Oakes: Tough talking Rudd misses the real baddiesRather than “beating the anti-asylum seeker drum’, Kevin Rudd should criticise the Sri Lankan government for their treatment of Tamils. That might improve conditions and decrease refugees, argues Laurie Oakes.
Kim Beazley
Big tick for Beazley/Nelson
appointments
This week’s Essential Report comes in with a two-party preferred vote of 59-41 -– a 1-point gain to the ALP — and finds Aussies give a thumbs-up to Brendan Nelson and Kim Beazley’s ambassadorial appointments.
Environment shouldn’t be a ball in political game
The latest Newspoll tells the real double dissolution story: the electorate wants an Emissions Trading Scheme but it doesn’t want an early election over it.
Inside the inner Rudd sanctum
The design of the parliamentary office of PM Kevin Rudd’s inner circle says much about the power factions of the Rudd government. Mark Davis examines who sits where.
Hartcher: Rudd plays nicely with the other team
Australian pollies aren’t known for their bipartisanship, although PM Kevin Rudd is changing that with his latest ambassadorial postings. Or, is Rudd just forward planning for his own career? asks Peter Hartcher.
Fair shares: Nelson gets the EU, Beazley gets US
In another deft display of bipartisanship, Kevin Rudd has immediately followed Brendan Nelson’s farewell to Parliament with a surprise announcement that the former Opposition Leader will be appointed EU and NATO Ambassador.
Crikey Says: Overseas postings: send your critics far, far away
The Prime Minister had big news this morning, announcing Kim Beazley and Brendan Nelson as new ambassadors. Is Mark Latham’s ambassadorial posting due any second now?
Mr Beazley goes to Washington
Kim Beazley will head to Washington as the next US ambassador. And in a smart nod to bipartisanship, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has also just announced Brendan Nelson as Australia’s new ambassador to the EU and NATO.
Telstra decision is just good policy
There’s an element of politics in Communications Minister Stephen Conroy’s decision to break Telstra up. But it’s also good policy that finally corrects the huge mistake Bob Hawke and Kim Beazley made.
Who will be the next ambassador to the US?
Obama’s pal Jeff Bleich was announced as the new US ambassador to Australia. Dennis Atkins speculates on the contenders for the plum job of Australian ambassador to the US.
Tips and rumours: Things to change at The Oz?
Is The Oz set for a major overhaul? And what’s happening down at the ATO?
Beazley or Carr as US ambassador?
Thanks to PM Kevin Rudd’s public service shake up, speculation is mounting over who will be Australia’s new US ambassador. The two hot favourites: Kim Beazley and Bob Carr, writes Phillip Coorey.
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.
graph pr0n Comitatus: Rudd vs Howard at 17 months
Another quarter has passed, so it’s probably time we updated our Howard vs. Rudd polling comparisons.
The Howard Years: history told by the players
The Howard Years is an illustration of the problems of history-telling, writes Peter Brent.
Crikey Says: Crikey says
These are indeed lean days for cronyism.
Blogwatch: the first 100 days
What about gay rights? … Enough hubris already … More air miles than ever before.
Richard Farmer’s political bite-sized meaty chunks
Not going to dinner … Exposing a weak man … Biting Malcolm back … The pathway to politics … Out with fluffy symbolism! … The Daily Reality Check …
Crikey scoop: Beazley’s going back to uni
Now that Kevin Rudd has shut the door on giving out overseas ambassadors’ postings to former ALP notables, some of them have announced their moves into academia, writes Alex Mitchell.
Newspoll: Better than it might have been for Dr Brendan
There’s no real surprise in the voting intention or preferred prime minister figures in the first Newspoll for the year. Indeed, they are academic. Still, opposition leader Brendan Nelson can draw heart from his approval rating, writes Christian Kerr.
Flint: Can the Queen’s representative be a republican?
In this regard, it should be recalled the Governor-General is not the representative of the British Queen, but of The Queen of Australia. Although this mistake is often repeated, the distinction is fundamental, writes David Flint.
Mungo: Howard’s decline and fall, part 2
In our continuing series of extracts from Mungo MacCallum’s new book “Poll Dancing: The Story of the 2007 Election,” he looks at the unlikely rise of Kevin Rudd: “I had always been somewhat ambivalent about Rudd…”
Turnbull knows not to turn away opportunity
It’s interesting to listen to the chorus of voices telling Malcolm Turnbull not to go for the Liberal leadership so soon: first-term opposition leaders are doomed, it could ruin his career, better to let someone else take the first turn, writes Charles Richardson.
Don’t forget 39 Labor MPs didn’t want Kevin Rudd
Slicing through Labor’s post-election euphoria is the stark fact that 39 of Prime Minister-elect Kevin Rudd’s parliamentary colleagues voted against him for the leadership less than 12 months ago, writes Alex Mitchell.
