increasing immigration, bringing with it huge social change. Ultimately, the growth model itself will have to be reconsidered.

The response to radicalised Parramatta shooter Farhad Jabar shows what is needed to combat terrorism in Australia.

The change of prime minister has fundamentally altered the influence of the IPA and other far-right groups and individuals in Canberra.

The commentators who thought Tony Abbott was their champion are desperately looking for relevance after the coup.

The promise of Malcolm Turnbull’s leadership has lifted economic confidence, but he must now deliver genuine reforms in the face of global downturn.

Borrowing lessons from fossil fuel divestment, a group of activists and investment funds are using the sharemarket in an attempt to shape refugee policy.

The government’s ‘lawfare’ rhetoric is part of a deliberate effort to shift blame for slow wages growth and high unemployment onto environmental groups and others.

As Australia becomes less religious, churches have insinuated themselves into politics and gained particular control over Tony Abbott.

Tony Abbott’s emissions reduction pledge ahead of the UN climate summit in Paris smacks of statistical sophistry and deceptive deadlines.

A ban on cigarettes in NSW prisons sparked fears of insurrection, but questions have arisen over the effectiveness of such policies and the greater problem of overcrowded facilities.

Weak regulation is increasing Australia’s carbon emissions and allowing dirty power stations to survive.

Calls for a thorough inquiry into the ill-fated purchase of the Ayers Rock Resort by the Indigenous Land Corporation are being blocked at every turn by the government.

The arguments against renewable energy are not just without scientific basis, they lack economic credibility.

Opponents of same-sex marriage are mounting a last-ditch campaign to prevent parliament heeding public opinion, Mike Seccombe reports

While the government is looking for any distraction it can find from the economy, it is banking on unlegislated budget cuts hidden beyond the next election.

Hidden behind two of Australia’s biggest lobbying firms is one company and an endless list of political links.

Anti-renewable lobbyists have infiltrated politics, and are exploiting the tricks learned from Big Tobacco.

The only success in curbing mistreatment of refugees has been in the High Court. Now the government is targeting the lawyers who bring the cases.

Brandis's funding cuts and uncertainty in the legal aid sector are leaving the most disadvantaged and vulnerable in the community with nowhere to turn for protection.

As the US applauds the success of Australian economic policy, former treasurer Wayne Swan is sitting on a commission that may yet become a ginger group for Labor.

The closure of Anglesea’s small coalmine is a test run for an industry facing tightening emission and rehabilitation standards, and the reopening of the inquiry into the Morwell fire.

Twiggy Forrest’s failed bid to reset the iron ore price inadvertently shows who really tells the Abbott government what to do.

Covert negotiations, whispered announcements and an awkward about-face reveal a political agenda behind reaching consensus.

How does 'clicktivism’ stand up against the old-fashioned footslog of offline campaigning?

How tax breaks for investment properties have created a housing affordability crisis while lining the pockets of those least in need.

WA's treasurer, a former IPA economist, epitomises the hypocrisy of the state’s special pleading for a bigger share of GST revenue.

As Hockey finally acknowledges the budget’s revenue problems, there are serious questions about whether resources will ever boom again.

The tax debate has raised the ongoing issue of Australia's underlying inequality.

With the ALP gradually losing the hearts and minds of many of its rusted-on faithful, the party must prove that it actually believes in something in order to survive.

New government measures to preserve the Great Barrier Reef are more about protecting the ‘brand’ than admitting any environmental mismanagement.

He calls himself a ‘fixer’ but Christopher Pyne’s achievements heading the Coalition’s education portfolio have done nothing to support this school of thought.

The opposition leader is being wedged on data retention laws, not just by the government and the Greens, but by his own party.

His campaign to stop the boats made him the government’s toughest minister, but a new portfolio has Scott Morrison remodelling.

Tony Abbott’s security speech shows him already reaching for the last trick in the conservative playbook.

“There seems to be a repeating pattern, of people being drawn close to Turnbull, then falling out with him. Sometimes, particularly if it suits him, there is a reconciliation.”

A Darwin private school's indirect donation to the CLP, raises questions about disclosure laws, and the involvement of consultants Crosby Textor.

With leaders falling at the hands of voters and their own parties, management style is in the spotlight. But another contentious issue is coming back time and again to haunt both sides of politics.

State and federal inquiries are under way. But is there sufficient independence to assess potential shortcomings at the policing, intelligence or political levels?

Peter Dutton’s new portfolio is no longer about stopping the boats but whether to maintain cruel and expensive detention.

Tony Abbott’s great mentor left him with a squandered boom and a tax system that may yet destroy his government.

Awarding a PM’s literary prize to a poorly sourced anti-union tome is an unsubtle attempt to rewrite history.

As the government walks away from pricing carbon and dismantles climate initiatives, it reveals itself as our most radical in decades.

Funding cuts to the ABC play perfectly into the hands of the national broadcaster’s management.

As the market deserts coal, Queensland’s government is offering money to Indian mining giant Adani to exploit the state’s reserves.

A timely leak of documents may finally force the G20’s hand on corporate tax dodging.

While the Greens fight over relevance, the movement from which they were born is going professional.

Innovative battery technology will not only change the way we drive, it could also radically alter the way we consume electricity.

Calls are mounting for Coles and Woolworths to have their ruthless conduct with suppliers and competition practices more closely scrutinised.

Australia is keen to aid the Kurds in the fight against the Islamic State, but less keen to admit we deem them terrorists at home.

What is the Australia Institute and how did it cultivate such critical influence over the government’s agenda?

Governments love privatisation; the public loathes it. Elections can be won and lost on the strength of the disagreement.

Despite regulatory fig leaves, live and online gambling is growing exponentially. And there’s no will to change it.

Hidden in new anti-terrorism laws are wide powers governments want to silence dissent and quash protest.

ICAC poses one big question: why would a party buy an election it has already won?

Standover men and convicted terrorists, mingling with unions and corrupt politicians, have hollowed out faith in institutions.

Encouraging membership of ‘Team Australia’ must include active recruitment of Muslim players and consultation on the game plan.

The major parties are legislating to take over city councils with an attempt to stack votes in their favour.

Bags of money and faulty memories cost two Newcastle Liberals their jobs.

The latest outbreak of the Ebola virus is of global concern. But it highlights our blindspots and hysteria when it comes to contagion.

All evidence shows Eric Abetz’s hardline welfare reforms will not get people into work. His motives lie elsewhere.

The Abbott government is using money and law to close down criticism and gag the community’s most trusted voices.

With an unprecedented fervour, the government is filling boards and commissions with old cronies.

The two new ex-Liberal crossbench senators were meant to make the government’s life easier. But Bob Day and David Leyonhjelm have their own radically right-wing agendas.

Alastair Furnival’s downfall shone light on the heavy political links of Big Food lobbyists.

A campaign of false data, planted in the Australian press, is being used to weaken tobacco laws abroad.

In an unreleased review he chaired into the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, Gerard Henderson recommended he be put in charge of judges. Now he’s got his wish, for a much richer prize.

While most are appalled by stories of corporate tax avoidance, we are also enjoying the benefits through investment in these companies by our super funds.

Tony Abbott has paid lip service to tax reform, but his government’s latest measures only serve to make corporate avoidance easier.

There is one group to which Tony Abbott has kept his promises since becoming prime minister: the Institute of Public Affairs.

As the boom ends, poor oversight and lax bonds leave governments stuck with an enormous bill for mining’s clean-up.

For a time, it seemed he would be, like Nixon, remembered for a single sensational act. But Malcolm Fraser’s rebirth as a passionate libertarian now sees him back in public life.

The influence ICAC scrutinises is just the grubby tip. Here, we explore the iceberg of political donations.

Behind the ICAC revelations that have already toppled a premier, a factional feud threatens the entire party.

It was set to be Australia’s biggest mine, but the simple rules of supply and demand mean the coalfields of Queensland’s Galilee Basin may never be excavated.

ICAC, a bottle of wine and a massive memory fail created the perfect storm to bring down a premier.

As Packer’s Barangaroo casino ploughs through all obstacles, it becomes more clear he plays by different rules.

Amid signs the vote for Clive Palmer’s party is dropping, a picture of his mainstay supporters is emerging.

There are two groups that want the charities regulator and its oversights scuppered: the financial services industry and the Catholic Church. They have a friend in the government.

For so long NSW Labor has been weighed down by allegations of corruption. Now a link between Liberal Party stalwart Arthur Sinodinos and Eddie Obeid has cast a dark shadow on the Abbott government.

This week something of a bombshell was dropped during the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

“At least one claim made by Philip Morris is true: the company is bigger than Uruguay ... Australia, with an economy 15 times bigger, had the means to meet Big Tobacco’s challenge. ”

A union stalwart stands down but his conservative views continue to influence Australian social policy.

The Biennale of Sydney and long-time arts benefactor Luca Belgiorno-Nettis are embroiled in a controversy not of their own making, and the event hasn’t even started.