By this author
PM for Indigenous Affairs?
politicoz
"No-one, including within the media, ever stopped to ask Aboriginal people if they actually wanted a "Prime Minister for Indigenous Affairs", and in particular whether or not they wanted Abbott. As it turns out, they apparently don't. …
HIGH NOON
politicoz
Labor MPs are back in Canberra for their first caucus meeting since the election. Top of the agenda is, of course, the party's leadership. Bill Shorten has already declared his candidacy, deciding to make his pitch to supporters via the media yesterday. …
Abbott policies anger Indonesia
politicoz
"Tony Abbott faces new hurdles in his bid to recruit Indonesia to his plans on asylum seekers, with Jakarta delivering its sternest broadside yet at the Coalition's border protection policies. Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa has …
THE NEW BROOM
politicoz
Australians have voted, and Abbott's Coalition has achieved a substantial victory. Perhaps not the wipeout many expected, but substantial nonetheless. The Coalition will be jubilant that the job is done. The real job is now ahead of it. The …
Do it for Rupert: How News Corp shapes the news
blog
Since no one is pretending that News Corp political coverage isn’t biased, we won’t either. The only amusing thing about News Corp’s pre-election assault on Rudd has been hearing the justifications of this pure exercise of power, and …
Top 7 Coalition excuses for not releasing policy costings
blog
One for each day of the week, repeat until election day: 1. In 2007, the ALP didn’t release theirs until the day before the election (and we're trying to emulate them). 2. We didn’t trust the Treasury forecasts, but …
13 News Corp headlines - translated
blog
Ever wondered what News Corp editors are thinking? We’ve put together this handy translation guide for recent headlines: 1. “Kevin Rudd played with children as the nation’s finances were laid bare” (Daily …
THE MILITARY SOLUTION
politicoz
Not to be outdone, Tony Abbott launched another Coalition policy on asylum seekers this morning. Under the title Operation Sovereign Borders, Abbott said that a military commander, appointed by the Chief of the Defence Force, reporting to the Immigration …
LOST AT SEA
politicoz
Two stories in the media today should give pause to anyone believing the asylum seeker issue has any obvious or easy – and politically viable – solutions. First: A boat carrying around 150 people capsized in heavy seas off the coast of Java …
A PICTURE SENDS A THOUSAND MESSAGES
politicoz
Today's Newspoll indicates that Rudd's new 'PNG solution' has had the desired polling effect: on the question of which party would best handle the asylum seeker issue, Labor jumped 6 points, while the Coalition fell 14. Newspoll has Labor's …
THAT FLOATING FEELING
politicoz
The government has announced that it aims to move from a fixed to a floating price on carbon – from a carbon tax to an emissions trading scheme – in 2014, a year earlier than planned. It's not a major policy shift, but like so many recent …
PRISM: A Humble Request Before Privacy is Abolished Permanently
blog
Half a million Americans can read your every email, every Facebook post, every Google search. Should you be worried? “I wouldn’t think so,” said Foreign Minister Bob Carr, a point of view clearly shared by almost every single one of …
Baz Luhrmann is the Great Gatsby
Film
“What’s it all for?” asks narrator Nick Carraway mid-way through the new film version of The Great Gatsby. The question crossed my mind as well. Baz Luhrmann has been putting on a show since he was a country boy named …
