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Norman Abjorensen

Political historian Norman Abjorensen (1947–2025) wrote frequently for Inside Story between 2008 and 2021. A former Sydney Morning Herald, Age and Canberra Times journalist and a longstanding visiting fellow at ANU, his books included John Howard and the Conservative Tradition (2008) and The Manner of Their Going: Prime Ministerial Exits from Lyne to Abbott (2015). An extract from the latter is here.

International Norman Abjorensen 10 June 2011 Norman Abjorensen recalls a meeting with Yugoslav dissident and writer Milovan Djilas, born one hundred years ago this month
National affairs Norman Abjorensen 1 June 2011 Labor and the Coalition need to recognise that the Greens are part of political reality, writes Norman Abjorensen 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 Norman Abjorensen 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 Norman Abjorensen 18 March 2011 New premiers in Victoria and New South Wales face very different challenges, writes Norman Abjorensen
National affairs Norman Abjorensen 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 Norman Abjorensen 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 Norman Abjorensen 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 Norman Abjorensen 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 Norman Abjorensen 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 Norman Abjorensen 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 Norman Abjorensen 13 July 2010 Norman Abjorensen reviews Mary Heimann’s revisionist history of Prague National affairs Norman Abjorensen 24 June 2010 The former PM never really understood the party he led, writes Norman Abjorensen National affairs Norman Abjorensen 16 June 2010 Although he’s largely unknown outside the ACT, Jon Stanhope is one of Australia’s most intriguing political figures International Norman Abjorensen 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 Norman Abjorensen 30 March 2010 The states’ house has always been controlled by politics and parties, argues Norman Abjorensen
National affairs Norman Abjorensen 9 March 2010 Referendums promised by Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott are fraught with political risk, writes Norman Abjorensen National affairs Norman Abjorensen 10 February 2010 In a democratic system the parties themselves should practise internal democracy, argues Norman Abjorensen National affairs Norman Abjorensen 10 December 2009 With Tony Abbott in charge the game is on in earnest, writes Norman Abjorenson National affairs Norman Abjorensen 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 Norman Abjorensen 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 Norman Abjorensen 10 September 2009 Protection for whistleblowers in Australia is patchy and inconsistent, writes Norman Abjorensen National affairs Norman Abjorensen 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 Norman Abjorensen 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 Norman Abjorensen 16 July 2009 The Coalition underestimates Wayne Swan at its peril, writes Norman Abjorensen
National affairs Norman Abjorensen 2 July 2009 Norman Abjorensen previews Liberal Rule, the “best effort yet at coming to grips with these extraordinary years”
National affairs Norman Abjorensen 16 June 2009 Was Peter Costello ever really representative of an alternative face of the Liberal Party, asks Norman Abjorensen National affairs Norman Abjorensen 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 Norman Abjorensen 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 Norman Abjorensen 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