Latest Government Stories

Ministerial responsibility is dead. With the refusal of Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck to accept responsibility for the deaths of 683 residents in aged care homes who died from Covid-19, so too dies accountable government in Australia. Dr Sarah Russell reports.

A bill being rushed through federal parliament is raising concerns that the Government is preparing for a militarised response to climate breakdown. Lawyer and human rights advocate Kellie Tranter reports.

From a legal perspective, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian delivered a gala performance at ICAC. Citing a loss of memory more than 150 times to questions put by counsel allowed the Premier to distance herself from implications that she may have had knowledge of Daryl Maguire’s corruption. Daniel Anstey reports.

So much for sovereignty. Australia is locked out of repairing key US components of our submarines’ computer systems, and the government has committed our fleet to the extraordinarily dangerous role of helping the US conduct surveillance in the South China Sea. Brian Toohey reports.

The media we consume influences our compliance with Covid-19 recommendations. The unbalanced media coverage in Victoria is impeding the state’s recovery, writes Michael Tanner.

When the Coalition communications minister very quietly changed the regulations to enable access to millions of unlisted mobiles for ‘political research, the Liberal Party’s pollster Crosby Textor was quick out of the blocks with an application to access the database, writes Jommy Tee.

The privatisation of Vocational Education and Training has created a disastrous shortage of workers with intermediate skills, which the jobs of the future require. Employer subsidies will do nothing to tackle this, writes Bruce Mackenzie.

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute is not only funded by the Defence Department but also receives sponsorship money from foreign governments, weapons manufacturers, and US corporations that have used or are using prison workers paid as little as 23 cents an hour. Marcus Reubenstein reports.

As families at public schools scrimp and save to provide the bare necessities, the federal government funnels ever more money into private schools without taking into account parents’ true capacity to pay. Trevor Cobbold reports.

While the government’s pragmatism and its willingness to abandon its past ideological railing against debt and deficits is welcome, Scott Morrison appears to be returning to his core beliefs in lower taxes and smaller government, plus favouring welfare for business. Michael Keating reports on Budget 2020.

Australian weapons manufacturer Electro Optic Systems, with financial support from the federal and ACT governments, is capitalising on the ‘growth market’ of the Middle East, one of the world’s most volatile regions. Michelle Fahy reports.

The move by Josh Frydenberg to exclude Greenpeace, the Australia Institute and the Australian Conservation Foundation from next week’s Budget lock-up continues his long history of favouring business groups over green groups dating back to when he was Environment Minister. Jommy Tee reports stunning new evidence of fossil fuel influence.

Hefty cuts to JobSeeker and JobKeeper mean that Australia now faces a potentially more deadly epidemic than Covid-19. But it is largely avoidable, writes Michael Tanner.

The Joint Strike Fighter has been plagued by problems since it was just a sketch on paper, when in 2002 John Howard jumped the gun and committed to buying them. But the F-35 still has its champions in Australia with some wanting to buy 200 to get ready for a war with China.

Under the foreign interference legislation, Ian Cunliffe, a lawyer with 50 years’ experience, faces many decades in jail for daring to influence public policy with his campaigning. His fate now rests in the hands of Attorney General Christian Porter.

Michael Tanner weighs the evidence as Victorian Premier Dan Andrews charts a way out of the state’s lockdown.

The privatisation of the Australian Public Service is proceeding at a staggering pace. Documents accessed under FoI laws reveal that even senior roles, including assistant directors, executive officers and ministerial advisers, are outsourced. It is hidden, unaccountable and rips off taxpayers. Geordie Wilson reports.