A dispute over funding and the NDIS has forced 500 families to forfeit their children into state care.

Australia’s relationship with Chinese investment has been remade in the past six years. David Uren on how ASIO helped transform the Foreign Investment Review Board.

As the Liberal Party slides further on climate change, the Labor Party fights an internal push to abandon its platform.

Each year, The Monthly assembles a panel of critics and artists to decide The Monthly Awards. This episode showcases the winners.

The latest IPCC report says current farming practices are unsustainable. But there are solutions, if farmers want to change.

The aged-care sector is on the brink of collapse. The major providers have been propped up by a government bailout, but without reform they cannot keep operating.

Scott Morrison shares a rhetorical lineage with Robert Menzies and a suburban one with John Howard. But what worked then might not work now.

As Scott Morrison tried to shift Australia’s focus to the drought, and the cash rate fell below 1 per cent, Donald Trump’s paranoia followed the prime minister home.

Penny Wong is the intellectual leader of the Labor Party. Now the subject of a major biography, her politics is shaped by her experiences of difference and her belief in compassion.

The Murray–Darling Basin is being ruined by cronyism and incompetence. But there is a new problem, too: high-yield almond crops.

The judge who sentenced Jaymes Todd for the rape and murder of Eurydice Dixon was asked to consider Todd’s age, autism diagnosis and early guilty plea.

One of the terrible facts about the day Jaymes Todd killed Eurydice Dixon is that for him it was almost all very ordinary.

When former Anglican dean Graeme Lawrence was found guilty of child sexual abuse, his victim, Ben Giggins, made the unusual decision to request that the court name him publicly.

As a royal commission into disability care begins, it emerges that key emails relating to the NDIS are held on a private bank server and cannot be accessed.

Don Watson on the end of speech making in politics, and how the loss of narrative undermines bold policy.

Tanya Day died after being arrested for drunkenness. A coroner is now asking whether systemic racism contributed to her death.

Tomorrow, Scott Morrison will be received in Washington on a state visit. It highlights his special relationship with Donald Trump and his difficulty with Beijing.

Philip Lowe is the governor of the Reserve Bank. He is a conventional person who’s been pushed by the economy to make unconventional choices.

Twenty years after Timor-Leste’s vote for independence, the country’s relationship with Australia remains fraught.

As Scott Morrison announces punitive welfare plans, Rick Morton asks what happens when you treat poverty as a moral problem.

When the impresario behind Earthcore died last year, he left behind a legacy of paranoia, intimidation and financial mismanagement.

As some backbenchers express doubt that Gladys Liu can stay in parliament, Scott Morrison is digging in behind his MP.

When Annabel Crabb decided to find out what happens to men’s work habits when they have children, she discovered a huge store of gendered norms and inequality.

As ICAC exposes apparent corruption in NSW, focus is drawn on the government’s integrity commission, which, among other things, could not make findings of corruption.

There is fresh momentum behind the Adani mine in central Queensland. What happens next could define Australia’s relationship to climate change both here and globally.

Inside the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System, a place that is dysfunctional, inflexible and underfunded.

How support for a Tamil family in Biloela blindsided the government and caused the prime minister to panic.

The reality of the wage debate in Australia is that companies are geared to pay dividends rather than to invest in growth – and the treasurer’s intervention does nothing to change that.

As Brian Toohey releases his major book on national security in Australia, he reveals that American spies have been working here without detection.

The reporter behind the Panama Papers, Bastian Obermayer, on how he handled the leak and what he has found in Australia.

Months before the latest protests in Hong Kong, the Chinese government shut down an art exhibition by Chinese-Australian dissident Badiucao. This is his story.

While Australia remains belligerent over the Witness K case, Canberra is standing up to Beijing over the imprisonment of Yang Hengjun.

When a communications agency started contacting Muslim Australians for social media training, no one realised they were being pulled into Home Affairs’ propaganda machine.

The Greens is a party with a leader who many think is too mainstream, struggling with the growing pains of infighting and factionalism. It is also on the cusp of another step change.

Scott Morrison says the middle class doesn’t trust the public service. The problem is available research says the opposite.

Joelle Gergis is one of Australia’s leading climate scientists. She says there is resistance to talking about emotions around science, but she feels grief and anger.

As he arrives for talks in Vietnam, Scott Morrison is struggling to match his attempts at diplomacy with his position on climate change.

The furore over Australian swimmer Mack Horton’s stand against long-time rival Sun Yang underscores confusion about how drug testing in sport actually works.

As the Andrews government attempts to negotiate treaty with First Nations people in Victoria, it is proceeding with a plan to bulldoze hundreds of sacred Djab Wurrung trees.

As Xi Jinping increases his power and ambition, there is tension over the influence China has in Australia. Progressive critics finds themselves aligned with right-wing voices.

Adam Goodes’s AFL career was played at the intersection of race and politics. Stan Grant on what his story says about white Australia.

As the Morrison government begins its inquiry into press freedom, there is concern about the bipartisanship of the committee hearing it. At the centre is Andrew Hastie.

A strict legal framework means there is a shortage of sperm donors across Australia. But online there is a huge and unregulated market of people willing to donate.

In the past decade, reports of teachers and principals being abused by parents have increased. Jane Caro on accounts that range from intimidation to stalking.

The refusal of the major parties to hold a parliamentary inquiry into Crown Casino speaks to a larger relationship between politics and the gambling lobby. It’s not just donations: Labor draws millions in profits from poker machines it owns.

For the first time ever, individual articles can be linked to far-right recruitment drives. High on the list is reporting from The Australian, in stories about Safe Schools as well as about race.

A visit from US ministers gives a clearer picture of what America wants. But as Trump’s trade war with China escalates, it also sets the stakes for Scott Morrison’s visit to Washington.

After Kate O’Halloran’s grandmother was placed in residential care, her family complained about her treatment. The centre responded by threatening to withdraw her place.

As a judge’s comments about Aboriginal people cause outrage, lawyers in the Northern Territory wonder why a key body hasn’t made a complaint.

As the Morrison government pushes for legislation to more easily deregister unions, there are questions over timing and the new laws’ real intent.

Just on 15 years ago, almost half the country voted for Mark Latham. Now, the former Labor leader is a One Nation representative who could play a significant role in the new right.

Amid claims of misconduct against Crown Casino, Labor and the Coalition voted down a parliamentary inquiry into the affair.

As the campaign to raise Newstart intensifies, details emerge of who is actually living on the payment and for how long.

Climate change is now the defining issue for the Pacific. It is also one of the factors undermining Australia’s relationship with the region.

Home Affairs is pushing for new powers to allow the Australian Signals Directorate to embed in corporate computer systems – transforming the body into one that disrupts crime and other attacks onshore.

Australia is ahead of the world in some of its responses to domestic violence, but its national plan has no measurable targets.

The Labor Party has come back to parliament with a plan to ignore Scott Morrison, making the most of an ill-disciplined backbench.

As older voters become a larger and more powerful voting bloc, they are also becoming more organised.

A softening in the housing market has shown up defects and flaws that were being hidden by demand.

Despite hopes that were placed in Ken Wyatt as minister, Scott Morrison says there will be no constitutional enshrinement of an Indigenous Voice to parliament. Karen Middleton on the campaign to keep the Voice alive.

As China seeks to assert dominance, Australia finds itself upping the stakes in a game it doesn’t want to play.

With Scott Morrison emerging as a Donald Trump favourite, there are questions to ask about the meaning of their association.

To understand Scott Morrison, it helps to understand his faith. Tanya Levin is a former Pentecostal who argues that the church informs every aspect of his politics.

Almost two years since changes were implemented following a royal commission into youth detention, tear gas is again being used on children in the Northern Territory.

Scott Morrison’s signature achievement could be the tax cuts he legislated earlier this month – although not for the reasons he believes.

Extinction Rebellion is not focusing on one project; it’s focusing on the system as a whole. And change can come from just a small segment of society participating in sustained non-compliance.

Scott Morrison began the week praying in front of 21,000 people. He closed it promising a referendum on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.

Following the death of cult leader Anne Hamilton-Byrne, surviving members of The Family reckon with judgement.

Scott Morrison’s tax cuts are based on an American theory of economics trialled in the 1970s, but the evidence since suggests it does not work.

As the government produces legislation to temporarily ban foreign fighters from returning to Australia, there is growing concern over whether existing citizenship legislation is unconstitutional.

The pendulum that is used to predict outcomes in elections is broken. One unexpected consequence is for the role of money in politics.

As Scott Morrison’s tax cuts make their way through the parliament, there are fresh questions over religious freedoms.

As the government pushes to repeal the medivac legislation, lawyers and doctors contradict the arguments put against it.

The high court has found that sperm donors can have fathers’ rights, but the ruling is inherently conservative.

The discovery of water ice on the moon has started a new space race – and opened a legal frontier in which Australia has a unique role.

Scott Morrison’s inner circle is a group linked by faith and friendship – and now, the front bench. Their ties were confirmed during the leadership spill last year.

As Labor loses party discipline over tax cuts, the Coalition enters into an ugly post-mortem of its leadership change.

Following the sacking of Israel Folau by Rugby Australia, a fissure has opened up in the debate over equality and freedoms.

As millions protest on the streets of Hong Kong, the democratic freedoms promised in the handover to China are being tested.

Rosie Batty talks to Martin McKenzie-Murray about grief and healing.

The election was shaped by the character of two men. Its outcome shows us how the country reacts to insecurity, and what that means for change.

As Labor and the Coalition explore a double bluff on tax cuts, Cory Bernardi wants back into the Liberal Party.

Australia records higher gambling losses than any country in the world, while the sector uses faulty research to avoid regulation.

The election result has put faith back on the national agenda. But the issue is dogged by a review Malcolm Turnbull commissioned and never had the chance to answer.

As Al Gore continues his fight against climate change, Mike Cannon-Brookes has become the movement’s Australian face.

The mass shooting in Darwin was the worst in Australia since Port Arthur, but it received little attention. What happens to the people left behind?

As Scott Morrison searches for a path to legislate his tax cuts, concerns over press freedom continue to trouble his government.

As the trade war escalates between China and the United States, it’s the US that has become the radical actor.

Once a radical thought, the idea of breaking up tech giants to help regulate them is gaining traction with politicians and tech entrepreneurs.

Before entering parliament, Scott Morrison ran Tourism Australia. He was sacked by the minister, but the details of what happened have never been made public.

Scott Morrison flies back from meeting the Queen to a flagging economy and concern over raids on the ABC and other reporters.

Charlie Teo is Australia’s best-known surgeon. His career asks difficult questions about the balance between hope and orthodoxy.

How “Mistake of Fact” makes drunkenness a legal defence for serious crimes, and the campaign to change that.

Scott Morrison’s cabinet is a careful balance between those who backed him during last year’s leadership spill, and those who backed Peter Dutton.

Anthony Albanese didn’t always expect to be Labor leader but now he’s in the job, he’s not going anywhere.

Two weeks after the election, Scott Morrison has identified 10 seats the Coalition wants to win.

Having once been rejected by government, the Uluru Statement from the Heart is readying for referendum.

Before his death, the former president of Nauru explained how a deal with Australia to open a detention centre destroyed democracy in his country.

Since its introduction, ParentsNext has been a controversial welfare program – but there is a mothers’ resistance mounting against it.

Scott Morrison’s win should not have been a surprise - Australia has been stuck on the same voting divide since 2010. We fractured first, before Trump or Brexit.