If climate change features prominently in the federal election campaign, it will almost certainly be driven by the Coalition. Under Tony Abbott, the Coalition has long smelled blood in the water on climate…
Who has the voter’s eocnomic interests at heart plays the biggest role in determining voter allegiance.
AAP/Theron Kirkman
Graham Richardson, the legendary Labor numbers man, pronounced last week that “if I was religious, I would pray that my long-held view that Labor will be slaughtered under Gillard’s leadership would be…
Julia Gillard has been hit by criticisms she is promoting ‘class warfare’ from ministers who resigned in the wake of last week’s leadership spill.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Among all the self-serving tattle from disgruntled cabinet ministers who felt impelled to resign last week, surely the stupidest was the attack on Julia Gillard supposedly promoting “class warfare”.
The…
The political show must go on but Labor is running out of time and options if it is to have any hope of avoiding a devastating defeat in this year’s election.
AAP/Matt Roberts
Labor starts this week still reeling from the “no show” leadership spill and its aftermath.
Labor’s electorally disastrous polls are likely to get even worse following those events. Are there any ways…
After surviving two challenges to her leadership, Julia Gillard faces a desperately tough fight in the upcoming election.
AAP/Alan Porritt
After one of the more bizarre days in Australian politics, Julia Gillard remains as the prime minister of Australia.
The question of leadership of the Labor Party has been a constant problem for the party…
Adam Bandt, Christine Milne and Richard Di Natale don’t walk this planet, says The Daily Telegraph.
AAP/Penny Bradfield
The Daily Telegraph isn’t known for holding back. As Stephen Conroy discovered in an already infamous front page, if you’re in its firing line, you’ll know it. It’s a world where a relatively pragmatic…
Gillard should stop focusing on unions, and start explaining how to pay for progressive policy.
AAP/Dave Hunt
It is ironic that just as our politics become increasingly presidential, so too do the two contending party leaders become increasingly unpopular. Indeed, both parties increasingly campaign as if the choice…
Australian Greens leader Senator Christine Milne called for an end to the ALP and Greens alliance during a National Press Club speech.
Alan Porritt/AAP
The termination of the ALP/Green alliance has been characterised by some sections of the media and the commentariat as a “divorce”. The language is interesting because it implies that there was genuine…
Happier times: prime minister Julia Gillard and former Greens leader Bob Brown’s agreement has largely been upheld.
Alan Porritt/AAP
Greens leader Christine Milne’s announcement yesterday that the alliance between the Greens and Labor was over had more symbolic than practical implications for Australian politics.
Senator Milne vowed…
Melbourne MP Greens Adam Bandt is up for re-election at this year’s federal election.
Lukas Coch/AAP
The battle for the seat of Melbourne at this year’s federal election will be nothing short of a bruising affair. Melbourne is of enormous symbolic importance to both Labor and the Green Party.
For Labor…
Former Premier Geoff Gallop helped reform the Western Australian Labor Party. But can it be done federally?
AAP/Alan Porritt
There are always two challenges that face a political party operating in a democratic system such as ours – public trust and public policy.
When I was elected leader of the Western Australian Parliamentary…
Labor elder Senator John Faulkner has called for a thorough reform of internal party practices.
AAP Image/Dean Lewins
Since its nineteenth century birth, the Australian Labor Party has helped to define the country’s institutional landscape.
But according to one of its most respected members, party grandee Senator John…
When former leaders take the public stage, nostalgia hits for voters.
ABCTV
Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull’s appearances on Q&A last night were always going to make a splash.
High-profile media appearances by Rudd and Turnbull inevitably prompt speculation among the media…
Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd in parliament shortly after the 2010 federal election.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Dennis Altman I’m going to start by quoting you when you say, talking about your career as a journalist, particularly a radio and television journalist, that “there was plenty of robust exchanges but my…
Lindsay Tanner has railed against his own party in a new book.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
Lindsay Tanner was one of a generation of Labor activists who came to political maturity in the 1980s. These were challenging years for the Australian left.
Labor’s 1983 victory set Australia apart from…
Julia Gillard and Wayne Swan, pictured at the ALP state conference in Queensland on Sunday, finally have something to smile about.
This week’s Newspoll and Age/Nielsen poll make interesting reading in the wake of last week’s debate over the relationship between the Labor and the Greens.
According to Newspoll, support for Labor has…
Both political parties are lining up their elections strategies now, even though an election could still be a year away.
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
The former British Prime Minister, Harold Wilson famously said a week is a long time in politics. If this is the case, then you have to wonder how long it will feel if the current Parliament runs it full…
Prime Minister Julia Gillard speaking at the release of the Gonski report in Canberra earlier this year.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
After nearly six months on the policy bench, the Gillard Labor government is planning to release its response to the Gonski review into school funding.
The government is still debating the reforms in…
ALP candidate Jennifer Kanis (pictured) has won a narrow victory over favoured Greens candidate Cathy Oke.
AAP/David Crosling
The outcome of the Melbourne by-election, in which Labor has claimed a narrow victory, reflected a disappointing performance from the Greens. At the 2010 state election Labor’s victory was dependent on…
Greens candidate Cathy Oke and deputy leader Adam Bandt will be hoping for a win this Saturday.
AAP Image/Juolian Smith
Thanks to the hubris of Bronwyn Pike, the Victorian Labor party is forced to contest a byelection this weekend it did not want or need.
After years of opportunities provided by the Labor party to the…
Paul Howes (pictured) believes the Greens represent a threat to Labor’s electability.
AAP
Governments and their partisans are usually reluctant to admit that they might be unpopular for a reason. Labor partisans have offered many explanations for the unpopularity of the Gillard government…
Is next week’s Melbourne state byelection a test for federal Labor?
AAP Image/Joe Castro
The looming byelection in the state seat of Melbourne is set to have a national impact.
With Greens candidate Cathy Oke strongly tipped to beat Labor’s Jennifer Kanis on 21 July – the first time the ALP…
We’ve had a glimpse into the world of Craig Thomson, but he’s trying to justify a view that no one outside the political game can understand.
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
The ALP and the union movement have never liked scabs. But yesterday we witnessed a labour scab of a different sort as The Wound Formally Known As Craig Thomson continued to be bleed rather than heal…
The Craig Thomson drama shows it’s time for unions and politicians to separate.
AAP/Miles Godfrey
The sordid details of Craig Thomson and the Health Services Union affair at one level reflect individual failings on the part of Thomson, HSU East Secretary Michael Williams and National Secretary Kathy…
Australian Labor needs to refocus not on the “working class”, but on its core beliefs.
Dean Lewins
Like Geoff Gallop I would like to believe the woes of the Gillard government are not also the death throes of the Labor Party, even after the debacle this weekend that saw Craig Thomson and Peter Slipper…
Does Labor have a future after Julia Gillard?
AAP/Alan Porrit
Every day seems to be the worst day for the Gillard government. With an opposition that has refined negativity into a stilleto, it seems that nearly everything the government attempts backfires, leaving…
Former prime ministers Gordon Brown and Kevin Rudd before the 2009 G20 summit.
What are political parties for? Do they exist only to win elections or are they for the benefit of members with process as important as outcome?
These are the fundamental questions that former British…
The union scandal surrounding Labor MP Craig Thompson shows just why the Labor party should re-consider its relationship with the unions.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
The Health Services Union’s scandal continues with calls for its national president to resign and moves to remove Kathy Jackson, the whistleblower who first revealed claims of credit card misuse, from…
Perhaps finance minister Bill Shorten and the Labor party should shout a bit louder about superannuation.
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
Labor’s devastating Queensland election result has prompted much soul searching within the party and questions about its fundamental approach.
Do voters even know what the Labor party stands for? Or is…
The Bligh led Labor party’s devastating defeat in Queensland could present difficulties for federal labor seats.
AAP/ Dan Peled
The Queensland election can tell us a lot about Labor’s electoral future. There is no doubt that if the Queensland state election landslide against Labor were extrapolated to federal boundaries, the federal…
Gillard will try to distance herself from Queensland Labor, but it will be a tough sell.
AAP/Alan Porritt
A notable feature of the Queensland election outcome was, as in New South Wales last year, opinion polls correctly predicted the outcome.
In both cases, some observers found it hard to credit that Labor…
Labor leader Anna Bligh is likely to lose the Queensland election, but what are the federal implications?
AAP Image/Jack Tran
The likely defeat of the Bligh Labor government in this weekend’s Queensland elections may not have the negative implications for the Gillard government that many commentators might expect.
The presence…
The ALP should be talking about getting a headstart on the industries of the future.
AAP
One of the arts of politics is storytelling, establishing a narrative that people can engage with. It is why politicians often talk about great teachers when explaining education reform, cancer patients…
No need to laugh, Wayne, your base has disappeared.
AAP Image/Dean Lewins
In recent days, Treasurer Wayne Swan has been prosecuting a puzzling assault on a few billionaire mining magnates. Commentators have struggled to come up with a plausible explanation for his political…
Gillard had a strong performance after yesterday’s leadership ballot, but there’s still a long way to go.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
One of Julia Gillard’s better days in Australian politics was nonetheless brought to an unusual end yesterday with the resignation of Mark Arbib.
The former right faction leader, who most recently served…
Gillard had strong support from caucus this morning.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Prime minister Julia Gillard has defeated Kevin Rudd in this morning’s leadership ballot by 71 votes to 31.
Rudd has said he will not initiate a further challenge to the prime minister’s leadership, but…
The process Labor uses to remove and replace parliamentary leaders contains some surprises.
AAP/John Pryke
At 10am today, the Labor caucus will meet to settle the leadership battle between Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd. But how does the leadership selection process actually work?
While the contest between Gillard…
Kevin Rudd and Therese Rein spend their Sunday morning at church rather than in front of a TV.
AAP/Dave Hunt
Sunday mornings are special.
Sure, 99% of the non-political world is sound asleep (or still attempting to make their way home after a night on the town), but for many political enthusiasts Sunday mornings…
Julia Gillard addressed the leadership crisis at a press conference in Adelaide this morning.
ABC News24
The leadership contest between Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd is largely a clash of personalities and a raw struggle for power, and there is essentially little policy difference between them.
But should…
Kevin Rudd has said Julia Gillard is not the best person to lead Labor to the next election.
ABC News24
Less than 12 hours after making his dramatic resignation in Washington, Rudd was back at the lectern. This time, however, his speech sounded more like a campaign pitch.
Watch part of Kevin Rudd’s conference…
Rudd’s been incendiary since he was replaced as leader.
AAP/Tony Phillips
From the time Julia Gillard succeeded Kevin Rudd as prime minister there was a ticking time bomb that no one thought to defuse.
His promised inclusion in a cabinet whose membership was instrumental in…
If nothing else, Australian politics has been full of surprises since the 2010 election. The hung parliament, the introduction of controversial policies and the recent manoeuvrings over the role of parliamentary…
Kevin Rudd will only give a smug smile when asked about his designs on Julia Gillard’s job.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
Watching Kevin Rudd in his almost daily struggle to avoid giving a straight answer to questions about whether he’ll challenge Julia Gillard is as painful as listening to a smoker justify why they won’t…
What’s gender got to do with it? We asked Cheryl Kernot.
AAP/Julian Smith/Lukas Coch
As one of the few women to have run a political party in this country Cheryl Kernot is well aware of the role gender plays in the Australian political landscape.
In the wake of Bob Brown’s claim this…
The resources boom is political gold for Liberal premier Colin Barnett (second from left).
AAP/Rebecca Le May
Last week’s change in the Western Australian ALP leadership ended the three-year tenure of the ousted Eric Ripper – quite a good innings for a modern opposition leader, even if he wasn’t granted the opportunity…
The public isn’t told how ministerial performance is assessed.
AAP/Alan Porritt/Julian Smith
In the coverage surrounding Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s cabinet reshuffle yesterday, the media rushed to decide which ministers had won or lost. But the focus on who trumped whom in the political stakes…
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has reshuffled her cabinet to try and refresh her image, but it won’t work.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
It might seem that the days before Christmas would be an odd time to announce a cabinet reshuffle, but for the Prime Minister it was the latest in a series of manoeuvres designed to help the government…
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced an expanded cabinet of 22 ministers.
Alan Porritt/AAP
After a weekend of speculation, Julia Gillard announced a new cabinet in a dramatic redistribution of ministerial portfolios this afternoon. The number of cabinet members has swelled to 22, with only Kim…
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith congratulates Julia Gillard after the vote changing ALP policy on the export of uranium to China was won.
AAP/Dean Lewins
On Sunday, the Australian Labor Party voted 206 to 185 in favour of changing one part of the party’s longstanding and non-negotiable platform on uranium exports: that recipient states must be members of…
First among equals – Julia Gillard votes on a policy issue at the ALP national conference this weekend.
AAP/Dean Lewins
Potential reform of the Labor Party’s internal structure has been substantially limited, as the Right faction asserted its overall dominance of the weekend’s national conference.
Prime Minister Julia…
Prime minister Julia Gillard faces challenges from all sides at this weekend’s ALP conference.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
After surviving a brutal political winter that many thought would be her last, Prime Minister Julia Gillard can be forgiven to looking forward to the summer holidays.
But she shouldn’t let her guard down…
Peter Slipper made an impact in his first day as Speaker.
The dramatic surprise resignation of Harry Jenkins as Speaker, on what was meant to be the final sitting day of the year for the House of Representatives (coincidentally also the fourth anniversary of…
A warm welcome for the President from Julia Gillard and the Governor General, but Australia should take care not to give too much away to the Americans. AAP/Stuart McEvoy.
It’s third time lucky for President Obama. He’s cancelled his trip to Australia twice before, but now he has finally made it to Canberra. Julia Gillard has struck up a friendship with the US President…
Julia Gillard has enjoyed mixing with Barack Obama on the foreign policy stage.
AAP/AusPic Howard Moffat
When President Obama begins his long-awaited visit to Australia today, he’ll have a keen tour guide in Julia Gillard. They’ve developed an apparently firm friendship in recent months. But should the Prime…
Mike Rann waves goodbye on his last day in office at Parliament House in Adelaide.
AAP/James Baker
Mike Rann has handed the South Australian Premiership to Jay Weatherill, after nine years in the State’s top job.
Labor Party power brokers tapped the man who had led their party for 17 years on the shoulder…
Gillard is trying to re-cast her party building on the tradition of great ALP leaders John Curtin and Ben Chifley.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s rally to the Labor faithful on Friday called for party reform.
It’s become a familiar pattern of introspection within the ALP, starting with the Hawke Wran Review in 2002…
Julia Gillard could face another awkward moment if Kevin Rudd moves against her next year.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Kevin Rudd’s presence as Foreign Minister has been a constant reminder that Julia Gillard’s ascension to Prime Minister was never fully accepted in the electorate, a perception confirmed by the 2010 election…
Party activists may be passionate, but they’re dwindling in number.
AAP/Dean Lewins
Around the western world, political parties have lost their appeal. Membership of major parties has declined dramatically, while our willingness to vote for one party throughout our adult lives has collapsed…
Julia Gillard inherited a failing government, and made it worse.
AAP/Lukas Coch
The American comedian WC Fields once joked that the best advice in business was “never give a sucker an even break”. Now the High Court has rejected the government’s deal with Malaysia to swap asylum seekers…
ALP stalwart Senator John Faulkner’s recommendations do not go far enough.
AAP
Let’s get serious, Senator Faulkner, the problem is the process of candidate selection.
John Faulkner’s excellent speech last night describes a process of ALP decline that has been underway for most of…
