Julia Gillard’s federal cabinet reshuffle — promoting Bill Shorten and Mark Arbib while sacking good ministers — again demonstrates her lack of judgment and fragility.
Mark Arbib
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Reshuffle promotes Gillard’s
‘warlords’
Crikey media wrap: A ministerial reshuffle yesterday resulted in promotions for the architects of Julia Gillard’s prime ministerial coup, a demotion for a Kevin Rudd supporter and a record number of female ministers in Australian politics.
Kicking goals as sport’s most powerful: number 10
By night Labor apparatchik Mark Arbib counts numbers. But by day he’s paid to help decide which sporting bodies get what cash, how much punters can bet and what high-performance drugs are illegal, writes Tom Cowie.
Power Shots: Not-so-powerful Arbib … BlueScope’s bad timing … Katter on bro’s stand …
Not so long ago Mark Arbib was Australia’s No. 1 political powerbroker. Paul Barry looks into why he comes in at number three. Also, fixing legend John Faulkner, bad bonus timing at BlueScope and Bob Katter responds to his brother’s stand on gay marriage.
The massive indigenous employment gap stagnates
How much more evidence that indigenous employment policies are not working will the Gillard government need before it changes its disastrous policy, write Professor Jon Altman and Dr Nicholas Biddle from the Australian National University.
Coup anniversary: where are they now?
Paul Barry and Matthew Knott look back at the main players in the Night of the Long Knives: where are they now?
James Packer shows off his Labor Right pulling power
The James Packer ALP advisory team of Graham Richardson, Karl Bitar and former Kim Beazley chief-of-staff Gary O’Neill, today have played one of their trump cards in the campaign to head off Andrew Wilkie’s pokies reform agenda.
Rudd’s downfall: his own handiwork, and years in the making
Kevin Rudd’s alienation of his colleagues and factional powerbrokers was so great that the end of his popularity meant the end of his prime ministership. Telling backbenchers “I don’t give a fuck what you fuckers think,” probably wasn’t the best start, write Bernard Keane and Paul Barry.
Last Bets: will changing the law fix the fixes?
So Sports Minister Mark Arbib thinks nationwide 10-year jail terms for anybody involved in match fixing will solve what the Sydney Morning Herald described this morning as “the biggest threat to sport since doping”? Good luck.
Political snippets: Richard Farmer’s chunky bits: Difference of opinion … when yes means yes
How refreshing to have that couple of stories in the past week suggesting that the Liberal Party is not completely full of “yes” politicians.
Unsustainable public housing struggles to meet demand
Over the next five years the federal government will invest $20 billion into social and affordable housing, writes Crikey intern Rhiana Whitson.
Bitar’s reign of mayhem comes to an end
Karl Bitar departs Labor’s national secretaryship, leaving a smoking ruin where viable political parties once stood.
Crikey Says: We reserve the right to argue with you. So there.
Happy end of 2010 … we made it. Just.
Crikey’s Annual Awards: and the nominees are…
The nominations are in, and they make for an exceedingly good snapshot of the incredible year that was. Good job you lot.
Political snippets: Women keep going working
The steady growth in the number of women participating in the workforce continues.
Mark Arbib: the faceless inside man
Federal MP Mark Arbib has been revealed as a confidential contact for the US embassy in Canberra in a WikiLeaks cable released to Fairfax early this morning, reports Luke Buckmaster.
It’s the end of marriage as we know it
Should politicians place party loyalty over their own personal conscience? Speaking up for something you believe can do wonders for society. Yes, gay marriage will fundamentally change marriage and that’s OK, writes Zoe Krupka.
gay marriage 
Arbib and Howes will be outflanked on gay marriage
Mark Arbib and union boss Paul Howes have announced their support for gay marriage. Both are influential voices but the Labor Right has the numbers and is very unlikely to support calls for a policy change, writes Phillip Coorey.
Backing gay marriage won’t fix Labor’s identity crisis — but it’s a start
Drifting to the Left on social issues won’t help Labor solve its fundamental problems. But it might jog the party’s corporate memory about what it should do with power.
Political snippets: The quiet Australian
The public is surely in a mood to concentrate on football grand finals rather than politics.
Aarons: Too many factions, too many focus groups
Spinning deals and generating funds form the heart and soul or lack thereof of NSW Labor, and its role in making and breaking Kevin Rudd provides more evidence that the ALP place far too much emphasis on factions and focus groups, says Mark Aarons.
Whistleblower tells of chaos and conufusion behind insulation saga
Glenn Milne has an email from a Deptarment of Environment whistleblower, who claims the pink batts program was just a power struggle between Peter Garrett and Mark Arbib, focused more on PR than good policy.
Holy departmental memo, it’s Batt-man
After a tense day yesterday, it seems that Peter Garrett’s ministerial life will live to see another day. But with 160,000 houses to be safety checked and jobs being lost, the heat isn’t off the Batt-man yet.
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.
Arbib uncertain about green jobs
Employment Minister Mark Arbib seemed unsure of exactly what the 50,000 green jobs promised by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd are — jobs or work experience?
