A Sydney brothel imports sex workers by rorting the student visa program, charging them thousands for English courses they will never take. A special Crikey investigation has alerted Immigration Department officials.
In Sydney a new poll suggests high levels of support for a second Sydney airport. Meanwhile, in Perth, a different kind of brouhaha has erupted, writes Ben Sandilands.
While innocuous, Tony Burke and Stephen Conroy's contacts with Eddie Obeid symbolise how NSW Labor is likely to drag the Federal party to its doom this year.
The NSW Government is about to land a big windfall from the airport rail line as revenue-sharing provisions kick in, writes Alan Davies. Should it return the money to airport train travellers or keep it?
Eddie Obeid, in the dock at ICAC, is quizzed on the activities of his cashed-up family trust -- but he says he was "hands off", and appeared uninterested in the details.
Finally, the man who ran NSW Labor -- and perhaps the state -- was defending himself at the ICAC inquiry. The political class had waited a long time to see Eddie Obeid take the stand.
Who is Eddie Obeid, and why is his family now embroiled in a corruption scandal that goes to the heart of NSW politics? Crikey's courtroom scribe records the history and argues why you should care.
Labor has delivered a very positive economic environment for working families -- but only if they can afford their own home. It's a different experience for the renters and those trying to buy.
A political void has left Clive Palmer and Bob Katter in the spotlight in Queensland. They pose twin but very different threats to Campbell Newman's government and conservative forces down south.
Barry O'Farrell is massaging the truth when he claims a new airport at Badgerys Creek could cost the state up to $11 billion. Blogger Ben Sandilands explains why it's not such a bad option -- and takes aim at NSW's grand infrastructure muddle.
