Even before the downturn in the Australian economy was recorded in the National Accounts figures for the December 2000 quarter, the Federal Government was in deep trouble, following the Coalition’s defeat in the WA and Queensland state elections, due to the disenchantment of voters in rural and regional Australia. The economic downturn which took place…
The shockwaves which have blasted through the Liberal and National Parties, following the landslide victory of Labor’s Geoff Gallop in Western Australia, and the even more decisive win by Peter Beattie in Queensland, have forced the Federal Government to make a U-turn on petrol prices, modify the GST, postpone Mr Costello’s plan to tax family…
This comment was written after the surprise defeat of the Court Government in Western Australia, but before Queensland went to the polls. Even before the Queensland election, it was obvious that the re-emergence of One Nation will have major repercussions for all the main parties, and more generally, for the direction of future government in…
The decision of Australia’s Office of Film Classification to give the grotesquely violent film, Hannibal, an MA rating – meaning that even those aged 15 can see it if accompanied by an adult – raises again the issue of how film violence ultimately is reflected in crime. Belatedly, the Attorney-General, Darryl Williams, himself a civil…