Julia Gillard, the adrenalin presumably still pumping, had quite a weekend. On Saturday she attended the wedding of one of her press secretaries, Laura Anderson, outside Byron Bay, an occasion where the…
- Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
Could anything be worse for the Gillard government than Thursday’s leadership farce? Possibly what has happened on Friday. The events were not so jaw dropping as those surrounding the fizzing spill. But…
Update 3:20: Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson, highly respected in the business community, has announced his resignation declaring it the honourable thing to do. Ferguson called on Labor to…
An extraordinary orgy of self-destruction has left Labor looking a shambles, with Julia Gillard now facing a reshuffle and an almost impossible task to get her government into fighting form for the September…
The Labor party this week has given the impression of losing its collective mind. The Rudd forces over-reached as they tried to get a leadership change before Parliament adjourned for a seven week pre-budget…
Michelle Grattan’s live updates on a dramatic day in Canberra. 2:10pm: The federal opposition leader Tony Abbott moves to suspend standing orders for a vote of confidence. The fate of the government in…
Julia Gillard has called a ballot for the leadership at 4:30pm. Gillard announced the ballot at the start of question time. “In the meantime, give it your best shot,” she told the house. Veteran Labor…
They were the odd mob – a group of crossbenchers who gathered on Tuesday night in the office of Bob Katter, the Queensland maverick with a party bearing his own name. The meeting had been organised by…
In one of those strange twists of politics Nationals Senate leader Barnaby Joyce’s ambition to switch to the lower House at this election, which had been apparently thwarted, could now be fulfilled. Joyce…
The latest shot in the Labor leadership battle – a Fairfax story saying that two cabinet ministers were “reconsidering their support for the Prime Minister” – has both helped and hindered its promoters…
The media chiefs expect to have the last word about the government’s plan for a print media watchdog – more poodle than pit bull – and a public interest test to prevent further ownership concentration…
Predicting federal politics this week is like trying to guess the end of a dense and tortured thriller. One of the clues is today’s Nielsen poll, in which Labor trails 44-56% on the two party vote, unchanged…
Tony Abbott reminded his party room this week that it was the 20th anniversary of the “unloseable election”. In 1993 John Hewson, for whom Abbott worked at the time, was defeated in a poll that almost…
The ultimate judgment on Stephen Conroy’s extraordinary ultimatum to parliament – pass the media package next week or the government drops it - will depend on whether he gets his measures through. Crossbencher…
Bob Katter, the colourful federal crossbencher from Queensland, does have the strangest bunch of friends. He and Kevin Rudd – whom Katter would like to see back as PM – are thick as thieves. And then there…
After an immensely long labour, Communication Minister Stephen Conroy has produced a media policy mouse with a modest roar. That won’t stop the media companies and the opposition treating it as a lion…
Some pressure has been taken off the Prime Minister with today’s Newspoll, which shows Labor substantially narrowing the Coalition’s two-party lead and Julia Gillard significantly improving her better-PM…
After the latest state defeat for Labor, the tumbrel rolls on towards Canberra. Saturday’s West Australian election saw a swag of seats taken out in a landslide 6 per cent swing against the ALP, which…
Julia Gillard should have stuck to her stated intention of “governing” rather than “campaigning” this far from the election. Despite her claims, there is no way her western Sydney barnstorming could be…
Human Services Minister Kim Carr is doing the rounds of Australian universities to encourage researchers to dip into the honeypot of data which his department is making available. The material provides…
Julia Gillard’s pledge to put foreign workers at the back of the queue for Australian jobs is tapping into what Labor sources describe as the “economic patriotism” deeply embedded in the “battler” view…
Thirty years ago today, Bob Hawke’s government was elected. The former ACTU leader went on to become one of modern Australia’s best prime ministers. “Hawkie” won three more elections before Paul Keating…
“Western Sydney” embraces such a diverse collection of places, people and problems that Julia Gillard has to nuance her message as she battles to restore some faith among these disillusioned and doubting…
Mitch Hooke, whose Minerals Council of Australia helped kill Kevin Rudd’s prime ministership, is bowing out of the front line – but slowly. With the debate about the much-emasculated Gillard version of…
Suddenly, everyone seems to be unloading about the state of federal-state relations and the problems of the Council of Australian Governments. COAG, where the prime minister, premiers and chief ministers…
Contact Michelle for
- General
- Media request
- Speaking request
- Consulting / Advising
- Research collaboration
- Research supervision
- Location: Canberra
- Website
- X (formerly Twitter): @michellegrattan
- Article Feed
-
- Joined
