Articles by Bernard Keane

The Obama administration is engaged in a war on investigative journalism, backed by national security laws. The internet may free up information, but it also aids government surveillance.

Polling will definitely influence the election outcome on September 14 — but not necessarily in the way you think. Evidence that polling directly influences how people vote is mixed — especially in Australia where nobody wants to be the front-runner.

What’s in for me? Today’s Essential Report finds a curious response from voters to last week’s budget — voters think they’ll be worse off from the budget, but want the government to do more to cut spending.

The Coalition’s sudden enthusiasm for spending cuts is rather hypocritical — but a welcome embrace of fiscal responsibility. Both major parties are lifting their game, improving the dire standards in political debate.

Tony Abbott’s budget reply speech suggests that, despite a “budget emergency”, a Coalition government’s fiscal policy would be broadly similar to Labor’s. His rhetoric is austere, but his promises are not.

This year has demonstrated that the Opposition can produce policy without too much risk. The budget reply is an opportunity to continue that.

ASIC has been revealed as the agency behind the blocking of a Melbourne education website, using a hitherto-unused internet censorship power.

If Wayne Swan had had a couple more budgets like last night’s, he might have faced a different electoral fate.

As in previous budgets, a huge chunk of Wayne Swan’s savings are actually tax rises or the closure of tax loopholes. He’s also targeted some relatively painless areas — big companies, public servants — for squeezing.

Treasurer Wayne Swan’s 2013-14 budget reflects his time as Treasurer: great economic outcomes, but delivered in a confused and incoherent way, writes Bernard Keane.

Wayne Swan’s sixth and likely final budget charts a path to surplus, but fails to take enough tough decisions to rein in spending, writes Bernard Keane.

US agencies are grappling with the same technological challenges as British and Australian agencies but have the advantage of being able to act beyond the law.

Both Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott have improved their standing with voters, this week’s Essential Report reveals, but voters aren’t impressed with Abbott’s Paid Parental Leave scheme — especially Liberal voters.

The UK and US appear to have diverged on the issue of internet surveillance, and that has serious implications for the efforts of Australia’s security establishment to impose data retention.

The Coalition has finally unveiled its IR policy, a minimalist document that is not without its concerns for trade unions — and anyone walking past a building site.

Behind the apparent fiscal chaos, the government is doing what it always does before its federal budget — announcing the nasties beforehand. Will there be goodies on budget night?

The John Singleton-Gai Waterhouse saga is a non-story that sums up where the mainstream media is headed. It’s a ready-made narrative without meaning, and it’s easy for the media to cover. Get used to this.

Big writedowns in revenues are a problem, but a slow path back to budget sustainability can be found by curbing big spending and tax items. Crikey’s political correspondent draws up his fantasy budget.

A week out from what is expected to be a deficit budget, Essential asked voters their views on public debt. We’re pretty ignorant, and we blame the government for what we see as a problem.

On Wednesday, it was revealed David Hicks would be appealing against his conviction for supporting terrorism. Except it had all been reported six months ago, and no one bothered to check — or to get the story right.

Labor’s poor performances in 2010 may ensure it only loses the next election, rather than being wiped out.

Julia Gillard’s speech on the government’s fiscal challenge repeated Labor’s bizarre claims that it understands that Aussie families are “doing it tough” due to “cost of living pressures” — which the government knows is nonsense.