The gay honeymoon with Labor is now officially over, with the ALP simply applying a thin coat of pinkwash over existing failed policy, writes Doug Pollard.
ALP national conference
Political snippets: A guide to the ALP’s talkfest
Richard Farmer brings you a definitive summary of the three-day ALP conference, bemoans a drop in Australian port consumption and other meaty snippets from his cave in Canberra.
Bartlett: ALP conference not what it used to be
The biggest surprise at the ALP’s national conference would be if there were any surprises at all, says Andrew Bartlett.
Unions win some lose some at Ruddfest 09
Ruddfest 09 delivered “good outcomes” for unions, with entitlements for workers of collapsed companies. But workplaces will not become more “union friendly”.
Turnbullfest wouldn’t be the same
Opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull would run a very different Liberal conference to last week’s Ruddfest. Less boring but more criticism for their humble leader?
Will Turnbull be repeating Beazley’s history?
Is opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull destined to be the next Kim Beazley - the great leader that never was? Quite possibly, writes Kerry-Anne Walsh.
Rudd and the ALP: lovers not soul mates
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s relationship with the ALP is a marriage of convenience, writes Annabel Crabb.
ALP conference turtles pull their heads in
When a federal MP likens the ALP front bench to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, you know the ALP National Conference has turned terminal.
VIDEO: Unions at Ruddfest
How are unions involved in the ALP national conference and what are they asking for? ACTU President Sharan Burrow explains in an interview on ABC Radio National.
Gay marriage: ALP conference buzz topic
Gay marriage is turning out to be the hot topic of the ALP national conference with much debate occurring behind the scenes, even if PM Kevin Rudd has publicly quelled the idea.
Publishing ban not expected to be lifted
Although the ALP conference has been largely stage managed, one thing is clear: if the government decides to lift the ban on the parallel importation of books, it will be strongly opposed, says Phillip Coorey.
Labor’s big show not just for true believers
ALP conferences aren’t as wild as the days of Gough Whitlam, but they are appealing to a different crowd now. “Labor might have got boring, but it has got better”, writes Christian Kerr.
ALP conference made redundant
PM Kevin Rudd’s tightly controlled government has neutered the ALP national conference, writes Michelle Grattan and “what the conference decides matters hardly a whit.”
Left out in the cold at ALP conference
The ALP national conference is an ideological mine field, with plenty of neo-liberal haters but few real results for the true left-leaning Labor faithful, says Phillip Coorey.
Arbib uncertain about green jobs
Employment Minister Mark Arbib seemed unsure of exactly what the 50,000 green jobs promised by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd are — jobs or work experience?
Rudd looks long term
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is still the same ‘Kevin from Queensland’, but now he is more focused on conservative long term goals, writes Dennis Atkins.
Bob Hawke: Labor for life
Former PM Bob Hawke will be honoured with life membership to the ALP at this year’s national conference, writes South Australian Premier Mike Rann.
An eerily calm ALP conference
This year’s ALP national conference is a serious affair — “the triumph of android over hominid” — with PM Kevin Rudd serving as a chief robot, writes Annabel Crabb.
Kevin 09: competent, unglamorous and focussed on outcomes
Kevin Rudd today used his opening address to the ALP National Conference to paint his Government as one firmly in the Labor tradition: all social safety nets and nation-building. By his standards it was “soaring rhetoric”.
Faction fighting at ALP convention
The national ALP conference may no longer be that relevant, but the Left faction is still bound to heat things up on issues like gay marriage and 457 visas.
Labor’s fringe haunts the PM at National Conference
With formal proceedings at the ALP National Conference doomed to irrelevancy, the fringe program has assumed centre stage. And it’s where all the fun is.
