Politics news

• Here's how Labor, the Coalition and One Nation's migration cuts compare

  06-10-2026 08:22 via abc.net.au
  
  One Nation wants negative migration in its first years, the Coalition has promised to more than halve it, while Labor has announced measures to ensure migration actually falls to its target of 225,000. Here is what the parties want to do on migration, and how they propose to do it.
  
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• Man kept in jail illegally amid psychiatric facility bed shortage

  08-10-2026 23:13 via abc.net.au
  
  A mentally impaired man is kept in jail illegally because of a chronic lack of beds in the state’s only psychiatric facility caring for prisoners.
  
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• Live: Wong says government cannot force tax office to accept credit card payments

  08-10-2026 22:14 via abc.net.au
  
  Penny Wong says the government does not have the power to direct the tax office to reverse its decision to stop accepting credit card payments. Follow live. 
  
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• Live: Minister moves to smooth over government response to ATO payment change

  08-10-2026 22:14 via abc.net.au
  
  Pat Conroy has tried to smooth over the federal government's response to the ATO's decision to end credit card payments. Follow live. 
  
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• We’ve reached a perverse moment. Things are only going to get worse

  08-10-2026 20:00 via smh.com.au
  
  This isn’t a story of angry people knowing what they want and voting for it. Trump and Brexit show people are rejecting what they have, then rejecting what they’ve chosen to replace it.
  
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• Joel Fitzgibbon’s son died in army training. He warns ‘safety overreach’ would do more harm than good

  08-10-2026 20:00 via smh.com.au
  
  The government is preparing a probe into defence safety protocols after the eighth death in military training exercises since 2023.
  
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• ‘Are migrants just a scapegoat?’ Your questions answered

  08-10-2026 19:00 via smh.com.au
  
  Immigration expert Abul Rizvi, a former department secretary, dissects the Coalition’s policy and answers our audience questions in this episode of Inside Politics.
  
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• Best of cartoons, October 9, 2026

  08-10-2026 12:51 via smh.com.au
  
  The news of the day as interpreted by our talented artists, illustrators and cartoonists.
  
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• Kids turning to chatbots to disclose online sexual victimisation

  08-10-2026 12:30 via abc.net.au
  
  More children are turning to AI chatbots when they are sexually victimised online and the federal police commissioner says parents and the community need to step up their support.
  
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• Taylor’s immigration policy risks pleasing no one, except perhaps John Howard

  08-10-2026 10:30 via smh.com.au
  
  The Coalition is racing to catch up with One Nation on immigration, but will its plan actually change voters’ minds?
  
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• An immigration expert answers your questions

  08-10-2026 09:00 via smh.com.au
  
  We put questions from our readers and viewers to former immigration department deputy secretary Abul Rizvi.
  
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• Taylor and Abbott say Bondi shooting drove the politics on migration

  08-10-2026 08:47 via smh.com.au
  
  Opposition Leader Angus Taylor and ally Tony Abbott have linked the Coalition’s migration clampdown to the Bondi massacre.
  
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• Labor ministers contradict each other over ATO credit card surcharge ban

  08-10-2026 07:00 via smh.com.au
  
  The Coalition says the government is “all over the shop” while businesses that won’t be able to use a credit card to pay company tax demand clarity.
  
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• ‘Biggest surge in new members’: Greens celebrate the leadership bump in their numbers

  08-10-2026 06:53 via smh.com.au
  
  The new Greens leader has promised to give members a say in future leadership contests. But the minor party’s sign-ups still lag far behind One Nation.
  
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• ‘Biggest surge in new members on record’: Inside the Shoebridge boost

  08-10-2026 06:51 via smh.com.au
  
  The new Greens leader has promised to give members a say in future leadership contests. But the minor party’s sign-ups still lag far behind One Nation.
  
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• WA's oil and gas industry watches impact of High Court ruling closely

  08-10-2026 06:32 via abc.net.au
  
  WA's energy sector is sounding the alarm over a landmark High Court ruling that overseas emissions from a proposed NSW coal mine were required to be considered when approving the project.
  
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• WA treasurer surprised by High Court outcome and seeking advice

  08-10-2026 06:32 via abc.net.au
  
  WA's energy sector is sounding the alarm over a landmark High Court ruling that overseas emissions from a proposed NSW coal mine were required to be considered when approving the project.
  
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• Labor split on ATO credit card ban as businesses call for leadership

  08-10-2026 04:19 via abc.net.au
  
  The federal government is facing growing pressure over the Australian Taxation Office's decision to stop accepting credit card payments for tax bills.
  
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• Government under pressure to intervene over ATO credit card ban

  08-10-2026 04:19 via abc.net.au
  
  The federal government is facing growing pressure over the Australian Taxation Office's decision to stop accepting credit card payments for tax bills.
  
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• Australia wants to regulate AI like banks and airlines

  08-10-2026 04:19 via abc.net.au
  
  The federal government is looking to banking and aviation regulation as it develops laws that would make AI companies demonstrate they can identify and manage risks.
  
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• Australia could adapt airline and bank laws for AI safety

  08-10-2026 04:19 via abc.net.au
  
  The federal government is looking to banking and aviation regulation as it develops laws that would make AI companies demonstrate they can identify and manage risks.
  
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• Taylor plays down concerns migration policy could deter foreign students — as it happened

  07-10-2026 22:12 via abc.net.au
  
  Angus Taylor has played down concerns the Coalition's migration policy could deter international students from studying in Australia.
  
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• Live: Taylor plays down concerns migration policy could deter foreign students

  07-10-2026 22:12 via abc.net.au
  
  Angus Taylor has played down concerns the Coalition's migration policy could deter international students from studying in Australia. Follow live.
  
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• Live: Labor views split over ATO decision to stop accepting credit card payments

  07-10-2026 22:12 via abc.net.au
  
  Andrew Charlton says the government supports the tax office's decision to stop accepting credit card payments despite the housing minister saying Labor has "real concerns". Follow live. 
  
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• Live: Labor has 'real concerns' about ATO's credit card payments decision

  07-10-2026 22:12 via abc.net.au
  
  Clare O'Neil says the federal government has "real concerns" about the Australian Tax Office's decision to stop accepting credit card payments for tax bills. Follow live. 
  
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• When a Liberal senator, I was asked by the party to meet with some ‘business people’. Nobody told me they were Brethren

  07-10-2026 20:00 via smh.com.au
  
  In the final weeks of the 2025 federal election campaign, I was asked by a senior Liberal Party official to meet two men described to me as small business people who wanted to assist local federal campaigns.
  
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• The cost of cutting foreign workers: Fares spike in Taylor’s migration gamble

  07-10-2026 19:11 via smh.com.au
  
  One feature of the opposition’s plan involves the Home Affairs Department stopping international students violating work rights by working in the gig economy.
  
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• Best of cartoons, October 8, 2026

  07-10-2026 13:16 via smh.com.au
  
  The news of the day as interpreted by our talented artists, illustrators and cartoonists.
  
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• Coalition and Greens unite to revolt against Labor’s private health ‘pensioner penalty’

  07-10-2026 10:34 via smh.com.au
  
  The move jeopardises the reform’s passage through parliament and the $3 billion in savings Labor is banking on to fund thousands of aged care beds.
  
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• ‘Pandora’s box’: High Court decision could reopen coal mine approval cases

  07-10-2026 09:47 via smh.com.au
  
  The Coalition and the minerals lobby are calling for urgent new laws to address the decision over a mine in the political battleground of the NSW Hunter region.
  
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