Jason Koutsoukis

For the first time in 40 years, Labor is developing a plan to increase the number of seats in the parliament – a move the Coalition fears will cement Labor’s majority.

Almost 40 politicians lost their seats or retired at the last election. Some have since become lobbyists, been elected to state parliaments, returned to the bar or become publicans.

When press gallery journalists swap their notepads for batting pads to take on politicians in the annual one-day cricket match, the contest for some is make-or-break.

Don Farrell’s power extends to every ministerial office. The PM relies on him factionally and strategically – and will benefit from an ambitious plan to expand the parliament.

As Barnaby Joyce threatens to destroy the Nationals, those close to him say he is smarting at the party leader he claims to have made and by whom he was ‘repaid with exile’.

A clutch of Liberals who built relationships during Donald Trump’s first presidency are now the most influential Australians in Washington.

Labor’s reforms to freedom of information laws are opposed by every public submission made to the Senate, with the government’s record on secrecy worse than Scott Morrison’s.

The Saturday Paper can reveal that the prime minister and other ministers from NSW intervened in cabinet to constrain the operations of the country’s leading integrity body.

In his visit to the White House next month, Anthony Albanese is expected to come under pressure to weaken the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme that Donald Trump considers unfair to American drug companies.

As Pauline Hanson tells The Saturday Paper her One Nation party is ‘not going to be a bridesmaid anymore’, Labor insiders reveal the prime minister’s approach to dealing with racial anxieties.

Having succeeded in ousting his more moderate siblings, the eldest Murdoch son must now consider whether a shift further to the right would increase his empire’s political influence.

Amid mounting scandals and a loss of confidence in her management, the Australian National University vice-chancellor is negotiating an exit from her role.

An investigation by ASIO, the AFP and foreign partners steadily pieced together financial trails and communications that led to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Having lost her close relationship with Peter Dutton, Gina Rinehart is working to exert influence in a radically different Canberra.

As an inquiry hears evidence of alleged bullying and mistreatment, sources confirm there is no desire to change senior management at the ANU.

As Barnaby Joyce continues to undermine the Coalition’s position on net zero, pragmatists in the Liberal Party believe they need to treat the issue the same way Labor treated boat arrivals.

US senators are siding with the country’s drug industry to demand that trade deals attack subsidies such as Australia’s scheme, a letter to the administration reveals.

Confidential documents show already delayed aged-care reforms are set back by months due to cost blowouts with a series of contractors and system failures that have been rolling for years.

The prime minister’s slow reaction to supporting America’s unauthorised missile strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites shows the contradictions at the heart of Labor’s foreign policy.

Having fought to the top of the South Australian Liberal ticket, Alex Antic is working to reshape the party as a radical outfit more interested in ideology than governing.

Industry sources reveal drug companies have stopped negotiating listings on the PBS and in some cases are considering not listing in Australia as they seek to lift profits under Trump.

The PM’s reunification of the super-ministry reverses a move that critics say made it more accountable, and is a boon for the leadership ambitions of Tony Burke.

Despite claiming successes against the Greens, right-wing lobby group Advance shifted very few votes and contributed to the Liberal Party’s massive loss.

Liberal MPs reveal how the former prime minister and his close confidante have been at the centre of a string of disastrous decisions that led to the party’s stunning election loss and the collapse of the Coalition.

Labor’s new ministry is the result of a months-old factional deal to appease the Victorian Right – although the prime minister ‘signed off’ on the controversial sackings.

Paul Erickson’s colleagues say the Labor national secretary is a man who controls everything – he doesn’t get angry, he just gets slower.

Travelling with Peter Dutton through the final week of the election campaign, it was clear the opposition leader was running on avoidance – of scrutiny, mistakes and imagination.

The opposition leader and his prospective treasurer are among the richest people to ever sit in parliament – although their wealth is held in a series of complex arrangements that would breach the ministerial code.

As community independents look increasingly competitive in several Liberal-held seats, a concerted campaign against them is running in the Murdoch press.

The distraction of an erratic US-driven trade war is forcing Labor to pivot on the campaign trail, while offering opportunities to sharpen its pitch as the superior economic manager.

The first week of the campaign has shown up an ill-disciplined opposition leader, with Coalition sources saying they are already ‘factoring in a loss’.

In deciding whether to award a massive Australian naval contract to Japan or to Germany, the Australian government must carefully weigh both competing strengths and strategic relationships.

At the same time as he positions himself as fighting against corporate Australia, Peter Dutton has proved an effective fundraiser and popular guest of billionaire donors.

The timeline from the discovery to the exposure of the fake terrorist plot reveals how political exploitation served to stoke fears and erode public confidence.

Australia’s largest private arms supplier, Robert Nioa, has become a regular of Donald Trump’s inner circle – and a confidant of Peter Dutton. He is also Bob Katter’s son-in-law.

The Coalition has announced it will match major spending announcements made by the Albanese government but has been unwilling to outline the savings on which this would depend.

In a wide-ranging account of the threats facing Australia, the ASIO chief revealed hostile actions from state actors, extremists and, increasingly, adolescents.

Labor has outpaced the Coalition with a rush of advertisements reflecting the belief that voters’ views on Peter Dutton are still evolving and a negative campaign will work in the government’s favour.

As the government moved this week to kill off its own environmental reform, there is anger and disappointment within Labor’s ranks over the sacrifice to economic interests.

Despite passing an ambitious suite of legislation in the final sitting week of parliament, Anthony Albanese is seen by focus groups as greedy, timid and too close to corporate Australia.

The billionaire Visy chairman has collected some of Australia’s leading political figures as advisers and is now a regular at Mar-a-Lago. What will he do with his latest, most powerful connection?

The Liberal Party has hired controversial digital agency Topham Guerin to produce content for its election campaign, despite concerns about disinformation and deepfakes used by the group.

The decision not to implement a ban on gambling advertising comes after intense lobbying and draws on a close relationship between the PM and Peter V’landys.

The biggest electoral reforms in 40 years have been criticised as a plot to entrench the two-party system, which would deliver millions in extra funding to Labor and the Coalition.

As he attempts to build relations with the Trump administration, Kevin Rudd has been accused of privately mocking the president-elect’s inner circle at parties held at the ambassador’s official residence.

The final report into misconduct at PwC and the other Big Four consultancies has recommended 40 changes that would fundamentally alter the way these firms operate.

As Anthony Albanese reassures colleagues over his handling of the Qantas upgrades scandal, some Labor figures express concern he has become too used to the perks of office.

Colleagues deride the defence minister as vain and too enthusiastic about the trappings of office – but his factional power makes him a possibility to succeed the prime minister.

Attacks on big business have been part of the opposition leader’s strategy to broaden his appeal – now he is working to repair strained relations with the corporate sector that have raised concerns within his party.

As Labor insiders chafe against the regular and outspoken criticism from Labor’s elder statesmen, some say it provides the contestability that this government lacks.

As hundreds of millions of dollars are spent on outsourced software, key provider Salesforce has built a reputation for the largesse of its hospitality.

The national strategy on counterterrorism has collapsed, with the states walking away and dysfunction hobbling Home Affairs.

AI-generated content on apps such as TikTok is seen as the next big thing in political messaging, with Gen Z the target for the next federal election.

Behind the apparent breakdown in relations between Labor and the Reserve Bank is a more bitter feud with the Coalition over reforms.

The National Anti-Corruption Commission has ignored referrals from a royal commission to investigate six public servants over the disastrous robodebt scheme.

The offer of military bases to the US clashes with the government’s stated aim of distancing itself from a great power rivalry, says the former secretary of Home Affairs.

EXCLUSIVE: Analysis of IT contracts to support the new aged-care system show fees have ballooned to $685 million for just three multinational consultancies.

Following a series of focus groups and other polling, Advance has announced its sole focus until the next election will be cutting the Greens’ senate vote by a third.

Labor plans to limit the use of non-compete clauses, on the basis that such constraints on the movement of workers to rival employers suppress both wages and innovation.

Polling shows at least four teal independents are at risk of losing at the next election, as the government prepares donation reforms that favour major parties.

As PwC’s most senior executives prepare for further questioning before a Senate committee, the company has failed to answer key questions at the centre of the tax leaks scandal.

EXCLUSIVE: An investigation into multiple technology contracts signed to support the new Aged Care Act has raised doubts over the Commonwealth’s capacity to properly manage the delayed implementation of the law.

Peter Dutton is remaking the Coalition in the image of the Liberal National Party, wrongfooting a federal Labor government that has never before dealt with a Queensland opposition leader.

An EY review obtained by The Saturday Paper reveals that the cost of a software contract with an American firm approved in 2019 went from $10 million to $210 million in three years, and is likely still rising.

Fatima Payman has confirmed she spoke with election strategist Glenn Druery before crossing the floor, as colleagues say her defection from the Labor Party was months in the making.

Ahead of a huge investment in PsiQuantum, Industry Minister Ed Husic gave advisory positions to executives from a venture capital firm connected to the company.

As the Albanese government prepares for the possibility of a second term for Donald Trump, Scott Morrison is being considered as an informal envoy.

As the Greens are accused of condoning anti-Semitism in their rhetoric on Gaza, Labor is attempting to predict the impact the conflict will have in key seats.

A week before the long-awaited report into consulting services, it can be revealed that KPMG was given $1.3 million to train the public service in ethics.

While the government’s push to ban non-therapeutic vapes has been heavily supported by public health bodies, it has split the Coalition over female voters, the blackmarket and Barnaby Joyce.

The party has learnt some lessons from the last election in its selection of professional women to contest three seats lost to independents. Can they convince voters turned off  by Peter Dutton’s platform?

Amid calls for the urgent repatriation of so-called Australian ISIS brides and their children stranded in Syria, Anthony Albanese has decided to shelve any plans to bring them home.

As a review of the Lobbying Code of Conduct draws criticism from transparency advocates, lobbyists are descending on Canberra to take expensive seats at fundraisers around the most important night of the political year.

As Labor confronts Peter Dutton’s success in the polls, research is shaping how they will characterise him – from his police career to his investment properties to his time as health minister.

Labor is looking past ailing polls as it lays the policy groundwork for the next election, while strategists and pollsters say even a minority government may be tough to secure.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is staking a significant part of his re-election on an interventionist plan to revitalise investment in industry.