March
Teals push to index income tax thresholds to inflation
Independent MP Allegra Spender blasts major parties for “lack of ambition for major reform” to return rising income taxes to wage earners
November 2024
Independents’ move to quit Chairman’s Lounge sparks backlash
Independent MPs Allegra Spender and Helen Haines said they would quit the invite-only club, calling for an end to upgrades on taxpayer-funded flights.
August 2024
No end in sight on housing impasse as O’Neil takes fight to Greens
Greens spokesman Max Chandler-Mather savages housing minister’s claim that Treasury modelling shows 160,000 new rental properties would be built in a decade.
March 2024
University reforms get thumbs up from teals, Nationals
The ambitious 25-year plan to double the number of people with a degree has found many fans in Canberra.
February 2024
Crossbench to weaponise Labor’s own plan to end pork barrelling
When MPs return to Canberra on Monday, Indi MP Helen Haines will introduce new legislation designed to stop a repeat of the Coalition’s sports rorts saga and commuter carpark scheme.
November 2023
The seats that bear the brunt of infrastructure cuts
Michelle Landry accused Labor of “cutting the guts” out of regional Australia, part of more than $7 billion in savings and reallocations.
August 2023
The green hobby farmers seeing red over $1.5b wind farm
More than 80 per cent of residents oppose the construction of a wind farm in Victoria’s Strathbogie Ranges, a survey found, posing a big challenge for developers.
May 2023
Teals join party hacks in the Chairman’s Lounge
Ever since the teals dislodged a raft of Liberals on the promise of a better politics, we’ve wondered how many would proceed to accept such hospitality.
March 2023
Penny Wong and Helen Haines win political leadership prize
The foreign minister and the independent MP have won the 2022 McKinnon Prize in their respective categories for improving Australian politics at home and abroad.
Teals set to fight Canberra’s ‘jobs for mates’ culture
A new commissioner for public appointments and departmental selection panel process would be established to improve the culture of federal politics.
December 2022
In a busy final week, two MPs and a senator stood out
The principled approach of Helen Haines, David Pocock and Bridget Archer, among others, helped mould the agenda during a busy legislative week.
November 2022
Public excluded from almost all hearings of corruption commission
Crossbenchers and the Greens won’t succeed in attempts to strengthen the National Anti-Corruption Commission legislation next week.
Public hearing fight looms on anti-corruption commission bill
Labor’s National Anti-Corruption Commission legislation looks set to pass parliament before Christmas, but key crossbench MPs will push for improvements.
October 2022
‘Sit-and-steer job’ for integrity committee head
Senator Linda White is new to parliament, but she is the only Labor member of the parliamentary committee reviewing the NACC bill who is a lawyer.
September 2022
Labor open to tweaks on anti-corruption legislation
Recommendations from a parliamentary committee could see the legal threshold for public hearings by the new national anti-corruption commission lowered.
Dutton backs Labor’s integrity commission, could sideline crossbench
The Opposition Leader has backed the National Anti-Corruption Commission as proposed, giving the government the option of ignoring the Greens and independents.
National corruption body mimics flawed Vic model, experts warn
Legal and integrity experts criticised the government’s proposed National Anti-Corruption Commission for having too high a threshold for public hearings.
Federal watchdog must root out genuine corruption
Australia needs a national independent anti-corruption body. But its remit should be confined to genuinely corrupt conduct and should not cover matters of integrity that are essentially political.
Anti-corruption commission to cast a wide net: Dreyfus
The Attorney-General says that the new government body will cover anyone who seeks to influence a public official or politician - but there’s a loophole for pork barreling.
Libs could cut deal with Labor on integrity commission
Minor parties and independents in both houses of parliament could be excluded from shaping Labor’s proposed national integrity commission.