Queenslanders won’t know until at least next week who will lead the next state government, despite Labor winning the crucial support of an independent MP. That means Campbell Newman will remain premier…
With 70.6% of the Queensland state election vote counted, the ABC is giving Labor 44 seats to 33 for the Liberal National Party (LNP). Two Katter’s Australian Party (KAP) and one Independent have also…
“My political career is over.” Campbell Newman’s spectacular entry into Queensland state politics has only been trumped by his spectacular exit. After less than three years in power, and having led the…
How much debt is Queensland really in? How much of that debt can past Labor governments bear responsibility for, and has the current Liberal National government cut or added to it? And how does Queensland’s…
Tom Uren was a “Big Man” not only in stature but in his public life. Uren, who has died at the age of 93, was born into a working-class household. Typical of the 1920s and ‘30s, he had a limited formal…
Author’s update, January 29: In the week since this article was published (on January 23), Labor has moved to address the funding “black hole” in its plans to reduce Queensland’s debt, mainly by adopting…
Tony Fitzgerald had a point when he recently urged Queenslanders not to vote for either of the major parties in the January 31 state election. The 73-year-old, who headed Queensland’s landmark corruption…
For British Labour leader Ed Miliband, defeat was yet again snatched from the jaws of victory. With the UK general election less than six months away, the recent Rochester and Strood by-election was a…
Thank you, Queensland. You’ve been good to me. I hope I’ve left you a better place. So said Wayne Goss as he resigned the role of premier on February 19, 1996. He had served since the election in December…
Opposition frontbencher Jenny Macklin says Labor should frame its policies around delivering “inclusive growth” and needs a new narrative to explain its agenda to the Australian people. In a major speech…
Proposed reforms in the Australian Labor Party aim to give members a greater voice in party governance and policy development. This is driven by the need to reverse the party’s shrinking support base after…
There was nothing inevitable about Gough Whitlam’s rise to the top. He had to fight every inch of the way. The fight was not only against born-to-rule Liberals who thought he had betrayed his class but…
The popular response to Gough Whitlam’s death tells us more about the politics of the present than the past. Whitlam has been cast as a messiah; as Labor’s saviour; and as the slayer of what Paul Keating…
Julia Gillard’s autobiography, My Story, presents a comprehensive defence of her prime ministership. Gillard dives straight into the heart of her story, beginning on the day she was sworn in as prime minister…
After his speech about party renewal last week, I went to Labor Senator John Faulkner’s Facebook page. It has about 2700 likes. The page features links to speeches and pictures of events that Faulkner…
Bill Shorten will have been a year in his job next month. After its trouncing at the election, Labor is in a much better position than many would have expected, leading on a two party basis in the polls…
For the New Zealand Labour Party, which has been the dominant force on the left since it first took office in 1935, Saturday’s general election was a very bad day at the office. The 24.7% of the vote Labour…
Bill Shorten, who seemed so impressive as a union leader and minister, is shaping up as the least inspiring opposition leader since Alexander Downer. In foreign affairs, Shorten’s fear of repeating Mark…
Bill Shorten’s reference to party reform was once-over-lightly when he addressed the NSW ALP conference on Sunday. Shorten said Labor had to “rebuild as a party of members, not factions”. Members had to…
Labor senator John Faulkner does not anticipate that his moves to reform the party’s preselection processes will succeed at this weekend’s NSW State Conference. Faulkner is hoping to have the rules changed…