Michelle Grattan
Michelle Grattan is the political editor of The Age. In 2008, she shared the Melbourne Press Club Lifetime Achievement Award with Laurie Oakes. She edited the books 'Reconciliation' and 'Australian Prime Ministers' (2000), and wrote 'Back on the Wool Track' (2004).
Abbott simply looking to election
Michelle Grattan The Abbott plan is a short-term election pitch, not a sweeping reform to meet the threat of climate change.
Michelle Grattan
Rudd has trigger - but a March election unlikely
Michelle Grattan The Government finally has a 'trigger' for a March election but - unless something happens out of the blue - don't expect it to face the people until later in the year.
Michelle Grattan
Enough is enough - it's time to name the date as election climate heats up
Michelle Grattan NOW comes the climate policy. That's the next big thing for Julia Gillard, after the triumph of the mining tax compromise and the U-turn on asylum seekers that has hit very choppy seas.
Michelle Grattan
Noisy miners the wrong interest group for Rudd to ruffle before an election
Michelle Grattan WHEN Labor governments and miners fight, it can get a bit willing. Wild man Rex Connor, minerals and energy minister in the Whitlam government, lashed out at the mining men as "mugs and hillbillies".
Michelle Grattan
Unforced errors come thick and fast in an election year
Michelle Grattan Sticky moments need a deft hand, or they blow out of proportion.
Michelle Grattan
Hospital reform should not be sacrificed to the election cycle
Michelle Grattan Instead of putting its whole health package on the table, Canberra has dribbled out the various sweeteners.
Michelle Grattan
Well executed? Or executed well?
Michelle Grattan Julia Gillard has made one hell of a call. But will it help her - or Tony Abbott?
Michelle Grattan
Gillard looks to political gain after Peris pain
Michelle Grattan The Prime Minister has got her way, but what are the likely consequences?
Michelle Grattan
Political science: altering Abbott's polarity from negative to positive
Michelle Grattan Expect some rebranding as the Coalition campaign begins.
Michelle Grattan
But seriously, get ready for Mr Positive
Michelle Grattan Tony Abbott is likely to be residing in the prime minister's office later this year.
Michelle Grattan
Abbott's blueprint is still a work in progress
Michelle Grattan It was OK as a performance, delivered informally, US-style, with a hand-held mic, but the opening salvo of Tony Abbott's mini-campaign told us little new.
Michelle Grattan
Kinder, gentler politics? Not a chance
Michelle Grattan CHRISTOPHER PYNE didn't exactly promise kinder, gentler politics in canvassing last week plans for parliamentary reform under an Abbott government.
Michelle Grattan
Surplus swansong leaves Labor in stormy waters
Michelle Grattan Wayne Swan's ditching of the promise the government made in 2010 - is a difficult and humiliating backflip. It is a broken promise of the first order.
Michelle Grattan
Belief in victory hard for party at war with itself
Michelle Grattan As Labor MPs gather in Canberra for the new parliamentary year, with the election date set and the ministry reshuffled, they are unsettled and uncertain.
Michelle Grattan
PM battens down the hatches for seven months in a leaky caucus
Michelle Grattan One thing sure to ''leak'' is a prime ministerial lecture to the troops about leaking. So you have to wonder why Julia Gillard would have left herself so open at her first caucus of the year.
Michelle Grattan
Thomson charged, but Abbott less than arresting
Michelle Grattan With Julia Gillard on the back foot, Tony Abbott makes a foolish ministry pledge.
Michelle Grattan
Timing, PM, is crucial
Michelle Grattan Julia Gillard's problems with her reshuffle will be how it is perceived. Her danger is it will be seen as ministers deserting a sinking ship and that it adds to an impression of chaos, which can be...
Michelle Grattan
Playing cat and mouse on inquiry
Michelle Grattan Investigations into the Slipper and AWU affairs would be bad for both sides of politics and a complete waste of money.
Michelle Grattan
Season's bleatings at year's end
Michelle Grattan This will be a bruising parliamentary week, the last of an extraordinary and draining year that has strained voters' tolerance of politicians to the max.
Michelle Grattan
Wrapped in polls, Gillard defies the 'killing season'
Michelle Grattan This will be a bruising parliamentary week, the last of an extraordinary and draining year that has strained voters' tolerance of politicians to the max.
