Books & arts
24 April 2014
Andrew Dodd reviews Bob Carr’s absorbing and occasionally disturbing account of eighteen months as foreign minister
Essays & reportage
22 April 2014
In this extract from Mike Steketee and Milton Cockburn’s biography, first published in 1986, Neville Wran – who died earlier this week –…
Essays & reportage
13 February 2014
Labor’s combative relationship with the Greens reflects its failure to develop a genuine counter-narrative to the Coalition worldview, argues Dennis Altman
Essays & reportage
16 December 2013
The cyclones of the late 1960s and early 1970s didn’t shape the Whitlam government as much as gentler breezes of the 1950s and early 1960s
Books & arts
28 November 2013
How did an unelected campaign consultant come to exercise such influence over Labor’s 2013 campaign, asks Stephen Mills
National affairs
22 October 2013
Amid the often-protracted policy debates of the Rudd and Gillard years, DisabilityCare is widely seen as Labor’s most popular and effectively managed reform. The story…
National affairs
10 October 2013
The Labor leadership contest might have annoyed some factional warlords, but it’s helped the party to avoid messy post-election recriminations, writes Frank Bongiorno
Essays & reportage
27 September 2013
Within months of the end of the second world war, an iron curtain had fallen across Europe. Its impact reached into the inner suburbs of Melbourne, writes Geoffrey Barker
Books & arts
2 September 2013
It’s time for harder thinking about Labor’s strengths and weaknesses, says Frank Bongiorno
National affairs
29 August 2013
“Leadership” is seldom the key determinant of election results, writes Brian Costar. The mistaken belief has damaged both major parties
Essays & reportage
20 August 2013
Has Labor’s campaign taken a fatal turn? History shows that divided control of campaign messages can be a disaster, writes Stephen Mills
Books & arts
15 August 2013
Does misogyny in politics reflect a deeper problem in the character of political debate, asks Jane Goodall
National affairs
8 August 2013
Labor failed to take the opportunity to make historic changes to campaign finance disclosure, writes Brian Costar
National affairs
6 August 2013
The problems go back to 2007, writes Norman Abjorensen
Podcasts
9 July 2013
From the Radio National archive, Terry Lane talks to Labor senator Jacinta Collins
Essays & reportage
1 July 2013
Targeting marginal seats is nothing new in politics, but the gambling industry has shown it can work for lobby groups too. James Panichi pieces together the story
National affairs
27 June 2013
The leadership vote only underlines the fact that the Labor Party is more or less broken, writes Frank Bongiorno
National affairs
25 June 2013
They aren’t always right in the national capital, but they are this time, writes Norman Abjorensen
National affairs
7 March 2013
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 evidence we have suggests the…
National affairs
5 February 2013
Julia Gillard’s press club speech gave an insight into how Labor sees itself governing an anxious country in uncertain times, writes Frank Bongiorno
National affairs
31 January 2013
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…
Essays & reportage
29 November 2012
Not only was the 1972 election a watershed for Labor, it also created the modern political campaign
National affairs
28 October 2012
Two key figures in the postwar development of the Labor Party never met, writes Norman Abjorensen
Books & arts
8 October 2012
A sympathetic biography of Gough Whitlam also recognises its subject’s shortcomings
Books & arts
2 October 2012
Books | The political and the personal illuminate each other in James Button’s fine account of a year in Canberra
National affairs
5 September 2012
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
National affairs
4 September 2012
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…
Retrospective
9 August 2012
Reports of Labor’s death are grossly exaggerated
National affairs
24 May 2012
A rancorous twenty months in federal politics has overshadowed the legislative achievements, argues Norman Abjorensen
Books & arts
30 April 2012
A culture of entitlement helped undermine policy-making under four Labor premiers, writes Andrew West