Politics news

• China ambassador attacks ASIO, rejects foreign interference accusations

  30-06-2026 21:00 via smh.com.au
  
  China’s top diplomat attended a speech by ASIO boss Mike Burgess last week, sitting in the second row. He didn’t like what he saw.
  
  Read more

• Live: Government defends budget housing tax changes as market cools

  30-06-2026 23:17 via abc.net.au
  
  The government has again defended its housing tax changes included in the budget after a fresh report suggested house prices fell again in June. Follow live. 
  
  Read more

• Live: 'Alarming': PM questions why Ernst and Young grads had access to banking data

  30-06-2026 23:17 via abc.net.au
  
  Anthony Albanese has questioned how two Ernst and Young graduates had access to personal banking data after one was charged with accessing his account. Follow live.
  
  Read more

• Coalition talking points make scant mention of One Nation

  30-06-2026 21:08 via abc.net.au
  
  Coalition talking points, obtained by the ABC, make almost no direct mention of One Nation despite the minor party surging in the polls.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Coalition avoids direct One Nation messaging in daily talking points

  30-06-2026 21:08 via abc.net.au
  
  Coalition talking points, obtained by the ABC, make almost no direct mention of One Nation despite the minor party surging in the polls.
  
  Read more

• 'Not fair and honest': Accounting firms face split after KPMG scandal

  30-06-2026 20:49 via abc.net.au
  
  Accounting firms could be asked to split their lucrative consulting services from their audit functions and individual firm partners could face far greater scrutiny and penalties for legal breaches, under a shake up of the industry being consulted on by the federal government.
  
  Read more

• Accounting firms could be split post KPMG audit scandal

  30-06-2026 20:49 via abc.net.au
  
  Accounting firms could be asked to split their lucrative consulting services from their audit functions and individual firm partners could face far greater scrutiny and penalties for legal breaches, under a shake up of the industry being consulted on by the federal government.
  
  Read more

• Accounting firms could be split in wake of KPMG audit scandal

  30-06-2026 20:49 via abc.net.au
  
  Accounting firms could be asked to split their lucrative consulting services from their audit functions and individual firm partners could face far greater scrutiny and penalties for legal breaches, under a shake up of the industry being consulted on by the federal government.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• ‘An assault on our democracy’: New push to clean up election day chaos

  30-06-2026 20:00 via smh.com.au
  
  A new federal report recommends a serious crackdown on election campaigners’ behaviour: “It is only a matter of time before someone is seriously injured.”
  
  Read more

• Three free hours of power begins now – if you ask for it

  30-06-2026 16:04 via smh.com.au
  
  Home owners and renters could save hundreds of dollars by opting into a new scheme available to all electricity customers.
  
  Read more

• House values fall – but homes are not getting more affordable

  30-06-2026 16:01 via smh.com.au
  
  Rate rises, unaffordable homes and the government’s tax changes are behind another fall in value of the nation’s homes.
  
  Read more

• Best of cartoons, July 1, 2026

  30-06-2026 13:16 via smh.com.au
  
  The news of the day as interpreted by our talented artists, illustrators and cartoonists.
  
  Read more

• This Liberal took his teacher to gambling anonymous

  30-06-2026 12:00 via abc.net.au
  
  When Liberal backbencher Simon Kennedy was a teenager, one of his high school teachers asked to borrow money for his gambling addiction. He says he ended up accompanying the teacher to Gamblers Anonymous meetings.
  
  Read more

• Minister urged to deny visa to comedian who has accused Israel of ‘false flag’ operation

  30-06-2026 11:45 via smh.com.au
  
  Australia’s peak Jewish group is urging Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke to deny a visa to a prominent comedian who has accused Israel of bombing its own embassy.
  
  Read more

• Foreign digital army behind pro-One Nation posts flooding social media

  30-06-2026 11:30 via smh.com.au
  
  A network of paid overseas influencers is targeting Australian voters to turbocharge support for One Nation. And it seems to be working.
  
  Read more

• Coalition, Greens team up to delay Labor’s ‘half-arsed’ gambling bill

  30-06-2026 11:30 via smh.com.au
  
  A handful of Liberal MPs told a Coalition party room meeting that the opposition should take a strong line on gambling reform rather than wave Labor’s laws through.
  
  Read more

• Taylor rejects claim he gave rural firefighters a ‘kick in the guts’ with bushfire comments

  30-06-2026 08:36 via smh.com.au
  
  Angus Taylor claimed bureaucrats let catastrophic 2003 fires rip. That narrative has been rejected by the man who led the containment effort, who also demanded an apology.
  
  Read more

• Childcare centre that exposed kids to rat poison stripped of funding

  30-06-2026 08:35 via abc.net.au
  
  The Melbourne childcare provider has been cut off under new powers that allow the federal government to withdraw funding due to safety breaches.
  
  Read more

• Bassem Youssef's controversial comments

  30-06-2026 08:03 via smh.com.au
  
  Australia's peak Jewish group is urging Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke to deny a visa to prominent comedian Bassem Youssef.
  
  Read more

• The changes that could put extra money in your pocket

  30-06-2026 05:26 via smh.com.au
  
  From tax cuts to wage increases, here are some of the changes starting July 1.
  
  Read more

• ‘Kick in the guts’: Firefighters demand Taylor apologise over bushfire claim

  30-06-2026 03:48 via smh.com.au
  
  Angus Taylor claimed bureaucrats let the catastrophic 2003 fires rip. That narrative has been flatly rejected by the man who led the containment effort.
  
  Read more

• Police hunt for menacing letter writer who calls themselves ‘Scorpio’

  30-06-2026 03:34 via smh.com.au
  
  More than 100 threatening letters have been sent to parliamentarians over the past decade.
  
  Read more

• ‘Go to hell’: Liberal leader savages Hanson over monocultural push

  30-06-2026 02:48 via smh.com.au
  
  Former talkback host turned ACT Liberal leader Mark Parton has labelled Pauline Hanson’s One Nation a “whingeing, grievance echo chamber”.
  
  Read more

• Live: Treasurer 'willing to engage' on super for under-18s

  29-06-2026 23:10 via abc.net.au
  
  Treasurer Jim Chalmers says he's open to discussing a guarantee for superannuation to be paid for teenage workers but stresses that's not the government's focus at the moment. Follow live. 
  
  Read more

• Live: Liberal MP suspended from parliament for 24 hours after QT outburst

  29-06-2026 23:10 via abc.net.au
  
  Liberal MP Garth Hamilton has been suspended from the House of Representatives for 24 hours after an outburst during Question Time. Follow live. 
  
  Read more

• Live: Liberal McIntosh denies 'blunt' call a demand for leadership change

  29-06-2026 23:10 via abc.net.au
  
  Liberal frontbencher Melissa McIntosh has doubled down on her call for a party rebrand but denies the statement was a push for leadership change. Follow live. 
  
  Read more

• Live: Liberal frontbenchers rebuff call from colleague to rebrand party

  29-06-2026 23:10 via abc.net.au
  
  Liberal frontbenchers have rebuffed calls from shadow minister Melissa McIntosh to rebrand the Liberal Party. Follow live. 
  
  Read more

• Liberal MP suspended from parliament for 24 hours after QT outburst — as it happened

  29-06-2026 23:10 via abc.net.au
  
  Liberal MP Garth Hamilton has been suspended from the House of Representatives for 24 hours after an outburst during Question Time.
  
  Read more

• Liberal MP suspended from parliament for 24 hours after QT outburst

  29-06-2026 23:10 via abc.net.au
  
  Liberal MP Garth Hamilton has been suspended from the House of Representatives for 24 hours after an outburst during Question Time.
  
  Read more

• Worker says forestry transition program 'decimated' Gippsland's small towns

  29-06-2026 21:29 via abc.net.au
  
  The Victorian Forestry Transition Program is ending. In the regions that relied on the timber trade, the question is whether it worked.
  
  Read more

Follow @Politics_NewsAU on Twitter!