News

Tobias Moran, the former boyfriend of murdered German backpacker Simone Strobel, has begun a civil case against NSW Police alleging malicious prosecution after criminal charges against him…

An 80-year-old motorist was seriously injured when a police pursuit ended in a violent collision in Perth’s southern suburbs on Monday, 12 October, leaving emergency crews confronting…

A 13-year-old boy has been charged with murder after a father was fatally stabbed in a western Sydney street, in a case police say began with what…

A clash between Matt Kean and Catherine Cusack exposed deep divisions inside the NSW Coalition over koala protection, land clearing and the balance between environmental safeguards and competing land uses. Cusack gave Parliament a sharply critical account of government negotiations over the state’s koala rules. Kean rejected her recollection, describing it as a “wild fantasy”. The dispute was as much about how decisions were made as about the fate of koala habitat.

Clive Palmer’s bitter dispute with Jacqui Lambie became more than an internal argument over loyalty when the senator broke with her party’s position on changes to financial advice protections. Palmer branded Lambie a liar, while Lambie accused him of trying to intimidate her and insisted she would act independently in Parliament. The conflict exposed how a fractured crossbench party could influence the rules governing financial advice for ordinary Australians.

A dispute between Malcolm Turnbull and conservative commentator Andrew Bolt offers a revealing view of how speculation about political leadership can become a story about the speculation itself. Turnbull rejected a column linking his contacts with Clive Palmer and public appearances to an alleged leadership manoeuvre against prime minister Tony Abbott. He used the word “unhinged” to describe the theory. Bolt, in turn, argued that Turnbull’s unusually sharp response gave the issue greater political prominence.

An explosive private message by Barnaby Joyce about Scott Morrison became a public test of trust inside the Coalition government. Joyce had described Morrison as a “hypocrite and a liar” while outside the deputy prime minister’s office. When the message became public, Joyce apologised and offered his resignation. Morrison declined to accept it, allowing the working relationship at the top of the government to continue.

Noel Pearson’s criticism of Nationals leader David Littleproud over an Indigenous Voice to Parliament combined a blistering personal insult with a much larger argument about constitutional recognition. Pearson accused Littleproud of abandoning support for the proposal and called him a “kindergarten kid”. Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, a Nationals senator who opposed the proposed Voice, responded by rejecting what she characterised as bullying and defending her focus on practical outcomes for Aboriginal people.

Julia Gillard’s refusal to take a personal apology call from broadcaster Alan Jones turned an offensive political comment into a larger debate about the responsibilities of influential media figures. Jones had told a Liberal-affiliated gathering that Gillard’s late father had “died of shame” because of her political conduct. Jones subsequently acknowledged the hurt his words could cause, but Gillard’s office said she did not want to take the call.