Bill Shorten: big ambitions and future leadership potentialInheriting the Future of Financial Advice reforms from Chris Bowen, this year Bill Shorten has come into his own. He has something in short supply in Labor: an ability to effectively argue a case publicly, writes Bernard Keane.
Chris Bowen
Follow Crikey’s latest coverage of Chris Bowen. Crikey’s Chris Bowen coverage includes independent news, blogs and commentary.
Serco manual ‘outdated’, but Bowen won’t talk about new training docs
Immigration Minister Chris Bowen called the 2009 and 2010 Serco training manual published this week by Crikey “out-dated” and “no-longer in use”, yet Bowen, the Immigration Department and Serco have refused to detail how it has been changed.
Mayne: Arbib blazes the trail, now it’s Swan’s turn
The best thing Wayne Swan could do is negotiate a suicide pact with Mark Arbib, his old Nambour High schoolmate.
Gillard’s to-do list to achieve a miracle comeback
If Julia Gillard is to have any chance of turning around her fortunes, she has a brief window of opportunity to overhaul her government.
Crikey Says: Recipe for a beat-up
Start with the headline, and work backwards. Pick a theme. In this case, riff off the idea of a game show giveaway.
Guy Rundle: Refugee debate dominated by compromise, not core promises
The anti-mandatory detention campaign, which came from the Left, has a simple demand — that the country live up to its freely taken-on treaty obligations. Why have commentators like Robert Manne lost sight of that?
A year on, what has changed in asylum-seeker policy?
We’ve gone nowhere on asylum seekers in the past 12 months and they continue to die trying to reach Australia.
Asylum seekers: finding a Political Solution
Crikey media wrap: The Gillard government appeared willing to negotiate its Malaysia Solution even before the latest boat tragedy but the Opposition refuses to compromise on its asylum seeker policy, according to private letters released yesterday.
Bowen wins ALP fight for offshore
processing
Chris Bowen has succeeded in his bid to change Labor’s national platform to allow for offshore processing of refugees after a rancour-filled debate, writes Andrew Crook.
UNHCR data reveals the shifting burden of asylum seekers
It’s easy to be misled by asylum claim figures. The global numbers don’t matter as much as where asylum seekers are coming from.
Malaysia Solution II: Gillard wins support
The ALP National Left has slammed Julia Gillard’s decision to allow immigration minister Chris Bowen carte blanche to decide the offshore processing fate of asylum seekers.
What Metcalfe said … or is understood to have said
Was the head of Immigration verballed by journalists about social unrest? Well, yes and no …
Metcalfe memo to staff: we have to operate in the real world
To follow is the three page memo sent to staff by the secretary of the Department of Immigration, Andrew Metcalfe, the day after the High Court decision…
High court battle fuels leadership speculation
Crikey media wrap: When the High Court struck down the government’s hyped Malaysia refugee plan this week, its decision started a media flurry about the government’s ability to rule — and Julia Gillard’s to lead.
podcast Canberra Calling: The Crikey solution to the non-solution podcast
Crikey’s Canberra correspondent Bernard Keane and Crikey deputy editor Jason Whittaker discuss the High Court ruling against the Malaysian solution and what this means for the Gillard government.
Crikey Says: Headline-making stuff
A collection of what Michelle Grattan described as “the worst collection of front page pictures in recent memory.”
The Media Monitors' Top 20: Malaysian deal boosts Chris Bowen’s press
Chris Bowen put his sternest no exceptions face on, as the complexities of the asylum seeker issue continue to mount up.
Political snippets: Swan song should have different lyrics
When the Treasurer thinks it is reassuring to tell retirees not to panic by taking the dollars out of their super funds, we know that he must be getting jittery.
How can we tell if the Malaysian deal works?
It’s unclear whether the Malaysian deal will work and it has risks, but it is the least-worst solution currently available form the major parties.
Bitar to Crown: ‘from shooting crap inside Labor to casino craps’
Two former NSW Labor powerbrokers rubbish James Packer’s hiring of dumped ALP national secretary Karl Bitar as a Crown Casino lobbyist, suggesting the media scion might be better off dispatching his new charge back to the dole queue.
Our shrinking asylum seeker problem
While Australia’s asylum seeker numbers fall, Labor is ensuring it will always lose the debate by remaining wedded to mandatory detention.
Crikey Clarifier: government’s visa changes v TPVs
The government’s proposed changes to reintroduce temporary visas for certain asylum seekers is worse than Howard-era TPVs, according to Julian Burnside. Crikey intern Anokhee Shah reports.
Eltham: Mandatory detention is morally bankrupt
Our treatment of asylum seekers is akin to the totalitarian dictators that Australia normally stands against. Just because oppressing asylum seekers is popular with voters, doesn’t mean it’s right, declares Ben Eltham.
Convincing politicians to opt out of financial services reform
A low-profile campaign is underway to convince politicians to reverse a key financial services reform that will save Australians billions.
Get Shorten: the opposition’s only highlight
While the Opposition focused on targeting Bill Shorten, Labor appears to have decided there are diminishing returns in keeping a low profile on immigration.
