Inside Story

A dangerous drift

APO — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 03:02:15 +0000

The failed cases against Izhar Ul-Haque and Mohamed Haneef reveal a culture of disregard for human rights and due process, writes Geoffrey Barker

No mystery in the polls

APO — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 02:58:10 +0000

Kevin Rudd’s lead in the polls is not hard to understand, writes David Burchell

Missing voters

APO — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 03:11:30 +0000

Nearly one million Australian adults are not enrolled to vote. Peter Brent and Brian Costar look at why…

Kyoto: leaks and hot air

APO — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 03:10:13 +0000

The major parties are avoiding the real questions about the post-Kyoto agreement, argues Rodney Tiffen.

The importance of boundaries

APO — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 03:08:39 +0000

In this paper for the Democratic Audit of Australia, the former Australian Electoral Commissioner, Colin Hughes, provides a comprehensive review of the 2006 redistributions in NSW and Queensland and summarises the history of redistributions in the two states. He analyses the party political competition involved, even when the redistributions are carried out by independent electoral commissions.

Voters and the Senate

APO — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 01:15:08 +0000

Over half of all voters believe that government control of the Senate is a bad thing, report David Denemark, Shaun Wilson and Gabrielle Meagher in this extract from Australian Social Attitudes 2: Citizenship, Work and Aspirations, a collection of essays based on the Australian Survey of Social Attitudes 2005.

Education: Australia and the OECD

APO — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 01:12:29 +0000

In this APO Election Backgrounder Simon Marginson assesses Australian education resourcing and outcomes against other OECD countries.

Slippery slope of going postal

APO — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 00:27:27 +0000

In this article for the Canberra Times, Norm Kelly of the Democratic Audit of Australia looks at the anomalous law which enables political parties to solicit postal votes, effectively on behalf of the Australian Electoral Commission. As this type of voting increases in importance, he argues, it becomes even more critical for it to be removed from party involvement.

Pre-election strike

APO — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 00:14:39 +0000

The prime minister’s backflip on pre-emptive military strikes attracted surprisingly little attention, writes Geoffrey Barker.

Trends in Australian political opinion: results from the Australian Election Study, 1987-2004

APO — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 06:35:15 +0000

Ian McAllister and Juliet Clark look at trends in voter attitudes revealed in twenty years of the Australian Election Study as well as earlier comparable studies. Their report shows that voters are less attracted by the symbols and methods of traditional politics, but that they remain interested in the contest and the election outcome. Health and education are by far the dominant issues that concern voters; with a prosperous economy, unemployment is now rarely an issue for voters. More >