Caucus has left it to next term’s Labor MPs to decide whether they want to reclaim the right to choose the frontbench. A move by retiring backbencher Steve Gibbons was deferred until after the election…
- Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
Economist Ross Garnaut has warned against over-playing the dangers of economic growth damaging the ecosystems that are important to life. Current patterns of economic growth had those effects, he said…
As Labor caucus members return to Canberra uncertain who will be PM at the end of this final fortnight parliamentary sitting, voters in the bellwether seat of Eden-Monaro are saying to them: just sort…
Julia Gillard’s pitch last week to female voters has backfired dramatically, with Labor’s primary vote in today’s Nielsen poll falling 3 points to 29% while support among men has plunged 7 points. With…
The timing couldn’t have been more apt. As the political debate this week was consumed by issues of gender and sexism, the Australian Defence Force announced it had uncovered yet another scandal involving…
Kevin Rudd will hit western Sydney today to do some high profile campaigning. For Labor, he would say. For the leadership, others would note. Rudd will be mobbed. He’ll visit schools in the electorates…
The Australian Defence Force is engulfed in a fresh sex scandal, with three members already suspended and under police investigation for allegedly circulating material demeaning women, and the conduct…
This started as a tale of how Julia Gillard overplayed the gender card, suffered a backlash, and then was saved by the appearance of a sexist menu from a Liberal fundraiser, that referred to her body parts…
If Kevin Rudd managed to wrest the prime ministership from Julia Gillard, among the first questions he would need to answer is how he’d address the three issues she promised to resolve after she overthrew…
Election campaigns are all about trying to pin down politicians on plans and commitments. But what later happens is usually rather different. Joe Hockey, expected to be treasurer in fewer than 100 days…
With the Rudd speculation building to a new frenzy, Julia Gillard must be contemplating how history will regard her. It’s still being assumed she would refuse to stand aside regardless of evidence or entreaties…
Kevin Rudd insists he is back on centre stage just to “lend a hand” to Labor’s cause – like he does, less noticed, in electorates around the country all the time. Many colleagues see that as, shall we…
Parliament is up for a week, before its final fortnight session of the term. Labor MPs are dreading those last two weeks. If they are anything like the past few days, they’ll be disastrous. “Febrile” and…
Kevin Rudd has given heart to his loyalists by failing to repeat his categoric March declaration that he will never lead Labor again, while reiterating that he would not challenge Julia Gillard. After…
Doug Cameron, the senator with the trademark Scottish accent, has sent a blunt message to Julia Gillard. He told her to stop listening to her communications adviser, John McTernan, whose brogue is just…
Ridicule can be politically deadly, as former chief government whip Joel Fitzgibbon knows full well. His morning TV “joke” today was another spectacular sign of how discipline within Labor has collapsed…
The NBN asbestos affair is, apart from being a major concern in itself, particularly bad for the government because it triggers memories of the mishandled pink batts scheme. That’s why the opposition is…
Former deputy prime minister Brian Howe, who held Batman for two decades, has strongly backed local woman Mary-Anne Thomas in the bitter preselection battle for the seat. Howe said Labor should keep its…
Malcolm Turnbull, who for years after the 1999 referendum defeat was reluctant to talk about a republic, has now set out a detailed blueprint for achieving the goal, including suggesting an online plebiscite…
Nationals leader Warren Truss has warned Australia has lost control of its agribusinesses and declared a new takeover bid poses a critical test for the Foreign Investment Review Board. Mr Truss told his…
The Nats are having their jamboree, AKA federal council, in Canberra tomorrow, as the party juggles trying to keep its own voice while singing in the Abbott choir. A morning highlight was to have been…
It was an extraordinary moment. Tony Abbott, overcome with emotion, as he paid a tribute to Martin Ferguson, after Labor’s former resources minister announced he would leave parliament at the election…
Tony Abbott had little choice but to welsh on his deal to pass the bill handing out big dollars to political parties - but the retreat comes at a big cost for him. The man who has campaigned on how you…
The government has been forced to drop its controversial bill to fund the administration of political parties, after Tony Abbott went back on the Coalition’s deal to back the legislation. After an immense…
Former resources minister Martin Ferguson has announced that he will quit Parliament at the election. Ferguson, a Rudd supporter and one of the ministers who stood down after the March leadership crisis…
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