They say history always repeats itself - empires rise and fall, economies boom and bust - but is there a way to map and predict the dynamical processes of history? The new and highly controversial discipline…
Opposition education spokesman Christopher Pyne’s recent comments show his misunderstanding of curriculum.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
On the ABC’s Q&A program on Monday night, Shadow Minister for Education Christopher Pyne was asked what the Liberal Party would do about the national (history) curriculum if they came to power. Pyne’s…
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…
Politics is more than just the daily tussle of the news cycle and soundbites.
AAP/Lukas Coch
The term political junkie gets bandied about a great deal, but this addict has no problem in admitting his habit. It’s been a pure joy to be able to read, think and write about politics and government…
Opposition leader Tony Abbott is looking to the politics of the United Kingdom for policy inspiration.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
Earlier this month, opposition leader Tony Abbott presented the second instalment of the Liberal and National parties’ “Plan for Stronger Communities”, having already outlined elements of the plan at the…
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…
Indoctrination is one of the key forces at play in any society.
flickr/lets.book
Despite its association with totalitarian societies of the left and right, indoctrination is also a common feature of societies that describe themselves as free: those where the coercive powers of the…
Clive Palmer should probably stick to what he’s good at.
AAP Image/Dan Peled
Mining magnate Clive Palmer has put his name forward to run for the Liberal National Party (LNP) against Treasurer Wayne Swan in the Queensland seat of Lilley at the next election. Palmer has been a vocal…
Jose Maria Vasconcelos (or Taur Matan Ruak) is the new president of East Timor, but will he do more for the women in his country?
AAP/Antonio Dasiparu
The recent election of José Maria de Vasconcelos, or Taur Matan Ruak as he is known, to the Presidency of Timor-Leste is not good news for women in that country. Adding yet another member of the male military…
Gunter Grass caused a stir with his anti-Israel poem, but political poetry often misses the mark.
AAP/Marcus Brandt
The world of political poetry has suffered some significant losses in recent months. Václav Havel, a poet long before he was the last president of Czechoslovakia and the first president of the Czech Republic…
WA premier Colin Barnett visits the scene of a bushfire in Margaret River.
AAP/Tony McDonaugh
Punishing opinion poll results have become a depressingly regular event for Labor in recent times, at federal level as well as in most states. It was thus something of a surprise when a Newspoll result…
Bob Brown announces his resignation from politics at a press conference in Canberra.
AAP/Lukas Coch
Senator Bob Brown today resigned as leader of the Australian Greens. He will vacate his Senate seat in June. Former deputy Christine Milne has been elected leader of the party, with a new deputy to be…
Bob Brown’s resignation seemed to even surprise members of his own party.
ABC News24
In a surprise move, Senator Bob Brown has resigned as leader of the Australian Greens and has been replaced by his former deputy Christine Milne. Brown will step down from his Senate seat in June. He has…
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…
The ins and outs of the parliamentary day are often nothing more than a distraction.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Some people worry that we are, collectively, indifferent to politics. I am beginning to worry that I have not been indifferent enough. It’s a frightening idea: maybe politics matters far less than I thought…
Censorship has now caught up with new social media and technology in China.
Flickr/bfishadow
This week’s temporary suspension of comments on China’s two largest micro-blogging services Sina Weibo and Tencent Weibo highlight the ruling party’s discomfort with social media’s growing popularity…
Queensland Premier Campbell Newman congratulates Health and Community Services Minister Tracy Davis as she is sworn in.
AAP Image/John Pryke
During the much-anticipated announcement of his new cabinet line-up in Brisbane last Friday, incoming Queensland Premier Campbell Newman emphasised his new team’s diversity, both geographically and in…
Aung San Suu Kyi has called her party’s landslide victory in Burma’s recent elections, a “triumph of the people.”
EPA/Barbara Walton
The by-elections held throughout Burma/Myanmar on 1 April initially look to have produced a stunning result for the National League for Democracy (NLD) and its leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. It was stunning…
Tomorrow’s Burmese elections will likely finally see Aung San Suu Kyi get into parliament.
AAP Image/Angela Brkic
Only two years after general elections in 2010, the world will be watching Burma’s by-elections to be held tomorrow. Although the results cannot change the overall political balance of power with only…
The Australian government faces a difficult task in balancing relationships with China and the US.
EPA/Minoru Iwasaki/Pool
The recommendation by intelligence agency ASIO that Chinese telecommunications company Huawei be banned from tendering in the National Broadband Network because of cyber security concerns, raises serious…