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politics
National affairs
Labor braves some dark AAA questions
Tim Colebatch
13 May 2016
We might not like talking about it, but the ratings agencies have noticed Australia’s debt, writes
Tim Colebatch
. And so has Labor
London’s palace of mirrors
David Hayes
13 May 2016
A troubled start to this week’s anti-corruption summit revealed some home truths about Britain, writes
David Hayes
in London
National affairs
Election 2016: Reasons to be cheerful
Peter Brent
12 May 2016
There are seven reasons why the Coalition might think things are going well, writes
Peter Brent
. But the same goes for Labor
From the archive
A Canadian in Canberra
Jonathan Malloy
10 May 2016
A political scientist spends four months in the Australian capital
Britain’s festival of democracy
David Hayes
10 May 2016
A Pakistani immigrant’s child and a fearless gay Scot are among the stars of Thursday’s UK-wide elections. They show that politics can work, says
David Hayes
Podcasts
Turning point in the US primaries
Simon Jackman & Peter Clarke
5 May 2016
Donald Trump has vanquished his rivals and Hillary Clinton seems set for the nomination. Political scientist
Simon Jackman
talks to
Peter Clarke
about what happens next
National affairs
Want to be a great treasurer? It’s all a matter of timing
Peter Brent
5 May 2016
Some treasurers find themselves in the right place at the right time, says
Peter Brent.
Others aren’t so lucky
National affairs
The budget’s two big ideas
Tim Colebatch
4 May 2016
Superannuation and business taxes were at the centre of the budget, writes
Tim Colebatch
, but these and the government’s other decisions aren’t risk-free
National affairs
Election 2016: The realists, the rationalists and the romantics
Paul Rodan
4 May 2016
We don’t know for certain why people vote the way they do, writes
Paul Rodan
. But three theories give us glimpses
National affairs
An early victory in the next carbon war
Peter Brent
28 April 2016
By taking the initiative on the dreaded three-letter word, Labor has scored an important win, argues
Peter Brent
National affairs
Victoria spends up big – or does it?
Tim Colebatch
27 April 2016
Transport is where the action is in this week’s Victorian budget, writes
Tim Colebatch
, but the spending isn’t quite as generous as it looks
National affairs
A fragile economy heading for an election
Tim Colebatch
23 April 2016
This election campaign will take place amid enormous economic uncertainty, writes
Tim Colebatch
. How are the major parties dealing with this inconvenient truth?
Essays & reportage
Financing government in uncertain times
Sam Hurley
22 April 2016
Talking tax is tough. But offering false choices about revenue, spending and globalisation won’t lead to better outcomes, writes
Sam Hurley
National affairs
The tyranny of the present
Peter Brent
20 April 2016
In the battle to write history as it unfolds, too much notice is being taken of shifts in the polls, writes
Peter Brent
International
In America, voting isn’t a democratic right that comes easily
Lesley Russell
20 April 2016
Discriminatory rules, long queues, gerrymandered boundaries: the decentralised US election machinery doesn’t serve voters well
National affairs
The IMF is seriously worried
Tim Colebatch
15 April 2016
The International Monetary Fund wants governments to broaden their attack on sluggish growth and inequality, writes
Tim Colebatch
. The alternative could be another recession
National affairs
There’s more than one way of thinking big
Peter Brent
13 April 2016
Kevin Rudd’s fate is a cautionary tale for an announcement-prone Malcolm Turnbull, writes
Peter Brent
Cameron’s tax trauma
David Hayes
11 April 2016
The Panama Papers have thwacked Britain’s prime minister. But he’s not out yet, says
David Hayes
in London
Books & arts
How they invented the prime minister
Norman Abjorensen
8 April 2016
Books
| The Australian prime ministership was created out of almost nothing during the first five decades of the twentieth century, writes
Norman Abjorensen
National affairs
Hanging off Newspoll
Peter Brent
5 April 2016
A bad Newspoll result suggests that Malcolm Turnbull has provoked the economic anxieties of the electorate, says
Peter Brent
. The question is: why?
National affairs
State income tax: the idea that could one day fly
Tim Colebatch
31 March 2016
Abolished in 1942, revived but never implemented in the 1970s, this might have been the tax reform whose time had come, writes
Tim Colebatch
. But Malcolm Turnbull’s…
International
Meanwhile, the race for congress intensifies
Lesley Russell
24 March 2016
Although attention is focused on the nail-biting presidential primaries, other elections are looming in November.
Lesley Russell
surveys the emerging field
National affairs
How Turnbull-in-freefall became Malcolm the strategic genius
Peter Brent
22 March 2016
The PM knows that voters have a simple question in mind when they enter the polling booth, writes
Peter Brent
National affairs
The prime ministerial eleven
Norman Abjorensen
22 March 2016
Fewer than a dozen prime ministers have been ejected from office by voters since Federation, writes
Norman Abjorensen
. Malcolm Turnbull will be anxious to avoid their fate
International
Britain’s first modern prime minister
David Hayes
15 March 2016
Harold Wilson, born a century ago this month, imprinted himself on the public imagination
National affairs
With friends like these
Peter Brent
11 March 2016
Tony Windsor’s online supporters couldn’t be more different from the people he needs to vote for him, writes
Peter Brent
International
Time for the presidential campaign to go nuclear?
Lesley Russell
10 March 2016
Both the major US parties are in the midst of atypical campaigns, writes
Lesley Russell
. But as vital primaries approach, the Republicans still haven’t responded…
National affairs
The crafty Senate stratagem with the unpredictable impact
Peter Brent
3 March 2016
The government’s voting legislation has been significantly improved, writes
Peter Brent
. But that doesn’t mean we know how it will work in practice
National affairs
The meaning of John Howard
Norman Abjorensen
1 March 2016
Elected prime minister twenty years ago this week, John Howard transformed Australia as few leaders have, writes
Norman Abjorensen
National affairs
Democratic by name, secretive by nature
Marian Sawer
29 February 2016
A new controversy over a program that benefits the major Australian political parties reveals a paradoxical lack of transparency, writes
Marian Sawer
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