Two years ago, Labor held a comprehensive review to fix the party’s problems. Things have gone from bad to worse for Labor, while a Crikey report card finds most of the report’s recommendations have not been implemented. Crikey intern Ben Westcott looks at what happened to the report.
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BOB CARR
Follow Crikey’s latest coverage of Bob Carr. Crikey’s Bob Carr coverage includes independent news, blogs and commentary.
Haigh: why we’re wasting our seat at the UN Security Council
Bob Carr is not making use of Australia’s Security Council seat. Will we ever stop following in lockstep with the Americans and show some Aussie initiative? Retired diplomat Bruce Haigh offers suggestions.
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Fraud just the beginning of aid program’s woes
AusAID’s scholarship program is wasteful and is possibly being defrauded, writes AID/WATCH’s Matt Hilton. Why are we spending millions on programs that don’t work or just help a handful of people?
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Tips and rumours
Australians snub the Pope? … will hardware giant sack staff … trouble at t’ sugar mill …
READ MORETips and rumours
Has Bob Carr deleted Facebook page? … Ian Macdonald scandal spreads to car rally … can Crikey’s Cinderella go to Rupert Murdoch’s ball?
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Pariah Myanmar comes out as relations thaw
Burmese president Thein Sein is visiting Australia as tensions thaw between the West and Myanmar. But significant questions surrounding human rights remain.
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Richard Farmer’s chunky bits
Was Prisoner X’s real name Benjamin Burrows? Or Ben Allman? It’s all very strange. Plus other political issues of the day.
READ MOREBob’s Dubai drama: Carr should call bluff in diplomatic poker
Bob Carr is naive in his dealings with Dubai to free two Australian businessmen. The Foreign Minister has to call the bluff of those in charge, writes retired diplomat Bruce Haigh.
READ MOREThe moral inconsistency of Australia’s stance on Iran
Iran is alleged to have an active nuclear weapons program. There is no evidence to prove it has one — and the sanctions that Bob Carr is proposing are unfair, writes political researcher NAJ Taylor.
READ MORENothing new: ‘aid’ has long gone to business, immigration, military
The latest case of foreign aid being diverted to cover the processing of asylum seekers in Australia is part of a long, bipartisan trend of raiding aid “in the national interest”. Thulsi Narayanasamy and Gareth Bryant of AID/WATCH explain.
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The dangers of regime change as Syria hovers on the brink
With Syria’s Bashir al-Assad poised for defeat, what will replace his regime? It would be a mistake to blindly back anti-Assad forces with little legitimacy on the ground.
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Brown’s Rwanda rejection no surprise in a country far from free
Bob Brown had his visa rejected for a trip to Rwanda, where political intimidation is still worryingly frequent. Shant Fabricatorian, a journalist who spent five months in the country last year, reports.
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Gillard’s good week undermined by Kevin ‘look at me’ Rudd
Julia Gillard has had a good week in foreign policy. But Kevin Rudd continues to behave as though her political demise is just around the corner.
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Richard Farmer’s chunky bits: Carr with L plates
Bob Carr’s learning curve … Where have all the waiters gone? … US election polls …
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Think again on uranium sale to illiberal UAE
If our relations with China have taught us one thing, it is that politics is politics and business is business. Lowy Institute fellow Dr Rodger Shanahan reports at The Interpreter.
READ MOREPhoney war on foreign policy misses the bigger picture
Recent spats over Australia’s foreign policy amount to a phoney war and mask the lack of debate on the international issues that should matter, writes Rory Medcalf, director of the International Security Program at the Lowy Institute.
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Bob Carr, in full flight from the facts on Assange
On Insiders yesterday, Bob Carr made some very careful statements on Julian Assange designed to give the government cover, but he made some highly dubious and simply false assertions, writes Bernard Keane.
READ MORECarr confronts messy legacy in democratically-challenged Fiji
The Fiji coup was an embarrassing failure of Australian policy. Now Bob Carr has to help fix the mess.
READ MORESydney’s second airport has all sides of politics in trouble
If you were a stranger in Sydney this morning in a taxi that had just endured the congestion at its small, dysfunctional airport, you’d be blasted by talkback radio in full frenzy over its second Sydney airport saga.
READ MOREUsing children in the climate-change debate
Crikey readers have their say.
READ MOREKeep up the blog, Bob
Based on everything they’ve seen and learnt, an ex-politician has a real shot at putting together some pretty decent policy, especially since they’re no longer required to sell it to the public.
READ MOREOpening the book on NSW Labor, from Carr to oblivion
The last Labor government in this state, rejected a year ago, was “the worst government NSW has seen”. And, according to Rodney Cavalier, the party that began in Balmain in 1891 has now passed into history.
READ MORERundle: PNG a perfect storm for Carr to run amok
For Bob Carr, PNG is the perfect storm. It’s a chance to start a fight about national sovereignty, modernity and cultural relativism. He may well have license to run amok.
READ MOREWayne versus Clive
Crikey readers have their say.
READ MORECan Bob Carr make a smooth leap from small to big pond?
Successful state premiers are often tempted to make the leap to federal politics. Few make a smooth progression but early signs suggest Bob Carr will be an exception, writes Norman Abjorensen.
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