australia news
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Serco is failing, but is kept afloat thanks to Australia's refugee policyAntony Loewenstein: It’s a sign of the times that a company like Serco, with murky financial statements masking its true economic shape, is continually rewarded for failure by new and larger contracts -
Australian detention centre profits propping up UK's SercoImmigration contract is insulating UK outsourcing company, whose shares have collapsed over losses from other contracts
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Phil Cleary's Victorian election bid driven by 'obsession' with political diversityThe former independent federal MP’s progressive Voice for the West party to speak up for people ‘west of the Yarra’ -
Coalition's scholarships to be offered 'only with extra fee increases'USQ vice-chancellor says proposed scholarships would be ‘peer-sourced’ and not available at all universities
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Nutmeg the Wombat unveiled as mascot for 2015 Asian CupThe Asian Cup’s mascot is hardly a classic but it’s not the horror show that some sport tournaments have conjured
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Soldiers' real stories are the best defence against Remembrance Day conditioningPaul Daley: Our politicians ask us to imagine that our ‘fallen’ soldiers ‘sacrificed’ themselves for a higher cause. For many young men sent to the first world war, there was no happy, patriotic ending
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David Attenborough and Jane Goodall join the fight to create a new national park in VictoriaSupporters of the proposed Great Forest national park say the entire central highlands’ ecosystem, the fate of the emblematic Leadbeater’s possum and the economic future of struggling towns are at stake as the state election approaches
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Sexual abuse inquiry names three alleged perpetrators in reportNoel Greenway, Ronald Ward and Frank Valentine, accused of abuse in NSW institutions, have never been charged with a criminal offence
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Australian special forces moving into Iraq, Tony Abbott saysTroops have been waiting in United Arab Emirates for legal agreement before being deployed to advise and assist Iraqi security forces
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Morning Mail: Australian fight against Isis, Serco shares crash, UN torture committeeGuardian Australia’s morning news briefing from around the web
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UN torture committee grills Australia on conditions in Manus and Nauru detention centresCounter-terrorism laws and over-representation of Indigenous people in jail also come under scrutiny in Geneva
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Adam Brereton: Q&A wrap: In a weird and wide-ranging Q&A the panel talked neuroplasticity, WestConnex, and compulsory votingQ&A; wrap: does technology change our brains? And will Direct Action change a thing?
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Obama indicates US may ask Australia for more help to combat Isis in IraqUS president makes comments after meeting Tony Abbott in Beijing on the sidelines of the Apec summit
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Serco shares crash after latest profits warningOutsourcing company that runs railways, prisons and GPs out-of-hours services plans to tap shareholders for £550m amid £1.5bn writedown
australian politics
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China Australia free trade agreement: what's on the table and who will benefitTony Abbott says service industries – tourism, finance, education, law and accounting – will be big winners, but critics warn against rushing to a deal
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Obama indicates US may ask Australia for more help to combat Isis in IraqUS president makes comments after meeting Tony Abbott in Beijing on the sidelines of the Apec summit
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Euthanasia: Senate inquiry calls for conscience vote on billCommittee asks for ‘technical issues’, including meaning of ‘terminal illness, to be clarified
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Greens rift claim rejected after establishment of new councilSome members concerned about council, which they say centralises power and would affect state and territory branches
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Gillian Triggs: some Coalition FOI and privacy reforms 'unworkable'President of Australian Human Rights Commission backed in criticism by legal and advocacy groups
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Tony Abbott steps back from promise to ‘shirtfront’ Vladimir Putin over MH17PM says talks with Russian leader over downing of Malaysia Airlines flight ‘only part of’ Australia’s Apec and G20 agenda
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Margaret Cunneen's bid to block Icac inquiry dismissedHigh-ranking NSW prosecutor is accused of advising her son’s girlfriend to feign illness to avoid a blood alcohol test
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Barry O’Farrell denies reports he is considering move to SenateFormer NSW premier takes to Twitter to deny he sounded out party colleagues about possible switch to federal upper house
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Victoria reimagined: see the state resized by the statistics that matterInteractive guide to all the Victorian electorates
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Wayne Goss, former Queensland premier, dies at 63Labor politician held state’s top job from 1989 to 1996, ending 32 years of the old National party’s rule in Queensland
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Renewable energy investment in Australia dropped 70% in past yearClimate Council report finds Australia is losing green business overseas as China and US exploit global shift to renewables
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Coalition bid to strip Tasmanian forests of world heritage cover 'disappointing'Leading conservationist says Australia needs to understand the importance of leaving carbon-dense forests standing
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World governments failing Earth's ecosystems, says top conservationistJulia Marton-Lefèvre, director general of the IUCN, says political leaders have not properly embraced conservation
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Greens form new national council to help boost stagnating supportChristine Milne says 25-person council will ‘make us much quicker and more effective’
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Victoria election: is Denis Napthine’s daggy charm the Coalition’s only asset?The Victorian premier used his party’s campaign launch – and Tony Abbott’s absence – as a chance to turn the spotlight away from the East West Link and on to himself
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Andrew Robb: free trade agreement will not mean cheap Chinese labourTrade minister brushes off union concerns and says ‘Australian law would apply’ to any workers
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Julie Bishop discusses Isis with John Kerry as US boosts troop numbersAustralia’s foreign minister says she and the US secretary of state talked about the difficulties of fighting the extremist group
opinion and analysis
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Soldiers' real stories are the best defence against Remembrance Day conditioningPaul Daley: Our politicians ask us to imagine that our ‘fallen’ soldiers ‘sacrificed’ themselves for a higher cause. For many young men sent to the first world war, there was no happy, patriotic ending
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Adam Brereton: Q&A wrap: In a weird and wide-ranging Q&A the panel talked neuroplasticity, WestConnex, and compulsory votingQ&A; wrap: does technology change our brains? And will Direct Action change a thing?
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Icac survived intact. Margaret Cunneen and Arthur Moses were demolished. But the best is yet to come
Richard Ackland: Aside from a day of exciting courtroom drama, the Cunneen case gave us some very interesting clarifications about Icac and its powers – and an appeal to look forward toIcac survived intact. Margaret Cunneen and Arthur Moses were demolished. But the best is yet to come -
Bowraville murders: after the NSW inquiry, the elusive justice families seek is one step closerLarissa Behrendt: If their children had been white, would the families of the murdered Bowraville kids have had justice already? The NSW parliament has affirmed this was the case
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Hard work, ownership and conservative deserts: Crossfit and the Protestant work ethic are oddly similarEleanor Robertson: What ambient conditions produced the widespread uptake of Crossfit, a sport that would’ve been considered indicative of possible pathology just a few years ago?
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On climate change, Australia will be left behind by China, the US and the EUTim Flannery: Australia should be showing leadership on climate at the G20. Instead, as 39 countries put a price on carbon, we’ve just repealed ours
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G20 faces crucial test of its credibility as Brisbane summit loomsIs the Group of 20 a genuine agent for change, or just another tired horse on the merry-go-round of international confabs?
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G20: as Brisbane prepares to host the 2014 summit, your questions answeredWhat do you call a group of economies described variously as the primary world economic body and the greatest setback since the second world war?
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Black Comedy: five questions to Bjorn StewartIndigenousX: Bjorn Stewart, one of the stars of ABC1’s new series Black Comedy, takes over the @IndigenousX Twitter account this week
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A Klansman in Canberra and a hoax rapper on 3AW: spot the differenceCam Smith: Culture jamming was once the preserve of the political left. Now, in the age of clickbait, it’s used by racists to hide their identities
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To attack rather than build is now the norm, but the Coalition's negative campaigning is backfiringWarwick Smith: Attacking a policy simply because it is open to attack can result in painting yourself into an awkward policy corner
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Australia's racist constitution is a stain on our country. Do we care enough to change it?George Newhouse: Can we rouse enough public interest to reform the constitution, which still contains the prejudices of a time when racism was national policy?
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Aboriginal people must not negotiate with politicians who assault their land rightsSol Bellear: The NSW government’s hurried assault on land rights – followed by a hasty retreat – is deeply unfortunate and has damaged any trust Aboriginal people can have in the Baird government
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Dear Bill Shorten: you're the opposition leader, not me. It's time to drop your soft bipartisanshipDavid Leyonhjelm: I can’t oppose the government alone. Shorten needs to realise that legislator’s remorse doesn’t make up for Labor’s weak opposition to national security creep
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If Gough Whitlam was a saint at home, he was often a sinner abroadAntony Loewenstein: Whitlam supported Suharto, challenged Israel and had a tense relationship with the US. His foreign policy legacy contains plenty to trouble myth-makers on both the left and right
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Lez miserable: I came out in a country town, and everything changed in an instantRebecca Shaw: I never could find out what might have been with my first love, Alexandra. But when someone like Tim Cook comes out, fewer and fewer people like her are filled with self-hatred
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Anzac and Gallipoli are the novelist's terrain as much as the historian'sFor too many Australian authors the Anzac centenary is little more than a marketing opportunity, but Steve Sailah’s A Fatal Tide is a subtle challenge to the mythologisers, writes Paul Daley
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Even at a national event, crowds can be brutal: Gillard was cheered, Rudd received in silence. But the question that remained was: what more could Whitlam have done, had he only had the time?Gough Whitlam's memorial left lingering sadness, despite the cheers and soaring oratory
video
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Australian news cameraman films being carjacked at gunpoint – video
An Australian news cameraman is carjacked at gunpoint by a suspect in the crime he was travelling to report
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Giant condom raises safe sex awareness in Sydney - video
A giant condom has been placed over the Hyde Park obelisk in Sydney. The condom is part of a campaign to raise awareness about HIV and urge gay men to stay safe
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The ABC's Roast team delivers final, stinging farewell to Canberra - video
The Roast team takes a typically acerbic look at the nation's politicians to say farewell after three years on the air
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Bill Shorten: Abbott government ‘on a higher education wrecking mission’ - video
Opposition leader Bill Shorten at the largest Catholic school in southeast Queensland, stepping up his attack on the Coalition's higher education changes and budget cuts. Shorten points to the government's 'triple whammy' which will discourage students from going to university: fee deregulation; a 20% funding cut to universities; and a doubling in the Hecs debt interest rate
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Clive Palmer launches tirade against Rupert Murdoch - video
Palmer United party leader Clive Palmer has a fiery exchange with a journalist he describes as 'Rupert Murdoch in disguise', going on to label the Australian press a disgrace
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Clive Palmer makes his Victorian election pitch to voters - video
Clive Palmer launches the PUP campaign in Victoria ahead of the state election
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Noel Pearson speech celebrates Gough Whitlam's achievements - video
Indigenous leader Noel Pearson drew laughs and cheers from the crowd gathered to celebrate the life of Gough Whitlam at Sydney Town Hall as he reeled off a long list of Whitlam-administration achievements.
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The Roast: can G20 Brisbane handle the truth on climate change? – video
If the G20 is primarily an economic forum, what about the world it's held on?
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New security laws would not have stopped reporting of Snowden leaks, says George Brandis - video
The attorney general denies that new laws preventing the disclosure of 'special operations' would have stopped reporting on the Edward Snowden leaks
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Australian man rides dead whale as sharks feed on the rotting carcass - video
An Australian man has dived into the ocean near Australia's Rottnest Island and climbed onto a dead whale while sharks circled the rotting carcass
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Albany, the harbour town at the centre of Anzac centenary commemorations – video
Albany in Western Australia is soon to host a $2.7m reenactment of the departure of Anzac troops from its harbour bound for Egypt and ultimately, Gallipoli and the western front
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Tony Abbott and Denis Napthine announce police taskforce into alleged union corruption in Victoria – video
The prime minister and the Victorian premier, Denis Napthine, announce a new police taskforce to tackle Victorian trade union corruption
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Australia passes tough new law on travel to terror hotspots - video
Australian prime minister Tony Abbott says the best way to deter foreign fighters is to 'stop them leaving in the first place'
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First Dog on the Moon remembers his early work – video
First Dog on the Moon shares some of his early, unpublished work with the Guardian Australia multimedia team. There are curious teen pizzas and sea cucumbers with appalling habits, and of course, early renditions of the Dog himself
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Where do our fish really come from? SBS show promises to lift the lid on the seafood industry – video
An SBS series promises to reveal the unsustainable fishing practices prevalent in the seafood industry
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Bill Shorten confronted by Canberra academic over renewable energy target - video
A University of Canberra lecturer in sustainable communities has challenged Labor leader Bill Shorten over a potential weakening of the renewable energy target
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Australia stops immigration from Ebola-hit west African countries – video
Australia says it will stop issuing visas to people coming from countries in west Africa hit by Ebola
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Bill Shorten's backing for same-sex marriage gets the Roast treatment – video
News that Australia's opposition leader has done something 'progressive' and voiced support for marriage equality has the team from the Roast bringing out the Bill Shorten dancers
Thanks to the Luxembourg tax leaks, we know exactly what an international dodge looks like – and who's responsible