February
‘Just call me Bill’: Shorten brings ‘X factor’ to new job
The former Labor minister was joined by an eclectic crowd at his investiture as University of Canberra vice chancellor.
August 2023
Labor keeps Left-Right balance as ‘union coalition’ comes up short
A maverick independent unionist backed by “a coalition of the unwanted” has fallen short of disrupting the Labor factional balance on the powerful national executive.
June 2023
Labor’s internal dissent over AUKUS is building
The Albanese government’s embrace of the AUKUS security pact faces a second internal rejection in as many weeks with the Victorian branch of the Labor Party poised to condemn it on multiple fronts.
April 2022
Ousted parliamentary fathers consoled by pension scheme
Labor’s Kim Carr and the Liberals’ Kevin Andrews have one thing factional machinations can never take away from them: their vintage parliamentary pensions.
March 2022
Spending in this budget will certainly be targeted – at re-election
The budget is supposed to be about the long-term future. It’s really about the government’s short-term future. Labor will back it – and add spending of its own.
Kim Carr’s ‘singular’ contribution lauded as he exits stage left
Kim Carr’s prodigious intellect and curiosity was rare among politicians and the research and higher education sectors were the beneficiaries.
Labor’s Kim Carr retires, Libs sort out NSW factional mess
Veteran Labor senator and factional warrior Kim Carr has announced his retirement after losing the fight to stay in Parliament,
December 2021
Labor divided on media diversity royal commission
A divided a Labor Party will not back former prime minister Kevin Rudd’s calls for a royal commission into media ownership in Australia, despite a Senate inquiry recommending the move.
October 2021
Liberal-aligned AAT members’ productivity laid bare
The disclosure inevitable though it was has caused no small amount of alarm at the Administrative Affairs Tribunal.
‘Catastrophic’ California oil spill kills fish, damages wetlands
The US Coast Guard announced an around-the-clock investigation into how the spill occurred.
June 2021
Personal files on researchers at ARC smacks of ‘McCarthyism’: Carr
The Australian Research Council is keeping files on individual researchers which could threaten their careers, Senate estimates heard.
June 2020
Labor scandal spreads as NSW MP quits
More Labor heads are set to roll after Victoria's industrial branch-stacking scandal spread to NSW and Labor MP Julia Finn quit the NSW shadow cabinet.
How to wreck a political party: Victorian Labor's crazy factions
The Victorian branch stacking debacle shows that old fashioned political machines have been replaced by warring tribes that undermine good government.
Albanese makes a virtue out of a crisis
Adem Somyurek showed the error of trying to have it all in factional politics. But Victoria could now be easier for Albo to handle.
'Everyone knew what was going on'
Adem Somyurek was a factional operator of such prodigious drive and ambition that he almost single-handedly took control of the Victorian Labor Party.
November 2019
Farmers want checks on Mengniu's Lion Dairy bid
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is under pressure from dairy farmers and regional politicians to closely scrutinise the $600 million sale of one of Australia's largest milk processors, Lion Dairy & Drinks, to China Mengniu Dairy Company.
May 2019
Labor powerbroker Kim Carr ends two decade frontbench career
One of the loudest advocates for Australia's manufacturing sector is set to step back from frontline politics.
Business is war-gaming a Shorten government
As corporate leaders try to understand how a Shorten government would operate, Labor leaders are eager to assure businesses their doors will be open.
April 2019
Labor flags start-up R&D reprieve
Shadow Innovation Minister Kim Carr said Labor will help start-ups that lost R&D incentives, but will avoid Malcolm Turnbull's tech-centric innovation strategy.