When the Monthly published Richard Flanagan’s magisterial essay on Gunns in May 2007, the logging behemoth seemed as powerful in Tasmania as a company could get. Flanagan’s essay was a catalyst for much broader discussion of the company and …

Have Australians ever felt so shunned by politicians as they do today? The recent budget may have brazenly disregarded common voters, but  the blame doesn’t all belong to the Abbott government. In his essay ‘A Class of Their Own’, Richard …

The federal government's Commission of Audit report will at last be released this afternoon. Dubbed Fightback Mk II by some in the Coalition (after the huge and politically unpalatable document John Hewson took to the "unloseable" …

Prime Minister Tony Abbott appears to be facing a backbench revolt over some of his government's big-ticket items. The proposal for a 'deficit levy' has been described as 'electoral suicide' by at least one senior Liberal …

In a new inquiry, ICAC heard yesterday that the Liberal Party is alleged to have received donations of at least $165,000 from property developers, who have been banned from donating to any political party in NSW since 2009, by funnelling cash through …

Welcome to the 100th issue of the Monthly. As the new editor, it is my good fortune to announce this landmark, but the honour really belongs to others. The magazine’s reputation and success has been earnt by the gifted previous editors, by …

Tonight's Four Corners will air an interview with Immigration Minister Scott Morrison, during which he backs down from a guarantee he had previously given for the safety of asylum seekers inside the Manus Island Detention Centre. He'd …

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"This is succession planning. It's about laying down memories in Australia against the time the Queen dies. The first tour is the one that matters – the tour with the young couple and the baby, the gloss not worn off their marriage and …

"In a move that marks the first time Australian uranium would be sold to the Middle East, Trade Minister Andrew Robb is fast-tracking a nuclear cooperation agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE)... a country with a secretive, unelected government …

"The letter by a Save the Children Australia worker to the charity’s Nauru contractors expresses 'extremely alarming' allegations of 'mistreatment and inappropriate behaviour' directed at asylum seekers by guards employed by …

"Repairing the budget will require more use of means testing and co-payments, Treasurer Joe Hockey has warned, in a speech also renewing his criticism of 'corporate welfare'. Hockey appealed to people not to judge his May 13 budget on what …

Joe Hockey continued his pre-budget softening-up exercise with his speech at an event for the conservative magazine Spectator Australia yesterday. It went largely as expected. Australia's finances are unsustainable, he said, and the …

Today's announcement by the federal government that it is prepared to go ahead with the biggest single defence purchase in the country's history comes surely as a surprise to those who took seriously Joe Hockey's dire warnings from opposition …

Billionaire Senator Clive Palmer has announced that the Palmer United Party's four senators will vote against the government's Direct Action climate policy. In typically cavalier fashion, he's now indicating that they will vote down Direct …