In the wake of a number of complaints about the treatment of women in federal politics, the Country Women's Association is calling for more respectful debate.

Dozens of people with a vision impairment, some who took the day off work, have been left waiting on a Brisbane train platform after one of the problem-plagued new trains they were there to test out never arrived.

Former Treasury secretary Ken Henry, the man who carried out a comprehensive review of Australia's tax system a decade ago, backs a cut to the corporate tax rate but says taxes will need to go up to fund government spending.

New Zealand's Foreign Minister Winston Peters warns Australia and New Zealand's influence in the Pacific is waning as China flexes its muscles in the region.

The Federal Government announces it will spend $6 billion buying out New South Wales' and Victoria's shares in Snowy Hydro Limited, bringing it one step closer to starting work on the Snowy Hydro 2.0 scheme.

Financial planning crisis, money laundering scandals, market manipulation … you can add breaches of responsible lending to the list of questionable behaviour pressing down on Australia's banks, writes business reporter Philip Lasker.

South Africa removes both Cameron Bancroft and Usman Khawaja early as David Warner and Steve Smith look to steady the ship in Durban. Follow all the day one action in the first Test in our live blog.

Nationals MP Darren Chester will return to the frontbench and become the Minister for Veterans Affairs after being booted from Cabinet late last year.

Malcolm Turnbull says she was "bullied and provoked" into making extraordinary remarks about the Opposition Leader's staff yesterday as the Jobs Minister makes a comical return to a committee hearing, being shielded from the media by security guards with a whiteboard.

Victoria's Agriculture Minister refuses to rule out shutting down the Game Management Authority following a damning leaked report.