The deliberately misleading ‘Free Palestine’ party was established by a pro-Israeli YouTuber to swing votes from left to right. And it’s perfectly legal.
- Professor of Law, The University of Queensland
The 2025 election has produced some extremely close seat results. Here’s what happens when there’s just a handful of votes in play.
Despite all the arguments flying around the Voice offers one simple thing: a long overdue way for Indigenous consensuses to develop and find their rightful place in national politics.
Long the subject of criticism and complaint, electoral spending laws may finally be made more open and fair as a result of a new review.
Confusing court findings have left the rules in party pre-selections in a mess, and members with little say in who contests individual seats.
The new law makes it illegal for ‘foreign’ persons or entities to fundraise or directly spend on electioneering, or to authorise electoral material.
Voter ID is costly, unnecessary. and cuts across the compulsory voting that has long been the law in Australia.
The bill to give parties the right to veto newer parties using the same names is full of problems - and they are not mathematical, but linguistic.
Thanks to COVID-19, state governments matter now, in ways they haven’t for decades.
Week two of the Queensland election campaign has been rocked by integrity concerns.
Laws on boycotts already exist, but their aim was never to target consumer groups.
Winning the case will be difficult, because it’s not enough to show the posters were misleading – the petitioners will need to show it affected the outcome in the seat.
Spamming in texts or by robo-calls may seem perverse, but it’s unlikely to disappear. Here are some things you can expect leading up to the May election, and why they’re allowed.
Most people have probably already made up their mind which way to vote in the same sex marriage postal survey. But the recent SMS campaign may distract some from even voting.
The High Court ruling over the five MPs’ legitimacy to hold seats may hang on whether they took reasonable steps to renounce their non-Australian citizenships.
We don’t have to love a process like a plebiscite, or think it ideal, to make the most of it.
‘Mediscare’, Brexit and the negative-gearing campaign have all demonstrated that it is time for tighter regulation on truth in political advertising.
Speaking with: Graeme Orr on the festival of elections
CC BY-SA33.2 MB (download)
William Isdale speaks with Graeme Orr about the festival spirit of elections, the unique Australian culture of voting, and the history of corruption, drinking and coercion in voting worldwide.
What does the latest donations scandal enveloping the NSW Liberal Party say about the trajectory of political finance regulation and enforcement?
Constitutional judges are best seen as backstops, not as activists for one value like liberty over others like integrity and equality.
Sacked Queensland Labor MP Billy Gordon has a legal right to remain in parliament and vote, issue-by-issue, as an independent.
Driving back to Brisbane from my childhood home of Nambour, I saw the most extraordinary political billboard. In monumental black and white, it simply said: Hung Parliament. Chaos. That these stark and…
Last week, I was one of a sea of Australians who rose to remember Gough Whitlam. Fitting its subject, the Whitlam memorial was sweeping. It was as much a grand story of Australia’s evolution since the…
This week, a lone High Court judge faced a table of 13 barristers to begin resolving the Western Australian Senate election quandary. The hearing took two days and a judgment is likely sooner or later…
“In every recent election, state and federal, the Labor Party has massively outspent the Coalition and this election is going to be no exception.” - Opposition leader Tony Abbott, press conference, 21…
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