Political campaigns today are presented as products of bottom-up participation, not top-down direction. But even if a campaign appears grassroots-driven, it’s likely to be run from the centre.
There is tension between the need for governments to be trusted to govern and the public’s right to know.
AAP/Mal Fairclough
The disclosure of the full business case for the East West road link in Melbourne confirmed what many had suspected – the project is a dud. The release also unequivocally shows that the Victorian Freedom…
At the Victorian state election held on 29 November, Labor won 47 of the 88 lower house seats, a comfortable 6 seat majority. The Coalition won 38 seats (Liberals 30, Nationals 8), the Greens won 2 seats…
It’s rare that TAFE becomes a big election issue, but this is what has just happened in Victoria – giving new Premier Daniel Andrews a mandate to save TAFEs.
AAP
In the 40 years since its inception, rarely has TAFE featured as a central platform on which political parties win or lose votes. As such it seldom rates mentions in political campaigns as a distinct sector…
Daniel Andrews and his ministers swear an oath to comply with the law, which includes the obligations of public office as a public trust.
AAP/Julian Smith
There cannot be a more important office or more challenging role than being a member of parliament. This is especially so for government MPs and ministers, including the newly elected Victorian ministry…
Matthew Guy is the new leader of the Liberal Party in Victoria, but he faces battles on several fronts as the party begins a stint in opposition.
AAP/Julian Smith
Matthew Guy has been chosen to lead the Liberal Party in Victoria as it returns to opposition after just one term in government. Guy, who was planning minister in the Napthine government, defeated former…
This week’s Newspoll had Tony Abbott’s satisfied rating down 3% to 33%, and his dissatisfied rating up 2% to 57%, for a net approval of -24, down five points from last fortnight. On all three measures…
Queensland Labor under Annastacia Palaszczuk has claimed a lead in the polls ahead of next year’s state election.
AAP/Dan Peled
The rule of thumb in Australian politics has been that voters are reluctant to throw out governments after a single term. And if they do, it’s during a major crisis. Perhaps that’s a measure of Australians…
Victoria’s voters have spoken – and they have said no to Melbourne’s new freeway tunnel.
AAP Image/Julian Smith
Labor’s state election victory in Victoria has fatally undermined Melbourne’s most controversial tunnel, the now-doomed East-West Link, with new Premier Daniel Andrews pledging to rip up the contracts…
Parties who gained a very small first preference vote look set to be elected to Victoria’s upper house.
AAP/Luis Enrique Ascui
The final count for Victoria’s Legislative Council is still some days away, but it appears members elected from micro-parties will hold the balance of power in the upper house. This will be a challenge…
Victorian premier-elect Daniel Andrews and his colleagues now have the chance to demonstrate unity, discipline and functionality to a swinging electorate.
AAP/Joe Castro
After Daniel Andrews and Labor’s decisive victory in the Victorian state election at the weekend, there has been – not unexpectedly – a welter of post-election opinion trying to account for the rather…
Victoria changing to a Labor government has provided a headache for Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
AAP/Lukas Coch
In his statement on Labor’s Victorian election win, Tony Abbott referred to just one policy issue: the East West Link, which was a central Liberal promise. The Prime Minister declared he was “determined…
Labor, led by Daniel Andrews, has swept back into power in Victoria after only one term in opposition.
AAP/Joe Castro
With all election night votes counted, Labor has definitely won 44 of the 88 Victorian lower house seats, with the Coalition definitely winning 35 seats. The Nationals’ seat of Shepparton was lost to an…
The Victorian election will be held today, with polls closing at 6pm local time. The table below gives the final Victorian election polls by 2010 election preferences. Ipsos gave Labor a 52-48 lead as…
Victorian voters go to the polls this weekend having been bombarded with myriad spending promises from the Coalition and Labor. Major promises from the Coalition government include: $3.9 billion for 75…
Logging has left Victoria’s mountain ash forests in danger of collapse.
David Blair
Whoever wins power in Victoria’s election tomorrow will no doubt have a long to-do list. Here’s an urgent item: protect the mountain ash forests of the state’s Central Highlands. We have discovered that…
The federal government is on the nose, but Foreign Minister Julie Bishop is seen as a positive.
AAP/Lukas Coch
During Thursday’s extremely unruly Question Time, when Speaker Bronwyn Bishop ejected a record 18 (all Labor) members, Tony Abbott was asked whether he’d visit Victoria on Friday, the eve of the state…
Under Ted Baillieu, the Coalition government set up an anti-corruption commission, but not the one promised in 2010.
AAP/Julian Smith
Before the 2010 election, the opposition – now the government – promised Victorians an anti-corruption commission. This was to be closely modelled on the New South Wales Independent Commission Against…
What are we voting for? Certainly not decisions made in MPs’ own interest or that of political parties or business cronies, but the present system lets that happen.
AAP/Andrew Brownbill
The Accountability Round Table (ART), a non-partisan organisation, wrote to the three major political parties two months ago seeking their position on three important arms of Victoria’s integrity system…
For patients, the availability of beds is more important than the overall number.
Emily Orpin/Flickr
Scanning through the media coverage of the major parties’ health policies one could be forgiven for thinking that hospital beds are the key to health. Sure, hospital spending dominates the health budget…