They were appointed in the spirit of austerity to identify billions of dollars to hack from government spending.

But the Abbott government's audit commissioners have been accused of failing to walk the walk on what they are taking from the public purse.

Audit chairman Tony Shepherd has so far been paid $25,000 for the equivalent of 17 days' work.

Our manic obsession with never-ending economic growth is driving our planet to ruin, writes Dr Adnan Al-Daini.

A Liberal backbencher has accused Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Treasurer Joe Hockey of lying about union conditions at SPC Ardmona.

...

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has stepped up his criticism of the ABC, accusing the national broadcaster of being unpatriotic in its coverage of the Edward Snowden leaks and asylum seeker abuse claims.

Maybe Maurice Newman was dizzy from the schadenfreude of seeing a climate scientist getting stuck in Antarctic sea ice?

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison says he will not tolerate people "sledging" Australian Navy personnel amid allegations asylum seekers were burned after being forced to hold on to parts of a hot boat engine.

the STEPS of histories for Aussie kiddies:

1) The Big Bang goes BOOM...

We will never reach an agreement on what world view we should expose to our children, which is why we should get rid of the national curriculum altogether, writes Chris Berg.

The prime minister, Tony Abbott, says perpetrators of violent, alcohol-fuelled crime should face tougher consequences but said the power to address the issue is in the hands of state governments.

culture shapes our destiny.

We are in need of smartness. Desperately. Desperately seeking smartness...

CRAP

From the outrageous Murdoch media influence to the untold Saudi's control over al Qaeda, most of us, decent fair minded people, are taken for a ride...

A threat to impose a fee for consular support after Australian activist Colin Russell was detained in Russia has opened the prospect of broader charges for government support of thousands of Australians who find themselves in trouble overseas.

On Friday foreign affairs minister Julie Bishop said the activities of the Australian government on behalf of Mr Russell had cost tens of thousands of dollars, and she would look very closely at recovering the costs.

"Of course cost recovery can be an important part of providing consular support," she said.