By this author
THE NEW POLITICAL YEAR
politicoz
Greetings readers! If you haven't paid any attention to politics since late December, you haven't missed much. The ALP announced plans to parachute Nova Peris into the no.1 spot on its NT Senate ticket – to become the nation's first indigenous …
SILENCE ON THE ASHBY AFFAIR
politicoz
Last week Justice Rares found that James Ashby's sexual harassment case against Peter Slipper was a planned political attack and an abuse of the legal process. Ashby was assisted by a News Limited journalist and senior Coalition figures, most particularly …
SEASON’S GREETINGS
politicoz
It’s the end of the political year, no doubt about it. PoliticOz would like to take the opportunity to thank readers for their support, and politicians for their sport.We’d especially like to thank the journalists, editors, presenters, …
NEARLY THERE
politicoz
This is probably not the end of the year that our political parties imagined.The government weathered every scandal, held on grimly to its slim parliamentary majority, and commenced several major reforms (including the carbon tax, the NDIS and the Gonski …
THE DAMAGE DONE
politicoz
The sexual harassment case against Peter Slipper was thrown out of court yesterday. The judge called it a planned attack by James Ashby, with assistance from Karen Doane, former minister Mal Brough and Ashby's solicitor Michael Harmer, …
FANTASY LAND
politicoz
"Business confidence in Australia is now worse than it is in Italy," writes Alan Kohler. "In fact Australian businesses are among the gloomiest in the world."Italy is in the midst of a two-year recession, has a dysfunctional government, 11% unemployment …
RIGHT TO BE OFFENDED
politicoz
ABC chairman Jim Spigelman yesterday delivered a speech warning that the government's planned overhaul of discrimination law was going too far. The boundary between hate speech and free speech would be moved significantly, he declared, making it unlawful …
SLOW PROGRESS
politicoz
On this day, twenty years ago, Paul Keating delivered his seminal Redfern speech. "Keating brought indigenous Australians and the challenge of reconciliation to the main table of national priorities," says Noel Pearson, writing about it today. "The …
COAG DAY
politicoz
It's COAG today, where the Prime Minister meets with premiers to negotiate the pointy end of state/federal relations. The main item on the agenda will be the NDIS, in which Gillard will be trying to convince all premiers to match federal funding of the …
THE FOURTH ESTATE
politicoz
There is a theme running through several articles today: the distortions of media coverage and how these shape our perceptions and our democracy. And while it's not a new issue, these are thought-provoking contributions.Mark Latham writes a …
FAULKNER’S 3D VISION
politicoz
In recent years there has been no shortage of Labor Party figures decrying what has happened to the party. John Faulkner, often at the forefront of calls for reform, yesterday issued another strong statement. The widely-admired senator said the party …
THIS XMAS WE’RE SCROOGED
politicoz
If we are to believe the business press and betting markets, the Reserve Bank will today announce another rate cut, returning official interest rates to the emergency lows of the global financial crisis.Recent economic data has not been great: retail …
HOT AIR
politicoz
The UN climate negotiations in Doha received little attention here last week, lost in the haze of the final parliamentary sitting week.The goal of the negotiations, which continue this week, is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions enough to hold the global …
