By this author
OLD LABOUR IN TATTERS
politicoz
Change the government and you change the country, Paul Keating predicted – lamented – after his government’s 1996 election loss to John Howard’s Coalition. The political priorities of Labor’s thirteen year reign …
THE BODY POLITIC
politicoz
The WA senate vote post-mortem has featured the usual excuses, explanations and over-interpretations, but while the final result won’t be known for days some signals are clear. The Coalition suffered a 5% swing against it, which is close to the …
COWS VS CARS
politicoz
The Abbott government secured a much-needed win yesterday with the signing of the Japan free trade deal. After several weeks spent squandering political capital on issues such as the racial discrimination act changes and the knights and dames fiasco, …
IT HINGES ON THIS MAN
politicoz
Clive Palmer is pulling out all stops to win a key WA senate seat. He’s spent big, made undeliverable promises to gain the state more GST revenue, and is now making headlines about his priority to kill the carbon tax. “The carbon tax is …
RAISING THE GST: NEVER EVER?
politicoz
“Arithmetic suggests the dice are loaded against us,” said treasury secretary Martin Parkinson. Without major changes to the tax mix, he said, there was little chance the budget would return to surplus even by 2023-24. Health spending is …
A DWINDLING BASE
politicoz
News Corp papers, especially the Australian, have put inordinate effort into undermining the ABC over the past few months. Last night, ABC managing director Mark Scott firmly pushed back. He spoke of the “aggressive editorial positioning …
FREE SPEECH, EXPENSIVE SPEECH
politicoz
Lenore Taylor in the Guardian reports the alarming news that in Western Australia this month Clive Palmer has spent 11 times more on advertising than the Labor party and 14 times more than the Liberals. It is “unprecedented” for a minor …
A BLACK SWAN EVENT
politicoz
Parliament has entered its long winter recess, but it will be a while yet before the political temperature drops. This is the last week before the crucial Western Australian senate vote, whose results will determine the federal balance of power …
A FUNNY WEEK
politicoz
The Coalition lost control of the agenda this week. The government may still be in its adolescence – this is one way to describe its bizarre and potentially destructive impetuosity recently – but it can hardly rely on this excuse …
WISE WORDS
politicoz
Even John Howard thinks bringing back knights and dames is anachronistic. Even John Howard. Phillip Coorey in the AFR reports that Howard would not accept a knighthood should one ever be offered. He didn't try to revive …
FREELANCING
politicoz
The prime minister's surprise announcement to bring back knights and dames was met with hilarity and ridicule around the nation. But in some parts it was met with a note of caution: "The whole thing is actually the first wave of the PM's …
CRAIG THOMSON JAILED
politicoz
Craig Thomson has been sentenced to 12 months' jail with nine months suspended for misusing union funds. Magistrate Charlie Rozencwajg said Thomson had shown "blatant dishonesty", and his misappropriation of funds for personal benefit, …
IN FURIOUS AGREEMENT
politicoz
Last week the PNG government won a legal stay against the human rights investigation of Manus initiated by PNG supreme court judge David Cannings. So he set up a snap inquiry on Friday, sending a small team into the detention centre to take evidence from …
