Julia Gillard said Tony Abbott was a misogynist. Now Kevin Rudd suggests he’s a political coward. Prodding his opponent again to debate him, Rudd said it was time Abbott demonstrated he had “a bit of ticker…
- Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
Kevin Rudd has moved to try to neutralise the big negative that NSW Labor corruption is expected to be in that state at the federal election. His message to voters appalled by what’s come out at the Independent…
If Labor goes into opposition, or even if it stays in government, next term is going to be seen as a time for renewal. A swag of former frontbenchers are quitting their seats, and some of those electorates…
Kevin Rudd has chosen a senior Treasury official, Jim Murphy, to be his new chief of staff. Rudd worked with Murphy, a deputy secretary whose job will concentrate on policy development and economic advice…
The tough debate looming within the government is between those urging Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to make an early dash to the polls and the “let’s just govern a while” school. The political hard heads…
Tony Abbott has given the government an excuse to ditch the proposed referendum to recognise local government in the constitution, if it wants to. Abbott today advised Australians who did not understand…
Kevin Rudd’s reshuffle has an air of unreality. The new ministry comes so close to the election that it is an interim government, able to promise much but with limited capacity to deliver, before the voters…
Bill Shorten will take over the Education portfolio, with its challenge of securing the Gonski school funding reforms, and Tony Burke gets the poison chalice of Immigration, in Kevin Rudd’s extensive reshuffle…
Kevin Rudd will take a kitbag of goodies to Indonesia this week as he seeks more help from that county to curb the boat flow. The secondhand C-130 Hercules planes that Indonesia was going to buy at “mates…
Kevin Rudd is a one-time diplomat and a former foreign minister. He knows the significance of precise wording. So his line today about Tony Abbott and Indonesia was startling. Answering a question at his…
In March 2010 PM Kevin Rudd faced off against opposition leader Tony Abbott at the National Press Club in a debate about health policy. Three months later Rudd would be deposed by his own party. One criticism…
Julia Gillard’s legendary resilience was on display the morning after the night before, when she put in an appearance at Parliament House’s bustling coffee shop. It wasn’t all bad, she told supporters…
Labor has finally made the decision it ought to have taken long ago, but the counter-revolution has been extremely bloody and there are bodies all over the place. Not only is there a new Prime Minister…
1:10pm: Labor’s leadership showdown is now rapidly approaching, with a petition circulating among caucus members asking for a special meeting. The Rudd supporters need one third of the caucus to get a…
The two country independents on whose support the Gillard government has depended - Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott – both announced this morning that they will quit politics at the election. As the Labor…
If any move is made against Julia Gillard in the next 36 hours, it won’t be like the one that installed her. That came almost out of the blue. We seem to have been waiting an eternity for this lunge that…
Anyone who cares about the referendum to recognise local government in the constitution must be appalled at the way it is being botched. Millions of dollars are being spent on this vote, to be held with…
As the caucus counts down to what many Labor MPs anticipate could be a high noon later this week, it seemed perfectly appropriate that Alastair Campbell, former spin doctor to Tony Blair, should turn up…
Julia Gillard has been hit by another bad poll at the start of the crucial final week of parliament, with Newspoll showing the ALP primary vote at 29%, down one point, and Tony Abbott widening the gap…
Labor’s paralysis over the prime ministership has become a disgrace. To have this bitter infighting drag on through the final fortnight of parliament is extraordinary self-indulgence. It reflects the stubbornness…
Julia Gillard likes to ham it up when she addresses the annual Parliamentary Press Gallery ball. She’s good at it too. So much so that Tony Abbott doesn’t even try to compete. At Wednesday night’s function…
Tony Abbott will release the Coalition’s “vision” for northern Australia today but avoid immediate big dollar promises by saying he would commission a White Paper on policy option. The White Paper, to…
The Senate has defeated a move to recognise same-sex marriages performed abroad, after a personal attack on Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young over the bill. The Coalition opposed the bill, which was defeated…
In early 1998, Mal Washer was asked to seek Liberal preselection for the West Australian seat of Moore, where he’d been in general practice for more than a quarter of a century. Washer was chosen unopposed…
Any troubles Tony Abbott has are tiddlers compared with Julia Gillard’s but, despite his repeated pleas for discipline, the opposition leader can’t stop a few cracks and breakouts. Today there were three…
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