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David Rowe cartoons for May 2024
David Rowe is a multiple Walkley award-winning cartoonist. He draws a daily political cartoon and one for the Chanticleer column.
- Updated
- David Rowe
Labor to spend $11.3b on social housing
The new package to be detailed in the budget aims to enable states and territories to combat homelessness and repair social housing.
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- Phillip Coorey
Chinese debt trap diplomacy blamed for grounding Vanuatu airline
Air Vanuatu has gone into voluntary liquidation, putting pressure on the Albanese government to bail out the national carrier.
- Andrew Tillett and Ayesha de Kretser
Trade partners applaud gas certainty; trouble brews for Labor at home
Gas, not wishful thinking, is needed to get to net zero, says Anthony Albanese.
- Updated
- Phillip Coorey, Andrew Tillett and Jessica Sier
High Court hands Labor rare win on immigration detention
Immigration Minister Andrew Giles welcomed the ruling in the case of the man known as ASF17, who says he would face persecution if he was sent back to Iran.
- Updated
- Tom McIlroy
‘Unprecedented’ migration blamed for jump in WA spending
Treasurer says the state government had been forced to spend more on education, housing and healthcare after 95,000 people moved to WA last year.
- Tom Rabe
Opinion & Analysis
A call for destruction can mean, well, just about anything really
Confused about what “from the river to the sea” means? It’s been a common mistake right through history.
Satirist
Australia wants more than the Lucky Country can deliver
Successive terms of trade booms – the envy of other nations – have allowed Australian governments to splurge. But now it seems that even that is not enough.
Editorial
GST and gas show a government that’s still out of tune
A huge GST handout to WA and a report that gives a free pass to the state’s gas industry show how far parochial toadying in the west will go.
Columnist
The budget that could be make or break for Labor
Jim Chalmers is gearing up for his third and most important budget. If he spends too much and stokes inflation, he knows he’ll own the next rate increase.
Political editor
Yesterday
- Opinion
- Satire
A call for destruction can mean, well, just about anything really
Confused about what “from the river to the sea” means? It’s been a common mistake right through history.
- Rowan Dean
This Month
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Australia wants more than the Lucky Country can deliver
Successive terms of trade booms – the envy of other nations – have allowed Australian governments to splurge. But now it seems that even that is not enough.
- The AFR View
- Opinion
- Federal budget
GST and gas show a government that’s still out of tune
A huge GST handout to WA and a report that gives a free pass to the state’s gas industry show how far parochial toadying in the west will go.
- Laura Tingle
Energy funding chopped under weight of Victoria’s debt
Experts say this week’s state budget shows the Victorian government has prioritised major transport projects over the energy transition.
- Gus McCubbing
- Analysis
- Federal budget
The budget that could be make or break for Labor
Jim Chalmers is gearing up for his third and most important budget. If he spends too much and stokes inflation, he knows he’ll own the next rate increase.
- Updated
- Phillip Coorey
Justice Michael Lee rules Lehrmann to pay trial costs
Bruce Lehrmann has been ordered to pay the vast majority of Network Ten’s legal costs for his failed defamation case; Air Vanuatu enters liquidation; Wong undecided on UN Palestine vote. How the day unfolded.
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- Euan Black
- Analysis
- Immigration
No more gaming the system, says High Court
The High Court has sent a clear message: those “manipulating the system” won’t be rewarded with a get-out-of-detention free card.
- Michael Pelly
Military tensions flare on the road to stability with China
A near miss between a Chinese fighter jet and Australian helicopter show that friction remains despite improvement in ties between Beijing and Canberra.
- Andrew Tillett
Rio investors’ fear; Tesla slashes Oz jobs; Perpetual’s bigger story
Read everything that’s happened in the news so far today.
Labor goes to war with Meta in far-reaching inquiry
Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg and X owner Elon Musk could be called on to face federal parliament, as part of a new inquiry into social media algorithms.
- Tom McIlroy
New gas projects receive support amid Labor unease
Resources Minister Madeleine King has backed the development of the Narrabri gas field in NSW, and the Queensland Labor government has given the green light to four new projects in the Bowen Basin.
- Phillip Coorey
NSW, developers at loggerheads over infrastructure contributions
Scrapping two new developer levies in NSW would clear the way for at least 50,000 extra homes over five years, according to the property industry.
- Campbell Kwan
- Opinion
- Canberra Observed
Budget week is time for Dutton to roll a few Jaffas down the aisle
In the same week Peter Dutton went in to bat for the koalas, Labor flew the flag for gas.
- Phillip Coorey
‘Show leadership’: Palestinian plea ahead of key UN vote
The Albanese government is being lobbied heavily over whether to support a symbolic vote upgrading Palestine to full membership of the UN.
- Andrew Tillett
Australia’s defence chief rejects Chinese spying claims
In his first comments on dramatic helicopter near miss, General Angus Campbell said a Chinese pilot had acted unsafely and unprofessionally.
- Andrew Tillett
WA Budget Winners and Losers
Households and prospective home buyers are expected to benefit from new spending measures, while there is no additional funding for farmers, and still no changes to the state’s payroll tax system.
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- Tom Rabe and Brad Thompson
- Updated
- WA budget
WA infrastructure spending goes ‘up another gear’
Premier Roger Cook has vowed to shift infrastructure spending “up another gear” as the state splashed billions on cost-of-living and housing, to absorb the record 95,000 people who moved west last year.
- Tom Rabe
Kerry Stokes ‘cannot cop criticism’
Teal MP Zoe Daniel has accused billionaire Kerry Stokes of anti-democratic behaviour after Seven West Media doubled the cost of printing the AFR. Here’s how the day unfolded.
- Updated
- Gus McCubbing
- Opinion
- Federal budget
A responsible pre-election budget is a delicate balancing act
The treasurer must not stimulate the economy, but cannot ignore the fact that some Australians are bearing more than their share of the pain.
- Aruna Sathanapally
CBA profit falls; Accenture’s $40m pay risk; Best private dining rooms
Read everything that’s happened in the news so far today.