April 9, 2013 The use of satellite technology has been ramped up as a national priority, with the launch of Australia’s first ever space policy.

April 9, 2013 A ''crack team of education gurus'' will be formed into a new national body to collect school performance data, Federal School Education Minister Peter Garrett has said.

April 9, 2013 Communications Minister Stephen Conroy labelled the Coalition's plan as dumb for proposing to use Telstra's ageing copper wire network for broadband.

April 9, 2013 The federal government has refuted opposition claims that the national broadband network bill will more than double to $90 billion. Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has rejected long-running opposition and business calls for a cost-benefit analysis of the network rollout, saying the costs were ''black and white'' and that over time revenue would cover the expense.

April 9, 2013 Adrian Trevett was an eccentric loner with no enemies who lived a quiet life in remote NSW – yet he was brutally killed. Tim Elliott outlines why.

April 9, 2013 The Federal Court in Perth has heard allegations on behalf of the Fair Work Ombudsman that foreign workers on an oil rig off the coast of Western Australia were paid less than $3 an hour.

April 9, 2013 Huge tracts of potential wine-producing country are expected to vanish from Australia over the next few decades as climate change bites, and winemakers may need to head for higher, cooler ground.

April 9, 2013 Former parliamentary speaker Peter Slipper has had a plea of not guilty entered on his behalf over allegations he fraudulently used taxpayer-funded taxi vouchers.

April 9, 2013 Bob Carr might have been Foreign Affairs Minister for only 12 months but he started talking to US diplomats about internal Labor politics nearly 40 years ago.

April 9, 2013 Rival postal services have begun to circle the $13.1 billion online shopping trade as Australia Post faces a backlash after it increased the cost of its parcel delivery service.