The Latest Breaking News from Federal

Reform clock is ticking – the big policy challenges the next government must urgently address

The 2025 federal election coincides with a period of profound global uncertainty, as the Trump administration wreaks havoc on the free trade system and longstanding alliances.

The Conversation · Apr 6, 2025

Big money was spent on the 2022 election – but the party with the deepest pockets didn't win

Nine months after the 2022 federal election, voters finally get a look at how much the parties spent and who funded their campaigns.

The Conversation · Feb 1, 2023

Budget restraint? When it comes to transport projects, it's hard to find

“Restraint” – that’s what Treasurer Jim Chalmers claimed as the watchword of Tuesday’s federal budget. Perhaps the claim can be made in general, but when it comes to transport infrastructure, the budget is remarkable not for how different it is to budgets past, but how similar. It has left plenty…

The Conversation · Oct 26, 2022

As federal government spending on small transport projects creeps up, marginal seats get a bigger share

Brace for the federal election – the transport promises have begun. Some are pretty big, such as Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce’s A$678 million for the Outback Highway, and Opposition leader Anthony Albanese’s $500 million down-payment on faster rail between Newcastle and Sydney. If history is any guide, a rush…

The Conversation · Mar 20, 2022

When aged care workers earn just $22 an hour, a one-off payment won’t fix the wage problem

The federal government’s promise of up to A$800 between now and May for aged care workers is a short-term political “fix” designed to cover over a long-term policy failure.

The Conversation · Feb 1, 2022