Politics news

• Victorian Coalition under fire over hospital election pledges

  25-07-2026 23:38 via abc.net.au
  
  Victoria's Coalition has been asked to justify differences between regional hospital election pledges.
  
  Read more

• 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. 
  
  Read more

• 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. 
  
  Read more

• 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.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• ‘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.
  
  Read more

• 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.
  
  Read more

• 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.
  
  Read more

• 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.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• 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.
  
  Read more

• 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.
  
  Read more

• 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.
  
  Read more

• Federal prosecutors decline to take on Luke Gosling assault charges

  27-08-2026 10:20 via abc.net.au
  
  An assault charge brought against federal Northern Territory politician Luke Gosling is up in the air after the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions declines to take on the case.
  
  Read more

• A GST deal and the NDIS blew out by billions — but one is sacred

  27-08-2026 08:26 via abc.net.au
  
  The Albanese government had a turbulent week with tussles over data centres and division within the Labor party over its humanitarian intake.
  
  Read more

• Five days later, Hanson still struggles to articulate migration policy

  27-08-2026 07:08 via smh.com.au
  
  Hanson again appeared to confuse net migration with permanent migration, creating more uncertainty about One Nation’s actual policy.
  
  Read more

• Six days later, Hanson still struggles to articulate migration policy

  27-08-2026 06:56 via smh.com.au
  
  Hanson again appeared to confuse net migration with permanent migration, creating more uncertainty about One Nation’s actual policy.
  
  Read more

• Pauline Hanson fumbles migration policy explanation

  27-08-2026 06:44 via smh.com.au
  
  The One Nation leader appeared to confuse different measures of migration during the News 24 Bush Summit.
  
  Read more

• We should work together: Hanson

  27-08-2026 06:13 via smh.com.au
  
  One Nation leader Pauline Hanson says her party and the Coalition should team up in a terse exchange with Nationals leader Matt Canavan.
  
  Read more

• 'Horrific slur': Greens MP threatens to sue Nationals rival in antisemitism row

  27-08-2026 04:54 via abc.net.au
  
  Two of WA parliament's biggest personalities are staring down the barrel of a legal fight, with Greens politician Sophie McNeill taking the first step towards suing Nationals counterpart Lachlan Hunter.
  
  Read more

• Greens MP seeks apology for 'horrific slur', threatens to sue Nationals rival

  27-08-2026 04:54 via abc.net.au
  
  Two of WA parliament's biggest personalities are staring down the barrel of a legal fight, with Greens politician Sophie McNeill taking the first step towards suing Nationals counterpart Lachlan Hunter.
  
  Read more

• ‘The country is starting to catch on’: Albanese warned that states deal will cost him votes

  27-08-2026 03:20 via smh.com.au
  
  South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas has warned Anthony Albanese he could lose vital seats across the east coast if he fails to resolve how the GST is carved up among the states and territories.
  
  Read more

• Abbott says War Memorial shouldn’t ‘dwell on’ frontier conflicts

  27-08-2026 03:05 via smh.com.au
  
  “My own view is that [frontier conflicts] would be better done at the Australian National Museum rather than the Australian War Memorial,” the former PM said.
  
  Read more

• Wong says DFAT urgently seeking latest on missing Australians — as it happened

  26-08-2026 23:02 via abc.net.au
  
  The foreign minister says the government is also trying to ascertain if more Australians are missing in the area after flash floods wiped out villages in the Himalayas.
  
  Read more

• Live: Wong says DFAT urgently seeking latest on missing Australians

  26-08-2026 23:02 via abc.net.au
  
  The foreign minister says the government is also trying to ascertain if more Australians are missing in the area after flash floods wiped out villages in the Himalayas. Follow live.
  
  Read more

• Live: Queensland premier hails data centre carve-out for coal, gas use

  26-08-2026 23:02 via abc.net.au
  
  David Crisafulli welcomes an agreement to exempt his state from having to use renewable energy to power new data centres. Follow live. 
  
  Read more

• Live: PM says information from Nepal is 'difficult' following deadly flood

  26-08-2026 23:02 via abc.net.au
  
  The prime minister says getting information out of Nepal is "difficult" following a deadly flood that has killed more than 150 people. Follow live.
  
  Read more

• This dodgy $60b deal reeks. Now it’s being buried in pure bulldust

  26-08-2026 21:00 via smh.com.au
  
  An independent report finds the nation’s GST deal is a $60 billion mistake. Opponents are smothering those findings in a nauseating level of bulldust.
  
  Read more

• One Nation’s Malcolm Roberts defends White Australia party in latest controversial podcast

  26-08-2026 21:00 via smh.com.au
  
  One Nation MPs have given a series of different interpretations of their migration plan in recent days after elevating the issue of immigration for months.
  
  Read more

• Behind the energy brawl everyone wants the data centre boom

  26-08-2026 21:00 via abc.net.au
  
  As is so often the case in Australia, the politics came down to a fight over energy.
  
  Read more

• Albanese's rare concession in the energy wars is revealing

  26-08-2026 21:00 via abc.net.au
  
  As is so often the case in Australia, the politics came down to a fight over energy.
  
  Read more

• Best of cartoons, August 27, 2026

  26-08-2026 17:29 via smh.com.au
  
  The news of the day as interpreted by our talented artists, illustrators and cartoonists.
  
  Read more

Follow @Politics_NewsAU on Twitter!