Julia Gillard

Voters approve hip-pocket hits we had to have

Peter Hartcher It's the poll result that will shock the political class more than any other. A government has defied all convention by taking money away from voters in an election year. And the voters notice.

Eva Cox

Why Julia Gillard should stay

Eva Cox Should Julia Gillard resign or be terminated as Prime Minister? My answer is a clear no!

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Nicholas Stuart

Julia Gillard is nearing the end of her prime ministership

Nicholas Stuart There's absolutely no doubt about the timing. Julia Gillard's office was informed, in detail, of the deal to bring in foreign workers at least a week before it was announced.

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When the numbers don't add up, Swan is surplus to requirements

Chris Berg They say every political career ends in failure. But some more than others. All the evidence suggests Wayne Swan's sixth budget, released last Tuesday, will be his last.

Acting a bit more prime ministerial

Chris Johnson There are plenty of people in the current Parliament who, when they deliver an address, look more prime ministerial than Tony Abbott: the actual Prime Minister, for one.

A magnificent PM - when she drops her guard

Mike Carlton Julia Gillard is so much better when not trying. Stuck behind a lectern, droning away at some boilerplate speech cranked out by her office gnomes, she is cold and remote, more than a bit prissy.

Seeing sense as end nears

Peter Hartcher Labor's budget this week is like the pyramid of an Egyptian pharaoh, says one of the party's federal MPs: "Gillard is building the monuments for her legacy, and she's sacrificing us slaves in the...

Joe goes into bat and is hit with a Jones bouncer

Jacqueline Maley Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey thought he was having a good week. And he was, right up until the moment he called 2GB broadcaster Alan Jones on Wednesday morning.

Smart politics from a leader who's growing up

Peter Hartcher Tony Abbott came on Thursday not to demolish the Labor government as a tribal leader but to chide it as an adult alternative prime minister.

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The day the steel melted

Tony Wright Julia Gillard once spoke of having been a shy, reserved child who had grown a shell hardened by the rigours of politics and who had learnt the arts of ''holding a fair bit back, and hanging tough''.

Labor sets a booby-trap as it heads for the door

Mark Kenny Gillard and Swan have tried to use this budget to make it as hard as possible for Abbott to enjoy a clean run to the election.

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The battle won, woman of steel sheds armour

Tony Wright Julia Gillard once spoke of having been a shy, reserved schoolchild who had grown a shell hardened by the rigours of politics and who had learnt the arts of ''holding a fair bit back, and hanging...

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Opposition pays the penalty for baby gaffe

Judith Ireland With the baby bonus to be scrapped from next March, there are plenty of Australians wondering what it means for them.

Abbott's new election effort is by the book

Jacqueline Maley All writers know that books are like children. So it was no surprise that when Opposition Leader and author Tony Abbott faced the media on Monday, he clutched his latest literary creation to his...

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