In the ashes of the GFC lay Rudd’s broken promisesWhat happened to Australia becoming a world leader in solar energy? Or for students to be fluent in Asian languages? If a week is a long time in politics then two years is an eternity, writes Josh Gordon.
Election 2007
How Pearson tried to save Howard
Indigenous leader Noel Pearson sent a letter to then-PM John Howard in 2007 outlining a potential re-election strategy, a new book has revealed, shedding new light on Howard’s renewed interest in reconciliation at the time.
Business donations crossed the floor in 2007
The 2007-08 political donations data shows a massive surge in business donations to the ALP prior to the 2007 election, compared to prior to the 2004 election, writes Bernard Keane.
Costello overlooks his own unpopularity in memoir
Costello’s argument is that if John Howard had managed the transition issue better, Prime Minister Costello would now be calling the shots, writes Bernard Keane.
Howard’s End silent on why we chose Kevin07
Peter van Onselen and Philip Senior’s Howard’s End provides a detailed explanation of why the Howard Government should have been comfortably re-elected last November, writes Bernard Keane.
What the overseas papers say
Ratifying Kyoto and withdrawing troops from Iraq dominated the international discussion over our new Prime Minister, with a nod to Scores, of course…
Blogwatch: election special
Rudd = Australia’s answer to Pelosi … Queensland lends a helping hand … Let’s talk Iraq now … Same for the US please … A great man gone.
What the papers say
A word of advice to the outgoing Treasurer - don’t read the papers today. They’re not terribly charitable to you or your fallen leader.
New leader, new start
The Liberal Party is in desperate need of leadership, writes Christian Kerr.
What the editorials say
The papers have their say …
MacCormack: The life and death of Peter Costello
Maybe Peter Costello has a cunning plan. More likely, he hasn’t got the stomach for opposition. He didn’t have the guts to be Prime Minister. He certainly won’t have the guts to be Opposition Leader, writes David MacCormack.
Mayne: In defence of Peter Costello
Peter Costello has done the right thing by himself and his family in pulling the plug on politics and deserves to have a highly successful career in the commercial world, writes Stephen Mayne.
Rundle: The Liberal Party has nothing. Nothing
The Libs face years before anything can be regained and in terms of new leaders, they face only bad and worse choices, writes Guy Rundle.
Eleven years of the Tories left the good guys with plenty to do
So, that’s than then. We are all economic conservatives now. And not before time. It may have taken 11 years in the snow to get here, but better late than never one guesses.
For the record – the Last Daily Verdict
Labor clearly won the campaign and snuffed out any chance that John Howard had of snatching a last minute victory, writes Richard Farmer.
The First Dawn of the Rudd Labor Government
And the first of many other things as well…
The collective wisdom of Crikey
Far from being a mob of raving lefties, Crikey readers showed they are quite a conservative lot with their entries in our 2007 Federal Election Competition and quite good judges to boot, writes Richard Farmer.
Kerr: Costello, bastardry and brilliance
Bastardry or brilliance? How about a bit of both? It’s an almighty piece of petulance from Dollar Sweetie, but it’s not without its logic. Costello has given the ALP another scalp, but has also denied them a target, writes Christian Kerr.
Rundle: New life for the struggle for values
The great thing about Saturday’s result, no matter how far to the left one is of Rudd, is that the total dominance of Labor at both levels of government for a whiles to come, gives the opportunity to reshape the context of Australian politics, and the sort of values that are to be placed at the centre of life, writes Guy Rundle
Farmer: The parlous state of the Coalition
It tells us something about the state of the modern Liberal Party when you realise that Saturday’s election gave the Party its best share of the vote in its last nine election appearances, writes Richard Farmer.
Winners. Losers. And what next?
It’s pretty clear who the biggest winner from the election is. Kevin Rudd. But the biggest loser? It’s not John Howard. It’s Peter Costello. Christian Kerr writes.
Oz blogs
The end of the Liberals … Sunday classifieds … Bad news for the Greens … Libs expected worse … The view from the cab … Was all in the timing … Green fashion sense … History repeats … Reality check: Kev - this still holds true
Hamilton: Rudd at Bali and Beyond
When Kevin Rudd announces to the plenary session of the UN climate change conference in Bali in two weeks’ time that Australia will ratify the Kyoto Protocol he will receive an ovation like no other in his life, writes Clive Hamilton.
Flint: The conservative coalition will be back
On 24 November, the Australian people did what many conservatives, including myself, believed they would never bring themselves to do - dismiss a government which on any economic indicator was not only the nation’s but probably the world’s most successful government, writes David Flint.
Comrie-Thomson: What happened in Queensland?
Public humiliation is a sobering experience. In my poll predictions I picked the bleeding obvious in New South Wales and completely misread Queensland, writes Paul Comrie-Thomson.
