User Articles

Ley defends leadership picks

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has hosed down criticism over her shadow cabinet picks, after dumping several conservative women and walking back from a climate commitment. Ley promoted key political allies and demoted her conservative foes when she announced the line-up on Wednesday. The highest profile demotion was senator Jane Hume, after internal criticism of her role in the election loss.

AAP Newswire

Australia

Albanese rebuffs ‘predictable’ defence spend criticism

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has backed his government’s defence spending after a report warned Australia’s current levels could fail to address threats. In an era described by authorities as the most dangerous since the end of World War II, the 2025/26 defence budget misses a “crucial opportunity” to prepare Australia’s military and defence industrial base for future challenges, according to an analysis released by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI). Albanese has hit back at the report, noting his government had conducted a defence strategic review and would lift expenditure to about 2.3 per cent of GDP within the decade.

AAP Newswire

Australia

26 May 2025

Fractured coalition to unveil key roles after reunion

Questions are being raised about how a fractured coalition will hold the government to account as a reunion takes shape. Liberal leader Sussan Ley and Nationals counterpart David Littleproud spoke on Monday as the pair negotiate a fresh coalition agreement. A joint shadow cabinet will be announced in coming days after the Nationals walked back a threat to abandon the long-standing partnersh

AAP Newswire

26 May 2025

Australia

Army pilot took ‘evasive action’ before crash

The pilot of an army chopper that crashed and killed all four on board took action to avoid a mid-air collision with another aircraft, a defence report reveals. The Aviation Safety Investigation Report into the MRH-90 Taipan helicopter crash on July...

AAP Newswire

Australia

Nationals ‘will work with Liberals’

The end of the federal coalition won’t stop the Nationals from working with their ex-political partner to target their common enemy – a rampant Labor government. Amid a disagreement over the retention of policies following a heavy election defeat, party leader David Littleproud pulled the Nationals out of a partnership with the Liberals. But, Littleproud also said he won’t be “unrealistic or stupid” and plans to work with the Liberals to target the federal government, which has a strong majority.

AAP Newswire

Australia

18 May 2025

Albanese to discuss jailed Aussie fighter with Zelensky

The fate of jailed Australian Oscar Jenkins is set to be discussed in face-to-face talks between Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Rome. Jenkins faces 13 years in a Russian prison after a court found him guilty of taking part in an armed conflict as a mercenary, which denies him the protections provided to prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention. The Australian government insists he was fighting as a member of the Ukrainian defence forces and should be entitled to humane treatment as a prisoner of war.

AAP Newswire

18 May 2025

Australia

15 May 2025

Waters to lead Greens after Bandt’s shock defeat

Larissa Waters has been appointed to lead the Greens after the minor party lost three seats and its captain at the federal election. The Queensland senator triumphed over South Australian Sarah Hanson-Young and Mehreen Faruqi from NSW. Adam Bandt, who had led the Greens since 2020, lost his seat of Melbourne to Labor at the May 3 poll.

AAP Newswire

15 May 2025

Australia

Plibersek punted as Albanese stamps authority on ministry

Anthony Albanese has dumped Tanya Plibersek from her environment portfolio as part of a shake-up of his ministry. The prime minister played down internal divisions following Labor’s landslide election victory as he promoted close ally Tim Ayres to cabinet and elevated Anne Aly from the outer ministry. Plibersek, who has a frosty relationship with Albanese despite being one of Labor’s most senior women, has been shifted to social services.

AAP Newswire

Australia

Alfred leaves hefty damage bill

Ex-tropical cyclone Alfred may not have produced as much carnage as expected, but the damage bill for insurers is still steep. The weather system swept across southeast Queensland in March, knocking down trees, flooding roads, eroding beaches and cutting power to hundreds of thousands of people. It was forecast to strike as a category two system, but was downgraded to a tropical low after making landfall.

AAP Newswire

Australia

08 May 2025

The seats still too close to call

A prominent teal independent is among incumbents still waiting to learn if they will keep their seat in federal parliament. Monique Ryan’s anxious wait for a result in her leafy inner-east Melbourne electorate of Kooyong will continue, as she faces...

AAP Newswire

08 May 2025

Australia

06 May 2025

Soldier fatigue in focus at fatal chopper crash probe

Wearable sleep monitoring devices were proposed to better assess aircrew fatigue before an army helicopter crash killed four personnel, an inquiry has been told. The inquiry into the July 2023 crash also heard the commander of an aviation regiment had proposed a sleep study after identifying fatigue as a key issue for the unit, but it was rejected by headquarters.

AAP Newswire

06 May 2025

Australia

Albanese gets straight back to work

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has taken his landslide election victory as a mandate to press ahead with key reforms as he stares down the Greens on housing. Despite winning a substantial majority, Albanese insists the government would turn to priority reform and not get ahead of itself. Legislation to slash student debt by 20 per cent will be introduced when parliament resumes.

AAP Newswire

Australia

Rural battle ends in Nationals upset

Standing in a drying paddock before Christmas, National Party Leader David Littleproud declared the seat of Calare key to a Coalition election victory. But in a symbolic defeat, the Nationals have been unable to claw back the rural NSW electorate from a party defector. Andrew Gee, an independent who quit the Nationals in late 2022 over the party’s opposition to an Indigenous voice to parliament, retained Calare, claiming victory over Sam Farraway.

AAP Newswire