Politics news

• Premiers clash with Albanese on migration plan as PM intervenes in refugee cuts

  27-08-2026 20:55 via smh.com.au
  
  Amid confusion within Labor on its refugee intake, state sources said premiers discussed the financial consequences of recent cutbacks on student visas.
  
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• One Nation takes on 'safe' Labor seat in closely watched WA by-election

  29-08-2026 00:25 via abc.net.au
  
  Can One Nation break into a Labor heartland? A crucial test is underway today in Western Australia.
  
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• Can frustrated voters today propel One Nation into WA's parliament?

  29-08-2026 00:25 via abc.net.au
  
  Can One Nation break into a Labor heartland? A crucial test is underway today in Western Australia.
  
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• Labor's MotoGP coup crashes into an all-too-familiar parklands wall

  28-08-2026 23:29 via abc.net.au
  
  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.
  
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• How Alan Jones went from one of the loudest and most powerful voices in the country to silence in a courtroom

  28-08-2026 21:00 via smh.com.au
  
  He was friendly with a huge variety of politicians and sportspeople, and for more than three decades barraged his listeners with his opinions.
  
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• Hanson demands PM play fair and double her staffing allocation

  28-08-2026 21:00 via smh.com.au
  
  The One Nation leader has demanded the prime minister play fair and give her more staff, following her party’s elevation to minor party status.
  
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• Conflicting stories about CIA chief's Moscow trip show Trump's global chaos

  28-08-2026 21:00 via abc.net.au
  
  Contradictory narratives about why the CIA chief was in Moscow highlight the Trump administration's failing diplomacy.
  
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• Both Trump and Putin feel backed into a corner

  28-08-2026 21:00 via abc.net.au
  
  Contradictory narratives about why the CIA chief was in Moscow highlight the Trump administration's failing diplomacy.
  
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• Albanese eyes big-spending agenda for third term, places tech regulation at core of government

  28-08-2026 21:00 via smh.com.au
  
  The prime minister said Labor’s upcoming digital duty of care, which would force social media giants to alter their algorithms, would be “a big deal”.
  
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• A UN Security Council seat for Australia? It would be the icing on PM’s international cake

  28-08-2026 21:00 via smh.com.au
  
  Like most PMs, Albanese likes the international diplomatic round, which includes ASEAN, APEC, the G20 and COP.
  
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• Australia's tobacco tax crushed smoking. Has it gone too far?

  28-08-2026 20:49 via abc.net.au
  
  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? 
  
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• The soldier who could never quite leave the army behind

  28-08-2026 20:30 via smh.com.au
  
  A solemn Last Post ceremony will be held on Saturday for a fallen commando from Australia’s longest war. Those attending want to make sure it will not be followed by its longest silence.
  
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• The visa class at the heart of Labor’s migration woes

  28-08-2026 08:09 via smh.com.au
  
  As migration levels dominate political debate, a booming number of people applying for visas from within Australia has led to an explosion temporary documents in the last three years.
  
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• Labor slams excise cut plan as Coalition being addicted to big tobacco

  28-08-2026 08:04 via smh.com.au
  
  One of the nation’s largest public health failures, the surge in illegal cigarettes, is now the centre of fight between the government and opposition.
  
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• Bowen says 'no carve-outs' after Queensland claims data centre win

  28-08-2026 05:14 via abc.net.au
  
  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.
  
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• 'There's so much at risk': Maree Edwards latest Bendigo Labor woman to quit

  28-08-2026 04:14 via abc.net.au
  
  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.
  
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• 'There's a lot at risk': Maree Edwards latest Bendigo Labor woman to quit

  28-08-2026 04:14 via abc.net.au
  
  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.
  
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• Labor, Coalition and One Nation fight among themselves on migration

  28-08-2026 01:53 via abc.net.au
  
  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.
  
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• Live: Coalition leaves door open to cutting annual refugee intake

  27-08-2026 22:49 via abc.net.au
  
  Opposition Leader Angus Taylor has left the door open to reducing Australia's annual refugee intake below the current number of 20,000. Follow live. 
  
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• Live: Australia releases $5m in humanitarian aid after Nepal-Tibet flood

  27-08-2026 22:49 via abc.net.au
  
  The federal government will be releasing $5 million in humanitarian assistance to support disaster recovery efforts in the Himalayas following a deadly flood. Follow live. 
  
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• Coalition leaves door open to cutting annual refugee intake — as it happened

  27-08-2026 22:49 via abc.net.au
  
  Opposition Leader Angus Taylor has left the door open to reducing Australia's annual refugee intake below the current number of 20,000.
  
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• The One Nation conundrum: details don’t matter and their voters are OK with that

  27-08-2026 21:00 via smh.com.au
  
  No one seems to care much that One Nation’s policy is so hard to pin down. Rather than trusting the details, they are relying more on vibes.
  
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• ‘Consume, be silent, die’: that’s the PM’s message, say fed-up business chiefs

  27-08-2026 21:00 via smh.com.au
  
  There is a growing schism between the federal government and business. Anthony Albanese can’t afford to let it go on.
  
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• Australia’s big squeeze: How 6 million people went into a handful of areas

  27-08-2026 21:00 via smh.com.au
  
  Australia’s population has grown by 8.3 million since 2001. Six million of those are in a small fraction of the nation’s councils.
  
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• What do we know about China's new ambassador to Australia?

  27-08-2026 20:50 via abc.net.au
  
  China's new ambassador-designate to Australia has barely got his feet under the handsome desk in his embassy office, but he has already generated plenty of chatter.
  
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• China's new representative in Australia already generating chatter

  27-08-2026 20:50 via abc.net.au
  
  China's new ambassador-designate to Australia has barely got his feet under the handsome desk in his embassy office, but he has already generated plenty of chatter.
  
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• China's new rep in Australia already generating chatter

  27-08-2026 20:50 via abc.net.au
  
  China's new ambassador-designate to Australia has barely got his feet under the handsome desk in his embassy office, but he has already generated plenty of chatter.
  
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• Nationals' deputy Chester says Joyce departure 'sad for him, sad for party'

  27-08-2026 20:30 via abc.net.au
  
  From watching Barnaby Joyce leave the National Party for One Nation to his collapse in parliament as bushfires ravaged his electorate, Darren Chester has seen a lot in his 18 years in parliament.
  
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• Darren Chester on the day he collapsed in parliament

  27-08-2026 20:30 via abc.net.au
  
  From watching Barnaby Joyce leave the National Party for One Nation to his collapse in parliament as bushfires ravaged his electorate, Darren Chester has seen a lot in his 18 years in parliament.
  
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• Best of cartoons, August 28, 2026

  27-08-2026 14:24 via smh.com.au
  
  The news of the day as interpreted by our talented artists, illustrators and cartoonists.
  
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