This Month
- Opinion
- Federal election
Albanese’s on a highway to a bread-and-butter election
The prime minister’s announcement about the Bruce Highway wasn’t so much pork barrelling as trying to demonstrate that the government was actually doing things.
December 2024
- Opinion
- Federal election
Labor has left it too late for an early election this time
This year, the polls, the economy and the budget have all got worse for the government, and it has run out of room to go to voters before the end of its term.
- Opinion
- Federal election
It’s all in the timing: Xmas will take focus off nuclear pretty quick
The decision to release the costings on December 13 feels like the Coalition is once again playing voters for mugs.
- Opinion
- Middle East tensions
A lot of politics is driving the debate about antisemitism
It is one thing to take issue with the federal government’s position on a resolution to the UN. It is another to argue it is the cause of rising antisemitic attacks in Australia.
November 2024
- Opinion
- Monetary policy
Labor can’t legislate its way out of this battle with the RBA
There is growing disagreement over when unemployment is inflationary – and the RBA’s view helps explain why it is still so bearish on rate cuts.
- Opinion
- Federal election
Incumbency weighs on PM as Dutton piles on populist jabs
A government that does not want to upset people is finding itself outgunned by a man with simple and angry messages.
- Opinion
- Immigration
Politicians don’t want migrants but they do need workers
Neither major party has managed immigration well. That has not stopped Peter Dutton from making an election issue out of it.
- Opinion
- US Votes 2024
An era of calm, rational policymaking is fading away
The Trump revolution wants to tear down government that fails to deliver, but resentment is no solution either.
October 2024
- Opinion
- Federal budget
How faraway conflicts are turned into divisions at home
Peter Dutton has accused the Albanese government of appeasement on the Middle East. But its positions reflect the same limitations felt in Washington.
September 2024
- Opinion
- Property market
Senate standoff shows politics and policy are a long way from perfect
The complexity of the housing challenge requires a level of cooperation between governments and politicians that feels a long way from the debate we are having.
- Opinion
- Australian economy
It’s deja vu all over again when it comes to aged care and RBA reforms
This week’s agreement on aged care and the failure to agree on the RBA reprises arguments that took place decades ago.
- Opinion
- Federal budget
Brawls over RBA and ASIO as election season starts
Three institutions – the central bank, the security service, and the national census – all became political footballs this week.
August 2024
- Opinion
- Political leadership
Greens, Coalition set the pace on a hapless government
Anthony Albanese’s Labor has been left as piggy-in-the-middle, trying to catch a ball being thrown by the opposition parties.
- Opinion
- Senate estimates
It’s time to civilise the inquisition of Senate estimates
Hearings that were meant to drill into policy detail have become a scattergun questioning of officials used to settle scores, or make cheap political points.
- Opinion
- Immigration
PM’s Gaza refugees become Dutton’s Hamas terrorists
The opposition leader would be within his rights to ask for greater screening of refugees from a war zone. But that’s not what he is really saying.
- Opinion
- AUKUS
What we don’t know about AUKUS
American government agencies keep revealing information about AUKUS that our own government will not.
- Opinion
- Federal budget
Election timing no longer swings on an elusive rate cut
The government is at the mercy of the Reserve Bank. But the central bank is also subject to forces beyond its control.
July 2024
- Opinion
- Federal budget
Why powerless workers are now a potent political force
The rise of hillbilly J.D. Vance and an Australian mega-union that is famous for all the wrong reasons have more in common than you might think.
- Opinion
- Federal election
Will the PM set up an election while the sun is still shining?
The legislative gridlock, a tricky economy and a Trump crisis all make a case for going to voters sooner rather than later.
- Opinion
- Middle East tensions
Nobody has come out of the Payman row with clean hands
Labor now wears the ire of Muslim communities, while Peter Dutton has crafted his messaging to squeeze in everything from Fatima Payman to grocery prices.