In the first full budget since Labor’s landslide election victory last year, the government is putting some money back in workers’ pockets and increasing taxes on investors. Treasurer Jim Chalmers is selling it as a big reform budget that will tip the scales to make the tax system fairer for young Australians. But the war in Iran and the global …

In the wake of three Australian women linked to the Islamic State (IS) group being arrested upon arriving home last week, the initial reaction from inside the Syrian refugee camp where they had lived for years has been one of anger and frustration. After IS’s so-called caliphate was defeated in 2019 by a US-led coalition, many foreign-born wives and their …

Following One Nation’s extraordinary victory at the Farrer by-election last night, the party’s leader Pauline Hanson has taunted critics who said she could never break into the mainstream. One Nation has won Farrer in a landslide victory, decimating the Liberal and National vote, and claiming the first lower house win for the conservative party since Senator Hanson first entered parliament in …

A tax shake-up is coming. Next week’s federal budget will include changes to the capital gains tax, negative gearing and the rules for trust funds. All three were part of Labor’s 2019 election campaign. Back then, it argued that the tax concessions were unfair and benefited “the top end of town”. This time, the Albanese government will frame it as …

Flights have been booked for families linked to Islamic State fighters returning from Syria to Australia, with women in the group facing arrest and investigation when they touch down. The group of four women, along with nine children and grandchildren, left Syria’s Al Roj refugee camp in late April, but their path from Syria to Australia has remained uncertain. The …

Elevated interest rates have trimmed the borrowing capacity of prospective home buyers, as many agents report the housing market is beginning to level out. The Reserve Bank lifted interest rates by 0.25 percentage points to 4.35 per cent on Tuesday, leaving the cash rate at its highest level since February 2025. Property data firm Cotality shows demand is softening and growth is slowing …

The Reserve Bank has increased interest rates by 0.25 percentage points. The new cash rate target is 4.35 per cent, up from 4.1 per cent. Interest rates have now returned to the level they were in February 2025 before the RBA began its rate-cutting cycle last year, so last year’s policy easing has been fully unwound. Today’s decision follows last …

A secret series of police intelligence reports and internal emails have unravelled the inner workings of Australia’s most wanted alleged criminals on the run in Istanbul. The documents offer a never-before-seen insight into some of the most notorious underworld figures believed by police to be running Sydney’s drug trade from overseas. They have emerged as part of a wide-ranging subpoena …

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is preparing to break an election commitment and overhaul property tax perks in this month’s budget, to give younger Australians a “fair crack” at owning their own homes. In an interview with the ABC to mark one year since Labor’s landslide victory, Mr Albanese said he would “absolutely” lead Labor to a third election in 2028. …

Lord Howe Island lies in the middle of the ocean, about 700 kilometres northeast of Sydney. It’s covered in lush forest and fringed by the world’s most southerly coral reef ecosystem. This reef system isn’t as famous as its northern neighbour, the Great Barrier Reef. Our new research, in the Journal of Applied Ecology, shows it plays an outsized role in …