Australians are crying out for political leadership. One way our leaders can redeem themselves is by getting to work on a complete shake-up of how we pay for and use transport infrastructure.
It is inconsistent with Australia’s religious diversity for federal parliament to have official prayers based on one particular religious denomination.
AAP/Lukas Coch
Like Malcolm Turnbull, the three-time prime minister Alfred Deakin was sometimes accused of lacking substance, but he had core political commitments from which he never wavered.
Like its Tasmanian predecessor, the marriage plebiscite has been engineered by the leader’s intransigent opponents.
AAP/Lukas Coch
While a lot of people just shrug impatiently at insider politics, a substantial number have turned to ‘outsider’ players.
Malcolm Turnbull’s speech reminded his Liberal colleagues that he has not stolen the party and his leadership is legitimately Liberal.
Reuters/Hannah Mckay
Malcolm Turnbull’s claim that Robert Menzies’ party was meant to be one of the ‘sensible centre’ has some validity – but it may also be that that centre has shifted significantly, too.
The reference to Tony Abbott in his London speech gave Malcolm Turnbull some body armour.
Lukas Coch/AAP
If he was emphasising he’s a centrist, that is hardly a surprise, although when he translates it into policy it annoys the hell out of those on the right.
In political terms, the Howard government faced little opposition to the Northern Territory Intervention.
AAP/Alan Porritt
The Northern Territory Intervention implemented coercive measures that would have been unthinkable in other, non-Indigenous communities.
At a demonstration, Faith Bandler (right) and her daughter Lilon (2R) appeal to national unity as grounds for constitutional amendment.
Aboriginal Studies Press
The 1967 referendum was the culmination of a long struggle for both Aboriginal rights and respect, for social esteem as well as equality before the law.
For almost all of its cumbersome history, the British Empire was a very ramshackle affair.
Shutterstock
The concept of ‘the Anglosphere’ gained in importance after the Brexit referendum as an alternative to the EU – and it could now impact Anglo nations, like Australia.
The MV Tampa rescued 438 asylum seekers from a stricken boat in the waters between Indonesia and Australia.
Wallenius Wilhelmsen/AAP
The Tampa incident in 2001 has formed the underlying basis of the approach to asylum seekers attempting to reach Australia by boat ever since.
The Hawke Labor government had a strong incentive to seek a new approach to industrial relations when it came to office.
National Archives of Australia
The Prices and Incomes Accord was a series of agreements between Labor and the ACTU where unions would moderate their wage demands in exchange for improvements in the ‘social wage’.
Gough Whitlam speaks to reporters after being dismissed as prime minister.
National Archives of Australia