Finn McHugh

Labor is seizing on signs Pauline Hanson’s surge may have a shelf life, as new polling shows the Coalition sliding and voters cooling on One Nation.

A new NIMBY backlash over data centres threatens to complicate Labor’s bid to position Australia as a global AI infrastructure hub.

A collapsing primary vote, a Pauline Hanson insurgency and persistently shaky Question Time performance have put Angus Taylor on the back foot.

Zali Steggall and Allegra Spender’s new party is designed to pool resources without binding votes. A Senate run could complicate its community-first pitch.

The preference flows behind One Nation’s Farrer win might offer early clues to whether Hanson can turn votes into seats.

In securing passage for his first tranche of budget legislation this week, Anthony Albanese has created a new political headache for the Coalition.

Anthony Albanese’s standing with female voters has fallen sharply, with the Capital Brief/DemosAU poll pointing to a deepening problem for Labor.

The latest Capital Brief/DemosAU polling shows Coalition support has fallen so low that it is now closer to the Greens than to One Nation.

Pauline Hanson’s address to the National Press Club was red meat for her base. But it also laid a few landmines on the road to 2028.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers welcomed the RBA’s decision to hold rates, but questions immediately pivoted to the $2.5 billion cost of living relief package.

Labor’s contentious budget will face public scrutiny in the Senate, but the changes we’ll see in the coming days are being shaped behind closed doors.

Labor appears more likely to let its fuel excise cut expire at the end of the month after the US and Iran confirmed a deal to suspend the Middle East war.

The ACT has long been a Labor stronghold. But the independent movement, which has decimated once-safe Liberal seats, views the capital as its next frontier.

The prime minister has significantly sharpened his rhetoric against One Nation to convince the Labor support base the maverick party is no friend of battlers.

The government aims to have rammed through the key elements of its budget by the end of the month, despite concern in the startup sector.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has appeared to concede that Australia’s exorbitant passport fees are about revenue raising.

China’s ambitions in the region explain why Anthony Albanese rolled out the red carpet for newly elected Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale.

In a scathing statement on Thursday, Meta echoed the White House and blasted the Albanese government’s News Bargaining Incentive as ‘discriminatory’.

Just 20% of tobacco sold in Australia is legal and nicotine use is on the rise. MPs from across the spectrum want sky high excise rates to be reconsidered.

Labor backbencher Ed Husic broke ranks with the government to question the AUKUS submarine pact, amid growing disquiet over the agreement within the party’s membership base.

For decades, Labor and the Coalition built their political strategies around attacking each other. But One Nation’s continued rise demands a change of tactics.

The Hawke-Keating era is remembered for consensus, but its most contentious reforms drew the kind of backlash facing the Albanese government today.

Skills Minister Andrew Giles says the Coalition should put aside its obsession with migration and focus on policy, including in skills and training.

The Opposition leader’s personal standing is slowly improving in the polls. Yet the Coalition remains well behind One Nation.

The government hoped breaking an election promise on capital gains tax would be a vote winner. The latest Capital Brief/DemosAU poll suggests otherwise.

Jim Chalmers’ fifth budget focused on tax changes and housing has received a negative response from voters, according to exclusive new polling.

High tobacco excise has created a booming black market for cigarettes, which could cost the budget $65 billion by 2030. But the shadow treasurer isn’t sure how to fix it.

No one said framing a budget during a global energy crisis would be easy. But the backlash over Labor’s tax reforms is threatening to derail its pitch.

The senators keen to determine the fate of the government’s capital gains tax changes span the full spectrum of Australian politics — and many have never engaged with the startup sector.

The VC and startup sectors view the former industry minister, knifed in a factional standoff, as a lost ally on innovation. But Ed Husic tells Capital Brief the government is committed to getting the settings right.