International
10 June 2011
Norman Abjorensen recalls a meeting with Yugoslav dissident and writer Milovan Djilas, born one hundred years ago this month
National affairs
1 June 2011
Labor and the Coalition need to recognise that the Greens are part of political reality, writes Norman Abjorensen
11 May 2011
Norman Abjorensen sees the first tentative signs that Singapore can move out of the shadow of Lee Kuan Yew
National affairs
30 March 2011
A former high-profile lawyer who rose rapidly in politics but was dumped as leader by his own party… Yes, Robert Menzies did bounce back, writes Norman Abjorensen
National affairs
18 March 2011
New premiers in Victoria and New South Wales face very different challenges, writes Norman Abjorensen
National affairs
8 March 2011
Kristina Keneally is about to become the ninth living ex–premier of New South Wales, writes Norman Abjorensen. It's a reminder of what went wrong for the party
National affairs
2 December 2010
Forty-one years after the declaration of the principle of equal pay, we’re still not there, writes Norman Abjorensen
National affairs
22 October 2010
Barnaby Joyce praising Canberra? It’s a reminder of the mixed feelings evoked by the national capital, writes Norman Abjorensen
National affairs
3 September 2010
Minority government in South Australia produced a novel solution that challenged the way the Westminster system has worked in Australia, writes Norman Abjorensen
National affairs
18 August 2010
Australian governments tend to take a hit at their first bid for re-election, writes Norman Abjorensen. But it’s not clear why
National affairs
28 July 2010
It’s the focus on marginal seats that is excluding most of us from the election conversation, writes Norman Abjorensen, but that doesn’t mean the issues are…
Books & arts
13 July 2010
Norman Abjorensen reviews Mary Heimann’s revisionist history of Prague
National affairs
24 June 2010
The former PM never really understood the party he led, writes Norman Abjorensen
National affairs
16 June 2010
Although he’s largely unknown outside the ACT, Jon Stanhope is one of Australia’s most intriguing political figures, writes Norman Abjorensen
International
6 May 2010
“We have jumped forward and gone backward in the space of my adult lifetime,” says one Vietnamese woman. Norman Abjorensen reports from Hanoi
National affairs
30 March 2010
The states’ house has always been controlled by politics and parties, argues Norman Abjorensen
National affairs
9 March 2010
Referendums promised by Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott are fraught with political risk, writes Norman Abjorensen
National affairs
10 February 2010
In a democratic system the parties themselves should practise internal democracy, argues Norman Abjorensen
National affairs
10 December 2009
With Tony Abbott in charge the game is on in earnest, writes Norman Abjorenson
National affairs
10 November 2009
With the Green vote strengthening in some key federal electorates, the Labor–Green alliance in the ACT is worth a closer look, writes Norman Abjorensen
National affairs
12 October 2009
We need a strong opposition to hold government to account, and that may well be the real loss in the Peter Dutton preselection saga, writes Norman Abjorensen
National affairs
10 September 2009
Protection for whistleblowers in Australia is patchy and inconsistent, writes Norman Abjorensen
National affairs
11 August 2009
The eventful lives and uneventful memoirs of George Reid and Ned Hogan show that politics and self-reflection don’t always go together. Will John Howard follow their…
National affairs
29 July 2009
Norman Abjorensen, co-author of Australia: The State of Democracy, runs a tape-measure over the nation’s democratic institutions and practices
National affairs
16 July 2009
The Coalition underestimates Wayne Swan at its peril, writes Norman Abjorensen
National affairs
2 July 2009
Norman Abjorensen previews Liberal Rule, the “best effort yet at coming to grips with these extraordinary years”
National affairs
16 June 2009
Was Peter Costello ever really representative of an alternative face of the Liberal Party, asks Norman Abjorensen
National affairs
26 May 2009
Fortunately the Institute of Public Affairs has had less influence than it has sought over the past sixty-six years, writes Norman Abjorensen
National affairs
5 May 2009
The federal government’s reversal on climate change is another example of the corporate colonisation of society, writes Norman Abjorensen
National affairs
22 April 2009
There is something faintly absurd about treating a potential global catastrophe as just another everyday event that can be managed, writes Norman Abjorensen