Keywords: John Warhurst Is Professor Of Political Science At The Australian National University And A Canberra
-
AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 08 July 2013
17 Comments
No one knows whether Kevin Rudd's positive impact on Labor's vote will last. While the potential bounce was long predicted by the opinion polls they could never tell us why. But then again he has always been an enigma. His immediate record of popularity after becoming Opposition Leader in 2006 was equally astounding. As the Rudd-Tony Abbott contest begins afresh there is a lot more that we need to know.
READ MORE 
-
AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 04 June 2013
8 Comments
Groups such as the Australian Union of Students, Australian Conservation Foundation and Australian Council of Social Service are feeling lukewarm at best about the Gillard Government. In terms of social movement support a draw is as good as a win for the Coalition. Labor needs to do better with this sector.
READ MORE
-
AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 06 May 2013
15 Comments
The Coalition's characterisation of the Gillard Government as a lame duck is a tactic to slow down decision-making over the next four months. A government has every right not just to keep the wheels turning but to continue to try to implement its program even if it is just trying to improve its chances of re-election.
READ MORE
-
AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 02 April 2013
8 Comments
In days past the 'consultancy' activity of former senior politicians was cloaked in respectability and not perceived as being at the hands-on end of lobbying. That pretence has now ended and Alexander Downer and Peter Costello are good examples. It is an unhealthy development with plenty of room for conflicts of interest.
READ MORE
-
AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 05 March 2013
9 Comments
What stands out most from the pre-selection defeat of ACT Liberal Senator Gary Humphries is that less than 200 pre-selectors voted. The power of this small pre-selectorate points to a broader problem in Australian politics. While the major parties are in decline as membership based organisations, they retain disproportionate power.
READ MORE
-
AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 29 January 2013
13 Comments
Gillard's pick of Nova Peris as Labor candidate for the Senate in the Northern Territory could be a signal that she will try to get on the front foot this year. Since her famous misogyny speech last October, she may have decided not to die wondering but to crash through or crash. This poses an interesting dilemma for Abbott and his team.
READ MORE
-
AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 07 December 2012
13 Comments
Whatever happens now there will be no election until March 2013 at the earliest. This means the Gillard Labor Government will go almost full term despite relentless pressure from the Opposition, a hung parliament and a raft of controversies. But survival is not the same as victory. It has come at a cost.
READ MORE
-
AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 29 October 2012
21 Comments
The emphasis on the relationship between Tony Abbott and women is fuelled by opinion polls that consistently show that he is less popular with women voters. However, undue concentration on the role of gender in shaping voter choice serves to downplay other very interesting variations.
READ MORE
-
AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 04 October 2012
20 Comments
If same sex marriage continues to gain momentum around the Western world then the Australian debate will not go away. But should international interest fade then it probably will in Australia too. Whatever the future of the republic debate in Australia it is not of the same international character and therefore harder to sustain.
READ MORE
-
AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 07 August 2012
13 Comments
The Greens have been accused of self-righteousness leading to an unwillingness to compromise. Yet the most inflexible party in the current parliament has been the Coalition, led by Tony 'Mr No' Abbott. Getting the balance right between flexibility and maintaining what you stand for is an important lesson for all political parties in parliament.
READ MORE
-
EDUCATION
- John Warhurst
- 09 July 2012
10 Comments
Labor speechwriter Graham Freudenberg observed that ‘the oldest, deepest, most poisonous debate in Australia has been about government aid to church schools’. The most dramatic episode in the history of church state relations in Australia was the Goulburn schools strike, which took place 50 years ago this month.
READ MORE
-
AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 04 July 2012
6 Comments
The Nationals have made their first big play for the next federal election. The recruitment of NSW state independent Richard Torbay to challenge New England incumbent Tony Windsor is either a masterstroke or a revealing insight into their problems and weaknesses as a regional and rural political party.
READ MORE