June 2022
NDIS legal bill hits $40m as appeals quadruple
The National Disability Insurance Agency is spending $4 million a month on high-powered lawyers as participants challenge funding cuts.
March 2022
Rex Patrick reconsiders plans after Xenophon flags comeback
Former South Australian independent Senator Nick Xenophon has declared he will run for the Senate at the federal election.
January 2022
One Nation rebuffs attempt to kill off proxy overhaul
Pauline Hanson says the Parliament has no time for Rex Patrick’s posturing.
Proxy overhaul headed for February showdown
Senator Rex Patrick has signalled his intention to challenge Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s contentious proxy adviser regulations.
November 2021
Key MPs want progress on corruption body before backing voter ID push
Tasmanian independent Jacqui Lambie says the government’s urgency on voter ID laws is a “slap in the face”.
June 2021
Super reforms pass after government dumps ‘backdoor’ veto power
The government gained enough support in the Senate after negotiations came down to the wire.
Government’s super reforms likely to pass Senate
The government appears to have the support of Centre Alliance and One Nation, heralding the biggest shake-up of the $3 trillion superannuation sector in years.
Super reforms pass lower house after government dumps ‘veto power’
The government’s decision to drop the ‘veto power’ in the super reform package came after Barnaby Joyce revealed he and others had ‘a real problem’ with it.
March 2021
Union biff no worry for Griff
Key crossbench Senator Stirling Griff says he has no regrets over how he voted on industrial relations changes.
IR debacle is a lesson in how to waste a crisis
Australia’s political class seems to have learned nothing at all from the deepest economic dip since the Great Depression.
Single senator sinks job reform
The Prime Minister is not ruling out another tilt at IR reform following Thursday’s heavy defeat.
Why Griff stood his ground on IR reform
Stirling Griff, the lone senator upon whom the Morrison government’s hopes rested, says protecting small business was his signature concern after the omnibus IR bill was shredded by the Senate.
Gutted IR bill passes the Senate
The Morrison government has chosen to gut its IR bill of major reforms, including wage theft laws, in response to crossbench opposition to most of it.
Bankers press Senate on responsible lending
The government is struggling to win Senate support to dump responsible lending laws, despite reassurance from NAB boss Ross McEwan that the proposed changes will not lead to more risky bank lending.
Anxious business watches IR reform go down to the wire
The government is keen to get whatever it can through the Senate this week given the political sensitivity of workplace reform and the end of JobKeeper this month.
Business, industry implores crossbench to pass IR laws
The government is mulling whether to abandon the IR bill if the demands of the crossbench render it non-worthwhile.
Cautious optimism about IR bill
The Morrison government is prepared to make further changes to secure the passage of its omnibus industrial relations bill next week.
Porter furore not a factor in possible IR bill delay
Key Senate crossbenchers say the furore surrounding Minister Christian Porter is not affecting deliberations on the industrial relations bill.
February 2021
IR bill faces rough ride with the crossbench
The government will have to make significant changes to its industrial relations bill if it wants to secure its passage through the Senate.
November 2020
Hanson supports super increase, other crossbench views mixed
A push inside the Coalition to freeze the superannuation guarantee at 9.5 per cent faces hurdles, with Pauline Hanson saying she wants the next scheduled increase of 0.5 per cent to go ahead.