A Pentecostal pastor may have overlooked suspicions about his paedophile son-in-law because of their family relationship, a royal commission has heard.

The national framework which seeks to boost child-carer qualifications and lower staff-to-child ratios has received a broad tick of approval from parents and the child care sector, according to a government-ordered review.

John Hewson has lashed senior government figures, including Treasurer Joe Hockey and Education Minister Christopher Pyne, for attempting to "bully and coerce" the Australian National University into reversing its decision to dump investments in fossil fuel companies.

Controversial euthanasia campaigner Philip Nitschke has accused the  Senate of shutting him out of an inquiry into a proposed Dying With Dignity law.

MINING magnate Andrew Forrest has slammed the government’s new unemployment plan, saying it risks another five years of “inefficient and ineffective” training programs that reward agencies in a “cash barbecue”.

A FORMER senior police officer with less than four years experience in politics has been elected unopposed as the new Deputy Premier of NSW.

Premier Denis Napthine was reportedly seen ripping into Health Minister David Davis during a dramatic confrontation in the corridors of Parliament House.

Time-wasting "Dorothy Dixers" would be banned from Parliament to prevent grandstanding by ministers under a sweeping overhaul of question time promised by state Labor.

The Napthine government has been shaken by claims from a sacked senior aide that pornographic films were distributed among MPs and ministerial staff from an office at 1 Treasury Place.