GetUp is a unique political organisation in Australian politics. Since their formation in mid-2005 they have accrued over 1,000,000 members, and fundraise about $8 million annually, from mostly small donations. In 2016… Continue reading
With the next election increasingly likely, it’s a good opportunity to take stock. Let’s think back to federal election night, Saturday 2 July, 2016. For those looking to get to bed before midnight… Continue reading
In the furore over Chinese political donations, the broader electoral reform agenda can easily be forgotten. Australia was once a pioneering democracy but it has fallen behind in protecting its reputation for electoral… Continue reading
After the recent by election in Batman, the Australia Labor Party (ALP) made headlines because the party had achieved near gender parity with 48% of women elected in the Australian Parliament. Discussions of… Continue reading
Immediately after John Kerr had sacked the Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam returned to the Lodge, set the table and sat down to eat steaks. As they ate, he and his closest colleagues thrashed… Continue reading
One thing that struck me recently when I was re-reading Fred Daly’s memoirs From Curtin to Kerr (1977) was his view that the Senate was essentially irrelevant to day to day Australian politics. … Continue reading
Are the Australian systems of government, at state and federal levels, “parliamentary”? Most scholars certainly think so, but there have long been disagreeing voices. A parliamentary system of government requires that the legislature… Continue reading
At the federal level, only 10- 15% of political donations are transparently declared by our political parties. This was the major finding of my research recently published in Australian Journal of Public Administration.… Continue reading
The creation of citizenship registers in Parliament appeared to be the end of the dual citizenship saga. But, the last few weeks, with a new case of dual citizenship in the Federal Parliament,… Continue reading
This symposium in the Australian Journal of Political Science highlights how scholars are engaging with cutting edge research questions on the transformative effects of online political participation and new forms of online collective… Continue reading
