Malcolm Turnbull

Malcolm Turnbull and the goblet of fire

Katharine Murphy Having been invited to express some humanity, Turnbull thought he might bin the standard dot-point formulations about what it's like to lose the party leadership, and tell the truth.

Conroy to extend broadband rollout

Heath Aston Another 400,000 homes in NSW will be promised super-fast broadband in a new three-year plan for the rollout of the national broadband network.

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All that glitters ... Abbott and 'Mr Broadband' hawk the copper option

Heath Aston This was not your average election policy launch. This was a Tony Abbott media event minus the fluorescent vest and safety glasses but with a little bit of Steve Jobs-type salesmanship.

Voters have the chance to swing the nation in the right direction

Michael Short Compulsory voting is contentious. To some, it is a small price to pay for democracy and is even a civic responsibility.

Simplistic analysis of Abbott off mark

John Warhurst Tony Abbott is coming ever closer to becoming prime minister. In hindsight this is an unlikely development as he came from well behind in the race to be Liberal Leader and Opposition Leader.

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Conroy runs distraction for PM

Peter Hartcher When Bob Carr challenged Julia Gillard's authority to decide how Australia would cast its vote in the United Nations last November, it was a moment of potential crisis for her prime ministership.

Gillard takes on Abbott in the populist and cynical stakes

Michael Gordon Simon Crean maintains Australia's new cultural policy joins the dots on a range of Labor priorities.

The media must embrace reform to survive

Katharine Murphy Should we be surprised when it comes to media reform that most of the protagonists are working an angle?

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On the QT

Indiana Gillard gets out of tight spot

Judith Ireland You don't need a PhD in political genius to know federal Labor is in a special kind of trouble right now.

Subtle spark of life for Kev's cool crew up the back

Judith Ireland The long, low groan you can hear across the country is Australia asking: ''Are we there yet?''

James Button

Beyond the king-in-exile

James Button Can Labor throw open its doors to say, ''We are no longer a party of insiders and apparatchiks."?

Abbott's paper armour

Tony Wright Opposition Leader Tony Abbott carries a shield with him as he darts from greengrocer to drycleaner to manufacturer warning of the evils of the carbon tax and how Julia Gillard's government is...

Anne Summers

When public evisceration is scarcely enough punishment

Anne Summers On Q&A last Monday night, Malcolm Turnbull described, with unusual candour for a politician, how it felt when he lost the Liberal Party leadership in December 2009.

Anne Summers

PM's critics make a mockery of political debate

Anne Summers On Q&A last Monday night Malcolm Turnbull described how it felt when he lost the Liberal Party leadership in December 2009. It was "very, very gut-wrenching, it was devastating", he said.

Michael Gordon

Worlds apart, but the pain's the same when the axe falls

Michael Gordon Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott agree on something. There are no parallels between the political assassination of Kevin Rudd in 2010 and Ted Baillieu's decision to fall on his sword this week.