Keywords: John Warhurst Is Professor Of Political Science At The Australian National University And A Canberra
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 29 June 2011
14 Comments
The media are not indulging in fantasies, but feeding off rumours around Parliament House and gossip from within Labor. The message is that Gillard has until Christmas to improve the party's standing. But the party has bigger problems than an unpopular leader.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 30 May 2011
10 Comments
The Government's free set-top box scheme is facing community and Opposition claims that it is wasteful and will tempt rorters and shysters. What should be a feel-good scheme has become a cavalcade of the disgruntled. This tells us a lot about politics and policy-making.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 02 May 2011
3 Comments
Political alliances can be strategically useful, but leaders must be careful not to appear too close to extreme groups. Tony Abbott and the NSW Greens have experienced 'guilt by association' in recent times, but the concept has a long history in Australian politics.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 29 March 2011
6 Comments
More Labor and Coalition MPs than Green MPs are pro gay marriage and pro euthanasia. It is these major party social progressives who should be most feared by opponents of gay marriage and euthanasia. The Greens will only ever play a ginger-group role.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 01 March 2011
15 Comments
Old men are hard to top when it comes to abuse of power: Egypt's Mubarak is 82, Italy's Berlusconi is 74, and Zimbabwe's Mugabe is 88. There are good arguments for removing leaders once they reach 'a certain age', even in relatively benign democracies such as Australia.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 25 January 2011
18 Comments
Some advocates of monarchy have jumped on the film The King's Speech as evidence that Australia needs a monarch. Monarchists often argue like this when they want to personalise the constitutional debate by concentrating on a member of the Royal family with attractive features.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 01 December 2010
5 Comments
The debate about the Indigenous constitutional referendum proposed by the Gillard Government is heading in a dangerous direction. Naysayers will not defeat it. What may defeat it is division among those who are supporters in principle but not supporters of the particular proposal.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 11 November 2010
12 Comments
Nine prime ministers have been observant Christians. Two have been conventional Christians. Ten have been nominal Christians. Five have been articulate atheists or agnostics. One was a nominal atheist or agnostic.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 03 November 2010
16 Comments
Adversarial politics can be seen as a necessary and positive aspect of Westminster style parliamentary politics. This does not include needless aggression that is expressed in a nasty tone and apparent anger.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 27 September 2010
6 Comments
Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull's past faults and misdemeanours have been forgotten and they have been charged with new responsibilities at the heart of Australia's domestic and international futures. The new leaders must wish their vanquished colleagues great success. But not too much.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 30 August 2010
10 Comments
Though the Independents are raising
expectations about a 'new politics', the forces behind the status quo are strong and the public is fickle. If
they fail to deliver they might eventually suffer a
backlash, like Kevin Rudd and the Democrats before them.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 27 July 2010
18 Comments
Appearing last week on ABC1's Q+A, Julie Bishop claimed that following a preference deal with the Labor Party, the Greens were now effectively a Labor faction. Preference deals are as old as the preferential system itself. The impact of these deals should not be exaggerated.
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