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
Opposition gets itself in a tangle again over budget surpluses
Michelle Grattan Last year the opposition got itself into a complete tangle over its position on the surplus.
Michelle Grattan
Push comes to shove as Opposition party sours
Michelle Grattan Matters of style and substance aside, Malcolm Turnbull's rush to take the top job was bad judgment.
Michelle Grattan
Minchin's emissions opposition a direct challenge to Turnbull
Michelle Grattan The Libs' Senate leader is encouraging climate sceptics to speak out.
Michelle Grattan
Wanted: Shiny happy people for embattled Opposition
Michelle Grattan So Bradfield has a bright new Liberal candidate tipped to become a high-flyer. The question is whether the selection of Paul Fletcher, and the array of strong contenders who missed out, can be used...
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
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
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
Coalition in another tangle thanks to Hockey
Michelle Grattan LAST year the opposition got into a complete tangle over its position on the surplus, finally committing itself to delivering one in each of its first three budgets.
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.
Gillard takes a big slipper to Abbott over Ashby judgment
Michelle Grattan The cynic might say that Justice Steven Rares has answered most of the questions about Brough, whom he found plotted with James Ashby against Peter Slipper.
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
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
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.
Michelle Grattan
Labor's long and winding road to reform
Michelle Grattan Labor Senator John Faulkner can always get public attention when he talks about party reform. But as he'd be the first to admit, it's quite another matter to get something meaningful done.
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
Hard to stay clean in so much mud-flinging
Michelle Grattan When throwing dirt, you risk getting very grubby yourself. And you can slip in the mud.
