Parliamentary

Vicki Brady due to appear at inquiry over mobile outage last week. Follow today’s news live.Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastTelstra’s bosses are set to be grilled over a nationwide outage that affected triple zero calls and businesses, disrupted payment systems and stopped trains in two states.Telstra’s chief executive, Vicki Brady, will be among a group of executives who will front a parliamentary inquiry into the incident in Canberra on Friday. Continue reading...

• Union Minister Chirag Paswan announced on Sunday that the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) intends to contest the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. • Paswan clarified that the final decision and approval for the party's participation will be determined by the LJP (Ram Vilas) central parliamentary board. • This move signals the party's ambition to expand its political footprint beyond its traditional strongholds and influence the electoral landscape in India's most populous state.

• A parliamentary inquiry has warned that Australian democracy is "under assault" from significant third parties ahead of the 2025 federal election. • To combat these threats, the inquiry is recommending the implementation of new laws to strictly police and regulate behavior at polling booths. • The Coalition has rejected these findings, with Liberal senator Jess Collins labeling the inquiry a "hyper-partisan witch-hunt" targeting church members.

Parliamentary inquiry recommends new laws to police behaviour at polling boothsFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastNew laws are needed to police behaviour at polling booths after Australia’s democracy came “under assault” at last year’s federal election – including from third parties such as Plymouth Brethren Christian Church members and rightwing lobby group Advance – the chair of a parliamentary inquiry has said.The proposed new code of conduct for campaigners was among several recommendations in the interim report from the Labor-led committee reviewing the 2025 ballot, which was tabled on Tuesday afternoon. Continue reading...

• Viktor Orbán lost his position as Prime Minister in the April 2026 Hungarian parliamentary elections, ending a 16-year tenure in power. • The election saw significant international involvement, with US President Donald Trump endorsing Orbán and Vice President JD Vance visiting Hungary to criticize EU interference. • Opposing parties, including Magyar and Tisza, campaigned on platforms to combat corruption and "state-capture" orchestrated by Orbán and the Fidesz party.

Chris Minns’ chief of staff launched legal action to avoid giving evidence. Since the court ruled in his favour, others are doing the sameFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastWitnesses are refusing to appear before New South Wales parliamentary inquiries due to a recent court ruling, in a move labelled as having a “completely unacceptable” impact on public interest investigations.In December, the NSW court of appeal ruled that provisions of the Parliamentary Evidence Act allowing for arrest warrants were invalid on the basis that they impaired the court’s institutional integrity. Continue reading...

PM will face Kemi Badenoch and other MPs at final PMQs of the 2024-26 parliamentary sessionGood morning. Originally Keir Starmer was hoping that there would not be a need for a PMQs today, but we have got one, and it will definitely be the last of the 2024-26 parliamentary session. It will be a chance for Starmer to reflect on all the legislation passed.There is some relief that the government won the vote on Kemi Badenoch’s call for Starmer to be referred to the privileges committee with ease. Here is our overnight story by Pippa Crerar, Ben Quinn and Jessica Elgot. Continue reading...

Wiltshire town councillor Andrew Edwards has ‘a big collection’ and was visible throughout livestreamed proceedingsIt was blockbuster viewing for politicos across the country: the livestreamed grilling of Olly Robbins. While the sacked Foreign Office civil servant was billed as the star of the show, for many he was upstaged by a well-dressed man wearing a cravat.“I’ve got a big collection,” said Andrew Edwards, the scene stealer in question. Continue reading...

Report reveals the Howard-era settings are helping fuel intergenerational inequality in Australia’s housing marketFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastLabor has given one of its strongest signals yet the capital gains tax discount will be reworked in the May budget, with a parliamentary inquiry finding the Howard-era settings are helping fuel intergenerational inequality in Australia’s housing market.A Greens-led parliamentary inquiry said the 50% discount “skewed the ownership of housing away from owner-occupiers and towards investors”. Continue reading...