Australia

LATIKA M BOURKE: Two titans of the Australian community in London have declared Stephen Smith the most disappointing High Commissioner to ever represent the country in the UK.

AARON PATRICK: To promote social cohesion, Australia should emphasise the importance of its military history and how it shaped the national character.

In front of numerous dignitaries, including the Governor General and Prime Minister, retired Major General Greg Melick delivered a blistering critique of the country’s preparedness for future conflicts.

The former Labor Prime Minister gave a grim assessment of what he would have done to Governor-General John Kerr in the wake of the historic ejection of Whitlam 50 years ago.

The lauded Labor PM left a bigger permanent legacy than many other leaders. Both sides of politics backed many of his big changes that, at the time, were controversial and polarising. And expensive.

Anthony Albanese’s message marking Remembrance Day says the memory of those who gave their lives forms a pledge handed from one generation to the next — ‘lest we forget’.

A defiant Turkey has openly challenged Australia’s bid to jointly host next year’s climate summit with the Pacific, saying Ankara is poised to act as a bridge between richer and poorer countries. 

Skyrocketing electricity prices are coming back to haunt the Albanese government six months after they neutralised it as an election issue.

CAMERON MILNER: It will take political courage that Sussan Ley may lack, but ending their commitment to net zero will be a point of difference the Liberals need to launch a comeback.

As Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles addressed the ALP faithful at the WA state conference in Fremantle on Saturday, he made no secret of the fact he thought 2025 was Labor’s best year.

Child specialist services which will be key to the government’s newly announced initiative to divert more people away from NDIS have warned it won’t be achievable without a sustainable funding model.

Treasury officials warned the Albanese Government that expanding first homebuyer subsidies would push up prices — just days before Labor unveiled the plan.

Two ISIS brides who returned to Australia in September have paved the way for others to follow in their footsteps, with one expert believing the pair did so with ‘a lot of help’ from the Government. 

Beijing’s military has criticised the proposed $12b upgrade of WA’s Henderson shipyard for US nuclear-powered submarines as placing ‘Australia in an increasingly precarious position’.

China has been accused of widespread intellectual property theft and political meddling by Australia’s spy chief.