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The unseen art of political ventriloquism
At last month's launch of his book Churchill and Australia, Graham Freudenberg was genuinely shocked that some people were genuinely shocked...
Clamp on conflict of interest may hobble sound judgement
Do we want our councillors to be even less interested in local government policy than they already are? As potential councillors submit their...
A kick in the behindsight
Politics is usually interesting and 2007 was no exception. First, what we've learned during 2007: Past performance is no guarantee of future...
Populism trumps policy
"It's a helluva way to run the country". This is a pretty accurate description by Labor frontbencher Bob McMullan of what the Howard government has...
Secret deals undermine democracy
Steve Bracks is wrong. He claims his secret deal with the police union is no different to the dozens of other promises he made before the last...
Not always the best interests
The potential takeover of Qantas couldn't have come at a worse time for the federal government. Kevin Rudd is luxuriating in a seemingly endless...
All hail to the new godless religion: environmentalism
Labor is indignant that the Liberals are apparently siphoning green voters away from them. They even look likely to lose a seat as a result and,...
Voters like strong leaders
More than 4000 books on leadership are available from online retailer Amazon. Leadership is a hot topic. A particular favourite of authors is to...
It's all just water off Howard's back
What do George W. Bush, Tony Blair, Jacques Chirac, Angela Merkel and Helen Clark have in common? They have been having such a difficult time...
Left in the shade of monument to reform
Bob Carr will go down in history as the longest-serving premier of NSW. But he will be remembered for little else. Ten years of dominant leadership...