keywords: Craig Thomson

  • AUSTRALIA

    Mob rule on Craig Thomson

    • Michael Mullins
    • 28 May 2012
    22 Comments

    Migrants and refugees find Australia attractive because the rule of law generally functions well. If mob rule prevails, as is threatening to occur in the case of Craig Thomson, Australia will lose its lure and the politicians could finally have their wish because the boats will stop.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Preselection esteems politics over merit

    • Fatima Measham
    • 14 March 2016
    10 Comments

    The debate over the Coalition's proposed senate voting reforms has highlighted the inter-party brokering that brings candidates into office. Yet if representative democracy were predicated on transparency, then another area deserves scrutiny: preselection. The mechanism for choosing party representatives clearly relies on powerful backers - politics - rather than merit. That is an obvious thing to say. But it carries repercussions for governance with which we have yet to grapple.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Big and little crooks of politics

    • John Warhurst
    • 01 November 2013
    12 Comments

    Unethical misconduct by public figures, proven and alleged, is in the public eye almost daily. No one is above suspicion, including Prime Minister Tony Abbott and former Prime Minister Julia Gillard. Is it a case of a few bad apples or are there systemic problems? There are levels of seriousness in these cases and it is helpful to disaggregate them to keep a sense of perspective.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Minority Government stands the test of time

    • 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.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Sympathy for the dodgy salesmen of Australian politics

    • Zac Alstin
    • 12 June 2012
    34 Comments

    Duplicity in politics is not new. Every utterance is tainted by the subtext of scoring points. If it is painful for us to listen, how much worse must it be for the politicians? It is dispiriting to constantly undermine one's own integrity, and the 'dodgy salesman' is no one's ideal of human flourishing.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    A helicopter view of the Gillard Government

    • Jill Sutton
    • 04 June 2012
    26 Comments

    It is foolish to focus on the detail of one scandalous union funds abuse, the misbehaviour of another high profile government official and the impact of some new progressive taxes on our personal lives, while ignoring the government's significant achievements under the most trying political circumstances.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    HSU corpse fouls Julia's nest

    • Moira Rayner
    • 12 April 2012
    16 Comments

    Most of the media bazookas are trained on her for refusing to condemn Craig Thomson, whose warm seat is toasting the shapely behind of the Gillard Government, which is one parliamentary vote ahead of oblivion. But Thomson's status as 'innocent until proven guilty' is a critical element of the rule of law.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Canned pairs reveal Opposition's fruity strategy

    • John Warhurst
    • 30 March 2012
    9 Comments

    The Opposition has unrelentingly resisted pairs, whereby an MP from one side doesn't vote in order to allow an MP from the other side to be away. Their strategy is to emphasise the closeness of the numbers in parliament. This hardline attitude has recently led to some crazy and downright silly situations.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Praise for Wilkie's rage against the machines

    • Tony Kevin
    • 24 January 2012
    20 Comments

    Catholics in Australia have tended to be more tolerant of alcohol and gambling than 'wowser' Protestants. But too many Catholics turn a blind eye to how today's poker machine technology and operating environment is designed to nurture dangerous (but profitable) addiction.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Why Gillard is the PM we deserve

    • Moira Rayner
    • 15 September 2011
    21 Comments

    I'm not worried about Gillard's abysmal rating in polls. I'm not convinced anyone but journalists and backbiters have any real desire to roll her. There is no obvious alternative to Gillard as Labor leader, but there is an obvious need for a party which stands for something.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Carbon tax saves Gillard (for now)

    • Tony Kevin
    • 14 September 2011
    11 Comments

    Though Gillard's leadership has started to come under pressure, no one in Labor will want to overthrow her until the carbon pricing laws package is securely in place. This means no challenge before the first half of 2012. Only then, if opinion polls keep trending down, may Gillard be vulnerable.

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