How do you say goodbye to a global icon? The answer must be: with dignity and by being true to the values that he fought for. By these standards, we all have done Nelson Mandela a disservice. The international…
Modern diplomacy requires a more delicate touch.
Haydn West/PA Archive/Press Association Images
A report from the British Academy has warned that a lack of foreign language skills could undermine the UK’s future security and capacity for global influence. The report warns of an apathy towards language…
George W Bush: a man not to be misunderestimated.
John Giles/PA Archive
Most people agree on the qualities that a leader should have: we prefer to follow people who are confident, decisive, ambitious and persuasive rather than the insecure, dithering, apathetic and weak. So…
Scott Morrison has defended his directive for asylum seekers to be called ‘illegal maritime arrivals’.
AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts
Immigration minister Scott Morrison is new to government, but he is a seasoned campaigner on Australia’s response to boat people. He knows how to get attention on this issue and he knows how to use the…
What sort of political system could Scottish independence produce? The debate in the referendum of 2014 shares with debate on the devolution referendum in 1997 a focus on the Nordic experience. In both…
Appearance matters in the impressions we form, and the face perhaps most of all.
Lukas Coch/AAP
The idea a politician’s face would influence our vote one way or another seems preposterous: who would be swayed by something so seemingly trivial, so manifestly beside the point? But looks, alongside…
Election FactCheck is checking key claims in political advertisements. Here we look at the “Rudd’s record” ad from the Liberal Party. Kevin Rudd was borrowing $100 million every day. Now we have a $254…
A still from an ALP advertisement. Which party is spending more to get the message across?
“In every recent election, state and federal, the Labor Party has massively outspent the Coalition and this election is going to be no exception.” - Opposition leader Tony Abbott, press conference, 21…
Frosty: Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin at the G8 summit this year.
Wikimedia Commons
Barack Obama has so far held firm against a growing chorus demanding that the US should boycott the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi after Russia’s introduction of discriminatory laws banning gay “propaganda…
We take a closer look at the claim the prime minister has made on the Murdoch press in Australia.
“Mr Murdoch is entitled to his own view… he owns 70% of the newspapers in this country.” – Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, press conference, 6 August. One of the more spirited discussions of the first week…
“The swinging voter is often very disengaged [and] very hard to get to.” - Former ALP campaign adviser Neil Lawrence, ABC TV’s Q&A, 1 July. There are two parts to this statement from Neil Lawrence…
Hard hats at the ready: a Johnson-Osborne clash over transport funding may be a dress rehearsal for a much bigger fight ahead.
Matt Dunham/PA Wire
The clash between Boris Johnson and George Osborne over cuts to Transport for London’s budget, which would scupper the mayor’s 2020 vision for a cycling city, represents far more than an argument over…
While reporters’ political biases are always hotly debated, other biases remain - including too few voices from diverse backgrounds.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Most Australian journalists describe themselves as left-wing, yet amongst those who wield the real power in the country’s newsrooms, the Coalition holds a winning lead. But while the media’s political…
There’s a strong financial case to selling Medibank Private, but politics has made privatisation an unpopular choice.
AAP/ Joel Carrett
At first sight it is surprising that neither the government nor the opposition, both seeking budgetary savings, is proposing to sell Medibank Private. When retiring Medibank Private chairman Paul McClintock…
It used to be said that Japan had a first-rate economy with third-rate politics. Ahead of the hastily announced general election later this month, it’s clear that the second half of this saying is still…
Malcolm Turnbull’s call to change Question Time is admirable. He has proposed looking to the British system, where the Prime Minister is only required to answer questions one day a week, giving other ministers…
Leave “wicked” to the witches and let’s get on with the job of policy research.
Witches image from www.shutterstock.com
Wicked problems, so we are told, are everywhere. Climate change, conflict, an ageing population, obesity… the list goes on. The debate over asylum seekers, difficult and important and politically charged…