Nicholas Stuart
Swan song is his own doing
Nicholas Stuart The moniker of world’s greatest treasurer will be cold comfort as he delivers what’s sure to be his last budget.
There's no way to defend the indefensible
Nicholas Stuart The defence white paper has no deeper substance than a glossy political statement.
Lessons of failures instructive for sabre-rattlers
Nicholas Stuart Minster Lovell is easily the most beautiful village in England. Just a short drive from Oxford, trees flank the road as you head down a brief slope to the River Windrush.
Nicholas Stuart
Policy arrives at tipping point
Nicholas Stuart This is a story about stories. There are lots of reasons why Julia Gillard's government is in trouble at the moment, and many would like to blame the media and Tony Abbott's negativity.
Stalemate as queen bluffs all
Nicholas Stuart Everyone in Labor knows what needs to happen. Their difficulty is that the woman some have taken to calling the black queen - Julia Gillard - remains the most powerful player on the board.
Nicholas Stuart
Pregnant pause needed for alcohol awareness
Nicholas Stuart ADHD has become quite an acceptable label to paste on children, but what if the problem is something else?
Nicholas Stuart
Climate change is the existential crisis with us right now
Nicholas Stuart When Parliament resumes on Tuesday after the Christmas break, it's presented with a stark choice. It can seize the opportunity to discuss the fires and the floods; the devastation and the losses and...
Nicholas Stuart
Climate change solution gets lost in political fog
Nicholas Stuart I can't help it: I'm a contrarian. Whenever the weather bureau predicts there's "a 95 per cent probability of rain" I'm willing to bet it will be dry.
Nicholas Stuart
Cyber security intangible enough to fit Gillard's agenda
Nicholas Stuart Sometimes it's necessary to look beyond the headlines, which is why, if you want to understand this week's National Security Statement, it pays to dissect the motivations of the key players.
Nicholas Stuart
Sadly capital still a city of lite
Nicholas Stuart The clash - when it finally came - was over live music, but it could have been over any one of so many little things.
Nicholas Stuart
Labor's electoral trouble is more than Rudd-deep
Nicholas Stuart When Kevin Rudd took office - five years ago this week - the sun shone and birds sang with promise. The subsequent journey has been one of disappointment and despair.
Nicholas Stuart
The politics of point-scoring
Nicholas Stuart Imagine a line running from left to right. Let's call it the ''policy line'', because it runs the complete gamut of all our foreign policy options.
Nicholas Stuart
Policy the loser in quest for presidential star power
Nicholas Stuart Kevin Rudd still doesn't get it and that's why he's occasionally attempting to white-ant Gillard. But none of this matters, now.
Nicholas Stuart
Gillard's ideals are likely lost without a map
Nicholas Stuart It's months since Julia Gillard outlined the details of her continuing 'education revolution', so the rest of the media has long moved on.
Nicholas Stuart
McKew's tome reveals how leaders have lost their purpose
Nicholas Stuart I didn't bother speaking to Maxine McKew when writing my own book about the downfall of Kevin Rudd. The reason was obvious: she was just too loyal, she wasn't going to spill the dysfunction of his...
Nicholas Stuart
Ghost of Greens past lingers
Nicholas Stuart Politics has always been just as much about leadership and personality as policy. Take the result last weekend.
Nicholas Stuart
Impotent Reserve's charades
Nicholas Stuart The Reserve Bank is impotent. Completely and utterly. For proof, just look at the callous insouciance with which all the major banks have treated governor Glenn Stevens's pronouncements on interest...
Nicholas Stuart
War's hidden personal toll
Nicholas Stuart The story is wonderful and only enhanced by the sparkling twinkle in the vivid-blue eyes of the woman telling it.
Nicholas Stuart
Sums don't add up as both sides of politics fail to inspire us
Nicholas Stuart Agood story captures its audience: it's believable. Whether a film, novel or TV show, the first necessity is to get everyone to accept the premise.
Nicholas Stuart
Joint operations: services must start acting as one
Nicholas Stuart New technologies can make a dramatic difference to the way we do things. It wasn't long ago, for example, that a special forces unit operating behind enemy lines had to lay up while the signaller...
