Keywords: John Warhurst Is Professor Of Political Science At The Australian National University And A Canberra
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 11 November 2010
12 Comments
Nine prime ministers have been observant Christians. Two have been conventional Christians. Ten have been nominal Christians. Five have been articulate atheists or agnostics. One was a nominal atheist or agnostic.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 03 November 2010
16 Comments
Adversarial politics can be seen as a necessary and positive aspect of Westminster style parliamentary politics. This does not include needless aggression that is expressed in a nasty tone and apparent anger.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 27 September 2010
6 Comments
Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull's past faults and misdemeanours have been forgotten and they have been charged with new responsibilities at the heart of Australia's domestic and international futures. The new leaders must wish their vanquished colleagues great success. But not too much.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 30 August 2010
10 Comments
Though the Independents are raising
expectations about a 'new politics', the forces behind the status quo are strong and the public is fickle. If
they fail to deliver they might eventually suffer a
backlash, like Kevin Rudd and the Democrats before them.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 27 July 2010
18 Comments
Appearing last week on ABC1's Q+A, Julie Bishop claimed that following a preference deal with the Labor Party, the Greens were now effectively a Labor faction. Preference deals are as old as the preferential system itself. The impact of these deals should not be exaggerated.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 30 June 2010
6 Comments
Christians rarely agree on what they want from government. The Australian Christian Lobby jumped the gun last week with its forum for political leaders to address Christian voters: the elevation of Julia Gillard means it now needs to engage afresh with a new Prime Minister.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 31 May 2010
18 Comments
Gillard has all it takes to be an excellent prime minister. Her best
chance of gaining that position might be from opposition. This would
mean Labor losing in 2010 and rising from the ashes in 2013 under her
leadership.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 27 April 2010
12 Comments
The Greens represent not just 20 per
cent of the Tasmanian electorate but 10 per cent of the national electorate. Australian politics will benefit when the Greens are
better integrated into the system rather than frozen out.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 30 March 2010
22 Comments
Tony Abbott had a close association with B. A. Santamaria and personifies church ties with politics through his
relationship with the man he has called his confessor, Cardinal Pell. The question is whether Abbott is a one-off or represents a
larger group of Catholic Liberals.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 02 March 2010
12 Comments
We are often quick to blame government ministers. In the case of Bill Shorten, Stephen Conroy and
Peter Garrett, they may emerge with tarnished reputations. But in rushing to criticise our ministers we often let ourselves off the hook too
easily.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 25 January 2010
18 Comments
William's visit laid bare
the weaknesses of members of the Royal Family as
candidates for our head of state. The package represented by William should be anathema to
modern Australia's constitutional future, whatever he might have
to offer as a person.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 16 December 2009
7 Comments
Tony Abbott sees the role of the Opposition as merely to oppose the Government. This fits the image of Abbott the boxer standing his ground resolutely in the
middle of the ring. But it is a simplistic view not just of Opposition, but of
boxing.
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