Greens leader Christine Milne has said her party is willing to negotiate with the government “to knock Direct Action into shape” – but only if it is not separated from the Renewable Energy Target. Milne…
- Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
Former treasurer Peter Costello has said the government should lay down its principles for tax reform ahead of setting up its tax review – and declared what they should be. With details of the planned…
One can’t help but be disappointed that more progress hasn’t been made towards the referendum to recognise Australia’s indigenous people in the constitution. What is a very worthy idea that should have…
The following was delivered as the 2014 Dean Jaensch Lecture at Flinders University, September 16. In opposition, Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott were fond of comparing their battles to become the nation’s…
The government will deploy a contingent including up to eight Super Hornets and special forces – involving 600 personnel in total – as part of the American-led coalition’s operations against ISIL (Islamic…
It was an unusual build up to Friday’s raising of the terrorism threat level in Australia from medium to high, though the action itself isn’t particularly surprising. After ASIO’s head David Irvine flagged…
University of Canberra Professorial Fellow Michelle Grattan and Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Nicholas Klomp discuss the week in politics including Australia’s involvement in the Middle East, US President…
Precisely 13 years after the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington that led to the Afghanistan and Iraq engagements, Australia is embroiled in another escalating conflict with an uncertain road…
During Julia Gillard’s evidence to the Royal Commission on union corruption, even Commissioner Dyson Heydon became impatient with the traversing of old ground. Trying to curb questions that had already…
The retiring head of ASIO, David Irvine, has said Australia’s official terror threat level could be raised within days. The level is currently medium. But Irvine told the ABC tonight: “I would say that…
This beauty contest is one with a difference – it’s a poll of the performance of the Abbott cabinet ministers a year into their jobs. Done by McNair Ingenuity Research, it found Foreign Minister Julie…
The sticky paper of scandal and the politics of money are embroiling players across the spectrum, with claims and revelations guaranteed to further disillusion already cynical voters. In the week that…
As questions are asked about whether a young Iranian who died of septicaemia received adequate treatment, Australia’s asylum seeker policy is under attack in the United Nations Human Rights Council. The…
The not-for-profit sector is pessimistic about its performance and its future, with the Abbott government’s approach to funding and regulation blamed for the negative perceptions, according to a survey…
University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor Stephen Parker and Professorial Fellow Michelle Grattan discuss the week in politics and the year in review for Prime Minister Tony Abbott. Has he shown his true…
Tony Abbott promised a government of no surprises but has delivered a year chock-full of them. A prime minister expected to lean to caution has thrown it to the winds. A leader without a cushion of popularity…
Senator John Madigan has quit the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) to sit as an independent, citing a “cancer of political intrigue” in the party. Madigan said the DLP’s “worst enemies are within its own…
Australia’s reach is not unlimited, Tony Abbott told parliament on Wednesday, “but we will do what we can to help our friends and to uphold the rule of law around the world”. As part of the reach it has…
Paul Keating has launched a swingeing attack on the government’s deferral of 12% compulsory superannuation, accusing it of wilfully sabotaging Australia’s savings scheme out of prejudice. The former prime…
With its first anniversary on Sunday, the Abbott government wants to trumpet achievements. Ministers have been asked to put forward what they’ve done in their portfolios for airing in question time this…
The government today has finally secured the repeal of the mining tax, after agreeing to keep the schoolkids bonus and two measures for low income earners until after the 2016 election. As part of a deal…
As Australia’s role begins to unfold in a new chapter of the Iraq saga, the 2003 invasion is a point of reference for all political sides. Tony Abbott, aware of the sour taste left by that war, is seeking…
Australia has increased its sanctions on Russia to match those of the European Union, after the move of troops into Ukraine. The government did not boost sanctions when the EU and the US recently did…
The deaths of four installers participating in the Rudd government’s home insulation program would not have occurred if the scheme had been properly designed and implemented, a royal commission has found…
When Tony Abbott says he doesn’t want to get ahead of himself on Australia’s Middle East commitment – specifically about joining air strikes – what he means is that he can’t get ahead of Barack Obama…
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