David Wroe

Carbon price of $29 'not implausible'

David Wroe The nation's top climate change bureaucrat has offered only a modest defence of the federal Treasury's widely disputed prediction of a $29 carbon price in 2015, describing it as "not implausible".

Carbon tax 'increasingly boring': watchdog

David Wroe The consumer watchdog says price rises blamed on the carbon tax have sparked fewer complaints than it feared, so much so as to brand it ''an increasingly boring topic these days''.

Abbott suffers bill shock

David Wroe Opposition Leader Tony Abbott was accused of misleading Parliament yesterday when he claimed a Perth pensioner had suffered a massive hike in her power bill because of the carbon tax when in fact the...

Greens offer olive branch to unions over forest

David Wroe In a bid to shrug off perceptions the Greens are anti-mining, the party's newest federal recruit, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, is reaching out to unions to smooth a dispute over mining in Tasmania's...

Research backs cut to irrigation

David Wroe The ailing Murray-Darling basin could get a bigger-than-expected injection of water after fresh modelling found the river system would be much better off if irrigation volumes were cut by more than...

New modelling promises Murray boost

David Wroe Raising the amount of water returned to the environment to 3200 billion litres a year and finding ways around the flooding of private property, bridges and roads could significantly boost the health...

100 days old: what is the impact of the carbon tax?

David Wroe One hundreed days after its introduction, David Wroe examines the impact of the carbon price and whether predictions that preceded it. have come true.

Carbon tax not all it was cooked up to be

David Wroe ONE hundred days after the government introduced a carbon price, power bill increases are the one visible impact.

No clear line yet on power prices charging ahead

David Wroe Power bill rises visible, but remaining dire carbon price predictions refuse to materialise.

Advertisers flee as public slams Jones' remark

David Wroe and Richard Willingham Some of Australia's biggest businesses lead an advertising exodus from Alan Jones' program amid a wave of public anger over the talkback host's remarks about the death of Julia Gillard's father.

Canberra publicity bill stands at $200m

David Wroe Federal government spend includes nearly $37 million for carbon tax and $17 million for NBN.

Taxpayers' $200m advertising bill

David Wroe The federal government has spent more than $200 million on advertising campaigns in the past financial year, including nearly $37 million promoting the carbon price and its compensation and $17...

First carbon permits issued as emissions market dawns

David Wroe Carbon trading has officially begun in Australia, with the government issuing the first permits under its carbon price.

Opposition repeats call on boats

David Wroe Coalition calls again for government to reintroduce Howard-era temporary protection visas.

Afghan, ADF joint patrols requested

David Wroe Australians need to steel ourselves for further Afghanistan casualties, Defence Minister warns.

Refugees prefer Sri Lanka to Nauru

David Wroe The Coalition has questioned the legitimacy of recognised refugees who fled Sri Lanka since the nation's civil war ended three years ago, after 16 asylum seekers returned home to the country...

Tories at odds with beastly Bernardi

Michelle Grattan and David Wroe The British Conservative Party has strongly condemned dumped Senator Cory Bernardi for suggesting gay marriage could be a slippery slope towards condoning bestiality.

Joint Afghan patrols suspended over attack fears

David Wroe Australia suspends some joint patrols with Afghan soldiers amid fears the anti-Islam film that sparked violence across the world could heighten the risk of insider attacks.

Super trawler ban to become law

David Wroe The two-year ban on the controversial Abel Tasman super trawler is set to become law after clearing its final parliamentary hurdle by passing the Senate this morning.