As well as her interviews with politicians and experts, Politics with Michelle Grattan includes “Word from The Hill”, where she discusses the news with members of The Conversation’s politics team.
Stephen Smith’s bid to return to politics as Labor leader in Western Australia has ended in defeat.
AAP/Tony McDonough
A highly competent minister, Stephen Smith now appears to be suffering from relevance deprivation syndrome in his failed attempt to seize the Labor leadership in Western Australia.
Already on the hustings: Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull takes a selfie with locals at Torrensville, South Australia.
AAP/Ben Macmahon
The Coalition has a solid 53-47% two-party lead in the latest Fairfax-Ipsos poll but Malcolm Turnbull’s ratings have taken a hit in the last month.
Alannah MacTiernan has been preselected for the ALP in the seat of Perth - one of the few the party hold in WA - to replace retiring defence minister Stephen Smith.
AAP/Rebecca Le May
The federal seat of Perth is one of only three federal electorates currently held by Labor in Western Australia. Retaining this seat is critical if Labor is to avoid complete oblivion in the west. The…
1. Julie Bishop: Australia has the right to return asylum seeker boats to Indonesia “We cannot escape from the fact that they are Indonesian boats with Indonesian crews from Indonesian ports. Of course…
Julia Gillard and Stephen Smith’s new Defence White Paper places emphasis on working with China as well as the United States.
AAP/Lukas Coch
The Government’s new Defence White Paper has adopted a conciliatory tone towards China, focused attention on the region and announced the purchase of a dozen new high-tech fighter planes. Julia Gillard…
Defence Minister Stephen Smith will release a new defence white paper in the next fortnight.
AAP/Alan Porritt
The government will produce its 2013 Defence White Paper in the coming fortnight - a document that in ambition will be a shadow of its 2009 predecessor. In focus, its eyes will be on the region. In diplomacy…
The Australian government denies a US aircraft carrier will be based near Perth.
AAP/US Department of Defence
Defence Minister Stephen Smith has been saying long and loud that there are no US military bases in Australia, and that anyone who says otherwise is misinformed. Last week, after Australian media reported…
Defence Minister Stephen Smith launches the report into complaints about a culture of bullying and harassment in the ADF.
AAP/Department of Defence/Lauren Black
Defence Minister Stephen Smith last week released a statement regarding a series of reports of abuse and bullying, some of it sexual, in the Australian Defence Forces (ADF). Of particular media and public…