Hammurabi nailed it back in 1772 BC when he declared: “The first duty of government is to protect the powerless from the powerful.”

When it came to common sense, the sixth king of Babylon was an “early adopter”, earlier than say the 29th prime minister of Australia whose government is still trying to force through tax cuts...

The next big judgement day for Pauline Hanson will be the election in her home state of Queensland, due in under a year. Her vote there will determine how much fear she puts into the Coalition ahead of the federal election.

This is the broader context for Hanson’s threat (aka stunt) at the start of this parliamentary week, for One Nation to...

It’s impossible for the government to substantially ease the hardship for workers from the Fair Work Commission’s decision to cut some penalty rates — as the government’s submission into its implementation illustrates. Nor can it shirk responsibility for it.

The question on which the Commission had asked for submissions...