Parties, databases and campaigning in 2016

With just days to go, the 2016 election seems to be a very close race with opinion polls showing the parties to be neck-and-neck. In such a close battle, the success of the… Continue reading →

Political Analysis of the Budget

  Treasurer Scott Morrison has made a fist from a bad hand he has been dealt in delivering his first (and unless the public back his play on July 2nd, possibly last) national… Continue reading →

Australian party think tanks: symptoms of party malaise or party resilience?

  Australian parties are unusual compared to their Anglo-American counterparts in having their own state funded think tanks.   There are four such entities affiliated to the main parliamentary parties at the present… Continue reading →

To get what you want in Australian politics, stay well away from elections

Under the big top of Australian politics, predicting policy outcomes can feel like being strapped to the pinwheel blindfolded waiting for the knives to fall. Just take the National Disability Insurance Scheme and… Continue reading →

Reforming the Labor Party

It’s the Liberal Party’s organisation that has been in the spotlight in the recent past; preselection contests, such as that for Bronwyn Bishop’s seat of Mackellar, tend to concentrate media attention, if only… Continue reading →

How stable is the Liberal Party?

Since the Second World War the Liberal Party has dominated centre-right Federal politics in Australia.  However, in the last two years major conflicts have arisen between the liberal and conservative wings of the… Continue reading →