National affairs
21 August 2014
When “Howard’s battlers” defected from Labor in 1996, political commentators shifted their focus to Sydney’s western suburbs, writes Peter Brent.…
National affairs
7 August 2014
What happens when you add a hypothetical to a hypothetical? Peter Brent casts a sceptical eye over the polling industry
National affairs
17 July 2014
There’s a pattern to the success of attempts to change the Australian constitution, writes Peter Brent, with lessons for advocates of Indigenous recognition
National affairs
3 July 2014
Both the major parties have made a habit of misinterpreting the polls on climate change. The latest results shouldn’t provide any comfort to the Coalition
National affairs
28 November 2013
Are Queensland’s planned voter identification requirements a fair thing?
National affairs
4 September 2013
Labor’s response to the Coalition’s argument that it was profligate during the financial crisis has been disastrously inept, argues Peter Brent
National affairs
24 November 2011
Labor strategists helped to create the wrong kind of prime minister, argues Peter Brent
National affairs
17 June 2010
A change of leader is the last thing the government needs
National affairs
27 May 2010
The heart sees a government in big trouble; the head knows that first-term governments usually survive. Either way, it’s time for the government to throw away its rulebook,…
National affairs
7 May 2010
The prime minister needs to stop conflating policy and politics, writes Peter Brent
National affairs
15 April 2010
Have party strategists got it right about the electoral appeal of targeting asylum seekers?
National affairs
6 April 2010
Acting lessons? Tony Abbott was right to say no, says Peter Brent
National affairs
1 April 2010
Simon Birmingham has breakfast at Tiffany’s, and it’s another day in parliament’s social media landscape, writes Peter Brent
National affairs
10 March 2010
The Coalition’s focus on debt could easily backfire, argues Peter Brent
National affairs
21 January 2010
Four elections, two changes of government. Peter Brent sticks his neck out in this guide to the 2010 electoral landscape
National affairs
2 December 2009
Voters know too much about Tony Abbott, but in the long run that’s not a problem for his party, writes Peter Brent
National affairs
15 October 2009
Oppositions can campaign on grievance, and governments can campaign on fear – it doesn’t work the other way round, writes Peter Brent
National affairs
17 September 2009
Which version of the Hawke–Keating–Howard years does Kevin Rudd really believe, asks Peter Brent
National affairs
20 August 2009
New polling confirms that being in charge has a powerful influence on voter perceptions, writes Peter Brent
National affairs
23 July 2009
Liberal Rule avoids the shortcomings of The Howard Years, but has flaws of its own, writes Peter Brent
National affairs
8 July 2009
New recommendations for electoral reform are a step in the right direction, but the pace continues to be perplexingly slow, writes Peter Brent
National affairs
17 June 2009
As Peter Costello’s fortunes show, politics can be a matter of being in the right place at the right time, writes Peter Brent
National affairs
29 April 2009
Michael Ronaldson’s criticism of the electoral system is undermined by some very strange reasoning, writes Peter Brent
National affairs
22 April 2009
The Coalition isn’t making headway with its asylum seeker campaign, writes Peter Brent
National affairs
25 March 2009
John Howard as opposition leader rather than as prime minister has something to say to a fractious opposition, argues Peter Brent
Retrospective
16 February 2009
Malcolm Turnbull is playing the long game, but he mightn’t be leader when it counts
National affairs
20 December 2008
Kevin Rudd ends 2008 in good shape, writes Peter Brent. Does recent history help us predict what happens next?
National affairs
27 November 2008
The Howard Years interprets the Coalition government through the prism of the present