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…
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…
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
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 polls…
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…
Can Kevin Rudd in 2012 be a different kind of leader to the Kevin Rudd of 2010?
AAP
As a Monday showdown looms, one of the big questions being asked by members of the Labor caucus is whether Kevin Rudd in 2012 can be a different kind of the leader to the Kevin Rudd of 2010. Even as Rudd…
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’s…
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…