Past Programs
Alp - 2008
Bob Hawke on Rudd's first year
19/11/2008
Next week is the first anniversary of the election of the Rudd Labor government. Former prime minister Bob Hawke gives his assessment of the PM's performance so far.
Malcolm Fraser on Rudd's first year
18/11/2008
Next week is the first anniversary of the election of the Rudd Labor Government. Former prime minister Malcolm Fraser gives his assessment of the PM's performance so far.
Gough Whitlam
03/11/2008
The dismissal of Gough Whitlam's Labor government by Governor General Sir John Kerr in 1975 was a traumatic shock to the nation. It not only raised serious constitutional and political questions, this event remains the focal point of history during this time. And while we know that the three years of federal Labor from 1972 was a period of whirlwind activity and reform, until now the forces which shaped Gough's agenda and sense of urgency have remained largely unexamined.
Jenny Hocking has written the first volume of a new biography of Gough, uncovering the remarkable family history we need to know to understand the man.
Friday Panel: Nothing like a good crisis for leadership
17/10/2008
The headlines may have been about financial panic and record gyrations on the world's share markets, but this week at home it's been all about the politics of leadership.
Kevin Rudd, 11 months into his prime ministership, proved that there's nothing like a good crisis to reinforce political authority. The corporate world got some prime ministerial finger wagging about greed and the 'complete failure of extreme capitalism', while many of our most hard-done-by citizens got a $10.4 billion slice of the precious surplus.
Greens set to do well at the ACT election
14/10/2008
Voters in the ACT will go to the polls this weekend. The Labor government is under pressure, but most are predicting the outcome will be a minority Labor government, with Greens support.
The road ahead for the new WA Liberal government
15/09/2008
After a week of speculation and negotiation the WA Nationals have finally annointed the Liberals as their preferred partners in government. But Nationals Leader Brendan Grylls says his MPs will want to retain their independence. Associate Professor of Political Science at Edith Cowan University Peter van Onselen discusses the rocky road ahead for the WA Liberals.
Northern Territory election results
11/08/2008
The Northern Territory election result is still too close to call. The crucial seat is Fannie Bay, where Labor is hanging on to its parliamentary majority by only 57 votes.
If the Country Liberal Party has enough postal and absentee votes to overturn the result, the Northern Territory could be headed for a hung parliament. That would deliver the balance of power to one man, Gerry Wood, the only independent in the 25-member Legislative Assembly.
Northern Territory prepares to go to polls
06/08/2008
The Northern Territory goes to the polls at the weekend. The Labor government is running the campaign on a development platform, promising to pull out all stops to get a gas plant in Darwin worth 12 billion dollars. The Opposition is running a law and order platform. While Labor is expected to win, the Country Liberal Party is hoping to win a few seats back after they were decimated at the last election.
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith
30/06/2008
Foreign Minister Steven Smith says the the vote in the Gippsland by-election does not signal a backlash against the federal government.
NSW Opposition Leader - Wollongong Council
03/03/2008
It's a story with everything: power, corruption and even sex, all emanating from the NSW city of Wollongong, where there's a good chance today the local council will be sacked. The New South Wales Corruption Commission is expected to make a ruling, after a string of property developers have been accused of generously courting council officers, and donating thousands of dollars to the Labor Party.
Politics with Michelle Grattan - Rudd's consensus style
28/02/2008
On Monday the Rudd government will have survived its first 100 days. Almost unscathed you'd have to say, apart from the community outcry this week over the gender imbalance in Kevin Rudd's 2002 ideas summit. The Opposition, however, is not impressed with Kevin Rudd's record so far. It accuses the new government of contracting out its decision making, setting up a new committee or review every four days -- according to the Sydney Morning Herald anyway. Is this consensus style a strength or a weakness?
Politics with Michelle Grattan - Rudd wants to make a difference
21/02/2008
From the very start of his prime ministership, Kevin Rudd has signalled his intention to try and make a difference when it comes to the social fabric of this country. He visited homeless shelters in the run-up to Christmas, he's pledged to improve the life expectancy rates of Aboriginal children, and now he's promising to tackle binge drinking in our cities and suburbs and the anti-social behaviour attached to it.
Julia Gillard on Education and Industrial Relations
25/01/2008
A busy time is coming up for the new Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard. There's an education revolution to implement, and big changes to industrial relations to put in place. Next week Julia Gillard has a meeting with workplace relations ministers from the states, where she will no doubt be talking about Labor's plans to scrap workchoices, as well as a new plan put forward today to set up a uniform national industrial relations system that would ensure state and federal awards are the same. With school back in most states next week, we'll also soon get a feeling for how fast that education revolution is moving.
New MPs off to Canberra
16/01/2008
Today 42 new MPs are heading to Canberra for their orientation day. Parliament isn't sitting until February, but there's a whole lot these new pollies will need to know before the first sitting -- from where the cafe is to learning about the role of parliamentary committees.
There are 31 new male MPs and 11 female ones, with an average age of 44. One of the new members is Damien Hale from the Labor seat of Solomon in Darwin, and he joins Breakfast to talk about his hopes for his time in parliament and the direction of Indigenous affairs.
