After much speculation, Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has today announced the date of the up-coming state elections. The poll, now to be held on March 24, comes after a difficult year for the Bligh government…
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 Gillard…
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…
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…
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…
Are organisations like GetUp the future of Australian policy development?
AAP
Over the previous two decades, a plethora of advocacy organisations have emerged seeking to engage and inform the public on political issues. Some of these entities, such as Get-Up, are self-funded bodies…
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…
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…
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…