In the end, he was just an elderly, grey-faced man in the dock. Not a prince of the church, not a cardinal, but a man convicted of and sentenced for terrible crimes against children. A man who once flew first class will celebrate his 78th birthday in prison, and at the very least, his 79th, 80th and 81st. A large …

Malcolm Turnbull has slammed Tony Abbott’s suggestion that Australia should reinvest in coal power, labelling the idea “ideology and innumerate idiocy”. Mr Turnbull’s blunt intervention adds fuel to the heated debate on energy policy between the former prime ministers, which reignited on Friday when Mr Abbott said he had reversed his recent view that Australia should withdraw from the Paris …

An Australian woman trapped with her two young children in a refugee camp for Islamic State group families says her daughter needs urgent medical care and she wants to come home. The woman refused to confirm her identity, but it’s believed she is 24-year-old Zehra Duman from Melbourne. She is being held at Al Hawl refugee camp in north-east Syria. …

The Matildas have claimed the Cup of Nations with a 3-0 win against Argentina sparked, once again, by captain Sam Kerr. The Australian skipper rose bravely and superbly to give her side a lead with a header after less than four minutes, ensuring a Matildas’ win was never in doubt on Wednesday night at Melbourne’s AAMI Park. Alanna Kennedy doubled …

Australia’s standard of living has fallen to levels not seen since the 1991-92 recession, despite labour productivity increasing “dramatically” and the nation producing more billionaires than ever before. A report by the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) confirms living costs outstripped household incomes “by 2.9 per cent over the last three years”, and Australia is at risk of becoming …

Business alarmed as Shorten flags ‘living wage’ to replace minimum wage The small and medium business sectors have expressed concern after Opposition leader Bill Shorten all but confirmed he will boost the minimum wage to a “living wage” should he win the next election. Speaking to The Australian Financial Review Business Summit at which he declared the election to be …

It was four years of the good life for Rosemary Rogers. A one-month family holiday to Europe worth almost $188,000, where accommodation alone cost $70,000. An ongoing supply of bank cheques worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and prepaid credit cards, one alone worth $37,000. Numerous trips and private helicopter transfers to the exclusive Emirates resort at Wolgan Valley, a …

NSW Labor leader Michael Daley has picked a fight with some of Sydney’s most prominent figures as he attempts to revive his signature election issue. Mr Daley said he did not care if he made “powerful enemies” as he told broadcaster Alan Jones that he would sack the powerful Sydney Cricket Ground Trust’s board if elected. In a fiery exchange …

You could be forgiven for being confused about Labor’s big tax proposals. Depending on which side of politics you listen to, Labor’s plans for negative gearing, franking credit refunds and capital gains tax concessions will either hurt those who can least afford it, or claw back tens of billions of dollars of extra revenue from the relatively well-off by shutting …

A man who says he was molested by George Pell when he was a boy in the 1970s will file a lawsuit against the disgraced cardinal in Victoria’s Supreme Court. The suit, expected to be lodged this week, names Pell, the trustees of the Sisters of Nazareth (formerly St Joseph’s), the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne and the State of Victoria. …