John Howard
Taxing matters as GST takes centre stage again
Mark Kenny Hypersensitivity over the GST dates back to Howard and Costello.
Analysis
GST may be the answer to balancing the books
Mark Kenny Politician after politician has squibbed it, making florid gestures but avoiding serious discussion of the goods and services tax.
Making a poll win a breeze
John Warhurst Pressure groups and organised interests are the weathervanes of political shifts.
John Watson
Let me remind you: it's 2001, John Howard is facing disaster
John Watson When reporters use the word 'historic' they mean: 'not in the time that I've been here'.
A goat in sheep's clothing?
Jack Waterford The personality, temperament, character and reliability of Tony Abbott is pretty much the primary issue that voters should be weighing up.
What sort of prime minister will this man be?
Tim Soutphommasane It is simplistic to think we are entering a new conservative stage in our national politics.
Abbott, O'Farrell have equal claim to Menzies' legacy
Gerard Henderson Premier Barry O'Farrell is a proud follower of Robert Menzies (1894 to 1978), the founder of the modern Liberal Party.
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...
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.
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.
Half-baked relocation plan to fall flat
Chris Johnson So Tony Abbott wants to relocate hordes of Commonwealth public servants from the nation's capital to the states and regions if they want to keep their jobs.
Sly support for referendum
John Warhurst Supporters of same-sex marriage would be misguided to encourage a referendum this September.
Industrial lite on the hill
Michael Gordon Tony Abbott has produced a minimalist industrial relations policy with a bold objective - to eliminate what he considers the biggest threat to a Coalition victory in September.
Bad news being wasted
Jack Waterford The somewhat confected budget ''crisis'' has provided the Gillard government with a window of opportunity for changing a game - by now almost a foregone conclusion - into a match again.
Howard fails in his defence of road to war
Malcolm Jorgensen John Howard's decision to commit Australia to the 2003 Iraq war remains as indefensible as it was 10 years ago.
Black and white Year One
Jack Waterford Tony Abbott's plan to put a sub-department of Aboriginal affairs inside his own portfolio of Prime Minister and Cabinet has achieved some publicity as an evidence of his good intentions in the area.
The brave and the foolhardy
Stephanie Peatling As fans of Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister would know, a "brave decision" was always arch civil service supremo Sir Humphrey Appleby's way of saying "Do not go there for that way lies almost...
Come clean on role we played in abetting torture
George Williams A report has found Australia participated in the CIA's detention and torture of terrorist suspects after the attacks of September 11, 2001. This should come as no surprise.
Behind Abbott's royal tug of war
Jack Waterford Tony Abbott has done us all a favour by placing anathema on the appointment of a new governor-general by the prime minister, Julia Gillard.
Something has been broken at the heart of politics
Tony Wright Late last month, a woman stood alone on the forecourt of Canberra's Parliament House, inhaling gulps of cigarette smoke. ''All very nice,'' she said. ''Too late. Tomorrow it'll be wrapping chips.''
