Political Capital

Critics accuse Anthony Albanese of caving in to bookies and TV networks over proposed reforms on gambling advertising. Now the prime minister faces discontent in his own Labor Party.

The housing market is cooling after Labor’s budget, raising hopes for buyers and risks for a government wary of price politics.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

After decades of timidity from governments and opposition leaders, Australia has now seen two radical tax reform proposals in as many days.

The government is resigned to facing a scare campaign over its reforms to the way housing is taxed, which have also concerned the business community.

One Nation has secured an historic by-election victory in Farrer, in a race that provides a snapshot into the national crisis gripping the Coalition.

The leadup to the budget is always heavily curated. But the Middle East crisis has thrown a serious spanner in the works for Treasurer Jim Chalmers.

All eyes are on next Tuesday’s federal budget. But if the Middle East war drags on, Jim Chalmers may have to go back to the drawing board.

The housing industry wants more skilled migrants to ease a 141,000-worker construction shortage. But the red-hot politics of immigration stands in the way.

Japan’s ‘Iron Lady’, Sanae Takaichi, will soon visit Australia, bringing a superpower dilemma that closely resembles Anthony Albanese’s.

The Health Minister’s nonstop interviews suggest Labor knows its NDIS overhaul carries real political danger, despite Coalition support.

While housing shortages fuel fierce debate over migration, local government says the problem is simple: there aren’t enough council workers to inspect and approve new homes.

A polling slide for Anthony Albanese shows how global uncertainty and a chaotic US president are making it harder for the government to control its agenda.

The illicit tobacco boom is draining billions from the budget, fuelling organised crime and exposing the limits of Labor’s enforcement-first approach.

Candidates in the Farrer by-election are calling for cuts to migration. But local employers say they need more foreign workers to help grow the economy.

Anthony Albanese wants a long Labor government that changes the country. But his refusal to consider expanding parliament says a lot about the limits of that ambition.

The prime minister is signalling growing frustration with Washington as the conflict in Iran pushes up fuel prices and complicates the government’s inflation fight.

Once a blue-green contest, Farrer is now a battle of orange, with independent Michelle Milthorpe and One Nation both threatening the Coalition.

The party’s result in South Australia has turned a long-theorised threat into a real one, leaving Labor and the Coalition with nowhere to hide.

With the war on Iran deepening global uncertainty, Jim Chalmers is reshaping the 12 May budget as economic pressures rise and voters grow restless.

Concrete budget details would typically be leaked to the media by now, but the war in the Middle East has forced Labor to keep its options open.

Energy Minister Chris Bowen chose belligerence over empathy as fuel shortages deepen anxiety for regional Australians and threaten key industries.

The Coalition’s rivals are mobilising in Farrer as the Liberals downplay their chances of retaining Sussan Ley’s former seat.