Independent MP Monique Ryan has hit back with sarcasm after it emerged she told her chief of staff she wanted to become prime minister. Court documents in the legal fight over Dr Ryan’s sacking of political staffer Sally Rugg reveal that in a meeting the MP said she held lofty ambitions. “You don’t understand, I need to be the best, …

Aiding a family member victimised by domestic violence helped change Tanya Plibersek’s mind about entering the race for the Labor leadership’s against Anthony Albanese. She would have become Labor leader in 2019 had she nominated for the role and would today be prime minister, she says in a newly released biography. The federal environment minister reveals daughter Anna’s trauma as …

Renting and buying in the Harbour City has never been less affordable, but the solutions to the deepening crisis could be staring us right in the face. The world’s largest cities all tackle high housing costs and land shortages, but urban planners say Sydney is stuck in the past and unwilling to try proven solutions. Rents are at record highs, …

Two new polls suggest the NSW Coalition government has closed the gap on Labor, putting the state on track for minority government. The Newspoll survey of 1014 voters published in The Australian on Monday showed primary support for Labor has fallen by four percentage points since September to 36 per cent, while the Coalition has gained two points to 37 per cent. …

US authorities say the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic most likely leaked out of a Chinese research laboratory. In an about-face on previous stances, the US Energy Department said new intelligence prompted it to conclude an accidental leak from a Wuhan lab – not as part of a weapons program – probably led to the global pandemic. The Wall …

The referendum for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament is the ‘last roll of the dice’ for structural reform in this country, Uluru Dialogue co-chair Pat Anderson says. The referendum, slated to be held in the second half of this year, will ask Australians whether Indigenous recognition should be enshrined in the nation’s constitution. Aunty Pat, who is on the referendum …

Twitter Inc has laid off at least 200 employees, or about 10 per cent of its workforce, the New York Times reports, in its latest round of job cuts since Elon Musk took over the micro-blogging site in October. The layoffs on Saturday night impacted product managers, data scientists and engineers who worked on machine learning and site reliability, which helps keep …

China says it seeks dialogue and peace for Ukraine despite US warnings that it might be considering weapons supplies for its ally Russia’s invasion. Air raid sirens blared in the capital Kyiv and other cities overnight and a Russian missile killed one person in the western town of Khmelnitskyi, Mayor Oleksandr Symshyshyn said on the Telegram messaging app on Monday. The …

Former Coalition human services minister and conservative stalwart Alan Tudge bid an emotional farewell to politics on Thursday and quietly left behind him an existential question for the Liberal Party. Mr Tudge – whose resignation is effective next week – had become entwined with a public perception that the Liberal Party had condoned the mistreatment of women after his affair with an …

There are fears of a “secondary disaster” in Turkey and Syria as hundreds of thousands of homeless earthquake victims are forced to live without shelter, water, fuel and electricity. The death toll jumped again to 20,000 — surpassing the Fukushima earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan in 2011. The World Health Organisation warned that survivors could lose their lives …