The carbon price “debate” shows the effects of decades of spin. “Carbon cops”, busting down your front door and scaring the kids in pursuit of unauthorised emissions, had been invented by the Coalition.
Labor party
What will lure people back to political parties?
Until parties empower their members and can convince them they can achieve something positive for society, voters won’t be interested.
Guy Rundle: With the Greens in charge, there’s no hope for Labor
The vacuum of leadership in Labor has been filled by the Greens, which is now setting the political agenda. Nobody believes this government can retain power in two years.
Labor needs to shut up, but it can’t stop talking
Labor’s lack of resilience is directly feeding the traditional press gallery obsession with personality politics.
The NSW Labor shit sheet revealing an ‘anaemic’ membership
A NSW Young Labor Right “shit sheet” has inadvertently unveiled the membership cancer at the heart of the NSW ALP at the same time elder statesman John Faulkner slams the party’s “anaemic” culture.
Essential: is ‘cost of living’ a partisan issue?
When it comes to perceptions of “cost of living pressures”, voters see the issue differently according to how they vote.
Guy Rundle: The strange twilight nature of the war in Afghanistan
Prime Minister Gillard’s and Opposition leader Abbott’s words on Lance Corporal Andrew Jones and Lieutenant Marcus Case showed the strange twilight nature of the war.
Is Julia Gillard terminal?
Some Labor MPs think Julia Gillard’s leadership is dead in the water. Others think she can turn it around. The solution is the same in both cases.
Essential: the Labor Party … trashing its brand since 2009…
The extent of Labor’s brand damage is once again apparent, today’s Essential Report shows.
Yes Labor, this is as good as it gets
Limping along clumsily trying to prosecute worthwhile reforms is about as good as it will get for Gillard Labor.
Gillard mixes language of the Right with rhetoric from the Left
Julia Gillard gave a speech on jobs at the Sydney Institute, which almost everyone only heard what they wanted to hear. And what they seemed to want to hear was that Julia Gillard was beating up on unemployed, writes Greg Jericho.
Crikey Says: The prime minister’s policy agenda
Many people have wondered where Julia Gillard’s sudden focus on getting up early, working hard and enjoying the personal value of labour has come from.
Mythbusting Labor’s woes and the decline of social capital
The travails of the New South Wales Labor Party following Saturday’s catastrophic election defeat have revived talk of the urgent need for party reform, writes Mark Bahnisch of blog Larvatus Prodeo.
Anthony Chisholm and Nick Martin duke it out for Nat Sec post
Fears are growing among senior ALP figures that mooted Karl Bitar successor Anthony Chisholm would serve as a part-time National Secretary to allow him to helm Anna Bligh’s bid for a second elected term in office.
Feminists — the faceless women of the ALP
Is Labor so on the nose right now, that no-one can acknowledge what a remarkable job the ALP has done supporting women? asks “faceless woman of the ALP” Tanja Kovac, National Co-ordinator of EMILY’s List Australia.
Essential: Labor cops a hammering
Labor’s carbon price announcement is further battering an already-damaged brand. There is also strong opposition to the government’s carbon pricing announcement, with 48% of voters opposed compared to 35% in support.
The ideology dividing both parties
Ideology and personalities are usually the stumbling blocks to political unity. But they work in quite different ways in the Liberal and Labor parties.
Post-poll ALP review to home in on direct election
The Bracks-Faulkner-Carr post-election review into the current state of the Labor Party will recommend radical revamps to the party’s rapidly congealing internal structure, including multiple direct election proposals to belatedly re-energise the grassroots.
Newspoll: back to 50-50
The latest Newspoll has the two-party vote at 50-50, after an anomalous 52-48 in Labor’s favour a fortnight ago. The Labor lead from a fortnight ago may have proved ephemeral, but the improvement in Julia Gillard’s personal ratings has mostly stuck, reports William Bowe.
Rundle: Planet Janet accidentally gets to the heart of political change
This week’s contribution from Janet Albrechtsen is a way into the heart of political change in Australia, albeit in ways she couldn’t possibly understand.
Country Alliance and Labor strike up an unlikely friendship
Hunting and fishing aficionados the Country Alliance will preference the Labor Party in 10 lower house seats in exchange for Labor preferences in the upper house regions of Northern and Eastern Victoria.
Richardson: Gillard has a lot of work to do
Labor bombed on climate change, rushed to the federal election with barely developed policies and then looked surprised when it blew up in its face. Gillard should take a leaf from the Bob Brown book of politics, declares Labor stalwart Graham Richardson.
A reform government? Gillard is all talk
Julia Gillard talks incessantly about reform. It’s a shame that Labor is incapable of delivering it.
Newspoll: still 50-50
The latest Newspoll shows the parties still araldited together on 50-50 with the two party preferred. But Tony Abbott’s person ratings have dropped a whopping 9 points, says William Bowe.
What the hell does Labor even stand for?
The Labor faithful need to take a long hard look at themselves — regardless of who ends up as PM — and focus on its original ideas, not just snappy marketing campaigns, writes Tim Soutphommasane
