The COVID-19 pandemic challenged Australians in ways they had not been tested before: with curfews, mask mandates, border closures, restrictions on movement and the shutdown of normality. Those severe measures might have helped keep Australians alive, but they also exacted a substantial toll in many other ways. The shock is that data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) suggests …

Angus Taylor has ruled out forming a coalition with One Nation, shrugging off Pauline Hanson’s calls for conservatives to work together to defeat Labor. In a major speech on Thursday, the opposition leader warned a One Nation government would result in an “eternity of pain”, as the populist party rises in the polls and the Liberal-National coalition sinks to historic …

Telstra chief executive Vicki Brady has apologised to the company’s customers, saying the telco let them down and that investigations into the cause of Wednesday’s outage are continuing. In her first public appearance since the outage that affected Triple-Zero networks, trains and eftpos payments across the country — and has left the company open to potentially hundreds of millions of dollars …

Property prices are under more scrutiny than ever before. Following a shake-up to negative gearing and the capital gains tax (CGT) discounts, the housing market has stalled and auction clearance rates are down. There’s some consternation among investors and home owners about a decrease in property values — and their concerns are backed by the big banks. NAB has predicted a 2 per cent …

A decision on whether to extend the fuel excise rebate that is offering relief at the bowser will not be made until next week, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese saying he will give Australians “appropriate notice”. Mr Albanese welcomed news that the United States and Iran had agreed to a ceasefire deal to end the war, stating it was in the interest …

Labor’s proposal to overhaul negative gearing and capital gains tax has some design flaws but is better than the current system, according to leading economists who appeared before a parliamentary inquiry today. The first day of hearings was shaped by warring contributions from elated progressive groups, who argued the tax package would improve generational fairness, and furious business groups who …

Irankunda’s wonderful run and finish gave Australia a lead at half-time, before Metcalfe matched him with a fine solo effort to confirm the result as the Socceroos’ defence held firm. The 20-year-old Irankunda was named the Player of the Match for his tremendous World Cup debut. Nestory Irankunda (right) was named the Player of the Match after giving the Socceroos …

Prosecutors have argued that a so-called “ISIS bride” actively participated in the mistreatment of a woman her family enslaved in Syria, as they fought to prevent her from being released on bail. Warning: Details of sexual assault in this story may distress some readers. Zeinab Ahmad, 31, was among the women arrested when a cohort of women and children returned …

Its recommendations include amending the Child Protection Act to entrench adoption as the third permanency option for all children, regardless of cultural background. The commission also recommended the government start a feasibility study within six months to assess how to deliver “simple open adoption” for appropriate children in out-of-home care. The report notes contemporary adoption operates in a “fundamentally different …

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has told a parliamentary hearing she believes the allegations of Australian activists, who say they were sexually assaulted while detained by Israeli forces. Warning: This story contains content that may be distressing. Eleven Australians were detained while trying to reach Gaza as part of a humanitarian flotilla in May. The Global Sumud Flotilla has since lodged a …