Political news and analysis from the ACT and Federal Parliaments
IN 2015 journalist Margo Kingston asked Pauline Hanson why she had James Ashby – someone with a chequered political history – working for her. Kingston was the author of a 1999 book about Hanson and […]
MALCOLM Turnbull has asked UK Prime Minister Theresa May to convey Australia’s solidarity, love and prayers to the people of Manchester after what he called a horrific terrorist attack and shocking loss. In a telephone […]
“For around 10 years I have argued in this column that all the elected members of the Labor Party have a conflict of interest regarding poker machines,” writes political columnist MICHAEL MOORE
“Attempts by ministers to deflect responsibility for their own shortcomings by insisting that the Aboriginal community was ‘confused’ or had ‘misunderstood’ the intended purpose of the facility simply inflamed the situation,” writes JON STANHOPE
MALCOLM Turnbull has asked the Australian Federal Police commissioner, the attorney-general and the justice minister for advice about the revelation that Pauline Hanson’s key adviser, James Ashby, floated the idea of One Nation scamming public […]
THE budget did enough to ward off a credit downgrade from the ratings agency Standard and Poor’s (S&P), partly thanks to the A$6 billion slug on those big banks everybody loves to hate. But the […]
STANDARD and Poor’s Global reaffirmed a negative outlook and is questioning the government’s projection about when the budget will return to surplus, but has still maintained Australia’s AAA credit rating. The agency’s maintenance of the […]
ONE-time New South Wales premier Nick Greiner is firming to become the next federal president of the Liberal Party. It is believed that businessman Greiner, 70, a moderate who was premier between 1988 and 1992, […]
“Realpolitik is at the centre of the Morrison Budget, which even managed to adroitly back down on previous commitments,” writer political columnist MICHAEL MOORE
THE government inoculated itself against the post-budget polls. Budgets don’t produce bounces, people said. True for the most part – though there were Newspoll bounces (three points or better) in 1996, 1999, 2000, 2009, and […]
A TRIUMPHAL Andrew Barr, today (May 15) unveiled what he said was, since self-government, an “unprecedented” funding boost of $21 million to the ACT arts sector – but it wasn’t all it was cracked up […]
THE Coalition has slipped further behind in Newspoll, trailing Labor 47-53% in two-party terms, despite a pragmatic budget that moved the government onto ALP ground in a bid to win back voters. Labor slightly widened […]
SCOTT Morrison is by nature a chameleon. There is the aggressive, crash-through – and often crash – hyper-partisan Scott. And then there’s the Scott we observed in the budget and on Wednesday at the National […]
OPPOSITION Leader Bill Shorten has said Labor will oppose the budget’s increase in the Medicare levy hitting taxpayers on incomes under A$87,000. And he has flagged a Labor government would reimpose the deficit levy on […]
TAXPAYERS will be hit with a rise in the Medicare levy and the big banks face a new tax in a budget that pitches to win back disillusioned voters and to reassure the rating agencies. […]
“The focus is on ensuring the young people who are determined to take an illicit drug actually understand the impact of what they are doing,” says political columnist MICHAEL MOORE
OPPOSITION Leader Alistair Coe says the Liberals won’t cop the Chief Minister’s Land Development Agency carve up. “Andrew Barr’s attempt to resolve systemic and controversial issues rife within the Land Development Agency by splicing it […]
ACT Sports Minister Yvette Berry failed to initiate a feasibility study into a Gungahlin indoor sports centre, despite claiming in February that the study was underway. That’s the claim by Opposition Sport and Recreation spokesman […]
FOREIGN Minister Julie Bishop has refused to sack controversial Muslim woman Yassmin Abdel-Magied from the board of the Council for Australian-Arab Relations (CAAR), resisting pressure from some in government ranks. Replying on Monday to a […]
THE battle between the Catholics and the government on the schools funding plan appears to be ramping up, with Catholic education authorities deciding to intensify their campaign. Catholic education sources said a discussion of the […]
dance / “Orb”. Sydney Dance Company. At Canberra Theatre May 25–27. Reviewed by BILL STEPHENS.
“LIKE Canberra” a local political party, who ran in the 2016 ACT election, has been removed from the ACT’s register of political parties today, May 26, according to acting ACT electoral commissioner Ro Spence. The […]
A NARROW focus on markets puts choice and control for people with disability at risk according to two publications released by the ACT Council of Social Service (ACTCOSS) and People With Disabilities ACT (PWD ACT). The ACTCOSS’ […]
IN 2015 journalist Margo Kingston asked Pauline Hanson why she had James Ashby – someone with a chequered political history – working for her. Kingston was the author of a 1999 book about Hanson and […]
THE ACT government has announced that, as part of the 2017-18 Budget, $85 million will go towards upgrading and expanding classrooms and facilities in local public schools. The money will go to creating new learning […]
