This week, Senators are conducting Supplementary Budget Estimates for the whole week, rather than sitting. For the most part it’s a colossal waste of time and money.
Senate 
Small parties to be squeezed out of Senate?
Electoral reform of the Senate is being floated by the government, in the hope that the likes of Steve Fielding will never get elected on preferences alone, again.
Costello: Early election a gift to the Greens
PM Kevin Rudd doesn’t really want a double dissolution, because he’d prefer the Opposition to pass the ETS scheme and share the blame of future problems, writes Peter Costello.
Balance of power: can we predict Senate seats?
At its most basic level, the relationship between the lower house primary vote and Senate votes is extraordinarily linear and very, very strong. PossumComitatus crunches the numbers so you don’t have to.
Prospects for health reform just got worse
The prospects for health reform in the near future just reduced considerably with the Senate’s rejection of the legislation to reduce the private health insurance (PHI) rebates for high income earners, writes Robert Wells.
Coalition in dangerous territory as health bill stalls
Means-testing of private health insurance rebates has been rejected by the Senate, blowing a A$1.9 billion hole in the budget and serving as a potential trigger for double dissolution.
Political snippets: Downer agrees with Rudd on China, health reform dependent on senate numbers
Health reform will be interesting since the ALP don’t have the numbers in the senate, NAB and their rate cutting, Downer endorsing Rudd’s handling of the Hu case in China.
Airlines, the Senate and the transfer of criminal responsibility
A back door attempt to water down the absolute responsibility of airlines for the actions of their employees and criminalise pilots has been blocked in the Senate.
Steve’s not buying man-made global warming
Well you can’t say Crikey didn’t try to sell climate change to Family First Senator Steve Fielding.
Andrew Bartlett: Feisty final Senate week ahead
The Senate is moving into its final sitting week til mid-August with a large pile of legislation the government insists must be dealt with. And yet the ETS alone could take that long to debate.
Utegate: PM’s office asked treasury to intervene
A treasury official has admitted to a Senate committee that the Prime Minister’s office may have made a representation to him on behalf of a car dealer friend of PM Kevin Rudd.
A big parliamentary fortnight, by any estimate
In the aftermath of the budget, the next fortnight should be a target-rich environment for Opposition senators. If they can’t score some points now, it may be time to give up.
Rudd looking for double dissolution trigger
Kevin Rudd is desperately looking to trigger a double dissolution in the Senate with his changes to the ETS, says Alan Kohler.
If you thought the first 100 days were bad, wait for 200
The first 100 days of the Obama administration will now look like a period of relative prosperity for the GOP — at least compared with the second 100.
Political snippets: A double dissolution trigger is coming
It has been a while coming but Labor will have its double dissolution trigger soon enough. All in the name of alcopops.
Big polluters cry poor. Again.
Having designed a scheme that rewards the biggest polluters with billions of dollars’ worth of free permits, the Government is still facing demands from industry for more compensation.
Mungo: have a nice trip Kevin, see you next fall
The Prime Minister might feel that even if the economic cycle is still clearly running against him, the political climate at least has changed for the better, writes Mungo MacCallum.
ETS: backdown and avoid senate scrutiny
There were two immediate reactions to Wayne Swan’s referral of emissions trading to the House of Representatives Economics committee, writes Bernard Keane.
Fielding the last man standing in stimulus fest
It’s hard to get excited about the unfolding drama of the Senate’s consideration of the stimulus package, writes Bernard Keane.
ALP and Liberal backflips in the final hour of parliament
The mass abstention was a poor look for Turnbull, especially with his Senate leader being amongst their number, writes Bernard Keane.
Senator Fielding a proud supporter of big business welfare
Steve Fielding has been more willing to flex his legislative muscle to assist the big end of town than Mr and Mrs Average, writes Jennifer Doggett.
Senate passes payrise for pensioners in its own good time
Getting the pensioners’ payrise through the Senate called on a steady-as-she-goes, good-process policy development much beloved by old-school bureaucrats, writes Bernard Keane.
Getting to know the Senate
Maiden speeches from our new Senators…
Bob Brown — keeping the bastards guessing
Welcome to the political food chain, guys. Now you have to work out how much you want to trade off policy purity for the sake of getting part of what you want, writes Bernard Keane.
Alcohol industry needs to cut the cr-p on alcopops
If the independent and minor party Senators who hold the balance of power reject the Rudd Government’s tax on ready-to-drink pre-mixed spirits (RTDs), they will reward the alcohol industry for misleading the Senate Inquiry into RTDs, writes Geoff Munro.
