Intro: Extract of Still Not Happy, John: Defending our Democracy (Penguin 2007) Democracy v. the Beast Her appeal was simply that she represented something authentic in a culture of artefact. She was transparent in an era during which the political class have become expert at concealment. She was a still point in a culture […]
Time to be Alert … And a little bit Alarmed? – the @sarah_capper column
September 20, 2014
Yes, that’s right, last week Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced the Government was raising Australia’s ‘terror alert’ status to ‘high’. While technically this means a terrorist attack on Australian soil is now regarded as “likely”, the PM was quick to clarify that “this does not mean that a terror attack is imminent. We have no […]
Cory’s manifesto: Book review by Lola Montgomery @lolathevamp
January 24, 2014
By Lola Montgomery @lolathevamp 24th January 2014 The Conservative Revolution hit the internet in a storm of outright criticism. Twitter was awash with Senator Cory Bernardi. The book became the Australian political punching bag of Amazon.com, with mock reviews serving as comedic outlet for many citizens’ frustration with the current Australian government. The reviewers mostly admitted […]
Cory’s book: Part 2 of a blow-by-blow fact check series by @adropex
January 19, 2014
[clear] [clear] By Lesley Howard @adropex 19 January 2014 In Chapter 2 “The First Pillar: Faith” Bernardi presents a strong and considered study of the historical contribution Christianity has made to Australia’s national development and how this heritage is represented in the laws and moral codes of Australian society today. Bernardi proposes that faith is fundamental to […]
Doing politics differently: @indigocathy maiden speech
December 2, 2013
Madam Speaker, Colleagues, special guests, friends and family. Madam Speaker, warm congratulations on your election. I thank you and my colleagues for your warm welcome. I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners and custodians of this land, both past and present. Today I am going to share a story – about myself, about my electorate […]
Greens Indi candidate @JennyJenocon on #Indivotes
September 1, 2013
By Jenny O’Connor, Greens Candidate for Indi September 1, 2013 This is my tenth year of campaigning for the Greens in Indi – and by far the most interesting. Usually there is no contest: Labor runs a well-meaning but no-chance candidate; I try to increase the Green vote – it’s risen from less than three percent […]
Time for policy meat from the incoming Abbott government, but how can we get it?
August 19, 2013
by Margo Kingston 19 August 2013 It’s over for Labor. I knew it intellectually when I saw Rudd steal from the Coalition the Northern Australia policy Labor had already destroyed, then hold up a bottle of vegemite to scare voters about a GST Abbott had convincingly ruled out in his first term. I felt it when […]
Abbott-v-truth on ‘illegals’
April 24, 2013
By Tony Yegles April 24, 2013 Leigh Sales won a Walkley Award for her interview with Mr Abbott on the 730 Report in August 2012. Part of this interview dealt with the issue of using the term “illegal” when referring to asylum seekers. Below is a quick reminder. LEIGH SALES: Why have you referred repeatedly […]
Abbott’s fear and loathing advertising for his ‘trust me’ election campaign
April 23, 2013
Is this the road Tony Abbott has chosen to travel to get voters to trust him? Blast from past: Lindsay leaflet scandal in 2007 And now… Bendigo and Eden Monaro pamphlet Western Sydney letter-box drop Luke Mansillo deconstruction Liberal Party misinformation targets low educated anti-migrant Labor Party identifiers in Western Sydney Western Australia billboard I just […]
