Coalition abandons baby bonus

Jonathan Swan, Judith Ireland An Abbott government would dump the baby bonus entirely - even the reduced, means-tested payments proposed by Labor, shadow treasurer Joe Hockey has said.

Policy makes its creators proud

Phillip Thomson In two years, Labor's Paid Parental Leave scheme has helped more than 250,000 parents.

Tweet and sour: MP in spat with Aboriginal woman on colonialism

Dan Harrison Federal Liberal MP Dennis Jensen has told an Aboriginal woman on Twitter to ''get over'' colonialism - and later issued a statement in which he regrets using Twitter, but not the comments.

Pensioners get carbon tax return this month

Dan Harrison PENSIONERS will receive an extra $35 a fortnight from later this month when payments are adjusted for inflation.

Child abuse inquiry criticised

Bianca Hall and Jane Lee Churches and charities should pay compensation directly to survivors of childhood sexual abuse, and the terms of reference should be broadened, says the chief executive of the group of those formerly...

A fine line: 'Living on the dole is no easy ride'

Vince Chadwick Lia McCrae-Moore just laughs at Families Minister Jenny Macklin's claim she could live on the dole.

Greens claim $2b will fix Newstart poverty

Exclusive Bianca Hall IS $2 BILLION a year too much to help Australia's most impoverished people?

Greens push for increase to dole

Bianca Hall Party will move to raise weekly Newstart, Abstudy and youth allowance rate for singles by $50 a week.

Could PM do it? That's the $35-a-day question

David Barbeler, Patrick Caruana THE Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, has avoided directly answering whether she could live on $35 a day, stating only that it would be ''incredibly tough''.

Unit to target child sex abusers

Bianca Hall An investigative unit designed to prosecute sex offenders will be established as part of the royal commission on the sexual abuse of children due to begin later this year.

New tax for pokie pre-commitment plan

Richard Willingham All poker machine venues in Australia, regardless of size, will pay a new government tax to help fund national pokies reforms, although the price is yet to be set.

A burden too heavy to carry?

Russell Skelton Why are states relaxing drinking laws in some Aboriginal communities?

Inside the Rudd hit

Maxine McKew It was one of the most brutal coups in Australian political history and Julia Gillard was at its heart.

Impasse ends on pokies reforms

Lisa Martin The stalemate on poker machine reform has ended and the federal government will introduce legislation into Parliament after successfully wooing the Australian Greens.

Paid leave for dad, partner

Fathers and same-sex partners will receive two weeks' paid leave under a federal government scheme aimed at giving dads more time off to help care for their baby.

Gillard gathers advisers for poll

Peter Hartcher The Gillard government has started formal preparations for a federal election, promising to run a full term but also giving itself the option of an early poll.

Turnbull's honesty call sparks debate

Chris Johnson Liberal frontbencher Malcolm Turnbull has sparked debate about the quality of parliamentary question time by saying there was an urgent need for more honesty in politics.

PM comes home to grieve for her father

Daniel Flitton and Richard Willingham THE Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, will miss at least the first two days Parliament this week as she grieves with her family after the death of her father, John.

Disability trial falters on detail

Tom Arup Tensions have again flared between the Baillieu and Gillard governments over the National Disability Insurance Scheme, with a proposed Victorian trial bogged down in a wrangle over details.

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Deadlock as leaders play politics with disability scheme

Phillip Coorey THE hopes of 10,000 disabled people in the Hunter Valley remain on edge with the federal and state government ministers failing even to meet one another to secure for the region a trial of the...