Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has revealed his socialist leanings with an old-fashioned, high-taxing government not seen in decades, Deputy Opposition Leader Julie Bishop says.

An act of redemption for five-eighth Jamie Soward handed Wayne Bennett his first NRL win as St George Illawarra coach on Saturday night, the Dragons grinding out a 16-10 victory over Gold Coast at

Voting has closed in the Queensland election, with the first exit poll suggesting the Bligh Labor government will be returned but with a massive swing against it.

The West Australian government says it hopes BHP Billiton is "embarrassed" by the
number of deaths at its mines in Western Australia this financial year.

Critics of the federal government's intervention into Aboriginal communities have
written to US President Barack Obama ahead of his meeting with Prime Minister Kevin
Rudd.

Workplace Relations Minister Julia Gillard has declared Work Choices "finally
buried" after the Senate passed Labor's Fair Work bill on Friday.

Essential economic data is being put at risk with more job cuts planned for the
Australian Bureau of Statistics, the public sector union says.

(AAP) - NSW Waratahs captain Phil Waugh has denied a report he's signed for Welsh club Llanelli for 2010.

(AAP) - Australia's biggest desalination plant has cleared its last major hurdle, but there's concern over another Victorian water project.

The competition watchdog is taking Telstra Corporation to court, accusing
Australia's biggest telecommunications company of blocking rivals from accessing its