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Opposition Leader Peter Dutton

‘Unifying flag’: senators back Dutton for no Indigenous flag display

Peter Dutton says he will never address the nation with the Australian and Indigenous flags; former Australia Post boss to lead Victorian taskforce. Follow live updates.

  • Updated
  • Lucy Slade and Timothy Moore
HMAS Brisbane fires a Tomahawk Weapon System off the coast of San Diego.

These new missiles mean the Navy has its most lethal fleet yet

Warships are now capable of firing missiles with a range 20 times greater than before, after destroyers test fired a Tomahawk missile last week.

  • Andrew Tillett

Labor’s manufacturing fund takes stake in quantum tech company

The National Reconstruction Fund has taken a $13 million stake in Quantum Brilliance, which aims to build an Australian-first facility to make diamonds used in quantum computers.

  • Ronald Mizen

Liberals dismiss CSIRO’s latest nuclear costings as ‘political’

The CSIRO’s latest appraisal of the Coalition’s nuclear power plans fails to detail the comparative cost of Labor’s renewable rollout, the Liberals say.

  • Phillip Coorey

New police, ASIO squad to keep Jews safe

Amid a deepening political row, a special flying squad of officers will be created to tackle antisemitism as Friday’s synagogue fire is declared an act of terrorism.

  • Updated
  • Andrew Tillett and Gus McCubbing

David Rowe cartoons for December 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

Opinion & Analysis

Taskforce better late than never, but the damage has been done

It feels like the government has again underestimated the import of a serious event and is playing catch-up, which doesn’t help a prime minister fighting a perception of weakness.

Phillip Coorey

Political editor

Phillip Coorey

Labor’s foreign policy gestures alienate both Jewish and Muslim Australians

Strong statements on the Middle East will not mitigate the potential loss of support from the once rusted on communities that now have other voting options.

Kos Samaras

Pollster

Kos Samaras

‘Albo knows best’: Inside Labor’s discontent with PM

A series of missteps has raised questions about Anthony Albanese’s judgment. Is he too confident in his own instincts?

Ronald Mizen

Political correspondent

Ronald Mizen

Australia must be vigilant about stirring up populism

The challenge of cutting the size of government is made harder by public sector elites receiving outsized remuneration.

The AFR View

Editorial

The AFR View
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Yesterday

Anthony Albanese announces the anti-Semitism task force on Monday

Taskforce better late than never, but the damage has been done

It feels like the government has again underestimated the import of a serious event and is playing catch-up, which doesn’t help a prime minister fighting a perception of weakness.

  • Phillip Coorey
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and President of Nauru, David Adeang after the signing of the visitors book ahead of a bilateral meeting at Parliament House in Canberra.

Albanese blocks China with $140m Nauru deal

The new treaty with the Pacific nation gives Australia a veto over security, banking and teleco agreements – and comes with a $140m price tag.

  • Andrew Tillett
ASIO boss Mike Burgess said his comments had been misrepresented.

No ongoing threat after synagogue attack: ASIO

ASIO conducts own antisemitism inquiries as the AFP sets up a special operation; David Lamming avoids criminal conviction after arrest outside The Star. How the day unfolded.

  • Lucy Slade
Only one per cent of AFR readers believe the Greens have done the best job of the political parties this year.

Greens the worst political performers of 2024: AFR readers

The Greens have been judged the worst-performing party by readers of The Australian Financial Review, who criticised its MPs for obstructing parliament.

  • Tom Rabe
 Roxburgh Park in Melbourne or Lakemba in Sydney are a long way away from the suburbs where most Labor staff and MPs reside.

Labor’s foreign policy gestures alienate both Jewish and Muslim Australians

Strong statements on the Middle East will not mitigate the potential loss of support from the once rusted on communities that now have other voting options.

  • Kos Samaras
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during the final parliamentary sitting week of the year.

‘Albo knows best’: Inside Labor’s discontent with PM

A series of missteps has raised questions about Anthony Albanese’s judgment. Is he too confident in his own instincts?

  • Ronald Mizen

This Month

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has said the Coalition will go harder on cutting migration than Labor but has walked away from a previous commitment.

Dutton walks back migration target until after election

Peter Dutton has stepped away from a previous commitment to cut net migration to 160,000.

  • Julie Hare
The reopening of Notre Dame on Saturday captured the global political zeitgeist after lame-duck French President Emmanuel Macron invited resurgent US President-elect Donald Trump to attend.

Australia must be vigilant about stirring up populism

The challenge of cutting the size of government is made harder by public sector elites receiving outsized remuneration.

  • The AFR View
Former British prime minister Boris Johnson arrives to speak at the event in Sydney on Friday.

Boris Johnson’s mispriced Australian tour fizzles out

The former UK prime minister is no longer hot property on the corporate speaking circuit.

  • Mark Di Stefano

What Defence spent on consultants could run submarine fleet for a year

What would Defence’s $811 million in spending on the big five consulting firms in 2022-23 buy? Turns out the answer is quite a lot.

  • Ronald Mizen
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese labelled the attack an act of terrorism, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan did not go as far.

Victoria urged to adopt NSW-style protest laws after synagogue attack

Premier Jacinta Allan on Sunday declined to call the pre-dawn attack terrorism, saying she did not want to risk compromising the police investigation.

  • Ronald Mizen
Friday’s attack on the Israel Addas Synagogue in Melbourne is a reminder of what happens when those responsible for public safety drop the ball.

What Victoria must now do to keep Jewish people safe in Melbourne

The Allan government must now enforce existing laws, reform the permit system for protests, and prosecute hate speech.

  • Philip Dalidakis

How many can you name? The 30 public servants earning more than $1m

Executives from NBN Co, Australia Post and Snowy Hydro topped the latest leaderboard for public service and government-owned business pay packets.

  • Tom McIlroy
Shadow treasurer Brad Rowswell takes the temperature of UK attitudes to Victoria.

‘Darn sensible’ Labor states outcompete Victoria, says top Liberal

Shadow treasurer Brad Rowswell has been in Britain looking at how the state might get in on the AUKUS action, and ruing the salesmanship of rivals NSW and SA.

  • Hans van Leeuwen
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

PM says synagogue fire ‘fulfils definition of terrorism’

Anthony Albanese says the arson attack had the aim of creating fear; hundreds of Jewish community members are expected to gather in Melbourne. Follow updates here.

  • Staff writers
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Benjamin Netanyahu has blamed the Albanese government for the Melbourne synagogue attack

Netanyahu blames Albanese for Melbourne synagogue attack

The Israeli prime minister said that “it is impossible to separate this reprehensible act from the extreme anti-Israeli position of the Labor government”.

  • Phillip Coorey and Andrew Tillett
Adass president Michael Spigelman in his tallit and tefillin on Friday morning.

‘They’ve lost my vote’: anger, defiance after synagogue attack

Politicians, journalists, firefighters, and police officers descended upon Ripponlea in Melbourne’s south-east after the horrific burning of a synagogue.

  • Gus McCubbing
Former NSW Opposition leader Kerry Chikarovski (left) leaves Downing Centre Court with her daughter Lisa Chikarovksi and Mark Chikarovski’s lawyer Bryan Wrench.

Ex-NSW Liberal leader’s son gets community service for drug dealing

Mark Chikarovski, 38, will serve a 35-month sentence in the community for supplying a range of drugs via the dark web.

  • Max Mason
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.

Dutton pushes role for gas power amid blitz on Labor seats

The Opposition Leader hit five Labor electorates this week, in an indication the Coalition is increasingly confident of holding its own seats and is on the hunt for more.

  • Phillip Coorey
Members of the Adass Israel community have gathered outside their torched synagogue on Friday morning.

‘Shocking crime’: Albanese condemns synagogue attack

Anthony Albanese has spoken with the head of the synagogue and the AFP; Jacinta Allan said she felt “sick” by the arson attack. How the day unfolded.

  • Lucy Slade and Timothy Moore