Essays & reportage
Glass half full
Paul Strangio
1 May 2026
A year after Labor’s May 2025 win, there’s still room for optimism
Books & arts
Bombast of Botany Bay
Frank Bongiorno
30 April 2026
Patrick Mullins coaxes big themes out of the story of one of the city’s great thrusters
Books & arts
Strange days
Peter Brent
30 April 2026
A Liberal voter who hopes Labor will win? The Hawke–Keating era temporarily turned Australian politics on its head
International
Big target strategy
Lesley Russell
22 April 2026
Despite dire poll figures, the Republican Party still can’t stand up to its unhinged leader
Books & arts
Papua New Guinea’s complicated inheritance
Graeme Dobell
20 April 2026
A son of two nations combines optimism and pessimism
National affairs
Stuck in the middle
Frank Bongiorno
20 April 2026
Could the Liberals’ Deakinite dilemma reshape the party system?
Books & arts
Going the distance
Rob Hoffman
17 April 2026
A political scientist argues that democratic institutions need to stand up to authoritarians. But does that simply kick the can down the road?
National affairs
One Nation’s changing sources of support
Murray Goot
20 March 2026
Different events have shifted voters in different ways, but Labor’s two-party-preferred figures have barely changed
Books & arts
The other Mitford
Patrick Mullins
7 March 2026
The future “queen of muckraking” fled the rigid class system of her home country for a high-profile career in investigative journalism
Books & arts
Mementos Menzies
Paul Rodan
6 March 2026
A sixteen-year prime ministership leaves more than a few traces
International
Playing a blinder
David Hayes
3 March 2026
Sanae Takaichi smashed Japan’s election. Now comes the harder part
National affairs
Polls and the remaking of the political right
Murray Goot
23 February 2026
The latest surveys are challenging our understanding of the swinging vote
National affairs
Rough justice
Peter Mares
19 February 2026
Economist Alan Manning shows why Angus Taylor is about to find out that immigration policy is hard
Books & arts
Frontlash
Nicholas Brown
18 February 2026
Friedrich Hayek’s successors used an expanded armoury to fight their war against the state. But what explains their receptive audience?
National affairs
Will Angus Taylor stop the One Nation rot?
Peter Brent
13 February 2026
It’s possible, but will that impress the rest of the electorate?
International
Will Trump steal the midterms?
Bill Scher
10 February 2026
The White House’s efforts to suppress the Democratic vote are having little success
International
“Violent, often disproportionate repression” in New Caledonia
Nic Maclellan
6 February 2026
A new report documents France’s abuses of human rights during 2024’s unrest in the Pacific territory
International
Carney’s Canada
Jonathan Malloy
4 February 2026
The high-profile banker turned prime minister is following through on his strategy of resistance
National affairs
Is compulsory voting a bulwark against extremists?
Murray Goot
30 January 2026
Polls and international experience complicate the conventional wisdom
National affairs
Labor’s splintering opponents
Peter Brent
23 January 2026
The Liberals might move further right, but at what cost?
Other Voices
The ephemeral presidency
Bill Scher
22 January 2026
Except for the damage, nothing Trump is doing will last
Books & arts
Unpicking the Asian century
Graeme Dobell
19 January 2026
Multiple Asias will have growing power but less unity
Books & arts
Spoiled for choice
Dean Ashenden
15 January 2026
How freedom lost its way
National affairs
When lowering the temperature isn’t enough
Peter Brent
18 December 2025
Amid a welter of criticism, the government must navigate a difficult path following the Bondi shootings
Books & arts
What does the Albanese government believe in?
Carol Johnson
18 December 2025
Perhaps a little more than Sean Kelly concedes in his latest Quarterly Essay
Books & arts
(Not) talking politics
Caitlin Mahar
18 December 2025
Social theorist Sarah Stein Lubrano says the “marketplace of ideas” doesn’t work. But is the alternative any more promising?
Other Voices
Another reckoning (with China)
Afra Wang
17 December 2025
A vast country can be seen in different but not necessarily contradictory ways
International
Where are all the Democrats?
Lesley Russell
16 December 2025
And which ones will be standing in 2028?
Books & arts
Democracy on the ropes?
Klaus Neumann
15 December 2025
Liberal democracy is being assailed by far-right populists and autocrats. Who’s coming to its rescue?
National affairs
Exit, stage right
Peter Brent
11 December 2025
Can One Nation continue to capitalise on the Coalition’s internal divisions?
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