Veteran MP Philip Ruddock is to stand down as Chief Government Whip in the wake of a leadership spill motion which Tony Abbott described as a near-death experience.

Our national impoverishment, at the hands of poor-quality leaders, knows no bounds.

Today Mr Hockey said the Coalition risked repeating the mistakes made by the Labor caucus under the previous government.

The impasse has caused great uncertainty for students who have just received university offers for 2015. While their fees are locked in for the current year, students will not know the fee scale for following years of their degrees. So far, only two universities have released fee estimates in the event the legislation passes the Senate.

.

Speaking to reporters in Melbourne, Mr Abbott said he stood by the decision but accepted that some people disagreed with the appointment.

"I accept it's been a contentious decision, I absolutely accept that. I absolutely respect people's rights to disagree with my call on this," he said.

US technology giant Apple has reported the biggest quarterly profit ever made by a public company.

Some of Prime Minister Tony Abbott's most senior colleagues are bewildered, angered and dismayed by his decision to award an Australian knighthood to Prince Philip.

Prince Philip and former Defence Force chief Angus Houston were named Australia's newest knights today, under an honours system reinstated by Mr Abbott last year.

It's about 120 years since the birth of a lot of technological advancement in the history of humanity. There had been some mighty science development before this time but it was quite limited in its application. 120 years ago, the invention of the steam engine and that of the combustion engine were supplemented by the broad usage of electricity. 

As well, about 120 years ago, the new science of "climate change" was first being studied with proper mathematical models.