Past Programs
History - 2008
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Tree-changers watch the sun set on the Anthony dynasty
11/07/2008
Here's a tabloid scoop: 'MP's Son Rollerskates through Parliament". Hardly the sort of behaviour normally tolerated in the august halls of power. But what if the roller-skater were none other than Doug 'Goldilocks' Anthony, a future deputy prime minister of Australia? And what if the lax father were none other than Menzies-era minister Hubert Anthony? The family controlled the federal seat of Richmond for about six decades - up until Larry Anthony was voted out of office in 2004. Demographics, rather than roller-skating, was the dynasty's downfall: tree-changers haven't been kind to the Nationals.
Howard's battlers go missing
11/04/2008
Here's one group of people you know all about - or at least, you think you do. Howard's 'battlers'. Remember them? The socially conservative, blue-collar (yet upwardly mobile) workers who abandoned Labor in 1996? When Prime Minister John Howard rose to power, the legend was born of the working-class voters who abandoned their Labor roots. But did Howard's battlers ever exist? And if so, just how loyal were they to the Coalition, and why?
A marriage made in Queensland
01/02/2008
The Nationals' head honchos from all over the sunburnt country have met to discuss the way forward for Australia's ailing, rural-based political party. One idea -- championed by Queensland Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg -- is to merge with the Liberal Party. Does this sound familiar? Mr Springborg campaigned hard for a state-based merger of the two conservative paries in 2006 but federal Liberal and Nationals leaders poo-pooed the idea. And chances are they're not going to embrace the idea in 2008 either. So why is Mr Springborg so determined to push ahead with his wedding plans?
