National politics has moved on a long way but it’s the familiar Paul Keating - pugnacious, brooding, reflective, funny - who bursts through in the first of a series of interviews with the ABC’s Kerry O'Brien…
- Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
Those in the Abbott government are not great fans of the United Nations or of multilateralism in general. Yet the government has inherited from Labor the two year temporary seat on the Security Council…
The Abbott government has abandoned Labor’s plan for a A$2000 cap on the amount people can claim for self-education expenses. As part of its review of 92 tax and superannuation announcements that have…
The big brothers and sisters in the Prime Minister’s Office have been on the job in vetting the troops’ media appearances – right down to a backbencher on pay TV. Jane Prentice, a Liberal from Queensland…
Joe Hockey is being prodded by Labor to follow his free market instincts over the controversial foreign takeover bid for agri-giant GrainCorp, while the Nationals continue their assault on the proposal…
When Deputy PM Warren Truss today drew a line in the sand against the takeover bid for the agri-giant GrainCorp, it was a big reminder that the government has serious internal differences which will test…
AusAID on Friday formally became part of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, with the road ahead including a drastic shrinking of the planned aid budget, redundancies, jostling for jobs, and cultural…
After Labor today decided to dig in on carbon pricing, it now seems almost certain that Tony Abbott will have to wait until the new Senate arrives next July to get his repeal legislation through. In opting…
Sometimes you wonder about our priorities. Compare the vast attention on politicians’ misuse of entitlements with the limited discussion, as most Australian troops prepare to depart, about the rights and…
The Australian Electoral Commission, which should be above controversy, finds itself at the centre of a perfect storm. In recent weeks Clive Palmer, albeit without evidence, has blackened its name at every…
Bill Shorten can’t win the test he faces on the government’s legislation to repeal the carbon tax - it is a matter of what will do Labor least damage. Tony Abbott is trying to psyche the opposition into…
We used to wait 100 days to draw up an initial report card on a government but now we’re down to 50 days. Today is that milepost (since the election) and Tony Abbott made something of it at the weekend…
The government’s forcing Barrie Cassidy out of the position of chairman of the Old Parliament House Advisory Council seems a particularly partisan and graceless act. Cassidy, a senior and respected journalist…
With this week’s announcement of the government’s Audit Commission members and terms of reference, Tony Abbott is starting to get his Rudd-like list of inquiries and reviews on the go. The beginning is…
Winners write the history. Well, sort of. In politics there are always history wars. In his post-election narrative today, Liberal federal director Brian Loughnane, reporting on the fourth national campaign…
Former foreign minister Bob Carr has delivered a strong critique of the former Labor government, in announcing his much-anticipated departure from the Senate after only 18 months. Carr, whose criticisms…
Tony Abbott’s gay sister hailed it as an “historic day”, after jubilation broke out in the ACT Assembly at the passage of Australia’s first marriage equality legislation. Meanwhile an Essential Poll published…
The government’s Commission of Audit will look at extending “user pays” and encouraging individuals to provide for themselves, in an inquiry directed to achieving a sustainable surplus within a decade…
An eminent business figure will head the government’s five-member Commission of Audit, announced tomorrow, which will comb through government programs for savings and efficiencies. Cabinet will tick off…
Immigration minister Scott Morrison has embraced secrecy with indecent relish, and it is starting to get him into trouble. His policy of announcing boat arrivals once a week, when they are transferred…
The more things change… Labor is making a new start with Bill Shorten but the old ways are alarmingly entrenched in the form of ALP factional power. One small episode tells the wider story. Right wing…
Opposition leader Bill Shorten will take specific responsibility for science and small business and Stephen Conroy becomes spokesman for defence in Labor’s new frontbench lineup. Announcing his allocation…
Tony Abbott is no doubt enjoying former minister Nicola Roxon’s blast against her old political boss Kevin Rudd. It has brought the attention back to Labor in an uncomfortable way for the opposition. Abbott…
As Labor’s recent period of extraordinary internal harmony shatters, former cabinet minister Nicola Roxon has excoriated Kevin Rudd, forensically detailing his bad behaviour and declaring he should leave…
As Nationals fear an Australia-China free trade agreement might water down proposed tougher foreign investment scrutiny of land and agribusiness takeovers, new Liberal MP Angus Taylor has dismissed as…
Contact Michelle for
- General
- Media request
- Speaking request
- Consulting / Advising
- Research collaboration
- Research supervision
- Location: Canberra
- Website
- X (formerly Twitter): @michellegrattan
- Article Feed
-
- Joined
