‘There’s no doubt there’s challenges in Canberra … I would like Canberra to get on with the job of actually looking after the people it’s supposed to be representing.’ – Mike Baird
- Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
‘I would be incredibly disappointed, I can’t tell you how disappointed I’d be, if I didn’t have the opportunity to continue beyond March … [these are] some of the most exciting times in politics’.
University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor Stephen Parker and Michelle Grattan discuss the week in politics including the New South Wales state election, if Tony Abbott is likely to be replaced and who would gain from a leadership transition to Malcolm Turnbull.
When a leadership change is contemplated, people watch keenly to see who dines out with whom. So it was duly noted when Malcolm Turnbull, Scott Morrison and Greg Hunt were together on Wednesday.
The government’s war on Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs has deepened into a major test of credibility, with Foreign Minister Julie Bishop flatly contradicting evidence given by a senior public servant.
Former Liberal president Shane Stone has hit out at party treasurer Philip Higginson for his scathing correspondence complaining about party governance.
After a day-long government assault on Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs, she’s still in place.
Tony Abbott’s leadership is now so fragile that he seems nearly beyond being able to rebalance himself. Abbott is the victim of leaks and general destabilisation, and the continued miscalculations by himself…
Tony Abbott has urged Muslim leaders to speak out more – and sincerely – in the fight against terrorism, as he unveiled tough new measures that would remove or curb the citizenship rights of those linked…
The government on Monday will announce a new national counter-terrorism offensive to better meet threats, counter violent extremism and build community cohesion, as Tony Abbott shifts focus from individual…
Tony Abbott insists that “the system” let Australians down by not heading off siege gunman Man Haron Monis long before he ever got near the Lindt cafe in Martin Place. “This monster should not have been…
University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor Stephen Parker and Michelle Grattan discuss the week in politics including whether the intergenerational report can help re-establish the government’s authority…
As it prepares to release the Intergenerational Report and put together its second budget, the government is facing a perfect storm.
The federal government has signed its first agreement under its asset recycling initiative – with the Labor government in the Australian Capital Territory. The ACT government is selling nearly A$400 million…
Aboriginal Australians are being denied the freedom to exercise their property rights under native title, Human Rights Commissioner Tim Wilson has said. Wilson said that, in meeting Indigenous leaders…
Tony Abbott will seek to shore up his case for the government’s controversial metadata legislation on Wednesday by highlighting its use in child sex abuse and child pornography investigations. The prime…
The national security debate, involving potentially life and death issues but heavily overlaid with politics by an embattled government, is tricky ground for the Labor opposition. Opposition leader Bill…
Malcolm Turnbull walked the high wire in a masterful Q&A performance on Monday night, as he displayed his credentials for leadership. Turnbull was neither loyal nor disloyal to Tony Abbott. He ran…
“Fairness” is being hijacked by Labor and Greens as a one-word slogan to cover a very narrow concept, according to Kelly O'Dwyer, parliamentary secretary to the treasurer. With the government still on…
Embattled on most fronts, Tony Abbott is switching attention to national security, with a statement on Monday week foreshadowing tougher measures. In Sunday’s weekly video, the prime minister stepped up…
Tony Abbott has sacked Chief Government Whip Philip Ruddock in a provocative move just days after holding off a motion to spill his leadership. Ruddock, a cabinet minister in the Howard government, is…
University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor Stephen Parker and Michelle Grattan discuss the week in politics including Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s bad week, the Human Rights Commission’s report on children…
If, as Tony Abbott declared, good government started on Monday then, to borrow a Gillardism, it “lost its way” well before the week’s end. The days after Abbott’s “near death” experience provided no evidence…
The Liberals have drawn a line under the leadership issue for the moment, but this week’s unsuccessful spill motion has changed fundamentally the dynamics within the government and the party. Malcolm Turnbull…
The latest Closing the Gap report, tabled in federal parliament on Wednesday, shows poor progress on improving the situation of Indigenous Australians on many key indicators. Only two of the targets set…
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