Even before the small tsunami of opinion polls crashed down upon them on Monday, the major parties were already attempting to twist how the media was predicting who would win the upcoming by-elections on Super Saturday. Expectations management is the name of the game at this point, with less than a week to go until polling day. It’s always preferable …

Police are investigating how Sydney father John Edwards obtained a firearms licence and was allowed to take weapons from a gun range before shooting dead his teenage son and daughter. Jack, 15, and Jennifer, 13, died huddled together in their bedroom in West Pennant Hills Sydney just before 5.20pm on Thursday after their 68-year-old father shot them numerous times. On Saturday the children’s mother, …

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull wanted to talk about Bill Shorten and why a Labor government would not be worthy of votes and trust, but the the Liberal National Party faithful at the annual state convention in Brisbane had other priorities. While Mr Turnbull set out to paint the Liberals as the party of aspiration, compared with Labor’s “party of grievance”, …

In recent months, Australia has been struggling with a vexing issue – how to stand up for its values and deal with China’s increasing influence. Australia has been moving to address the issue on various levels, from its politics to its economy and its universities. But hand-in-hand comes another question: how can this be done – and discussed – without …

The 1-1 draw against Denmark keeps Australia’s interests alive in the World Cup, but only just, and we need quite a bit to go our way next week. Again, Australia showed it could mix it with the big boys in the score-draw with the Danes, but again it was a night of frustration and what-could-have-beens. So here’s the lay of …

The New South Wales Government has put off tackling the thorny issue of forcing priests to reveal abuse they learn about in the confessional, despite the Commonwealth saying it is largely a state responsibility. The NSW Government has unveiled its formal response to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, accepting 336 of the recommendations. The Government …

The 20-year-old accused of attacking and killing his 69-year-old grandmother in Bega appeared briefly in the Batemans Bay courthouse today, charged with one count of murder and two counts of wounding with intent to murder. With cuts on his face and wearing a hospital robe and shorts, Murray Deakin was led into the courtroom for the brief appearance following Friday …

Barnaby Joyce has admitted he knew when his partner became pregnant in mid-2017 that he would lose his job as deputy prime minister. But he went on to fight a by-election without revealing his personal situation. Mr Joyce and his former media adviser, Vikki Campion, revealed the timeline in a paid interview with Channel Seven. Ms Campion told the program …

Financial institutions ANZ, Deutsche Bank and Citigroup will be prosecuted on criminal cartel charges, Australia’s consumer watchdog says. The allegations concern arrangements for the sale of A$2.5bn (£1.4bn; $1.9bn) worth of ANZ shares in 2015. The three banks said they would fight the charges. ANZ said it would also defend allegations against an employee. Australia’s scandal-plagued financial sector is at …

China’s Foreign Minister has told Julie Bishop that Australia needs to remove its “tinted glasses” and “translate its words into concrete actions” to improve ties after tensions over Beijing’s anger with recent political moves by Canberra. The terse remarks followed a meeting between Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Ms Bishop on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers’ conference in …