In Aesop’s fable of the boy who cried wolf, the boy warns farmers of imaginary wolves threatening their flocks just to laugh at the sight of them running to the rescue for no reason. Of course, when the…
Considering India’s aspirations to be a global power, foreign policy has played but a minor role in the current election campaign. The manifestos of the major parties also say little on the subject, so…
Since Monday the Indian people have been voting in the largest elections the world has ever seen. So far things have gone smoothly as 815 million people are expected to turn out at polling stations all…
Regardless of whether the Liberals’ Linda Reynolds or Labor’s Senator Louise Pratt wins the last West Australian Senate seat, the Abbott government will need the support of Clive Palmer’s PUP to pass any…
Regardless of what the Independent Commission against Corruption finally says about Arthur Sinodinos, his day of evidence has in itself raised fundamental questions about his suitability for the job of…
Modern governments believe that during budget framing it is politically savvy to parade the pain. We saw it with Labor and the Coalition is doing the same. There are scary scenarios of what would happen…
One of the challenges Bill Shorten faces as Labor leader is how he and the ALP deal with the perception, and reality, of excessive union influence on the party. This is a problem at multiple levels. Only…
In September 1996 John Howard said one great change that had come over Australia in the early months of his government was that “the pall of censorship on certain issues” had been lifted and people felt…
Paul Howes, enfant terrible of the labour movement, who is leaving his high profile Australian Workers’ Union job in July, has been seldom out of the news for long in recent years. He’s that unlikely figure…
Interviewed recently about the government’s plan to roll back key consumer protections in Labor’s financial advice legislation, Arthur Sinodinos said his advice to consumers was to “get more informed…
Listening to Liberal senators, you’d think Labor was accusing Arthur Sinodinos of being an axe murderer and killing the family dog to boot. In fact the opposition wasn’t demanding anything particularly…
Tony Abbott is publicly backing Arthur Sinodinos remaining in situ but it would be better for the Assistant Treasurer to stand aside while the ICAC inquiry is on. That would meet the requirements of both…
Parties keep saying they want to attract better candidates and then continue to throw up some shockers. On the evidence, one such has the top spot on the ALP’s ticket for the West Australian Senate election…
At the end of the election campaign Tony Abbott observed that the big difference between an opposition leader and a prime minister was that the former was inevitably the leader of a tribe while the latter…
The Productivity Commission has slammed the assessment and development processes for Australia’s public infrastructure projects, finding “numerous examples of poor value-for-money” because of bad selection…
The government’s dilemma in pursuing the so-called “Bolt amendment” to the Racial Discrimination Act has been highlighted by the experience of one of its new marginal seat holders in an electorate with…
Malcolm Turnbull’s suggestion that the 75% “reach” rule for TV networks should be changed is not as radical as it sounds. It is certainly much less of an issue than liberalising the cross media provision…
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull is sending out strong signals that the government is sympathetic to liberalising the cross-media rules, which now say an owner can have only two of TV, radio and…
On the matter of his paid parental leave scheme, Tony Abbott has got religion. He’s been using every occasion in the run up to Saturday’s International Women’s Day to sing hymns to what he’s determined…
The Liberals must already be relishing the thought that later this month the whole country will almost certainly be coloured conservative blue, with the exception of a tiny Labor outpost in the ACT. On…
Professor in U.S. Politics and U.S. Foreign Relations at the United States Studies Centre and in the Discipline of Government and International Relations, University of Sydney