Gillard prepares ministerial reshuffle

Judith Ireland Prime Minister Julia Gillard is working on major changes to her ministerial line up but won't confirm if more firings are imminent.

PM's new department head 'an asset'

Ross Peake Julia Gillard has appointed a new head to a department whose main program would be significantly changed by an incoming Coalition Government.

Tourism initiative shows there's plenty of value in just saying g'day

Shelly Horton FAR from cringing at the Paul Hogan ''throw a shrimp on the barbie'' tourism campaign of 1984, ''Hoges'' will be honoured as an Australian icon at the 10th anniversary G'Day USA gala for his...

Funding boosted for 'carbon and capture' project

The federal government has increased funding for a technology that aims to trap and store carbon dioxide emissions at coal-fired power plants.

Change of heart on Geoscience funds

The federal government has reversed course and will increase rather than cut funding for Geoscience Australia, the federal body charged with mapping the country's resources.

Calls to cut middle-class welfare

Jessica Wright The federal government should make deeper cuts to middle-class handouts, the Prime Minister was told in a recent meeting with two key independents, who are also backing an increase in the GST.

Push to transform energy sources

Lenore Taylor Australia could source 85 per cent of its power from clean energy sources by 2050.

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Newman reverses ban on uranium

David Wroe Queensland government overturns decades-long ban as conservationists attack move as a broken promise.

Greens, independents riled up over Swan's lack of revenue

Phillip Coorey The Greens and independents are demanding the government re-legislate to toughen up the mining tax after revelations that not a single cent will be collected in the tax's first three months,...

Greens, MP want mining tax toughened

Phillip Coorey The Greens and independents are demanding the government re-legislate to toughen the mining tax after revelations that not a single cent will be collected in the tax's first three months, threatening...

Claims Swan deserted his boss

Peter Hartcher The night before he turned against his prime minister, Wayne Swan went to Kevin Rudd's office for a drink and congratulated him on defending the newly-announced mining tax, a new book reports.

Swan drank with PM the night before coup

Peter Hartcher THE night before he turned against his prime minister, Wayne Swan went to Kevin Rudd's office for a drink and congratulated him on defending the newly announced mining tax, a new book reports.

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.

Households could be paid to switch off

Lenore Taylor Households and businesses will be able to cut their electricity bills by choosing to switch off during peak demand times when power costs soar under a package of reforms from the federal government.

Mining threat to Swan's surplus

Peter Martin, Clancy Yeates The federal government's surplus - and Labor Party promises - will come under intense pressure from a drop in metal prices of up to 16 per cent over the coming year.

Green light for dirtiest power

Chris Johnson Australia's dirtiest power stations will no longer be phased out as was planned under the government's Clean Energy Future, after talks with station owners collapsed over compensation amounts.

'Sloppy paperwork' dogged energy project

David Wroe The federal government's $435 million green energy program failed to keep proper paperwork amid a rush to spend money in the wake of the global financial crisis, an auditor's report has found.

BHP retreats as boom wanes

Peter Ker, Clancy Yeates Australia's biggest resources companies have revealed that more than $50 billion worth of expansion projects will not go ahead as planned, in the latest sign that the peak of Australia's resources...

BHP's Olympic failure leaves $50bn hole

Peter Ker and Clancy Yeates Australia's biggest resources companies have revealed that more than $50 billion worth of expansion projects have been mothballed.