Cardinal George Pell has told the child abuse royal commission he was deceived in a world of crime and cover-ups by people who did not want the status quo disturbed.

The Howard government had a ruthless class agenda, writes David Glanz, but it was Labor’s timid opposition that kept it in power.

History records that John Howard’s Liberals won government 20 years ago, on 2 March, 1996.

For all of the self-congratulatory stories we tell ourselves about moral progress and human betterment, sometimes we in the post-Christian West end up advocating some truly barbaric, inhumane positions.

Shadow Treasurer Michael Daley said New South Wales should be concerned by the Government's plan.

Case Study 28 deals with the response of the Christian Brothers in Victoria to allegations of child sexual abuse involving six brothers - all of whom spent time working at schools in the Diocese of Ballarat.

When asked if he had been approached by students with complaints of inappropriate touching by teachers or principles, Cardinal Pell said he could not recall any examples.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has sought advice from John Howard as he tries to craft his long-awaited tax reform package.

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Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has called on Malcolm Turnbull to "do something about his backbench", saying Tony Abbott is acting like both the prime minister and foreign minister.

There is a growing recognition that Australia’s immigration detention centres are concentration camps, and no amount of denial by various apologists for the brutalisation of asylum seekers and refugees will change that reality.

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