According to Abraham Maslow’s famed “Hierarchy of Needs”, human beings will act with urgency to address basic physiological requirements for survival (food, air, shelter, water and so on) before worrying about more existentially trifling issues, like whether they are actually happy or what they think of the Marvel franchise. In Maslow’s theory, you only worry about the next level — …

Suspended Labor MP Fatima Payman has enlisted the advice of a minor party political “whisperer” as her party colleagues brace themselves for the possibility she will move to the crossbench. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese handed Senator Payman an indefinite suspension on Sunday after she said she would continue to defy the party’s position on Palestinian recognition in parliamentary votes. On …

A senior Labor figure has ruled out the expulsion and suspension of first-time West Australian senator Fatima Payman after she voted against the government on a Greens motion recognising the statehood of Palestine. On Tuesday afternoon, the 29-year-old defied her colleagues and became the first Labor member to cross the floor in 18 years. While her move risked expulsion or …

Presenter Antoinette Lattouf has declared she “will not stop” as her unfair dismissal case against the national broadcaster heads to trial. Earlier this month, the Fair Work Commission determined the journalist had been fired by the ABC when she was taken off air after sharing a social media post about the Israel-Palestine conflict. Ms Lattouf was sent home three days …

The Senate has overwhelmingly voted to condemn the phrase “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” after a Labor senator used it as she broke ranks with her party to condemn Israel of genocide. Senator Fatima Payman on Wednesday blindsided her party when she questioned how many more Palestinian deaths would be needed before Anthony Albanese declared …

First term senator Fatima Payman has risked expulsion from the ALP after becoming the first Labor politician to cross the floor in more than 18 years when she voted in support of a parliamentary push by the Greens to recognise Palestinian statehood. Defying her party’s official position on the Israel-Palestine conflict, Senator Payman’s intervention comes amid reports she has stopped …

More gas supply is needed along the east coast, the prime minister says, while hosing down concerns about shortages. The comments came after the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) issued a warning about gas supply levels in eastern states in coming months. “Recent gas supply and demand trends for the southern jurisdictions indicate there is the potential for gas supply …

The Coalition has furiously attacked Labor for a flurry of memes lampooning Peter Dutton’s grand nuclear vision for Australia. But the Coalition is no stranger to using online memes in similar attempts at humour in political attacks. After the nuclear plan was revealed on Thursday, state and federal Labor members flooded the internet with comparisons of it with The Simpsons and even …

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has gone off-script with a personal attack on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and set the stage for a nuclear showdown in the lead-up to the next election. Dutton spruiked his uncosted nuclear plan during an address to the party faithful on Saturday and took a personal swipe at Albanese, veering from pre-written speech notes distributed to …

Harriet Spring remembers the first phone call, in November. The man with the “posh British accent” on the other end introduced himself as “from ING” and asked if she was interested in good rates on fixed-term deposits. “Nothing crazy, nothing too out of the ordinary,” Mrs Spring said. “So, I didn’t think, ‘that sounds too good to be true’.” In …