Yesterday
PM won’t get raucous over AUKUS, however hard he’s pushed
Anthony Albanese’s approach with US President Donald Trump is to neither beg nor be bullied.
This Month
Look at what governments do on super, not what they say
In isolation, Labor’s proposed new Division 296 tax on superannuation balances above $3 million is not the end of the world. But it’s not an isolated act.
May
Sussan Ley lays down the law to rivals
The opposition leader has marginalised her political rivals as she focuses on winning the economic narrative.
Coalition or no Coalition, Libs should do a deal on environment laws
Sussan Ley had yet to bury her dead mother when the Nationals decided to become the Prince Harry of politics.
After three wobbly years, Albanese’s second term is taking off
The stack of new Labor MPs is reminiscent of the “class of 96”, which acted as John Howard’s praetorian guard for many years.
How Albanese’s winning game put his opponents to the sword
For 20 years, the establishment has wondered who would be the next John Howard. It might have been looking at the wrong party.
This time, a hung parliament is unlikely to be as bad
If Labor finishes with a seat count a handful shy of the absolute minimum of 75 seats, as polls indicate is a distinct possibility, there will be no bidding war.
April
Danger for Labor is undecided voters tuning in to Dutton for last 10 days
A late surge by the Coalition may be enough to deny Anthony Albanese majority government.
Albanese cruises as budget discipline barely rates with voters
“Cuts” is a dirty word during an election campaign. But its increasing resonance underscores a scant regard for the need to address debt and deficit.
How Labor is running rings around the Coalition with base politics
Peter Dutton needs people around him to start getting their hands dirty as the government makes it all about him.
March
Labor’s environmental promise sleeps with the fishes
Labor went to the last election talking big on the environment, but political reality has got in the way.
Dark winter looms without a plan to get the budget in shape
Affordability used to matter once but not so much in the post-COVID era, and the nation seems to have lost its fear of debt and deficit.
As Dutton falters, Labor polishes discarded budget
The government is confident Peter Dutton has started to unravel as it prepares to hand down a budget it initially judged was not in its best interest.
Election date is now caught in the eye of the storm
Cyclone Alfred threatens to inject more uncertainty into a contest, the outcome of which is already impossible to predict.
February
Labor wants to define Dutton before he does it himself
Raising the share allegations is not to resolve them one way or another, but to throw mud on the cusp of an election in the hope people believe the worst.
Trumpet of Patriots a reminder donation laws target not just teals
Those vowing to dismantle the laws in the event of a hung parliament should be careful what they wish for because the billionaire might just change his business model.
Senate will be a problem for Dutton if he wins
Forget the hung parliament, a Coalition government’s biggest obstacle will be the in the upper house.
A growing weight of expectation is not what Dutton needs
A growing public sentiment that the Coalition is a shoo-in to form the next government is in need of a reality check.
January
Peter Dutton is not Donald Trump. He can’t afford to be
The opposition leader’s role in delivering marriage equality should be a reminder that he is not an unyielding arch-conservative, as a growing narrative by his detractors suggests.
Three-year terms keep us stuck in short-term thinking
As campaigning starts earlier each election, politics becomes overtly tactical, the public service enters zombie mode and business watches on frustrated as nothing gets done.
