Do all Labor voters prefer the Greens to the Liberals? Do National Party voters opt for the Liberals if their own party isn’t running? What little evidence we have suggests the answer isn’t straightforward, writes Paul Rodan
07 Mar 13 Comments (1)The captain’s pick
Julia Gillard’s press club speech gave an insight into how Labor sees itself governing an anxious country in uncertain times, writes Frank Bongiorno
05 Feb 13 Comments (1)The electoral calculus of campaign oxygen
For more than a quarter of a century, short election campaigns have been the norm, writes Norman Abjorensen. Julia Gillard’s announcement recalls longer, and sometimes riskier, campaigns
31 Jan 13 Comments (0)It was time: Mick Young’s triumph, forty years on
Not only was the 1972 election a watershed for Labor, it also created the modern political campaign, writes Stephen Mills
29 Nov 12 Comments (1)A certain curiosity
Two key figures in the postwar development of the Labor Party never met, writes Norman Abjorensen
28 Oct 12 Comments (0)A flawed giant
A sympathetic biography of Gough Whitlam also recognises its subject’s faults, writes Frank Bongiorno
08 Oct 12 Comments (0)Father and sons
The political and the personal illuminate each other in James Button’s fine account of a year in Canberra, writes Brett Evans
02 Oct 12 Comments (0)The revolution that became a crusade
The government has at last come up with the outline of a strategy for reforming schools, writes Dean Ashenden. The worry is in what the prime minister didn’t say
05 Sep 12 Comments (0)Tony Abbott and the challenge of a Green-controlled Senate
It looks likely that the Greens will still hold the balance of power in the Senate after the next election. Norman Abjorensen looks at the numbers and asks: how would Tony Abbott deal with them?
04 Sep 12 Comments (1)Behind the drama of the forty-third parliament
A rancorous twenty months in federal politics has overshadowed the legislative achievements, argues Norman Abjorensen
24 May 12 Comments (0)How Labor lost New South Wales
A culture of entitlement helped undermine policy-making under four Labor premiers, writes Andrew West
30 Apr 12 Comments (0)Parallel worlds
The transition from state to federal politics is rarely smooth, writes Norman Abjorensen. But Bob Carr could be one of the exceptions
04 Mar 12 Comments (1)Rudd’s decisive defeat
By challenging – and decisively losing – Kevin Rudd has at least done Julia Gillard a favour or two, writes Norman Abjorensen
27 Feb 12 Comments (10)At last, the right words
Julia Gillard has finally explained the events of mid 2010, writes Norman Abjorensen
23 Feb 12 Comments (4)Gough Whitlam’s close-run thing
William McMahon’s famously ill-starred prime ministership has been back in the news, not necessarily to the advantage of the federal Labor government. Paul Rodan recalls the election of nearly forty years ago
17 Feb 12 Comments (5)Kevin 2012?
Has Kevin Rudd changed enough to justify a return to the Lodge, asks Norman Abjorensen
15 Feb 12 Comments (2)The Labor way
The Labor conference exposed the party’s – and the government’s – weaknesses, writes Frank Bongiorno
07 Dec 11 Comments (0)PM with a problem
Labor strategists helped to create the wrong kind of prime minister, argues Peter Brent
24 Nov 11 Comments (5)