“Arithmetic suggests the dice are loaded against us,” said treasury secretary Martin Parkinson. Without major changes to the tax mix, he said, there was little chance the budget would return to surplus even by 2023-24. Health spending is …

News Corp papers, especially the Australian, have put inordinate effort  into undermining the ABC over the past few months. Last night, ABC managing director Mark Scott firmly pushed back. He spoke of the “aggressive editorial positioning …

Lenore Taylor in the Guardian reports the alarming news that in Western Australia this month Clive Palmer has spent 11 times more on advertising than the Labor party and 14 times more than the Liberals. It is “unprecedented” for a minor …

Parliament has entered its long winter recess, but it will be a while yet before the political temperature drops.  This is the last week before the crucial Western Australian senate vote, whose results will determine the federal balance of power …

The Coalition lost control of the agenda this week. The government may still be in its adolescence – this is one way to describe its bizarre and potentially destructive impetuosity recently – but it can hardly rely on this excuse …

Even John Howard thinks bringing back knights and dames is anachronistic. Even John Howard.  Phillip Coorey in the AFR reports that Howard would not accept a knighthood should one ever be offered. He didn't try to revive …

The prime minister's surprise announcement to bring back knights and dames was met with hilarity and ridicule around the nation.  But in some parts it was met with a note of caution: "The whole thing is actually the first wave of the PM's …

Craig Thomson has been sentenced to 12 months' jail with nine months suspended for misusing union funds. Magistrate Charlie Rozencwajg said Thomson had shown "blatant dishonesty", and his misappropriation of funds for personal benefit, …

Last week the PNG government won a legal stay against the human rights investigation of Manus initiated by PNG supreme court judge David Cannings. So he set up a snap inquiry on Friday, sending a small team into the detention centre to take evidence from …

Who knew what and when? Political scandals, if they go anywhere, almost always arrive at this question. As the Sinodinos allegations emerge, the pressure on his colleagues will build. The Opposition didn't have much luck getting answers in parliament …

"It was no surprise whatsoever that Arthur Sinodinos stood aside on Wednesday," said Phil Coorey. "As a former chief of staff to John Howard, (Sinodinos) helped write the script on how to cauterise such problems." It is true that …

Assistant treasurer Arthur Sinodinos hasn't been found guilty of anything, and it's entirely possible that it will remain that way. But the judgement of the law and that of the public doesn't need to be in line to cause political damage. …

"Corruption," said counsel assisting Geoffrey Watson, "acquaints a man with strange bedfellows." Kicking off another sensational episode of the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption, Watson alleged that federal assistant treasurer …

There are no simple messages to take from the weekend's election results and new national polling. In Tasmania, the Liberal Party won a handsome victory, sweeping Labor out of power after 16 years in government. The Greens had a bad night, suffering …

Barring something unexpected, the last remaining Labor state governments will fall tomorrow. This will leave only the ACT with a Labor government. In Tasmania, the latest Newspoll gives the Liberal Party 53% of the primary vote, meaning it could easily …