In a nation labelled secular, many of our elected representatives have strong religious ties, and this affects they way they the country is run.
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Articles on Political history
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Making self-interest seem normal and a commitment to fairness an elite aberration has been a long-term project.
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.
Malcolm Turnbull’s postal plebiscite on marriage equality is on the cusp of recreating the mistakes of Doug Lowe’s Tasmanian dams plebiscite.
The marriage equality movement could still back the plebiscite on condition that its results are binding.
Bodies established around the world to hear ‘black’ voices have an enduring problem: they advise, but are rarely – if ever – heard.
There has been much attention paid to the widespread resurgence of populism. Restorationism in Western democracies is a subset of this.
While a lot of people just shrug impatiently at insider politics, a substantial number have turned to ‘outsider’ players.
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.
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.
The Northern Territory Intervention implemented coercive measures that would have been unthinkable in other, non-Indigenous communities.
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.
Australia ingratiating itself into a post-Brexit, British-instigated Anglosphere would be a futile exercise in counterproductive nostalgia.
The 1967 referendum fell far short in giving people what they thought they were voting for, and in giving Aboriginal people what they wanted from it.
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 Tampa incident in 2001 has formed the underlying basis of the approach to asylum seekers attempting to reach Australia by boat ever since.
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’.
The Dismissal soured politicians’ taste for brinkmanship. It revealed the likely consequence of a loss of political legitimacy.
Viewed from today’s post-Cold War and secularised society, the conflicts at heart of the Labor split appear curiously arcane. Yet its ghosts remain.
It’s not the first time Australia has grappled with concerns about affordable housing. History offers insights that can help inform contemporary debates and policies.
Top contributors
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Professor, School of Humanities and Social Inquiry, University of Wollongong
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Senior Lecturer, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Deakin University
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Professor of History, ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences, Australian National University
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Emerita Professor, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Adelaide
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Associate Professor, Australian National University
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Dennis Altman is a Friend of The Conversation.
VC Fellow, La Trobe University
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Senior Lecturer, School of Political and Social Inquiry, Monash University
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Associate Professor of Political Science, Erie Campus, Penn State
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Honorary lecturer, School of Social Sciences, UNSW Sydney
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Emeritus professor of politics, Monash University
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Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
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Rodney Tiffen is a Friend of The Conversation.
Emeritus Professor, Department of Government and International Relations, University of Sydney
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Emeritus Professor of Politics, La Trobe University
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Research Manager and Doctoral Candidate, Centre for the Study of Australian Politics, Australian National University
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Emeritus Professor of Sociology, University of Technology Sydney
