Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has ruled out holding a republic referendum in this Parliament and tamped down on calls to revive the debate on a day when Charles III was proclaimed the new King of Australia. The PM spoke to UK television on Sunday night and gave a flat “no” when asked to confirm that his long-standing stance would not …

Australians will remember Queen Elizabeth II as a wise and enduring presence, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says. “Her majesty celebrated our good times and she stood with us during trials and hardships, happy and glorious,” Mr Albanese said in a televised address on Friday morning following news of the 96-year-old monarch’s death. In the coming days the prime minister will …

Isolation for asymptomatic COVID-19 patients will be reduced from seven days to five days among a series of major decisions made by national cabinet on Wednesday. The rule change comes with a caveat that the workers must demonstrate no symptoms when leaving isolation. But workers in high-risk industries, such as those employed in hospitals and in aged and disability care, will …

More than half of young Australian women have been victims of sexual crimes, according to shocking new figures showing the scourge of violence across the nation as much higher than previously reported. New prevalence rates show 51 per cent of women aged in their 20s, 34 per cent in their 40s, and 26 per cent of women aged between 68-73 …

There will be no new cost of living measures in the upcoming federal budget that have not already been made public, the treasurer says. The budget will contain “familiar” initiatives to help households manage soaring living costs, including boosted childcare supports, relief for medicine costs and measures to “get wages moving again”. Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the government was up …

NSW fire authorities warn the state could face a “big grassfire season” this summer on the back of significant grass growth fuelled by recent wet weather. NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Rob Rogers on Wednesday warned wet conditions had boosted grass growth across the state while bush regeneration from the Black Summer bushfires was occurring faster than predicted. He said …

The minister responsible for employment and industrial relations, Tony Burke, has expressed strong interest in a proposal for multi-employer bargaining, saying he wants to see the idea “fleshed out”. The idea is a key part of the agenda the trade union movement is taking to the federal government’s jobs summit next week. It would see workplace laws amended so workers …

A teenage boy has been sentenced to at least two months in custody for raping a fellow student from a Blue Mountains high school during a house party. The girl’s family is now receiving advice about taking legal action against the NSW Department of Education and the school, their lawyer revealed outside Parramatta Children’s Court. The boy was 16 when …

The behaviour of CFMEU protesters inside a state government building was disgraceful and affected workers are owed an apology, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says. Workers’ safety was likely put at risk when Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union members entered the Transport and Main Roads building in Brisbane on Tuesday morning, Ms Palaszczuk said. “No worker should go to …

Plans to extend a cut to the fuel excise tax are being examined by the Albanese government ahead of the federal budget. The fuel excise was halved for six months by the previous Coalition government in March, in response to soaring fuel prices, with the cut slicing 22 cents off a litre of petrol. It was expected to cost the …