Bushfire conditions will become more severe. We call on Australians, particularly our leaders, to heed the science, writes Will Steffen of the Australian National University Those who say “I told you so” are rarely welcomed, yet I am going to say it here. Australian scientists warned the country could face a climate change-driven bushfire crisis by … Read more
On Saturday night, Australia defied the pollsters and re-elected its widely despised right wing government. Is it any wonder that Sydney resident Nick Snelling is feeling pretty devvo right now? Dear New Zealand, We’re really sorry. It wasn’t meant to go down like this, promise. Thanks for your ongoing patience, particularly when it comes to … Read more
The Australian left will need to do a far better job of connecting with voters – and what they really care about – if they’re ever going to regain power, writes Australian political historian Geoffrey Robinson. The Australian election result was a triumph for the Coalition and a defeat for pundits. The result is even … Read more
The Coalition win in Australia has dealt a blow to the hopes of more than 800 refugees stuck on Pacific Islands, writes RNZ Pacific’s Johnny Blades. Refugees in Australia’s offshore processing centres on Nauru and Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island had their hopes pinned on a Labor victory yesterday. Labor’s leader Bill Shorten had promised … Read more
All the polls pointed to a Labor win in Australia yesterday. That’s not what happened at all, writes Michelle Grattan. The Coalition has been re-elected in a shock result in which Labor lost seats in Queensland, Tasmania and NSW and failed to make more than minimal gains nationally. But former prime minister Tony Abbott has … Read more
Why is Australian politics so poisonous? A lot of the blame can be laid at the feet of the right-wing media, which has given a megaphone to reactionary forces within the Liberal Party, writes the University of Melbourne’s Denis Muller. Note: This article was originally published on Thursday 23 August, before the second spill that … Read more
The roulette wheel of Australian politics has spun again, with the marble landing on the conservative MP Scott Morrison. The Sydney MP and treasurer has come through the middle of the Malcolm Turnbull vs Peter Dutton hellfire clash to become Liberal leader and prime minister designate, beating Dutton in the final round 45-40. But: who … Read more
It was a very good week to feel quietly smug about living on this side of the ditch, says editor Toby Manhire. The Spinoff TV, 10.45pm Fridays on THREE
Malcolm Turnbull has just survived a Liberal party-room vote, but the country’s politics are as riven by backbiting as ever. Frank Bongiorno explains how all of this became the norm Back in 2012, a major study on the selection and removal of party leaders in Anglo parliamentary democracies was published. The book contained a section with … Read more