Samantha Maiden

1 week ago | news.com.au | Samantha Maiden

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has sought to weaponise Liberal frontbencher Jane Hume’s extraordinary and unsubstantiated claim that “Chinese spies” could be working on Labor pre-poll booths in new social media ads. Capping off a challenging campaign for Senator Hume, who was also at the centre of the work-from-home backflip, the comments have infuriated Liberal colleagues.

1 week ago | news.com.au | Natalie Brown |Samantha Maiden |Samuel Clench |Jessica Wang

Welcome to our live coverage of the federal election campaign. Anthony Albanese is set to defy a record low primary vote to secure a second term as Prime Minister relying on the flow of preferences from the Greens and the minor parties. Mr Dutton has promised “big surprises” on election night as Liberal strategists insist they can snatch up to ten seats from Labor and push the Prime Minister into minority government.

1 week ago | news.com.au | Samantha Maiden

A stand up comedian who joked that the death of Shane Warne saved her from a backlash over a Hitler “joke” and cracked gags about wanting to have sex with Barnaby Joyce is poised to win a seat in Parliament. Mandy Nolan, the Greens candidate for the seat of Richmond, was previously forced to apologise after making a “clumsy” joke about Hitler. She later told a podcast that the death of Shane Warne helped to get the controversy out of the newspapers.

1 week ago | news.com.au | Samantha Maiden

A battle royale is emerging between One Nation and Tasmania’s Jacqui Lambie with Pauline Hanson’s daughter a shot to take the seat. Ms Hanson, 70, is emerging as one of the biggest stories of the 2025 election campaign amid predictions her daughter could enter the Senate as the One Nation vote lifts. The party’s vote is surging according to a number of polls, including in the regional seat of Spence in South Australia, amid forecasts it could pick up more Senate seats including in that state.

2 weeks ago | news.com.au | Samantha Maiden

EXCLUSIVEBombshell ALP polling has outlined Anthony Albanese’s path to victory on 72-78 seats in the 150-seat Parliament and the hit list of seats that will decide the election. News.com.au has obtained seat-by-seat internal Labor polling that suggests the shock seats up for grabs as the Prime Minister fights to offset expected ALP losses. The ALP’s secret internal polling is generally regarded as a better and more credible guide than published polling, which includes smaller sample sizes.