Queensland's Labor government has turned the clock back to compulsory preferential voting in the pursuit of short-term electoral advantage.
Category: Australia
Why local government isn’t local
The Baird government in New South Wales says that taking the "local" out of local government will lead to improved efficiency. Is there any reason to think that's true?
Words that kill: terrorism and “Islamism”
Why "Islamist" is the wrong word to use to describe terrorists, and why some people want us to use it anyway.
Three years or four?
Queensland's politicians want to give themselves an extra year before being accountable to their voters. The voters may not be so keen on the idea.
Fiji, and the enabling of democracy’s enemies
Julie Bishop visits Fiji, apparently finding no cause for concern in a military ruler approaching ten years in office. And we wonder why voters seem to be giving up on democracy.
Thoughts on a three party system
Talk of "neoliberalism" obscures the existence of actual liberals, just at the time when we need them most.
The world we have lost
Twenty years on, Australia marks the advent of the Howard government. Time passes, but we still live in the shadow of that change.
The continuing struggle for Senate democracy
Don't depend on the media to explain what's at stake with Senate voting reform, or even to point out the biases of their sources.
What to watch for in 2016
Twenty elections to watch out for around the world in 2016.
Holiday reading
As usual, news is a bit thin at this time of the year, but for those who are looking for holiday reading in the political sphere I've put together some links to interesting stuff that I've come across recently.
