Australia is to launch another bid for a seat on the United Nations Security Council, just a year after its last term on the council expired. The spot Australia is seeking will be open in 2029. Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop is expected to announce the bid in her address to the General Assembly in New York on Tuesday evening. In opposition ...

There are more than 100,000 people who are homeless in Australia. Chief executive of Mission Australia, Catherine Yeomans said that housing affordability crisis put extreme pressure on people who try to keep a place to live. Ms Yeomans said “we have a housing affordability crisis, so there are many Australians who are in housing stress, they’re spending over 30 per cent ...

Former PM argues plotters who wanted to replace him with Malcolm Turnbull struck early because Canning result would have undermined their case. Tony Abbott has declared he would have led the Coalition to a victory at the next election, arguing the plotters timed the leadership challenge before the Canning byelection because the result would have undermined the notion he was ...

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has arranged to meet with her Egyptian counterpart to discuss a pardon for journalist Peter Greste. The Australian journalist’s fellow Al Jazeera reporters Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed have been pardoned and freed from prison in Egypt. But Mr Greste’s name was not on the list of pardons, meaning he is still a convicted criminal. Ms ...

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has called on all Australians to make a “cultural shift” and stop disrespecting women, declaring that gender inequality lies at the heart of domestic violence. In comments that have been labelled a “gamechanger” for the fight against domestic violence, Mr Turnbull called on parents, teachers and employers to get on board the culture change, saying he wanted Australia to ...

THE AUSTRALIAN SEPTEMBER 23, 2015 By: Anthony Klan The NSW government is in ­advanced stages of implementing new anti-hate laws after autho­rities were unable to prosecute the local head of Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir over anti-Semitic racial taunts. The NSW Attorney-General has been in close talks with Jewish umbrella group the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, which lodged a complaint ...

Several supporters of former Prime Minister Tony Abbott were dropped and some new Member of Parliament with no cabinet experience added to new PM Malcolm Turnbull’s cabinet. The new team has five women, including Marise Payne as the country’s first female defence minister. “It is vital to have a contemporary, 21st-century government and that requires renewal,” Mr Turnbull said on Monday. ...

With the swearing in of Malcolm Turnbull as our sixth prime minister in eight years, Australia has gained the reputation of having the most ruthless politics in the world. But is it true? Since December 2007 Australia has had five changes to the prime ministership — Howard, Rudd, Gillard, Rudd a second time, Abbott and now Turnbull. Only a handful ...

Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced on Sunday that Australia would take more refugees from Syria and Iraq in regard to recent humanitarian crisis. After Australia’s announcement, Prime Minister John Key also said on Monday morning that New Zealand would take 750 Syrian refugees over the next three years. These announcements came from Australia and New Zealand in response to the situation that Austria and Germany had opened their borders to thousands of ...

James Massola Australia’s peak Jewish group has rounded on Prime Minister Tony Abbott for suggesting Islamic State terrorists are in some ways worse than the Nazis. Mr Abbott said on Thursday a decision on whether Australia would join the United States in launching air strikes on Syria, in addition to Iraq, would be made next week when Defence Minister Kevin Andrews returned ...