Career, culture and character: New Zealand’s three women Prime Ministers

When Jacinda Ardern became New Zealand’s Prime Minister in 2017, not only was she the youngest PM in 150 years, but she was also the country’s third female leader. When it comes to women in politics in general, there seems to be a lot that we could learn from our neighbours.

Are Australians ready to embrace libertarianism?

How much influence does libertarianism have on Australian politics? The first thing to know is that the Australian political system has very few libertarians in it.

The worried West – Chronic decline or hypochondria?

Being Russian, North Korean or Chinese at this moment in history and watching liberal democracies talk themselves into decline must be odd but satisfying.

Huntington redux? A new era of civilisational politics

A quarter of a century after Samuel Huntington published ‘The Clash of Civilisations’, the issue has returned to the world stage with a vengeance. However the issue can be a Pandora’s box and, once released, the idea of cultural incompatibility can be very difficult to contain.

How Oz politics works

A twenty year veteran of the Canberra Parliament reporting scene, Graeme Dobell takes a wry look at the cut throat world of Australian politics, a place where you’re always on your own and, in the end, you’ll let everyone down.

A crisis of trust – The rise of Australian protest politics

Protest politics is on the rise in Australia, and the main cause is collapsing trust in politicians and the major parties, according to a new Grattan Institute report.

Replacing Federation: Why and with what?

Is it time to move on from federation? Constitutional expert Klaas Woldring argues that there are 3 major reasons to update the order and suggests a more productive model of government would be a two-tier system.