Politics
Don't blame Gillard, Labor's nadir has been a team effort
PAUL SHEEHAN Whoa. The political storm engulfing Julia Gillard has become hysterical. When the unelected and unaccountable start baying for her blood, the cure is worse than the disease. What brought Labor to its current low point was a team effort. She is being blamed for the actions of many. The Prime Minister should hold her course.
The homework is done - it's now time to put Gonski into action
Ken Boston Opinion There is a sentiment pinched by Manning Clark from Dostoevsky: "I want to be there when everyone suddenly understands what it has all been for." That is much how I feel about the Gonski report. The report is an achievable solution to the decline in Australia's education performance and to the unrealised potential of our education system.
Power without passion - the party needs a little punk
Martin McKenzie-Murray Opinion Labor's soul is being slowly eroded by professional politicians.
Take a deep breath, Labor
Nick Dyrenfurth Opinion Dumping Gillard or severing union ties will not solve the ALP's deeper problems.
Lure of the limelight: has Kristina Keneally got 'relevance deprivation syndrome'?
SEAN NICHOLLS 12:26pm Opinion In the words of one senior Labor figure, it is an occurrence so regular "you can almost set your calendar for it".
The return of the Australian magnate
Andrew Leigh 10:45am Opinion Imagine a ladder, in which each rung represents a million dollars of wealth. On this ladder, the typical Australian household is halfway to the first rung. Someone in the top 10 per cent is at least 1 1/2 rungs up. A household in the top 1 per cent is at least 5 rungs up. Gina Rinehart is 5 1/2 kilometres off the ground.
Jump off the policy pendulum
ROSS GITTINS Opinion I like Americans. I have American friends, and I remember a trivial incident that endeared me to Americans forever. We were in a funicular going up one of the hills surrounding Lake Como in Italy, at close quarters with a group of Yanks. They were joking and teasing each other in a way that struck my contact-deprived mind as very Australian.
Baillieu's sacrosanct surplus
JOSH GORDON Opinion The government is pursuing a high-risk strategy that could backfire if its cuts fail to deliver the promised benefits.
Mediocrity is leaving us without even a sporting chance
Jonathan O'Donnell-Young Opinion Australia can scale Olympic heights but constantly settles for second-best in business, government and education.
The elusive sweet spot in the middle
ROSS GITTINS Opinion Individualism or state interference? A mix of both is desirable in life.
It's too soon to crow at the Reserve's big surprise
ROSS GITTINS Opinion IF YOU are a borrower, don't be too cock-a-hoop that the Reserve Bank has cut its official rate by half a percentage point rather than the usual quarter. This just increases the scope for the banks to take a big bite before they pass what's left on to you.
Baillieu gambles with a surplus at all costs
JOSH GORDON Opinion The Baillieu government has gambled its political capital on the single idea that the budget must be kept in surplus at all costs.
Labor on the critical list
KATHARINE MURPHY Opinion The current talk isn't about another thrill-kill, for the hell of it — a bit more gratuitous violence. It is deep thinking about whether Labor's furniture can be saved at the next election — and the best means of saving it. Pure and simple. Not personal. Not rancorous. Not about egos or score settling. Just what the hell do we do. Perhaps a way to resolve the conundrum is a unity ticket between the two: Rudd as leader, Shorten as treasurer.
The forgotten conflict
ANDREW DARBY Opinion There is a hole in our remembrance, and it is Black. We justly remember our dead in wars overseas. But Australia still has no national memorial to both sides of the long and deadly conflict on our own soil. It's almost as if it didn't happen.
Directors craft a hit in political theatre
Graeme Orr Opinion Law and politics are an old, sometimes odd couple. One is mannered, the other manic, but as a pair they are inseparable. So court cases with political implications are common.
Electing a good time to defect
PETER HARTCHER Opinion It's reminiscent of the Cold War. In the past two months, two prominent Chinese have taken sanctuary in US diplomatic offices, seeking political asylum. The cases couldn't be more different.
Newstart and unfair dismissal laws pour salt on wounds of jobless
GERARD HENDERSON Opinion There is a sound economic argument for the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, and the Treasurer, Wayne Swan, to bring in a surplus in next week's budget. However, there is also a good reason for Gillard and Swan to increase expenditure on the unemployed who genuinely cannot obtain work. The current Newstart Allowance, at about $245 per week, may be sufficient for those who are temporarily out of work. But it is certainly not adequate for the long-term unemployed.
SMH
Gillard in the hall of mirrors
Opinion WITH one mighty leap, Julia was … not free after all. Still stuck fast in the same old mess, in fact. The Prime Minister says she realised as she returned from Gallipoli that a line had been crossed, and that the public's respect for Parliament was threatened by the continuing Thomson and Slipper affairs. Something had to be done, so she did it. Two phone calls and Craig Thomson has stood aside from the Labor Party, Peter Slipper from the speakership. That is as it should be in the circumstances. Why then won't it work?
Army should be careful with its aim
Hugh White Opinion Its amphibious-power ambitions do not make strategic sense.
From coal pit to bear pit
Greg Baum Opinion Now that's he's surfaced, Clive Palmer might find himself playing under different rules.
No reason why we can't become a global food superpower
Steve Howard Opinion Australia can play a key part in feeding the world as Asia booms.
Clive, the entertainer, refloats his political boat
TONY WRIGHT Opinion Captain Clive Palmer of the SS Titanic hit an iceberg years ago. Its name was Peter Slipper.
MPs ponder the unthinkable - Rudd
LENORE TAYLOR Opinion SENIOR Labor figures agree Julia Gillard has just weeks to shore up her leadership, and that she may not. But they can't agree on what should happen if she doesn't.
Party in hell may find there is no Kevin
PETER HARTCHER Opinion DESPAIR is settling on the government and even some Gillard supporters are turning their minds to the possibility of Plan B - Kevin Rudd.
PM must find a way to deal with the politics of carbon tax
ROSS PEAKE Opinion The expected cut in interest rates by the Reserve Bank today will do nothing to save Julia Gillard.
The price of political fear
John Faulkner Opinion Today we find ourselves in the midst of a political climate increasingly dominated by fear. Not fear of an external enemy, but a fear felt by many in our political class of an open contest of ideas.
Clive Palmer and the politics of pot shots
MICHELLE GRATTAN Opinion Mining magnate Clive Palmer's announcement that he will seek Liberal National party preselection to run against Swan is the equivalent of the loaded gun at the Treasurer's head.
Credibility gone, PM should fall on her sword
MICHELLE GRATTAN Opinion Julia Gillard should consider falling on her sword for the good of the Labor Party.
The right move … but it won't rebuild trust
PETER HARTCHER Opinion IF JULIA GILLARD were seeking to sanitise her government on any point of principle, it might carry some force. But the Prime Minister decided to take out her political rubbish, not because she objected to the putrefaction but because the neighbours wouldn't stop talking about the smell.
Keep on digging, PM, even if the hole's too big
TONY WRIGHT Opinion There's nothing quite like a trip to Gallipoli to focus the mind on lost causes.
.gif)
.gif)
