After a marathon debate the Senate has passed the government’s comprehensive rewriting of the upper house voting system, designed to limit the prospect of “micro” players being elected.
What might be Malcolm Turnbull’s worst nightmare, apart from losing the election? Scraping back as a minority government, with Tony Windsor in balance of power.
Ricky Muir from the Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party this week made an unsuccessful last roll of the dice to try to delay the government's Senate voting reform legislation.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has said Labor would not support an early recall of the Senate, further complicating the situation if the government wants to call a double dissolution.
The momentum for a July 2 double dissolution has accelerated with Malcolm Turnbull opening the way to bring the May 10 budget forward by a week. “The budget will be in May,” he said on Tuesday, as he prepared…
It has been a week of political contests, both within party lines and across them. Stephen Parker and Michelle Grattan take a look at the bitter rivalry between Malcolm Turnbull and Tony Abbott.
Politics has its own purgatory, as Malcolm Turnbull and Tony Abbott might have reflected when they sat on the same table at the Howard government’s 20th anniversary dinner on Wednesday.
The government is making a major change to its legislation to reform the Senate voting system after a recommendation from a brief parliamentary inquiry.
The Turnbull government desperately needs a circuit breaker. It is in an appalling mess over tax policy and it can’t afford to wait until the budget to have it sorted out.
Family First senator Bob Day is set to propose an amendment to the legislation changing the Senate voting system that would prevent the government using the new rules in a double dissolution.
Malcolm Turnbull is fond of saying that we need to be less risk averse. Now the question is whether he will follow his own advice. He is waving around the possibility of a double dissolution in early July…
Stephen Parker and Michelle Grattan discuss the week in politics including the recent chatter of a double dissolution, what would happen to crossbenchers if it did happen and three Nationals crossing the floor in the Senate.
One government man has an interesting theory on why Tony Abbott mightn’t mind talk of a double dissolution election. The PM finds governing very hard – and would love to be back on the campaign trail.
The Coalition will introduce its draft bill to repeal the Clean Energy Act into parliament next week. The bill would effectively remove the current carbon tax and its planned replacement, an emissions…
Prime minister Tony Abbott has indicated (again) that he is willing to set in motion the procedures necessary to call a double dissolution election, in order to force the repeal of the carbon tax through…