Keywords: John Warhurst Is Professor Of Political Science At The Australian National University And A Canberra
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 29 October 2012
21 Comments
The emphasis on the relationship between Tony Abbott and women is fuelled by opinion polls that consistently show that he is less popular with women voters. However, undue concentration on the role of gender in shaping voter choice serves to downplay other very interesting variations.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 04 October 2012
20 Comments
If same sex marriage continues to gain momentum around the Western world then the Australian debate will not go away. But should international interest fade then it probably will in Australia too. Whatever the future of the republic debate in Australia it is not of the same international character and therefore harder to sustain.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 07 August 2012
13 Comments
The Greens have been accused of self-righteousness leading to an unwillingness to compromise. Yet the most inflexible party in the current parliament has been the Coalition, led by Tony 'Mr No' Abbott. Getting the balance right between flexibility and maintaining what you stand for is an important lesson for all political parties in parliament.
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EDUCATION
- John Warhurst
- 09 July 2012
10 Comments
Labor speechwriter Graham Freudenberg observed that ‘the oldest, deepest, most poisonous debate in Australia has been about government aid to church schools’. The most dramatic episode in the history of church state relations in Australia was the Goulburn schools strike, which took place 50 years ago this month.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 04 July 2012
6 Comments
The Nationals have made their first big play for the next federal election. The recruitment of NSW state independent Richard Torbay to challenge New England incumbent Tony Windsor is either a masterstroke or a revealing insight into their problems and weaknesses as a regional and rural political party.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 06 June 2012
18 Comments
A Herald/Neilsen poll this week showed that Rudd leads Gillard by 62 per cent to 32 per cent. But that figure is distorted by the overwhelming pro-Rudd preference of Coalition voters, who prefer Rudd to Gillard by 71 per cent to 19 per cent. The motivation behind this preference is not immediately clear.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 02 May 2012
25 Comments
To prevent Tony Abbott from having total control of the Senate after the next election, the Greens need to attract votes from otherwise non-Labor voters rather than the easier task of picking up disappointed Labor defectors. The 15 per cent of Coalition-leaning Greens is generally forgotten altogether.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 30 March 2012
9 Comments
The Opposition has unrelentingly resisted pairs, whereby an MP from one side doesn't vote in order to allow an MP from the other side to be away. Their strategy is to emphasise the closeness of the numbers in parliament. This hardline attitude has recently led to some crazy and downright silly situations.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 27 February 2012
5 Comments
From strata communities to federal politics, citizens of democracies exhibit similar characteristics. These include limited knowledge and interest, suspicion of office-holders, and assertions of self-interest. Those who stand for election deserve more credit than they often get because they are a small minority.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 27 January 2012
11 Comments
The proposed referendum follows the 2008 Apology to the Stolen Generations and provides an opportunity for this Labor era to be remembered whenever the Indigenous story is told. Passing a referendum is exceptionally difficult and there is no fool-proof recipe for success.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 02 November 2011
9 Comments
The Gillard cabinet leaks are a sure sign of government instability. The worst aspect of the leaks is the likelihood that they are the product not just of understandable policy differences, but of leadership destabilisation.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 17 October 2011
10 Comments
Gillard's atheism puts her in stark contrast to her immediate predecessors Kevin Rudd and John Howard. We consider several implications of Gillard's position, including her relations with church-state issues and community attitudes towards gay marriage and euthanasia.
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