Finance and weak governments don’t mix
Monday, 20 October 2008 State of the parties Comments Off
Opinion polls suggest Australia is being run by the most popular government since Hawke’s early days. And there is little doubt that handing out $10.4bn will make it more so (this is even after ignoring the latest bounce to Labor in the AC Nielsen which is just a reversal of the mythical Turnbull bounce it reported last time).
Yet popular does not mean strong.
Denial – an update
Wednesday, 23 July 2008 Political figures Comments Off
It seems very careless of Rudd to agree to launch a book that has let out one of Labor’s most closely guarded and politically damaging secrets – that they dread the possibility of Costello as leader of the Liberal party.
Blind to a stitch-up
Saturday, 14 June 2008 State and federal politics Comments Off
What on earth is wrong with the political journalists in this country? Here we have a naked political power play going on in front of our eyes and they miss it.
End game
Friday, 13 June 2008 State and federal politics Comments Off
Gillard is the stake driven through the undead body of the Labor party to keep it pinned down.
The tragic fate of a modern Conservative leader
Friday, 7 March 2008 Key posts, Political figures Comments Off
Howard’s problem was that not only had the union movement clearly had its day but we also had here a Labor Prime Minister to tell everyone the fact.
Off into the void
Wednesday, 20 February 2008 State of the parties Comments Off
AWAs may not make much practical sense from anyone’s point of view but neither does it make much “common sense” for a political party to have no purpose for its existence.
The genie’s back out of the bottle
Wednesday, 6 February 2008 Tactics Comments Off
Given that the government is standing at 60%+ in the polls and the Liberals can barely find a single issue they can agree on (anyone think of one?) Rudd’s performance on The 7.30 Report on Monday night was surprisingly awkward.
End of an era: Industrial relations
Tuesday, 18 December 2007 State of the parties Comments Off
This year’s pantomime of union thugs in braces and hard-nosed employers conducted on our TVs has disguised some profound changes in the industrial relations landscape, which again have been missed with yesterday’s launch of Labor’s IR agenda.
Gillard: Rudd’s weapon against the party
Friday, 7 December 2007 Key posts, Political figures Comments Off
Gillard has been constantly mis-read because she represents what is new about the ALP under Rudd, but comes from a tradition that seems to be the old Labor party.
The Mandarin’s coup
Friday, 30 November 2007 State of the parties Comments Off
An apology is apparently forthcoming for something that happened fifty years ago and members of the current government did not support, but not for the intervention of six months ago that the members of the current government did.
