View from The Hill
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A fortnight out from budget day Tony Abbott looks to need Houdini’s skills to get out of the prison of his own promises. Those prolific pledges he made so confidently before the election. Negative commitments…
The debate about the government’s expected lift of the pension age to 70 in the longer term has a big element of the glass half-full or half-empty about it. Much of the discussion so far has focused on…
If Joe Hockey’s first budget runs into problems, it won’t be for want of effort to construct a dramatic narrative about pain, personal responsibility and Australia’s fiscal health. The Treasurer believes…
It’s still a game of bluff and counter-bluff, but with the new Senate just over two months away, Clive Palmer is constantly raising the stakes for the Abbott government. As one observer puts it, he’s starting…
Bill Shorten is laying down a sweeping agenda for ALP internal reform that will test both the party and his own authority. The opposition leader wants the party’s rank and file to have greater say in House…
Barry O'Farrell had no option but to resign his premiership, given his emphatic denials of receiving a $3000 bottle of Grange from the chief of the company lobbying intensively for a water contract. Once…
Brian Harradine, who has died aged 79, was one of the most powerful independents in the Senate’s history. A tough and driven operator over a long career outside and inside parliament, he profoundly influenced…
Treasurer Joe Hockey says we need to have a “sensible discussion about the sustainability of our entire quality of life”. Hockey’s absolutely right, but what we are getting is actually something between…
Tony Abbott has returned from his North Asian trip to generally upbeat reviews. He had some achievements and didn’t make any gaffes. Domestically, the three-country tour will soon fade in people’s minds…
Labor voters in West Australia have been delivered a second slap in the face. After a cross factional union deal put right wing “shoppies” chief Joe Bullock number one on the Senate ticket, left wing dancing…