Kim Beazley’s father famously observed that once the Labor Party was full of the cream of the working class, but that now it has become full of the dregs of the middle class. Latham may be generational change, but if he is, it is retro – he is the cream of the working class

There is a fair bit of confidence within the ALP that Labor can win the next Federal election. The view is that the electorate is fed up with Howard and would try any sort of genuine alternative. So how does a Latham win affect things? There are two big questions: How will Latham handle the […]

It only takes one to rock the boat, but one is also enough to capsize it. If Latham were to win, the party would be heading for another ducking.

Jeez, I go away for a few days off, pick up a paper on Friday driving back to Perth, and find the ALP leadership issue back on the front page. Sometimes I think politicians will do anything for a headline, even eat their own leader. All that phoning around and the clandestine meetings, it makes […]

Apparently it now takes 45 percent of average income in Sydney to service the typical first mortgage on the average first home. In the rest of the country it is only 28.4 percent. This is good news for all of us.

Kevin Rudd is my local member and as a local member I reckon he’s great, no matter how I vote. He’s also very effective as a foreign affairs spokesman. But if Labor wants to get ahead, making him leader would be the least optimal choice.

Joh Bjelke-Petersen famously couldn’t explain to the Fitzgerald Commission what the doctrine of separation of powers meant, and the whole country laughed. What would you expect from a hayseed “banana bender”? From some of the media comments that followed it was clear that most of those snidely sniggering had no idea either. After his comments […]

In a short biog I once described myself as an “inside observer” of the Liberal Party. While the term hadn’t been invented then, I thought of myself as being in some respects an “embedded” journalist. As we have recently seen, embedding brings its ethical challenges.

What’s the point of rules favouring an “Australian” film industry if that industry can’t even make films that Australians want to watch? Get out of the way guys. There are plenty of other types of content and some of us who are manufacturing it are coming through.

The Queensland Liberal Party State Council last night referred me and Marion Feros to the Liberal Party’s disciplinary committee under Clause 21D of the party’s constitution.