Modern governments believe that during budget framing it is politically savvy to parade the pain. We saw it with Labor and the Coalition is doing the same. There are scary scenarios of what would happen…
- Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
News Corporation could increase its share of newspapers purchased in Australia’s capital cities to about 80% and have a weekday monopoly in all except Perth, ABC managing director Mark Scott has said…
Race Discrimination Commissioner Tim Soutphommasane will suggest today that the government’s proposed changes to the Racial Discrimination Act could harm Australia’s ability to most effectively engage…
Joe Hockey is so committed to the end of the “age of entitlement” he apparently has tried unsuccessfully to pay for his own bulk billed medical services. As the Treasurer continues to soften up the public…
The centre of federal government is effectively decamping to Western Australia, at some cost and inconvenience, to wave the flag for Saturday’s rerun of the Senate election there. Tony Abbott will spend…
Speaking at his swearing in ceremony, new Governor-General Peter Cosgrove told the MPs that as elected representatives, they would know best the vibrancy, even stridency of political discourse - its robustness…
The federal government will give the states a substantial financial incentive to sell assets and recycle the funds into new infrastructure, as part of its effort to boost jobs and productivity. A fund…
In this edition of The Week in Politics, University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor Stephen Parker is in discussion with Michelle Grattan about the controversy around the speaker, the prime minister bringing…
Tony Abbott has been in office six months, and this week marks 20 years since he was elected to parliament. On Thursday he sat down with The Conversation in his Parliament House office to talk about settling…
One of the challenges Bill Shorten faces as Labor leader is how he and the ALP deal with the perception, and reality, of excessive union influence on the party. This is a problem at multiple levels. Only…
The government has given the green light for Medibank Private to be put up for public sale next financial year. Although Finance Minister Mathias Cormann would not put any value on the company, it has…
In September 1996 John Howard said one great change that had come over Australia in the early months of his government was that “the pall of censorship on certain issues” had been lifted and people felt…
Federal Attorney-General George Brandis has unveiled the government’s proposed changes to the Racial Discrimination Act, scrapping section 18C prohibiting actions that “offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate…
Paul Howes, enfant terrible of the labour movement, who is leaving his high profile Australian Workers’ Union job in July, has been seldom out of the news for long in recent years. He’s that unlikely figure…
The Commonwealth will promise incentives for states that reinvest funds from assets sales into new infrastructure within a certain time when federal Treasurer Joe Hockey meets his state counterparts on…
The government has temporarily put on hold its highly controversial dilution of consumer protections in the financial advice laws while it consults with stakeholders. The announcement by Finance Minister…
Tony Abbott was desperate to paint his just-completed trip to Papua New Guinea in highly positive terms but as far as asylum seeker policy is concerned, it has just thrown up more problems and questions…
In this edition of The Week in Politics, University of Canberra Vice Chancellor Stephen Parker is in discussion with Michelle Grattan about the Arthur Sinodinos affair.
Interviewed recently about the government’s plan to roll back key consumer protections in Labor’s financial advice legislation, Arthur Sinodinos said his advice to consumers was to “get more informed…
Treasury secretary Martin Parkinson has announced an Australian Treasury Advisory Council, including leading business figures, to “help replicate the discipline provided by a private sector governance…
Listening to Liberal senators, you’d think Labor was accusing Arthur Sinodinos of being an axe murderer and killing the family dog to boot. In fact the opposition wasn’t demanding anything particularly…
Assistant Treasurer Arthur Sinodinos has bowed to political pressure and stood aside from the ministry during the Independent Commission against Corruption’s inquiry into a company he chaired that was…
Tony Abbott is publicly backing Arthur Sinodinos remaining in situ but it would be better for the Assistant Treasurer to stand aside while the ICAC inquiry is on. That would meet the requirements of both…
On any objective measure of experience and policy brainpower Arthur Sinodinos, widely respected chief of staff to former prime minister John Howard, should be in cabinet. Indeed, at one stage Tony Abbott…
Many federal Liberals had the chickens well and truly counted ahead of Saturday’s two elections. Now they’re reliving at one remove their own 2010 nightmare, as last votes are tallied and crossbenchers…
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