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).
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
Abbott's casual approach to Ashby issue indicative
Michelle Grattan Tony Abbott has scored a notable own goal by admitting that he's been vigorously defending Mal Brough without having read the court judgment in the Ashby sexual harassment case that strongly...
Michelle Grattan
Gillard winged but still flying
Michelle Grattan The final parliamentary week has seen the Coalition repeatedly allege that the Prime Minister engaged in criminal activity when she was a lawyer in the 1990s.
Abbott, be careful what you wish for
Michelle Grattan OPPOSITIONS have a standard tool in their kit bag: it's the call for an inquiry. So there was no surprise when Tony Abbott said the government should set one up into that old, smelly AWU affair.
Abbott's plan puts politics over good policy
Michelle Grattan Oppositions have a standard tool in their kitbag: it’s the call for an inquiry. Any sniff of scandal triggers a demand for a judicial investigation, or even the full monty, a royal commission.
Impressive Gillard attack narrows target for critics
Michelle Grattan Of course her critics won't be satisfied, and will throw up more questions. But Gillard has narrowed their opportunity to get fresh momentum.
Michelle Grattan
A front-foot fighter with bloodied shins
Michelle Grattan The final parliamentary week has seen the Coalition repeatedly allege the Prime Minister engaged in criminal activity when she was a lawyer in the 1990s.
Michelle Grattan
PM paying high price for her rough company
Michelle Grattan Julia Gillard was at her best again in taking the fight up to her critics over the AWU affair. Well prepared and tough, she gave no quarter.
Michelle Grattan
Vital to get this inquiry right
Michelle Grattan The federal government had little choice but to set up a royal commission into child sex abuse, given the horrific evidence, the extent of what has happened over many years, the cries of victims and...
Michelle Grattan
Positive poll results give Gillard breathing space
Michelle Grattan Politics looked sweet to Julia Gillard when she woke up today to face the penultimate week of the full Parliament.
Michelle Grattan
Misogyny war has no winner
Michelle Grattan The PM may have made a hero of herself to some feminists but she did the wrong thing in trying to protect the sexist Peter Slipper.
Michelle Grattan
Gillard's man problem
Michelle Grattan Julia Gillard doesn't have enough men in her life. Male voters, that is. We've heard a lot about Tony Abbott's problem with women voters - the polls document it and MPs report it from their...
Michelle Grattan
Canberra's tale of two characters
Michelle Grattan Suddenly, political attention is concentrated on Tony Abbott's distant past and Kevin Rudd's immediate future.
Michelle Grattan
Still waiting for new material on a story 17 years old
Michelle Grattan Establishing beyond all doubt what Prime Minister Julia Gillard did and knew in the affair involving her allegedly corrupt boyfriend, Bruce Wilson, when she was working at Slater & Gordon in the...
Michelle Grattan
Battle of boats outcome still in balance
Michelle Grattan Will the Pacific solution mark II work? The short answer is, it's too soon to judge.
Michelle Grattan
Dangerous days, for refugees and the government
Michelle Grattan Labor is desperately hoping the boats will now stop and the issue will lose its potency.
Michelle Grattan
Bold reform demands fearless politicians - do we have any?
Michelle Grattan Our prosperity relies on getting more women and older people in the workforce.
Haneef lessons must be heeded
Michelle Grattan Are people saying that the usual rules should not apply, just because this man is an alleged people smuggler? It is ultimately to the protection of all of us, in other contexts, that the police have...
Michelle Grattan
Vindicated after the agony of a lifetime
Michelle Grattan Tim Flannery did a gutsy and honourable thing when he wrote his mea culpa over the Azaria Chamberlain case, which appeared in Friday's Sydney Morning Herald.
Michelle Grattan
Far away in the world Kevin dreams of home
Michelle Grattan Kevin Rudd contemplates one of the most critical decisions he will make on his attempted comeback.
