The promotion of a seventh woman to Cabinet has failed to quell debate about quotas to boost the number of women in the Liberal Party. Prime Minister Scott Morrison says he’s committed to boosting female representation in the Liberal Party, as government frontbenchers try to play down debate about introducing quotas. Liberal powerbroker Alex Hawke reignited the debate on Sunday, …

Vladimir Putin said he will match any move by the United States to deploy new nuclear missiles closer to Russia by stationing its own missiles closer to the US, or by deploying faster missiles, or both. The Russian President said he was not seeking confrontation and would not take the first step to deploy missiles in response to the US …

Australian coal producers have suffered another savage hit, with Chinese authorities placing an indefinite ban on imports ahead of a strict new regime of quotas. The Reuters news agency reported customs officers based at the key northern port of Dalian stopped Australian coal imports and would move to cap imports through their harbours at 12 million tonnes a year. The …

Former foreign minister Julie Bishop has announced she will retire from federal politics, in a surprise statement after Question Time. Ms Bishop has been on the backbench since the leadership spill last year. She has held the Perth electorate of Curtin since 1998 and was Australia’s first female foreign minister. The Liberal luminary had said she would contest the 2019 …

The future of the Coalition’s hold on power is at risk with the Federal Government becoming the first to lose a vote on its own legislation in almost 80 years. The majority of the crossbench and Labor joined forces in the House of Representatives to pass amendments to give doctors a greater say on refugee medical evacuations. But Prime Minister …

Officials have signed off on an agreement for the construction of the Australian Navy’s $50 billion project to deliver a fleet of new submarines. After several years of negotiations, officials have signed an agreement for the construction of the Australian Navy’s fleet of new submarines. On Monday the federal government announced the signing of the Attack class submarine Strategic Partnering …

Australian footballer Hakeem al-Araibi will return to Australia within the next 24 hours, after an extradition case against him in Thailand was dropped. The director-general of international affairs for the Thai Government confirmed to the ABC that the Attorney-General requested the case for Mr al-Araibi’s extradition to Bahrain be dropped. About 9:00pm AEDT on Monday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed …

As Hakeem Al-Arabi’s teammates at Pascoe Vale Football Club in Melbourne prepare to start a new season, their star defender is about to mark two-and-a-half months in a Bangkok jail. The Bahraini refugee and Australian permanent resident was arrested in November last year, on an invalid Interpol red notice from the country he fled as he entered Thailand for his …

Princess Ubolratana Barnavadi has broken the long-standing tradition of Thai royalty staying out of politics by entering the election in an unprecedented move. A Thai princess will run for prime minister in March elections in an unprecedented entry by a royal into frontline politics, pitting her against the chief of the ruling junta and redrawing the nation’s political landscape. Princess …

A crisis is unfolding in western Queensland where graziers are discovering the full scale of damage caused by floodwaters, with their losses expected to worsen. Floodwaters have killed up to 300,000 head of cattle in western Queensland, with losses so far put at a staggering $300 million. But the number is expected to rise as the floodwaters reach the big …