The underlying implication of Malcolm Turnbull’s Tokyo visit was the interest shared by Japan and Australia to counter the strategic rise of China.
If Jay Weatherill is returned as the premier of South Australia in 2018, he promises to once again butt heads with Malcolm Turnbull over energy policy.
Morgan Sette/AAP
Last year was a vicious one for climate and energy politics. And with a South Australian election and various other federal decisions in the offing, 2018 looks like being similarly rancorous.
China’s true economic strength could be overstated as statistics suggest that the US are still top dog.
AAP Image/ Lukas Coch
Michael Courts, The Conversation and Amanda Dunn, The Conversation
2017 has felt like a chaotic year in Australian politics, and one in which policy progress has been swamped by other distractions. We can only hope that 2018 is calmer and more productive.
Nick Xenophon won 46% of the preferred South Australian premier vote in a recent Newspoll.
AAP/Morgan Sette
Malcolm Turnbull’s reshuffled cabinet has five new faces, but one of the Nationals’ best performers has been unceremoniously dumped by his party leader.
Fewer government welfare recipients due to higher than expected employment growth provides a slightly stronger budget outlook for the Turnbull government as they head into 2018.
Lukas Coch/AAP
The improvements in the government’s debt position are entirely because of revisions in economic assumptions, not fantastic fiscal management.
Watered down higher education measures, a stronger employment rate and lower than expected debt levels are the highlights for MYEFO 2017.
Lukas Coch/AAP
The win in Saturday’s byelection was a crucial fillip for Malcolm Turnbull, who has finished a rocky year on a relative high – one he will hope continues into the new year.
The Bennelong byelection result will boost Malcolm Turnbull’s standing in the Coalition.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
Canberra’s attitude to nuclear weapons has always been riddled with contradictions. Homegrown nuclear campaigners winning the Nobel prize have put the cat among the pigeons.
The People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, has let its displeasure over questions of influence in Australian politics be known.
Reuters/Thomas Peter
Conservatives are often critical of ‘identity politics’ for silencing dissenting views. But on ABC’s Q&A on Monday night Malcolm Turnbull presented a very narrow vision of national identity.
Annastacia Palasczuk will be able to form majority government after the final results of the Queensland election were announced.
AAP/Jono Searle
The drawn-out process of Australia legalising marriage equality has finally come to a close, with a bill passing the lower house by an overwhelming majority on Thursday.
Increasingly, the language of ‘national security’ is invoked to protect a government’s broader interests.
AAP/Mick Tsikas