Bill Shorten is reportedly reconsidering the Labor Party’s position on the question of a carbon tax, the latest chapter in Labor’s long history with climate change policy.
AAP/Alan Porritt
As the new leader of the Labor opposition, Bill Shorten has a number of issues to deal with that have been left over from the previous three years of Labor government. Working out Labor’s climate change…
The business community may try to get as much out of Tony Abbott as possible, but do they recognise the clear differences between a CEO and a prime minister?
AAP/Bianca De Marchi
The recent demands of business leaders for prime minister Tony Abbott to immediately reform the industrial relations system, rather than wait three years, should serve as yet another reminder of why corporate…
For the Labor Party to fully put the past behind it, the bloodletting and obsession over Kevin Rudd needs to stop.
AAP/Lukas Coch
As Paul Keating told Julia Gillard not so long ago, every prime minister is carried out of the job in a box. His fatalistic advice was meant to be comforting, indicating that the party room or the public…
Now that it is all said and done, what did we learn about Australian politics in the 2013 federal election campaign?
AAP/Alan Porritt
I have been around for a long time and involved in some terrible campaigns, but the policy vacuum in 2013 was the worst I can recall. There was no serious debate on issues, whether simple or complex, and…
With strikingly similar parallels to Tony Abbott’s victory, Erna Solberg’s centre-right party took power in Norway in an election this week. What now for centre-left politics?
EPA/Solum
Imagine a country with a strong, well-performing economy, ruled by a centre-left party that has achieved a number of key reforms. Yet, despite having a good story to tell about strong growth, low unemployment…
Is Victorian MP Bill Shorten the man to take Labor forward after the election?
AAP/Joe Castro
With the 2013 election over, Labor has the opportunity to regroup and plan for how it will win future contests. Ever since Julia Gillard took over the Labor leadership in 2010, the party has appeared to…
Wherever the leaders went on the campaign trail the media followed. How can we assess the media’s performance?
AAP/Alan Porritt
In one sense, the Australian media did a good job under difficult circumstances in this election. The difficult part was how predictable the campaign was and the increasing inevitability of the outcome…
Election 2013 reminded us that television remains the most powerful medium despite the rise of social media.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Tony Abbott and Kevin Rudd knew what to expect yesterday - with one exception. Both candidates were savagely heckled at polling stations. This morning Abbott is smiling about victory. He should be pondering…
The numbers of yesterday’s federal election don’t make for good reading for Kevin Rudd and the ALP, with Tony Abbott and the Coalition sweeping to power.
AAP/Dan Peled
The results are in. At yesterday’s federal election, the combined Liberal-National Coalition vote was 45.3% to Labor’s 33.8% in the lower house. This was a primary vote swing to the Coalition of 1.6% and…
Six years of Labor government is now over. How will they be remembered?
AAP/Dan Peled
Political historians are likely to treat the Rudd and Gillard governments far more kindly than many contemporary commentators have - and certainly more kindly than the Murdoch press has. The passing of…
Kevin Rudd follows a long line of male politicians exercising as part of their pitch to voters. What does this tell us about masculinity, the media and politics?
AAP/Lyndon Mechielsen
Nothing summarised a bad week - indeed, a bad election campaign - for prime minister Kevin Rudd better than Tuesday’s Brisbane workout. A camera-friendly “power walk” was interrupted by insults from larrikin…
Queensland has a disproportionate number of marginal seats, making it a key battleground.
Image from shutterstock.com
STATE OF THE STATES: a snapshot of the key issues affecting each state and territory in the lead up to Saturday’s election. With more marginal seats than any state other than New South Wales - and easily…
What’s on the agenda in our final pre-election podcast?
AAP/Alan Porritt
Welcome to the fifth of The Conversation’s Election 2013 podcasts. Each week The Conversation will be sitting down with Australia’s top political minds to discuss all things election as we gear up for…
Foreign companies are interested in Australian farm land – but are our rules as protective as those in other countries?
Flickr/Andy
“We often get criticised for trying to be protective. I actually look around the world and I see many, many countries being equally protective of their own core assets.” - Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, third…
Carbon pricing remains a hot political football that no political party is quite sure how best to handle.
AAP/Alan Porritt
In recent days, opposition leader Tony Abbott has more forcefully argued that, if successful in winning the Saturday poll, his new government would have the mandate to scrap the government’s carbon pricing…
Bali remains a popular tourist destination for Australians. But what do we really think about Indonesia?
Chong Eileen
Indonesia is one of Australia’s closest neighbours, but attitudes towards our southeast Asian counterparts are far from neighbourly. A recently released Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) report…
Kevin Rudd rebukes Pastor Matt Prater on the issue of gay marriage. View the segment here.
“I do not believe people, when they are born, choose their sexuality. They are gay if they are born gay.” - Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, ABC TV’s Q&A, 2 September. Responding to a question from audience…
Both Tony Abbott and Kevin Rudd have been busy visiting manufacturing facilities during the election campaign. However neither is promising inspiring economic policy.
AAP/Julian Smith
Election 2013 Essays: As the federal election campaign draws to a close, The Conversation asked eminent thinkers to reflect on the state of the nation and the challenges Australia – and whichever party…
Kevin Rudd’s plan could actually end up costing jobs.
AAP
The Prime Minister has declared that jobs is the first priority. He will create them while the opposition intends to cut, cut, cut. At his policy launch he said that “Federal Labor is going to this election…
The return of Kevin Rudd was aimed at denting the Coalition’s chances in Queensland, however it now appears that Teresa Gambaro will hold on to the marginal seat of Brisbane.
AAP/Alan Porritt
If any seat is going to indicate whether all the pain that Kevin Rudd put the Labor Party through in regaining the prime ministership was worth it, it will be the inner-city seat of Brisbane. The seat…