Kevin Rudd isn’t fighting the Opposition over refugees, he’s battling the media, and desperately attempting to depoliticise the issue. Look for the telltale Rudd fear fuelled top lip disappearance.
Coalition
Grattan: Is this the end of the Coalition?
The Coalition is straining to stay together, as the Nationals — lead symbolically by Barnaby Joyce — try to forge their own identity separate to the Libs. But the Coalition would be better off staying together to fight Rudd, writes Michelle Grattan.
The growing force of Barnaby Joyce
Queensland is critical to federal politics, with a growing population and influential seats, but its parties are a mess. The Nationals criticise the Liberals, the Libs fear the power of the LNP and Barnaby Joyce is just looking after himself, writes Scott Prasser.
Finally, the Opposition stop looking like idiots
It’s taken the Federal Opposition quite a while, but it’s now making the government the issue, not itself, writes Lenore Taylor. Now Turnbull just has to make sure Coalition members keep their heads down and mouths shut until the next election. Good luck with that.
Why the Opposition is stuffed
The Federal Opposition nearly managed to get through an entire sitting week last week without making themselves the issue, says Bernard Keane. Nearly. But Nick Minchin and Barnaby Joyce had other ideas.
Guy Rundle: Politicians try to patch up a leaky boat of their own making
The government’s current problems with the Oceanic Viking stem entirely from its being too-clever-by-half – it’s of a piece with Ruddism, the idea that a series of brilliant technical decisions can serve as policy.
Coalition defends allowances to the death
The Coalition joint party room today rebelled against the Government’s restrictions on MPs’ printing allowances for “electoral purposes”, with Malcolm Turnbull labelling it “an assault on democracy”, writes Bernard Keane.
Do the Coalition shuffle!
Whatever happened to the Coalition reshuffle? Remember that? But reshuffles create losers and Malcolm Turnbull, who is one major brain explosion away from losing the leadership, has enough enemies as things stand.
leaked Turnbull digs dirt for headlines
The Oz has its hands on a leaked email from Malcolm Turnbull’s office, urging press secretaries to attack “fat cat public servants not caring about taxpayers, pollies with snouts in the trough, special interest groups getting undeserved handouts” to garner more attention in the press.
No happy endings for Coalition after Minchin’s stance on Telstra
Nick Minchin may succeed in delaying Stephen Conroy’s Telstra break-up Bill. But he is painting the Coalition into a corner on Telstra and it’s not going to end well.
Singing from Howard’s hymn book no help to Libs
Opposition parties that have been in government for a long time often take just as long to realise that they are no longer in government and to start behaving accordingly, writes Dr Aron Paul.
What will Wong’s CPRS actually do?
The Government’s CPRS does nothing to reduce the number of coal-fired power stations, insulates the petrol price from the carbon price, and does not cover agriculture. So what does it do, asks Dr Richard Denniss.
Possum: Coalition’s “economic legacy” in tatters
A new Essential Report has found the public have a favourable view of the Rudd government’s economic management, and they’re dismissing every single economic angle the Opposition has been raising as an attack for the past six months.
Possum: More pain for Malcolm
Over the last few months, the Opposition has played every card from the Howard era: rising interest rates, Labor’s debt, boat people — and yet it’s still suffering in the polls, with today’s Newspoll dealing another blow. Possum Comitatus crunches the numbers.
Turnbull’s execution was all in the mind
Yesterday’s special coalition party room meeting about whether or not Malcolm Turnbull could get the Coalition to agree to make ETS amendments wasn’t so much a damp squib as sopping wet.
Coalition CPRS plan will cost $20 billion
The sheer cost of the Coalition’s CPRS demands — $1.6b in the first full year and over $20b between now and 2020 — will be the biggest problem as Penny Wong and Ian Macfarlane sit down to negotiate this afternoon.
Taylor: This is just round one
Malcolm Turnbull is about to face a big dilemma, says Lenore Taylor: the Government is unlikely to agree to all of his CPRS amendments, and his own party is unlikely to accept any compromise.
Grattan: Turnbull’s won the battle, but not the war
Malcolm Turnbull may have won the first fight with his party over emissions trading, but there are two much bigger battles ahead, says Michelle Grattan: negotiating with the government, then trying to get that deal through the party room. This war is far from over.
Coalition to deal on Rudd’s CPRS
Malcolm Turnbull has finally worn the Coalition backbench down on emissions trading. Bernard Keane looks at the amendments he’ll be bringing to the negotiating table.
The Coalition ride the conveyor belt to electoral slaughter
The idea of the Coalition losing 20 seats next year has now become part of the political furniture, says Bernard Keane. And unfortunately for them, next year is, historically, their best chance at getting back in power for some time.
graph pr0n The grey vote
The ‘Depression Era’ vote is the most electorally significant demographic for the Coalition, says Possum Comitatus. Without it, Howard would have lost in 1998, lost in 2001 and it would have been line ball in 2004. But when they die off, where will the votes come from?
Who cares what the Opposition say?
The Coalition is finally learning that since they’re not in government, media focus is on personalities not politics. But what is their latest debt reduction strategy and is it a good plan?
Turnbull takes his potent template to the west
Whatever his current polling woes, in Malcolm Turnbull, the Liberal Party may just have found a potent template for its political direction and indeed, its very future, writes The Western Warrior.
Poll: Libs up, but Turnbull gets a thumbs down
The latest Essential Report has the Liberal Party up two points with a two-party of 58-42, but an overwhelming majority think Turnbull hasn’t got the temperament or judgment to be a party leader.
Gerard Henderson backs Turnbull
Well, someone had to: Gerard Henderson supports Malcolm Turnbull as leader of the Liberal Party, claiming the media is making too big a deal of the whole leadership debate in the first place.
