Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce's indiscretions raise issues of conflicts of interest, exploitation and the misuse of public funds, writes George Williams.
The complexity of the foreign citizenship laws of other nations and flaws in the declaration process mean uncertainty and political dysfunction will run for some time, writes George Williams.
The High Court will begin hearing the cases of seven federal parliamentarians who are citizens of other nations. If it was only a matter of applying the letter of the law, their fates would be clear, writes George Williams.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull may come to regret his bold statement that Barnaby Joyce is "qualified to sit in the house and the High Court will so hold", writes George Williams.
The only explicable reason for the government's plebiscite policy – in all its forms – is to frustrate the move to same-sex marriage, writes George Williams.
Tony Abbott's conservative manifesto proposal for governments to bypass the Senate is a step too far in the balance of federal power, writes George Williams.
The Uluru statement is a landmark moment in the reshaping of our system of government to reflect the aspirations of Australia's first peoples, writes George Williams.
