Julia Gillard’s visit to Papua New Guinea – including meeting PM Peter O'Neill – yielded little in advancing Australian or regional causes.
AAP/Eoin Blackwell
Prime minister Julia Gillard returned from her first official visit to Australia’s nearest neighbour and former colony Papua New Guinea (PNG) on Saturday with little to show for it.
Reports of the visit…
What sort of economic legacy did the long-serving Howard-Costello prime minister-treasurer double act really leave?
AAP/Alan Porritt
The good times are over. That’s the message both parties are sending out ahead of the budget and September’s election.
Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey promises major cuts to spending and welfare if the coalition…
Julia Gillard and Stephen Smith’s new Defence White Paper places emphasis on working with China as well as the United States.
AAP/Lukas Coch
The Government’s new Defence White Paper has adopted a conciliatory tone towards China, focused attention on the region and announced the purchase of a dozen new high-tech fighter planes.
Julia Gillard…
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has confirmed the Medicare levy will be increased to fund the NDIS.
AAP/Julian Smith
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced a 0.5% increase in the Medicare levy to help fund the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) – but Labor will not bring in legislation for the higher tax…
Prime Minister Julia Gillard will today announce significantly lower than estimated tax revenue.
AAP/ Shane Eecen
The estimate of budget tax revenue collection for 2012-13 has been further slashed, with the Treasury now saying it will be $12 billion less than forecast in October.
The revision is another blow to a…
A germaine point… lost in the furore around comments over Julia’s jackets was a genuine insight into the relationship between power and attire.
AAP/ Lukas Coch
Germaine Greer had been responding to a questioner on the ABC’s Q&A program (March 19, 2012), who asked what advice the panel would give to the Prime Minister Julia Gillard on her image problem.
Gillard…
Governor-General Quentin Bryce’s term ends after the election. Is it in the purview of the Gillard government to announce her replacement?
AAP/Lukas Coch
Could the Gillard government appoint a successor to the Governor-General, Quentin Bryce, to take up office in March 2014 when Bryce’s appointment expires?
The press has reported that opposition leader…
Labor has traditionally had a strong support among female voters, but this could be set to change in 2013.
AAP/Lukas Coch
A “gender dimension” now envelopes national politics unlike anything we have observed in the past. Julia Gillard’s popular but arguably unfair accusation that opposition leader Tony Abbott is a misogynist…
The Prime Minister was unable to get agreement with the states on the government’s school funding reforms.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
The A$14 billion federal government proposal based on David Gonski’s call for a better school funding system has not been agreed to at this week’s COAG meeting. In fact, none of the states and territories…
Tertiary education minister Craig Emerson has outlined heavy cuts for the higher sector to help pay for the Gonski school reforms.
AAP image/Alan Porritt
The higher education sector is to take heavy budget cuts to help pay for the government’s Gonski school funding plan, a key measure in Julia Gillard’s bid for re-election.
About A$2.3 billion will be…
Julia Gillard’s appearance is regularly commented on: is it just another way to talk about her gender?
AAP/Alan Porritt
Much has been written in the past few days about the legacy of the late British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, including many mentions of her hair.
It is difficult to imagine similar attention being…
Changes to 457 visas by the Gillard government has divided political and public opinion in Australia.
AAP/Lukas Coch
The current public debate over temporary employment 457 visa holders has thrown a spotlight on a major shift in Australia’s migration program.
Historical context
Prior to the introduction of the Temporary…
Julia Gillard and Wayne Swan face a significant challenge if they plan to change superannuation.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Julia Gillard hardly had time for some deep breathing after the cyclone of last week, before her government was hit by fresh buffeting winds.
A new round of speculation that the budget would hit superannuation…
New tertiary education minister Craig Emerson needs to bring stability to a portfolio that has seen three ministers in 2013.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Craig Emerson is definitely a multitasker. Who can forget his singing routine on national television last year when he borrowed the tune of the 1970s Skyhooks rock classic Horror Movie and lampooned alarmist…
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…
It takes more than Julia Gillard’s famed toughness to be a successful political leader.
AAP/Matt Roberts
If this remarkable week in federal politics has shown us anything, it’s the relationship between politician, party, and public is more complex than ever.
These events put to the test competing models…
The sensible thing for Tony Abbott to do would be make himself as small a target as possible as the election draws near – but sooner or later he will need to put forward some detailed policies.
AAP/Lukas Coch
When Tony Abbott became leader of the Liberal Party by just one vote in December 2009 he saved the Liberal Party and non-Labor cause nationally from annihilation.
Kevin Rudd as prime minister was riding…
Could a corporation get away with running itself the way the ALP has handled its leadership woes?
AAP
Yesterday’s events around Labor’s leadership were stunning.
Julia Gillard emerged victorious but polls will no doubt continue to predict a huge loss for this Government on election day and MPs in marginal…
Are leadership battles in Australian politics a sign of party difference or unity? Or is it something altogether different?
AAP/Lukas Coch
In a scene in the famous 90s sitcom Seinfeld, George describes to Jerry an idea for a show about nothing. After the events of the last days and weeks in federal and state politics, we can ask whether Australian…
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…
Kevin Rudd resisted supporters' pleas to run.
AAP/Lukas Coch
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…
Julia Gillard emerges triumphant after challenging Kevin Rudd for the leadership in 2010. She has survived two subsequent threats to her leadership since. Is this the new normal for Australian politics?
AAP/Alan Porritt
Julia Gillard lives to fight another day, having being reelected unopposed at this afternoon’s caucus meeting.
While Rudd declared he would not nominate for the leadership this time, the destablisation…
Julia Gillard has called a leadership spill for the second time in her prime ministership.
AAP/Lukas Coch
Prime minister Julia Gillard has called a ballot for the Labor party leadership at 4:30pm today, at the urging of minister and former leader Simon Crean.
Crean has called on Kevin Rudd to step up and…
Simon Crean has called for a spill of all leadership positions.
AAP
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…
The election is Tony Abbott’s to lose. But will weakness with many female voters cost him and will his record come to haunt him on issues like abortion?
AAP/Lukas Coch
Tony Abbott is trying to improve his image with many women. But as I found out when I met him recently, no makeover can erase his track record of public statements and actions, especially on issues of…
The ongoing leadership tensions inside the Labor government are only damaging the party’s long term health.
AAP/Julian Smith
There’s something a little thrilling about a bit of leadership biffo. However, when such talk shows little sign of abatement, as it has in respect to Gillard’s leadership of the ALP, then the thrill factor…
Has Julia Gillard’s tour of western Sydney been the vote winner she hoped? The answer is yet to come.
Paul Miller/AAP
The announcement that Prime Minister Julia Gillard would spend a week in the western suburbs of Sydney was greeted with mild amusement by some, and became the base of jokes about “beige rooms” for others…
Julia Gillard should make her diary of appointments and visits public according to the Information Commissioner.
AAP/Dave Hunt
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has been encouraged to be more open and accountable to the Australian public by releasing her official meeting diary.
Although Gillard is not legally required to, Freedom…
Tony Abbott has been quiet on the subject of federalism recently.
AAP/Alan Porritt
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…
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…
Greens leader Christine Milne is focused on saving seats in the senate.
AAP/Alan Porritt
The Labor caucus is still thinking about leadership, but Christine Milne and the Greens have given up spectacularly on Labor and Julia Gillard.
In her shock tearing up of the Greens' alliance with the…
Martin Ferguson, Julia Gillard and Wayne Swan announced the MRRT in 2010 … but three ministers and three miners do not a policy make.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Most controversial public policy could be said to be made on the run, or at least amended on a brisk walk.
So the revelations in Peter Martin’s recent article on the errors embedded in the Gillard government…
Julia Gillard’s early announcement of the election date has sparked a debate on fixed terms.
AAP/Julian Smith
When prime minister Julia Gillard announced last month the nation would go to the polls on September 14, she made political history and caught the nation off guard. She also sparked renewed debate about…
Julia Gillard has called a September election, will we be able to tell the difference between governing and campaigning?
AAP/Alan Porrit
Last week, prime minister Julia Gillard told the Australian public they’d be able to tell the difference between campaigning and governing during this election year.
Over the following days, which saw…
Nicola Roxon, Julia Gillard and Chris Evans leave the stage after the press conference announcing the departure of the two former senior ministers.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Much of the commentary surrounding the resignations of Nicola Roxon and Chris Evans has interpreted the departures as yet another episode in the neverending disaster that is the Rudd-Gillard government…
Former Higher Education Minister Chris Evans announces his resignation in Canberra.
AAP/Alan Porrit
The Gillard government has lost two important figures that contributed much to the Labor administration. Chris Evans, leader of the party in the Senate, and Attorney General, Nicola Roxon, both announced…
The prime minister has given the electorate seven and half months to tell her what they want.
AAP/Alan Porrit
We have 226 days until the election, and are hearing lots of pious statements about having time for some serious policy debate.
But we should use this time to move the policy debates well beyond what…
Now that Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced the date of the federal election, can the business community expect more certainty about policy directions?
AAP
Julia Gillard has now confirmed what everyone already knew: there will be an election sometime in August or September this year. We now know the precise date: September 14. That is also the Jewish Day…
Julia Gillard has taken a punt on a long campaign.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Julia Gillard is an Australian political pioneer in many ways. She was the first female prime minister, she led the first minority government in the post-war period and recently moved to appoint the first…
Prime Minister Julia Gillard says calling the election now will enable a focus on policies rather then “petty politics”.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced the date of the 2013 election, with Australia to go to the ballot box on September 14.
Ms Gillard today told the National Press Club the move would give certainty…
Julia Gillard has presented a coherent plan for an uncertain future.
AAP/Lukas Coch
The central problem for defence and security planners right now is uncertainty. The clarity of the Cold War is gone, new threats such as terrorism have come, and seemingly peaked, and what the rise of…
The latest results of international testing in maths, science and reading means Australia’s education outlook does not look good.
Test image from www.shutterstock.com
By Sue Thomson, Australian Council for Educational Research
Prime Minister Julia Gillard in September set an ambitious goal for Australian education: to be ranked as a top-five country in reading, mathematics and science by 2025.
Clearly she is hoping to lift…
Julia Gillard has repeatedly answered questions about her role with the AWU, but it’s not enough for some journalists.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Every time Prime Minister Julia Gillard repeats statements that she’s “done nothing wrong” in the AWU slush fund scandal story, it seems another journalist joins the fray.
No one covering the story has…
Prime Minister Julia Gillard answered questions about the AWU affair at a press conference yesterday.
AAP/Alan Porrit
The recent drama about Julia Gillard’s activities on behalf of one faction of the Australian Workers’ Union back in the early 1990s is another chapter in the long story of money in Australian unions…
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…
Now that Barack Obama has been re-elected for a second term, what are the implications for Australia?
EPA/Shawn Thew
All the world has a stake America’s presidential election. Barack Obama has seen off a surprisingly strong showing from Republican candidate Mitt Romney and now has four final years in the executive office…
Julia Gillard meets the govenor general after winning the 2010 election. Can she repeat the trick next year?
AAP/David Foote
From the time the carbon tax policy was unveiled in February 2011 until its implementation on July 1, the unchallenged consensus of the Canberra press gallery was that a Tony Abbott prime ministership…
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…
Maxine McKew arrives to vote in the 2010 federal election.
AAP/Tracey Nearmy
The Rudd government came to power in 2007 with the reforming zeal of Gough Whitlam’s team more than three decades before, but was ultimately betrayed by a self-serving and brutal ALP machine according…
Julia Gillard will meet with her Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh in New Delhi this week for talks, with uranium, education and regional strategy high on the agenda.
EPA/Barbara Walton
Julia Gillard arrived yesterday in New Delhi for a three-day official visit. She’s there to promote Australia’s rising interest in India and seek greater economic, political and strategic links with that…
Julia Gillard’s speech to Tony Abbott put the issue of entrenched gender inequality squarely on the agenda.
AAP
When Tony Abbott discussed the fallout from Peter Slipper’s resignation on ABC 24, he argued that he would rather that women were judged on what their actions are, rather than on the basis of their gender…
Gillard gave a flawless performance.
AAP/Lukas Coch
As the fallout from Julia Gillard’s speech on Tuesday afternoon dies down, I find myself watching the footage again and again. While her words were compelling, the sting in the Prime Minister’s performance…
Prime Minister Julia Gillard in parliament – has the Slipper resignation cost her political momentum?
AAP/Alan Porritt
The Gillard government could have been forgiven for believing an electoral renaissance was underway.
But just as it appeared the prime minister was going to cruise to the end of the year, the government…
Julia Gillard attacked Tony Abbott’s past comments about women in a passionate speech during Question Time.
AAP/Lukas Coch
Peter Slipper has resigned. The sexist text messages mentioning female genitalia published as part of a civil court case were suddenly the bridge too far for Her Majesty’s Opposition.
But the Opposition…
Tony Abbott greets Liberal MP Kelly O'Dwyer before an event in Melbourne. Does the Opposition Leader have an issue with women?
AAP/David Crosling
In a discussion with ABC journalist Emma Alberici on Lateline last week, Liberal MP Kelly O’Dwyer defended Tony Abbott from attacks by Labor ministers who criticised his attitudes towards women. In the…
Broadcaster Alan Jones has been embroiled in a controversy over remarks he made on Julia Gillard’s late father.
AAP/Warren Clarke
The interesting part about this weekend’s kerfuffle over Alan Jones’ comments about the late John Gillard is not what Jones said.
After all, we’ve known about his combative – some would say offensive…
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…
It’s time to look closer at the value behind the work ethic.
Julian Smith / AAP
Accepting the Democratic nomination earlier this month, President Barack Obama said he was inspired by the spirit of “the auto worker who won the lottery after his plant almost closed, but kept coming…
We’ve had the big announcement on schools funding, but now comes the political reality.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
The battle over the future of Australia’s school funding arrangements has started in
earnest. Outlining the government’s response to the landmark Gonski Review, Prime Minister Gillard spoke of a national…
The Gillard response to the Gonski review was a disappointment and could have been much more.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
Yesterday the Prime Minister announced the government will introduce some of the recommendations of the Gonski Review, including a new model for funding schools.
Many commentators criticised the announcement…
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…
Julia Gillard yesterday blasted those on the internet for recycling rumours about her, part of what she calls a sexist campaign.
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
Prime minister Julia Gillard took aim yesterday at the “misogynists” and “nut jobs” on the internet posting about her conduct 17 years ago while working as an industrial lawyer.
The Prime Minister said…
Is Tony Abbott’s blokey personality at risk of costing him votes among women?
AAP
The Labor government appears to have a spring in its step. After months of poor polls and difficulty passing legislation, things now seem to be going Labor’s way. In recent weeks, the government has been…
Prime Minister Julia Gillard meets with the Chief of the Defence Force General David Hurley in Canberra.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Greeting the findings of the Houston expert panel on asylum seekers, The Australian front page exclaimed “At last, people put before politics”.
This is, of course, ridiculous. The Malaysian solution would…
Bob Carr is getting very little love from The Australian’s Greg Sheridan of late.
AAP/Lukas Coch
Poor Greg Sheridan: he never met a prime minister he couldn’t be besotted with until Julia Gillard came along.
Ever since she got the top job, he has been running a campaign designed to demonstrate that…
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has called on miners to accept that the resources they mine belong to the people.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
Prime Minister Julia Gillard delivered one of her strongest messages to the mining sector last night, telling mining bosses at a Minerals Industry dinner in Canberra that they don’t own Australia’s minerals…
Labor is out of touch with the attitudes of 21st century Australians.
AAP/Dan Peled
“Class warfare” is an emotive term that would seem to belong to a bygone age when there also existed, as in the minds of many people, something called the “class struggle”.
It would seem strange that…
Try telling sacked Toyota workers we live in a classless society.
AAP/Julian Smith
The idea that Julia Gillard and Wayne Swan have launched a “class war” in Australia through last week’s federal budget is a huge joke. I don’t believe The Australian’s editor-in-chief Chris Mitchell even…
Tony Abbot’s budget reply speech was rife with contradictions.
AAP/Alan Porritt
To quote American baseball manager Yogi Berra, it was “déjà vu all over again” last night when I listened to Tony Abbott’s budget reply. I was back in the 1970s but without the big-collared shirts and…
Barack Obama has sent a message to same-sex attracted people everywhere: “I’m in your corner”.
ABC News
This morning my phone woke me earlier than usual with a text from one of my sons, who regularly taps into American politics in the middle of the night. “Obama has come out for gay marriage – how about…
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…
Julia Gillard faces the media after Craig Thomson’s suspension from the government benches.
AAP/Lukas Coch
Since forming government in 2010, the Gillard government has faced an uphill battle to assert its authority on the policy agenda.
Initially, this was partly due to the fact that it relied on the Greens…
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…
Gillard shines when she is closer to voters, such as at this week’s community cabinet in Paramatta.
AAP/Tracey Nearmy
By all accounts, in person Prime Minister Julia Gillard is relaxed, funny, engaging and a good listener. Her ministers say she is tough, masters briefs well, leads, and takes decisions. On top of that…
Julia Gillard and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak at last week’s nuclear summit in Seoul.
AAP/EPA
Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s recent performance in South Korea highlights once again the dangers of not taking Asia seriously.
At a speech at a university, Gillard apparently stuck directly to script…
Gillard maintained the status quo in Seoul.
AAP/Office of the Prime Minister
Prime minister, Julia Gillard joined 52 other world leaders at the second round of the Nuclear Security Summit in South Korea.
In her address to the summit, she joined other participating states in advocating…
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…
Julia Gillard’s recent leadership battle provides a lesson for all executive women.
AAP
Today is the 101st anniversary of International Women’s Day, a day celebrated around the world to mark the legal, political, social and economic achievements of women.
The change in corporate governance…
Gillard has reason to smile, but Carr’s appointment was not easy.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Julia Gillard has appointed Bob Carr as Australia’s new Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Carr has had a long career in Australian politics, most notably as Premier of New South Wales from 1995 to 2005…
It’s time for a new strategy for the Gillard government.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Julia Gillard has successfully installed former New South Wales premier Bob Carr as minister for foreign affairs.
It wasn’t an easy process. Gillard seemed to battle both her parliamentary colleagues…
The new foreign minister must understand Australia’s place on the world stage.
AAP/Tony McDonough
Australia’s foreign minister portfolio has been left vacant and the discussion on who will replace Kevin Rudd is now underway. Whatever his flaws as a prime minister, Rudd was perceived, on a certain level…
“Business as usual” isn’t an option for Prime Minister Julia Gillard if she wants to look like a leader.
AAP
Now that the party’s votes are in, Prime Minister Julia Gillard has to make up ground with the voters. The polls are indicating the Labor Government is in deep trouble. Kevin Rudd was nothing if not analytical…
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…
Julia Gillard claimed a definitive victory this morning: now the hard work begins.
AAP
From Kevin Rudd’s surprise resignation last week to this morning’s galvanising ballot, The Conversation has kept you up-to-date with analysis from Australia’s foremost academic political analysts.
Just…
Gillard leaves the ballot with allies Wayne Swan and Craig Emerson.
Julia Gillard won an impressive victory today, one that Kevin Rudd will find it very difficult to come back from. The scale of her victory contrasted with support for Rudd among the broader public or even…
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…
Reading from the 07 handbook won’t help Rudd this time around.
AAP Image/Paul Miller
Arriving back in Australia on Friday, Kevin Rudd said, “If you have a strong view on the future prime ministership of the country, your power as the people is what will count.”
In response to Rudd’s call…
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…
Kevin Rudd may not have the power to swing his home state.
AAP/Kym Smith
By Clive Bean, Queensland University of Technology
During his campaign to wrest the Labor leadership from prime minister Julia Gillard, Kevin Rudd has repeatedly made reference to his home state of Queensland.
With the Sunshine State set to go to the…
Rudd has been appealing to his Queensland constituents, but will it work?
Kevin Rudd’s announcement of resignation as Foreign Affairs Minister and subsequent leadership challenge has been a carefully constructed exercise in the sort of politics on which Queensland thrives. He…
Julia Gillard never had the courage to confront Kevin Rudd.
ABC News 24
Kevin Rudd has formally announced he will contest the Labor leadership in a ballot on Monday. This is just the latest act in the pantomime of Australian politics.
This drama production is an indulgence…
The greatest curiosity of the Labor leadership brawl is Kevin Rudd’s “faceless men” line, which seems to refer to prominent parliamentary colleagues with very recognisable faces. But there is method in…
Rudd’s style is individualistic, Gillard prefers a more consultative approach.
AAP/Alan Porritt
It is fitting that Kevin Rudd’s official campaign for a return to the Labor leadership commenced in the United States, for his political project is one forged in the image of what many Australians imagine…
Kevin Rudd is widely known on the international stage from his time as prime minister then foreign minister.
AAP/David Foote
Kevin Rudd’s dramatic resignation as Foreign Minister yesterday has left Australia without a permanent cabinet level representative on the world stage.
Trade Minister Craig Emerson will take over Rudd…
The leadership spill could lead to constitutional confusion if Rudd wins next week’s ballot.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced this morning that she will hold a leadership ballot at 10am on Monday, to “settle once and for all” Labor’s escalating leadership crisis.
Kevin Rudd has not formally…
Rudd might think he’s the messiah, but Gillard begs to differ.
AAP/Alan Porritt
He’s not the messiah … or is he?
This morning Nicola Roxon went to the heart of the matter when she said of Kevin Rudd, “he’s not the messiah”. Most of us were hoping that she’d complete the statement…
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…
Preparing a repeat? Kevin Rudd has first mover advantage in a leadership tussle, experts say.
AAP
Kevin Rudd’s dramatic decision to resign in the early hours of the morning in Washington has caught Prime Minister Julia Gillard on the hop.
In response, Prime Minister Gillard has issued a brief statement…
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 has announced he will stand down as Foreign Minister.
AAP
Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd has announced he will step down from his post, sparking immediate speculation about his next move and whether he will challenge Julia Gillard as Prime Minister.
In a press…
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…
Tony Abbott says the end is near for the government, but can he bring it down?
AAP/Alan Porritt
After declaring the Gillard government was entering its “endgame”, opposition leader Tony Abbott is believed to be preparing to table a motion of no confidence.
Since Tasmanian independent Andrew Wilkie…
The ugly side of Australia Day was starkly revealed yesterday.
AAP/Lukas Coch
Australia Day: cricket, beaches, prawns on the barbie, beer and a good dose of sunburn; a bit of jingoistic flag-waving, citizenship ceremonies and the conferring of awards to our most outstanding citizens…
Andrew Wilkie has withdrawn his support for the Gillard government.
AAP/David Beniuk
The Gillard government finds itself in the same position it held at the start of 2011.
The withdrawal of support from independent Andrew Wilkie means that, like this time last year, the government holds…
Andrew Wilkie must decide whether to walk away from the Gillard government.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
As speculation about Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s commitment to gambling reform grows, Tasmanian independent Andrew Wilkie is weighing up the pros and cons of a compromise deal with the government…
Senator Arthur Sinodinos makes his maiden speech earlier this year.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Welcome to this In Conversation between Liberal Senator Arthur Sinodinos and Macquarie University politics expert Craig Mark.
Sinodinos is a political paradox: he’s the newest member of the Australian…
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…
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…
The Tsar Bomba nuclear test is the largest ever nuclear explosion recorded, measuring 50 megatons and generating a 64km high mushroom cloud.
flickr/andy_z
As the Australian Labor Party contemplates opening sales of uranium to India, it would be wise for our policy-makers to think more broadly about the long-term possibilities for Australia as a provider…
Opposition leader Tony Abbott has had a good political year but is the political wind shifting against him?
AAP/Lukas Koch
At the start of the year Prime Minister Julia Gillard promised that 2011 would be a year of “decision and delivery”. Despite such a grand vision, the majority of the year was a shocker for the government…
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…
Strategic friendships: will Australia’s decision to sign up to Obama’s Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement impact on our relationship with China?
AAP
The task of simultaneously negotiating our traditional security and cultural ties with the US, and our burgeoning economic relationship with China, can justifiably be described as the “great foreign policy…
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 and Kevin Rudd celebrated the government’s carbon tax success, but she doesn’t have much reason to celebrate.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Last week demonstrated how fast fortunes may change in politics. Just as the government thought it could get onto the front foot, it experienced a significant setback by not being able to make changes…
Julia Gillard and her Immigration Minister Chris Bowen haven’t had the best of weeks.
AAP/Alan Porritt
The Malaysia Solution isn’t quite dead, but its vital signs are certainly not good. With a steely look in her eye, and barely concealed anger, Julia Gillard blamed Opposition Leader Tony Abbott for “trashing…
Without reform of the Migration Act, the governments plan for processing refugees offshore would be in tatters.
AFP/Saeed Khan
Later today the Australian Government plans to put the Migration Legislation Amendment (Offshore Processing and Other Measures) Bill 2011 to a vote in the House of Representatives. Without it, the government…
Julia Gillard has to strike a balance between forging meaningful links with Asian countries, and managing relationships with older allies.
EPA/Rungroj Yongrit
AUSTRALIA IN ASIA: In the third part of our series, former diplomat Alison Broinowski of the Australian National University examines our rocky relationship with our Asian neighbours.
“Australia hasn’t…
Australia’s Ambassador to Indonesia, Greg Moriarty, has been working to secure the release of the 14 year old, amid huge media interest.
AFP/Sonny Tumbelaka
The arrest of a 14 year old Australian boy accused of possessing marijuana in Bali has provoked a media storm. The Australian Ambassador to Indonesia says the case is his “top priority”, and even the Prime…
Australia will have to try something new, and align itself more closely to Asia.
AAP Image/Adam Gartrell
AUSTRALIA IN ASIA: In the first of The Conversation’s series on Australia’s relations with Asia, Professor Tony Milner of the Australian National University examines whether we are prepared for the “Asian…
Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond made a roaring success of minority government.
AAP
In Anglo-American democracies at least, having a “minority government” is often regarded as an undesirable state of affairs.
Canada may have had considerable experience of the phenomenon, New Zealand…
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…
Prime Minister Julia Gillard wants Tony Abbott to put up or shut up on offshore processing.
AAP
Prime Minister Julia Gillard today announced the Government would seek to legislate in order to revive the “Malaysian Solution” ruled illegal by the High Court earlier this month.
The plan would see Australia…
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…
Spoilt for choice: neither Tony Abbott nor Julia Gillard are inspiring climate leaders.
AAP
Both Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott have staked their political futures on their climate policies. So perhaps they should also be asking what the hallmarks are of a climate leader?
The German political…
Preventive health is the the biggest loser in the health deal.
AAP
The deal’s been done and health reform is in the bag. It may not be quite as bold as originally planned by then prime minister Rudd – there’s even been a fair amount of watering down on Julia Gillard’s…
The deal has a narrower focus than the original but still delivers $20 billion of extra funds.
Health professionals and patients alike breathed a sigh of relief yesterday when Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced she had struck a final deal with the states to reform the nation’s hospital system…
Big sources of carbon emissions that Australia could influence, aren’t being discussed.
AAP
The government’s position on climate change is now that it will pump $10 billion into particular projects and exact a minor tax on certain forms of electricity generation.
The Coalition’s position is…
Scare campaigns tap into public distrust of politicians.
The carbon tax will have a relatively small impact on household incomes, in most cases for those who are worse off, just a few dollars a week.
So why is it so hard to sell? The posing of this question…
Julia Gillard was confronted by a shopper about the government’s carbon tax.
AAP/Patrick Hamilton
Before the details of the carbon tax were released this week, the government was fighting with one hand tied behind its back. Sometimes it looked like it had both hands and feet manacled as Prime Minister…
Tony Abbott says the carbon tax is “socialism by stealth”; but is it just “what’s in it for me” politics?
AAP
Opposition leader Tony Abbott claims the proposed carbon policy is “socialism by stealth”? I wish!
I suspect we do need some emphasis on the common good and public benefits to counter the attempts to…
The carbon tax media conference sets the scene for the slogans of tomorrow.
AAP
It began with the familiar sight of the Prime Minister standing behind a lectern, flanked by Australian flags. But unlike previous press conferences, she was joined by Treasurer Wayne Swan and Climate…
Julia Gillard became Prime Minister on June 24th 2010.
AAP/Alan Porritt
In the dying days of his own government, Gough Whitlam observed that Labor’s role in opposition was to win public support for the need for change, thereby raising expectations that would inevitably fail…
Julia Gillard has to communicate her government’s reason for being.
AAP
Former US presidential speechwriter, the late William Safire, outlined the components of a perfect political speech as follows: “tell ‘em what you’re going to tell ‘em – then tell ‘em – then tell ‘em what…
The Labor party needs to remember it’s the brand leader.
AAP/Eddie Safarik
Andrew Wilkie is correct when he says that the government needs to sell things better. Developing good policy is not enough in today’s consumer driven world. The government also needs to clearly communicate…
Julia Gillard needs a ‘circuit breaker’ to turn the polls around.
AAP/Andrew Taylor
The Gillard Government just can’t sell its message. That was the view of independent MP Andrew Wilkie speaking on ABC Radio National this week. Recent opinion polls confirm the government has communication…
“Only an election could make an honest politician of this Prime Minister. Only an election can give Australia a government with authority to make the tough decisions needed to build a stronger Australia…
