Labor Finance Minister Senator Penny Wong took to the floor of the South Australian Labor Party convention over the weekend to advocate for gay marriage (a motion passed to push the issue at next year’s national conference). This is her speech to the convention.
November, 2010
2010 Victorian Election 
After the election blast
Two days after the Victorian election and the outcome still remains unclear. William Bowe offers his thoughts on the Greens debacle, how Labor lost it and where to from here.
Wikileaks 
The US embassy cables scandal
It’s diplomatic crisis time for the US, with 250,000 classified cables to US embassies leaked by WikiLeaks: including documents outlining US officials spying on UN leadership, corruption within the Afghanistan government and diplomats spying on the countries where they are posted.
Vic Labor’s surprise
shellacking
Crikey Media Wrap: It came as no surprise that Victoria’s aging Labor government suffered a significant swing against it at the state poll over the weekend, but few pundits predicted anything near the scale of the voter backlash that will almost certainly claim the scalp of Premier John Brumby.
Mayne could emerge as Victorian
powerbroker
Crikey founder Stephen Mayne could hold the balance of power in the Victorian Upper House, with an unexpected Steve Fielding-style preference run close to delivering him the fifth and final seat in the Northern Metropolitan region, writes Andrew Crook.
cricket The Ashes Open Thread: Brisbane Day 4
The English are fighting back! Who would have thought…
How the Greens stuffed inner Melbourne
There’s one lesson from the Victorian election result for the Greens: stop pretending that you are winners. It was a tactical mistake to talk and act as if it was going to win inner city seats, writes Richard Farmer.
Untie mi, Barry: new literacy practices for Kriol speakers
Kriol speakers (as well as other Indigenous language speakers) are getting into new literacy practices like those associated with text messaging, email and facebook. Greg Dickson discusses the curious case of “untie mi, Barry.”
Vic election: follow late counting results
Crikey blog The Poll Bludger tracks late counting results for the Victorian election, which promises to be a focus of fierce interest due to the possibility of a 44-44 tied parliament.
cricket The Ashes Open Thread: Brisbane Day 3
Yesterday was all about Mike Hussey’s mojo. So join Crikey’s Ashes open thread where we discuss, among all things cricket, Mr Cricket’s mojo.
Timor Sea oil spill inquiry: no research, no findings, no responsibility
The Montara (Timor Sea) oil spill for months last year was amongst the worst in Australia’s history and despite clear scientific advice that the impact to marine mammals would stretch decades, no marine survey will be made, notes Dr Margi Prideaux.
Richardson: Vic government will have an unruly upper house
For the Victorian election, the lower house is more of a genuine contest, and the novelty of the reformed upper house has worn off.
Can Sarah Hanson-Young’s cousin pull off a shock upper house victory?
Usually, small parties try to stick together and help each other, but the S-x Party ditched many minor comrades as part of their pact with the two majors.
When off-the-record means front-page news
An off-the-record Christmas drinks with the prime minister turned into a news story, with AAP running an article on its wires recounting private conversations at PM Julia Gillard’s yearly drinks with journalists last night.
Woolies wants a bigger train set, but keeps on trucking
Woolworths says it would happily transfer more of its freight from road to rail if there was an inland Melbourne-Brisbane line, writes Angus Kidman, a freelance writer.
Conroy’s coup in the weird world of anti-siphoning
Stephen Conroy has proposed a substantial overhaul of anti-siphoning — exploiting the fact that the current list doesn’t serve viewers.
Catch 22 for Jetstar over sacked pilot’s safety concerns
Jetstar has been struggling all morning to reconcile its claims that pilots are encouraged to raise safety issues after sacking a first officer, Joe Eakins, who did just that, in an opinion piece published by The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald in October.
Baillieu set to seize power in Victoria: poll
The Liberal Party is set to deny John Brumby his first election victory and seize power in Victoria, according to a Morgan Poll conducted exclusively for Crikey.
So, what does the Coalition stand for?
All the focus has been on what Labor stands for. Yesterday it looked a lot like it was the Coalition that was adrift and lacking policy.
Reflecting on Cambodia’s national day of mourning
Today in Phnom Penhm, a Prime Minister weeps openly with his people, and the streets are silent, writes Emma Leslie, executive director, Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies
Gottliebsen: a very costly ASX trade
I have been able to confirm that the monopoly Singapore Stock Exchange has charges and costs that are about four times higher than the Australian Stock Exchange, writes Robert Gottliebsen, of Business Spectator.
Wickenby brand damaged after ACC back-flip on Hoges
The Wickenby brand has been diminished in the light of the Australian Crime Commission’s (ACC) back-flip this week in calling a halt to the criminal investigation of Paul Hogan and John Cornell, writes Chris Seage, tax consultant and former ATO audit manager.
The ‘torture’ of writing about climate change at The Oz
A former senior News Limited journalist has described trying to write about human-induced climate change at The Australian newspaper as “torture” and has blamed the editor-in-chief for limiting coverage on the topic because he has “taken a political view”.
Poll Bludger: Galaxy poll encourages Coalition, bookies say otherwise
Labor goes into tomorrow’s Victorian election as a barely backable favourite, with offerings on a Coalition win ranging from $4.25 from Sportsbet to $4.65 from Flemington Sportsbet.
