Treasurer Scott Morrison's budget forecasts and claimed return to surplus are based on wages growth almost doubling from its current record low — but pigs might fly before that happens, writes Stephen Long.

Before he was Australia's longest-serving prime minister, Robert Menzies languished on the backbench. Through appealing to the middle class, he found a route back to power.

Any hiccups from China will rattle our economy — and the past week has seen some concerning signals emanating from Beijing that its latest attempt to extract itself from a looming debt crisis has done more harm than good, writes Ian Verrender.

The United States and Saudi Arabia sign a string of agreements in a telling triumph of commercial interest and strategic orthodoxy over US President Donald Trump's alt-right campaign rhetoric, writes Matt Brown.

Sweden's decision to drop its rape investigation into Julian Assange might be hailed as a victory by some, but the Australian is likely to stay put in London's Ecuadorian embassy for the foreseeable future, writes Europe correspondent James Glenday.