Natalie O Brien
Welfare fight forces families from island
Natalie O'Brien Desperate families have been forced to leave their homes on Norfolk Island and there are fears many more will follow, after the federal government backed away from a financial reform package that...
Detained MP envoy for Anwar
Lindsay Murdoch, Natalie O'Brien The Australian senator ordered to be deported by Malaysia as a ''security risk'' previously acted as an emissary for Malaysia's opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, carrying a warning letter to the...
Nick Xenophon detained in Malaysia
Natalie O'Brien Independent Senator Nick Xenophon has been detained in Malaysia as a ''security threat'' and is to be deported back to Australia within hours.
More boats as Nauru hunger strike widens
Natalie O'Brien UP TO 25 asylum seekers are believed to have collapsed and at least seven given medical treatment, as the hunger strike on Nauru escalates.
Sri Lankans sent back in piracy case
Natalie O'Brien SRI LANKAN asylum seekers who allegedly hijacked a fishing trawler to get to Australia were flown home yesterday to face piracy charges. One of them had returned from Australia voluntarily last month.
Hicks plans to sue based on US ruling
Phillip Coorey, Natalie O'Brien THE former foreign minister Alexander Downer says David Hicks should be grateful he is still not in Guantanamo Bay, even after a US court ruled invalid the charge under which he was convicted.
Hicks to appeal, then sue over conviction
Phillip Coorey and Natalie O'Brien David Hicks says he will be taking legal action against the Australian government and demanding a full investigation into his incarceration in Guantanamo Bay.
Sri Lankan asylum seekers return home as two new boats arrive
Stephanie Peatling and Natalie O’Brien A second group of Sri Lankan men left Christmas Island this morning even as Australian authorities intercept two more asylum seeker boats.
The cook's tour, from the high life to bankruptcy
Natalie O'Brien JULIA GILLARD and her ex-boyfriend Bruce Morton Wilson split 17 years ago and since then their lives have taken vastly different turns.
Union bagman: I didn't know I had home loan
Natalie O'Brien The self-confessed union bagman Ralph Blewitt - the legal owner of a terrace house in Fitzroy allegedly purchased using misappropriated Australian Workers Union funds - has claimed that he never knew...
The men behind PM's hellish week
Natalie O'Brien IT WAS two retired lawyers from Melbourne who sparked a fresh examination of the 17-year-old Australian Workers Union funds scandal that has long stalked Julia Gillard.
'Slush fund' may come back to haunt Gillard
Natalie O'Brien THE Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, may have breached West Australian corporations law by her involvement in setting up an association for an ex-boyfriend which he then used under the false pretence...
Law firm says 'no evidence' against PM
Phillip Coorey, Natalie O'Brien THE law firm Slater & Gordon and one of its founders, Peter Gordon, have issued separate statements stressing there was no evidence Julia Gillard was involved in any legal wrongdoing while a partner...
Palestinian envoy raised alarm about missing asylum boat
Natalie O'Brien The federal government has known for weeks that another asylum seeker boat, this one with dozens of Palestinians on board, had disappeared yet it kept silent about the details.
Crime and claims run up embassy bills
Natalie O'Brien EMBEZZLEMENT of thousands of taxpayer dollars, defamation proceedings and a fight over ownership of a property title are some of the recent legal cases in which Australian embassies around the world...
No charges laid against Slipper advisor
Natalie O'Brien The Australian Federal Police has finished investigations into allegations of the misuse of entitlements by Peter Slipper's long-term advisor, Tim Knapp, and announced no charges will be laid.
Australia spurned boat distress call
Natalie O'Brien Australian authorities refused to co-ordinate the search and rescue for the asylum seeker boat known as the Barokah, which sank in December killing about 200 people, despite pleas for help from...
Lives lost after rescue plea denied
Natalie O'Brien Australian authorities refused to co-ordinate the search and rescue for the asylum seeker boat known as the Barokah, which sank in December killing about 200 people, despite pleas for help from...
A way to stop the boats
Natalie O'Brien AN IRAQI refugee who turned to people smuggling to get his family into Australia has a simple solution to stop the asylum seeker boats.
Shackled Indonesia could not save boat
Natalie O'Brien INDONESIA'S search and rescue agency is so under-resourced it probably never had the capability to mount an effective rescue for the asylum-seeker boat that capsized with 204 people on board, defence...
