Federal Parliament

ACT Greens Climate Change Spokesperson Shane Rattenbury writes:

The level of public and political debate in Australia often digresses away from the substantive issues and into the headline issues of who said what, a series of one-liners that provide an over-simplified response to what are serious issues. This week, on an issue that is fundamental to our survival on this planet, we have seen the debate drop to new lows, and in my view, we’ve seen political tactics and spin used in the very worst of ways by a political leader.

ACT Liberal Senator Gary Humphries writes:

Julia Gillard was right, the Labor Party did lose its way, and to date it hasn't found it either.

The Labor Party are all over the shop at the moment.  They struggle to have a firm position on pretty much anything but the latest release of electoral donations data shows that Labor aren't practising what they preach.

At an ACT Greens orchestrated "Dynamic democracy" forum in the Legislative Assembly this afternoon, Crikey's Bernard Keane and University of Tasmania academic Kate Crowely strung together the oddities of Australia's current political character under the banner "How minority governments have changed the political landscape in Australia".

Like many Canberrans, I left the capital just after Christmas to have a holiday break with my family.

It was pretty confronting to return to phone and radio range to hear about the floods and devastation across Queensland and other parts of Australia. It put our wet camping experience in perspective.

Back in October this year, it was revealed in Senate estimates that, due to funding cuts, the Australian War Memorial Council considered closing the Memorial one day a week as well as cutting the very popular Christmas Carols event.

Since then, we've seen the release of the Department of Veterans Affairs' "Red Book" which tells us of a bleak outlook for this iconic national institution.

Guest blog by ACT Liberal Senator Gary Humphries.

Ever since polling day, we've all known that the 43rd parliament was certainly going to be an interesting one, now the fate of this government rests in the hands of a select few. It means that the Opposition and minor parties have more power than ever before.