Home
Search
thewest.com.au‌‌
PoliticsChevron Right Icon

Federal Politics

Tony Burke said Australia was “so lucky” to avoid mass casualties from an alleged pipe bomb attack in Perth.

Federal PoliticsCommentsOnline radicalisation bigger threat than immigration: Burke

The Home Affairs Minister has warned it would be ‘ignorance in the extreme’ to pretend immigration crackdowns will reduce the threat of terrorism in Australia.

Andrew Greene

Launch of the Australian Fashion Council's new manufacturing strategy, held at Parliament House on Canberra on March 12, 2026. PICTURED: ADA Unknown

ManufacturingCommentsPremiumManufacturing is in fashion in push to revive local textiles

Can you answer “when did you last wear something made in Australia” as easily as you can recall when you last drank a local wine?

Katina Curtis

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese MP greets the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

Federal PoliticsCommentsAussies to get cheaper European goods under new trade deal

Australians who enjoy a meal of Italian pasta, French wine and Swiss chocolate will be able to dine for less once a new free trade deal with the European Union comes into effect.

Katina Curtis

Treasurer Jim Chalmers during Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra.

EconomyCommentsPremiumChalmers pledges productivity boost under Iran pressure

Treasurer Jim Chalmers vows May’s Federal Budget will have a substantial emphasis on lifting lagging productivity as Opposition Leader Angus Taylor claims Aussies could be $35,000 worse off without a fix.

Adrian Lowe

Experts have warned the Iran war-induced fuel crisis will have a ripple effect across key sectors and cause consumers hip-pocket pain on everything from food, flights, construction and online shopping. 

Federal PoliticsVideoCommentsFuel crisis fears flare as servos across the nation run dry

Experts have warned the Iran war-induced fuel crisis will have a ripple effect across key sectors and cause consumers hip-pocket pain on everything from food, flights, construction and online shopping. 

Caitlyn Rintoul

Trade Minister Don Farrell struck up a warm relationship with his EU counterpart as they negotiated the trade deal.

The West Australian exclusive
The West Australian exclusive
Federal PoliticsComments
The West Australian exclusive
How Don Farrell’s bromance helped get EU trade deal done

Personal relationships helped get Australia’s huge trade deal with the European Union over the line.

Latika M Bourke

The world has had its ‘comfort blanket’ ripped away and learned that distance no longer provides safety when economic dependencies can be weaponised, Europe’s president has warned Australian politicians.

Federal PoliticsVideoComments‘Brutal’: EU president warns Aussies of confronting truth

The world has had its ‘comfort blanket’ ripped away and learned that distance no longer provides safety when economic dependencies can be weaponised, Europe’s president has warned Australian politicians.

Katina Curtis

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese MP and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, sign a trade agreement between Australia and the European Union.

Federal PoliticsVideoCommentsAustralia inks EU trade deal set to deliver $10b windfall

Europe is poised to overtake the US as Australia’s second-biggest trading partner after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen signed a blockbuster trade deal.

Latika M Bourke

Angus Taylor and Anthony Albanese Illustration

opinion
opinion
Katina CurtisCommentsPremium
opinion
Gloomy voters are cheesed off with mainstream politics

A world full of doom and gloom is providing a backdrop for people to turn away from mainstream politics and leaders to search for answers elsewhere.

Katina Curtis

Katina Curtis

Australia’s energy security shouldn’t be in the hands of a few Middle Eastern kings and caliphates.

opinion
opinion
PoliticsCommentsPremium
opinion
Why the fuel crisis should be a wake-up call for Australia

Australia can no longer trust a bunch of kingdoms and caliphates in the Middle East to provide our fuel security.

Cameron Milner

Australians have been warned to brace for higher food prices and shortages in supermarkets.

Federal PoliticsVideoCommentsAussies warned about higher grocery prices as fuel costs hit

Australians have been warned to brace for higher prices in supermarkets, cafes and shops — and even shortages — in coming weeks as the deepening fuel crisis begins to ripple through supply chains.

Katina Curtis

NSW Premier Chris Minns has revealed 105 service stations are now without diesel - “almost exclusively in the regions”.

Federal PoliticsVideoComments‘Of course’ the government is considering fuel rations

Federal Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen confirmed fuel rationing has been reviewed by his department as more than 200 service stations ran out of petrol in NSW, Queensland and Victoria.

Stephen Johnson

Defence Minister Richard Marles.

War in IranCommentsAustralia signs on to help open Strait of Hormuz

Australia has joined 21 other countries in a joint commitment to safeguard oil tanker transit through the Strait of Hormuz amid the US-Israel-Iran war. 

Caitlyn Rintoul

Pauline Hanson says One Nation’s “earthquake” results from Saturday’s South Australian election will act as a springboard for its forthcoming campaigns in the upcoming Farrer and Victoria polls. NewsWire/ Emma Brasier

FEDERAL POLITICSHanson pivots to next polls as Libs refuse to ‘lurch’ right

Pauline Hanson says One Nation’s “earthquake” results from Saturday’s South Australian election will act as a springboard for its forthcoming campaigns in the upcoming Farrer and Victoria polls.

Caitlyn Rintoul

One Nation leader Senator Pauline Hanson celebrated the party’s good showing in the South Australian election on Saturday.

opinion
opinion
Federal PoliticsComments
opinion
The SA election changes everything for the federal Liberals

AARON PATRICK: One Nation’s polling surge is not a statistical anomaly, and means Pauline Hanson is now as much a threat to the Coalition as Anthony Albanese.

Aaron Patrick

First homebuyer Olivia Hall thinks that the capital gains tax discount makes it harder for first homebuyers.

PropertyCommentsPremiumProperty investors to adapt amid potential CGT overhaul

Perth property investors say any changes to the capital gains tax discount won’t stop them acquiring more properties — just the way they do it.

Katina Curtis and Brooke Rolfe

Opinion: Don’t be surprised if Daniel Pastorelli is a minister by year’s end.

opinion
opinion
Cabinet reshuffleCommentsPremium
opinion
Cabinet shakeup looms for Xmas

For mine, Pastorelli and D’Anna are probably the two most likely MPs to get promotions if Punch and McGurk are played Andrea Bocelli’s Time to Say Goodbye by Cook in a reshuffle.

Joe Spagnolo

Fuel prices in Perth on Saturday 21st March. Caltex on Lynwood Avenue, Lynwood Stuart Quinn

analysis
analysis
Bowser painCommentsPremium
analysis
Record fuel prices in Perth likely to be smashed again

Petrol and diesel prices in WA have smashed historic records, FuelWatch data confirms. 

John Flint

GEN Treasurer Rita Saffioti and Housing Minister John Carey press conference at Crown. Rita Saffioti.

The West Australian exclusive
The West Australian exclusive
Federal PoliticsCommentsPremium
The West Australian exclusive
Saffioti lets loose on NSW’s ‘idiotic’ GST argument

The WA Treasurer has unleashed on the NSW Government over its push for WA’s GST take to be lowered, labelling the idea an ‘economically stupid thing to suggest’.

Joe Spagnolo

Donald Trump says he is “surprised” Australia has not taken a bigger role in the Middle East conflict.

updated
updated
Donald TrumpComments
updated
Albanese hits back at Trump’s US military request

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has batted away claims by President Donald Trump that Australia should be getting more involved in the Middle East conflict.

John Flint, Jessica Evensen and Joe Spagnolo

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - NewsWire Photos MARCH 19 2026, Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers gives a pre-budget speech ahead of the May 12 budget. NewsWire /Brendan Beckett

Federal PoliticsCommentsChalmers’ high-stakes budget

When he talks about the May 12 budget, Treasurer Jim Chalmers always stresses that what’s done on things like the capital gains tax discount will be a matter for cabinet.

Michelle Grattan

US President Donald Trump says he was "surprised" Australia didn't help in the military effort against Iran.

updated
updated
Donald TrumpVideoComments
updated
Trump ‘surprised’ Australia snubbed US military request

US President Donald Trump has taken a thinly-veiled swipe at the Albanese Government, saying he was ‘surprised’ Australia said no to joining American military efforts against Iran.

David Johns and Caitlyn Rintoul

Nothing pressure-tests a nation’s internal systems like war.

opinion
opinion
Federal PoliticsCommentsPremium
opinion
War has put government deficiencies in crosshairs

Nothing pressure-tests a nation’s internal systems like war.

Paul Murray

Anthony Albanese was heckled when he attended a Sydney mosque.

analysis
analysis
Federal PoliticsComments
analysis
Anthony Albanese gets a lesson in Middle East politics

The Prime Minister’s tense visit to Sydney’s biggest mosque on Friday morning was a sign of deep hostility towards the Government from some Muslims.

Aaron Patrick