Today we’re asking: what Queensland seats are the ones to watch on election night? How to give Indigenous Australians a true voice in politics? And how can we improve trust in the political system?
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The myth of ‘the Queensland voter’, Australia’s trust deficit, and the path to Indigenous recognition.
The Conversation122 MB(download)
Today, an election-themed episode about some of the biggest policy questions Australia faces, featuring Indigenous academic lawyer Eddie Synot and political scientist Anne Tiernan.
Scott Morrison visited the Governor-General early Thursday morning.
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Are you an #auspol addict? Did you watch budget speech for fun? Test yourself with our quiz.
Today on Trust Me I’m An Expert, we’re bringing you a special episode carried across from The Conversation podcast Politics with Michelle Grattan.
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Michelle Grattan, Peter Martin and Tim Colebatch on the election-eve budget chock full of sweeteners.
The Conversation27.4 MB(download)
Fresh from the budget lockup, chief political correspondent Michelle Grattan talks with Business and Economics Editor Peter Martin and political and economic journalist Tim Colebatch.
A theme in Frydenberg’s speech was that the government was taking its initiatives all “without increasing taxes”.
Lukas Coch(AAP)/Rohan Thomson(AAP)/The Conversation
The government wants this election to be all about tax. The tax cuts you will get, now and later. And the “higher taxes” that Bill Shorten would impose.
Many younger people are politically engaged. We saw this in the recent student-led protests on climate change policy.
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The dire level of trust in Australia's government and politicians has serious implications for the health of our democracy. Whoever wins the next federal election must make fixing it a priority.
Restricted powers and a small budget are major concerns with the proposed federal integrity commission.
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Corrupt politicians and public servants will be under the spotlight of the new federal corruption watchdog. But if its proposed powers are any clue, it will have neither bark nor bite. Here's why.
The goal of every public appearance or interview by a politician is to “stay on message”. In itself, it’s not a malign tactic but the constant repetition of the same messages without answering questions can be a form of obfuscation.
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Any good political spin doctor employs a range of overt and covert tactics to get their message across. Here are some of the most common ones.
Today, experts reveal the tips and tricks spin doctors use to shape the political messages you’re hearing every day - especially during election campaigns.
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Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation; Lucinda Beaman, The Conversation, and Dilpreet Kaur, The Conversation
How to spot the work of a political spin doctor this election season.
The Conversation, CC BY77.6 MB(download)
There’s a small army of spin doctors behind the scenes of an election campaign, finessing every utterance so it fits with the overall strategy. Today's episode is all about the art of political spin.
Australia’s unspoken antipathy to experience is not new, but contrasts sharply with the attitude found in other countries such as the US.
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A corrosive ageism in Australian politics overvalues the new, while discounting experience. If the US and UK can see the value in older politicians, why can't we?
Students and teachers protesting at Parliament House in Canberra on December 5, 2018.
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Malcolm Turnbull has delivered a hefty blow to the struggling Morrison government by refocusing attention on the one question it has desperately tried to smother. That is: why was he sacked? When he appeared…
Transparency isn’t a silver bullet, but increasing it would go some way to changing the secrecy around who has access – and how much – to the government of the day.
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A new report from Grattan Institute argues the secrecy and inequality surrounding who has "say" and "sway" in Canberra can be remedied – if politicians can just find the will to do it.
It’s hard to read the recent felling of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull as anything other than an act of revenge by Tony Abbott and his closest supporters.
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One Nation leader Pauline Hanson said Australia is "the highest-growing country in the world", with population growth "double than a lot of other countries". Is that right?
