With the federal election in our sights, we are reminded of the long journey ahead in addressing past wrongs and present challenges for Australia’s Indigenous peoples. Historically, the similarities outweigh…
The act of kissing a baby is a key plank of what campaign strategists and commentators consider to be ‘retail politics’.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Shaking hands. Kissing babies. Throwing snags on the barbie, or wandering through a suburban shopping centre. These are the familiar scenes of “retail politics”, a campaign style in which candidates sell…
What do the various responses to Tony Abbott’s ‘sex appeal’ comment say about the role of gender in politics?
AAP/Alan Porritt
Since opposition leader Tony Abbott’s self-described “daggy dad” comments about Liberal candidate Fiona Scott’s sex appeal, gender issues have re-emerged in Australian politics. Labor frontbenchers claim…
Tony Abbott’s campaign ‘gaffes’ are on the agenda in the second of our election podcasts.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Welcome to the second 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…
From the Liberals’ perspective, preferencing against the Greens is a highly practical and sensible tactic.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Today’s announcement by the Liberal Party that they will preference against the Greens at this year’s federal election should hardly come as a surprise. There has been endless speculation that the Liberals…
The first televised leaders’ debate between Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott of the election campaign focused predominantly on economic issues.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Prime minister Kevin Rudd and opposition leader Tony Abbott have faced off in the first televised leaders’ debate of the 2013 election campaign. In a debate largely framed by the economic issues, Rudd…
Kevin Rudd with a chart showing our net debt per capita.
“Mr Rudd can stand up and show us his chart and demonstrate that by comparison with some other countries, Australia’s debt and deficit position is not so bad. But it’s not what we’ve done, it’s where we’ve…
The election campaign for Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott has begun. Tune into our weekly podcasts for the best analysis of the week’s events.
Welcome to the first 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…
The last few years in Australian politics have seen the rise of a new definition of ‘lying’.
AAP/Lukas Coch
Lie (v.) (1) To make a politically unpopular statement; (2) [retrospectively applied] To make a statement which appears inconsistent with a more recent statement, indicating that its maker has changed…
Kevin Rudd may be king of the kids, but how does his Better Schools policy compare with the original Gonski review of schools funding?
AAP/James Elby
It’s been a very long road for those wanting school funding reform. But it looks as though now the government version of the Gonski review is here to stay. Five states and territories are now on board…
“They [the Labor government] haven’t just slowed the growth of productivity, they have actually produced a diminution of Australia’s multi-factor productivity by 3% since the end of 2007. This is a very…
Kevin Rudd is fighting another election. Just like the other elections, this is the most important since the last one.
AAP/Alan Porritt
It’s an exquisitely portentous cliché, the one that is always trotted out at each Australian election: this is the most important election in a generation, or since World War Two, or the advent of television…
Opposition leader Tony Abbott and immigration spokesman Scott Morrison hope Australian voters prefer their policy.
AAP/Dan Peled
Just when you thought being “tough on borders” couldn’t get any more serious, along comes the Coalition’s Operation Sovereign Borders. It’s got all the right elements of a plan: it’s an operation (with…
How much truth is there in claims about public service job cuts?
“The Liberals have a secret plan to cut jobs in Canberra – 20,000 public service jobs are just the start of the Liberals’ plan to punish Canberra. Housing prices will plummet, unemployment will rise, and…
How long does it take to get a mine approved in Australia?
APH
“Just to get the regulatory approvals [to start a mine] takes more than three years. Six years ago it took less than 12 months… Australian investors are fleeing this country to invest in more stable countries…
Just how much co-operation can Tony Abbott expect from Indonesia leaders on his plan to turn back asylum seeker boats?
EPA/Adi Weda
In the coming days, prime minister Kevin Rudd will visit Indonesia to discuss asylum seeker policy with Indonesian officials, including Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Rudd’s visit will…
Tony Abbott has a history of supporting medical research since his time as health minister under John Howard.
Paul Miller/AAP
The Coalition’s Policy to Protect and Streamline Health and Medical Research Funding is one of the first documents off the blocks this election. Short and sweet, it is designed to appeal to medical researchers…
Now that the Labor leadership issue has been resolved once and for all, the attention will soon turn to the opposition’s attempts to win government at the election.
AAP/Alan Porritt
With such unprecedented turmoil inside the Labor Party over leadership it is not surprising that we have all forgotten about the opposition. You know, the government-in-waiting, the other mob, the Coalition…
Buying power doesn’t always stack up as the best measurement for who we are and how far we’ve come.
Shutterstock/ MaleWitch
In the verbal volley between Gillard and Abbott, Swan and Hockey, there is a conversation that we are not hearing. It bubbles below the consciousness of mainstream Australia, a conversation that is old…
If Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott continue to lead their parties at the upcoming federal election, we should see a focus on policy, not personality politics.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Leadership speculation grips Canberra again. With opinion polls pointing to a landslide Coalition victory in September, there are reports that Labor MPs may look to oust prime minister Julia Gillard in…