The get Russia campaign is in full swing... The lies out of America are coming thick and fast. Because "we" in the west are aligned with the USA, we don't see the trick which is designed to push the Russians to respond in kind. 

The price of oil is in nosedive — mostly designed to hurt Russia. "Some" people — including the Saudis — have been told to make some sacrifices in order to achieve this aim.

The US is about to spend four times as much on "defending Europe (east)" contrarily to all the agreements made between Reagan and Gorbachev

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has told Coalition MPs that a double dissolution election this year is a "live option".

Abbott knew it was daft because he had said so just three months earlier. After the Irish vote, he rejected the idea for Australia because “questions of marriage are the preserve of the Commonwealth parliament”.

"Secure, affordable housing that is connected to transport and jobs, to education and support services, is a crucial piece of the puzzle for reducing poverty and disadvantage in this state," she said.

Ms Howe said she believed the fund had the potential to deliver "far more" than 3000 additional homes.

IPA chief executive Brendan Lyon said the fund "will see thousands of people get stable housing and tailored support services, but it also begins to trial new ways to solve the public housing backlog".

However, opposition spokesman for social housing, Tania Mihailuk, questioned why the government needed to subsidise developers in "a booming housing market" with rents "on the rise".

Who is paying for the proselytising trips of Tony Abbott and Kevin Andrews to the USA? Taxpayers? Churches? Are these trips going down as investigation for parliamentary purposes when we know they're not?

Tony Abbott's sister and same-sex marriage campaigner Christine Forster has expressed concern about his upcoming visit to anti-gay marriage and anti abortion Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) group in the US this week.

Politicians say a lot of things in public, and so it’s only natural that occasionally they will use words incorrectly. Lampooning sometimes follows, and in most cases the mistakes should be quickly forgotten and forgiven. (The exception being gaffes, where an inadvertent truth is revealed, but we can talk about that another time – I’m sure it won’t be long until we have an excuse.)

It's all starting to fray badly around the edges for Malcolm Turnbull, writes Bob Ellis.

"With great respect to those who don't share my views and recognising our proud history of European settlement in this country and beyond, over 200 years and more, I will lend my voice to the republican movement in this country," General Morrison said in his acceptance speech on Monday night.