• A plague on both houses

    Michelle Grattan     |      January 24, 2026

    Sussan Ley may pay the price for the implosion of the Coalition, but the blame rests squarely with Nationals leader David Littleproud whose leadership should also be on the line.

  • Lessons in crisis leadership

    Toby Newstead     |      January 24, 2026

    Macho “can do” leadership appeals to the public in times of national crisis but a more considered values based approach would probably produce better results.

  • Bondi royal commission finally announced

    Michelle Grattan     |      January 10, 2026

    Prime Minister Anthony Albanese prides himself with being in tune with the public mood, but holding out for weeks against a royal commission into antisemitism misjudged that mood, making Thursday’s backdown a humiliation.

  • Australia’s quirkiest politicians

    Robert Hortle     |      December 27, 2025

    Australia has a fine tradition of unconventional politicians at all levels of government and there are many lesser-known characters in the annals of history that deserve some time in the spotlight.

  • Albanese stumbles over a Royal Commission

    Michelle Grattan     |      December 24, 2025

    Anthony Albanese’s refusal to call a national royal commission in the wake of the Bondi massacre may have any number of political motivations but sorely misjudges the public mood.

  • Australia’s electoral earthquake

    Mark Kenny     |      December 23, 2025

    Niki Savva’s new book “Earthquake” offers a damning account of Liberal Party’s disastrous campaign in the 2025 Federal Election.

  • Australia in a disordered world

    Mike Hughes     |      December 21, 2025

    Australia’s prosperity, stability and strategic freedom has historically been underwritten by a great power that shared our values. First it was Britain, then the United States, but Chinese dominance will strive to destroy them.

  • Too little, too late?

    Michelle Grattan     |      December 19, 2025

    Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a suite of legislative and other action to combat antisemitism including new measures against hate speech and extra power to reject visas, but is it too little, too late?

  • Exploring deliberative democracy

    Adele Webb     |      December 19, 2025

    Politicians who owe their status to traditional frameworks bank on people not caring enough about democracy to demand new forms of direct representation, but research shows that reforms would be popular.

  • Bringing it all back home

    Michelle Grattan     |      December 19, 2025

    The Bondi atrocity remind us how quickly the political landscape can change and how Australia’s increasingly multi-cultural society now reflects and replicates the problems of the world, rather than offering a haven from them.

  • Beasts, slaves and Gods

    Matthew Sharpe     |      December 17, 2025

    Aristotle’s seminal work on “Politics” contains wisdom and warnings for our modern age in which the promise of a technological utopia is being used to normalise jaw dropping disempowerment and inequality.

  • More than gun laws need reform

    Michelle Grattan     |      December 16, 2025

    Federal, state and territory governments have agreed to the biggest overhaul of Australia’s gun laws since the Howard government’s post-Port Arthur reforms, in a response to the Bondi massacre that has claimed the lives of 15 victims.