Politics with Michelle Grattan
News:Politics
Every election is unique, but each also presents comparisons and contrasts with elections past.
In this podcast, Australian National University history professor Frank Bongiorno gives his insights into the current battle but also takes the long views of campaigns.
Bongiorno talks about the role of leaders in what’s often dubbed the “presidential” election age (“a kind of proxy for judgements about policy”) and how Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese are presenting themselves.
The debate on wages and inflation has overtones of the arguments in the 1970s and 1980s, but “sort of minus the policy”.
This was supposed to be a “khaki” election, but the khaki has faded during the campaign, perhaps unsurprisingly. Most often, Australians are solidly focused on domestic issues when they vote.
The “teals” have been a special feature of this campaign. But are they a new version of other breakaways, like the Australian Democrats of old?
The rise of voter disillusionment is a feature of recent elections, as is the detachment of voters from the major parties. Not so long ago, about seven in ten voters voted at each election the same way as they had voted throughout their lives, Bongiorno says, based on the ANU’s Australian Election Study. But now it is just under four in ten. “That means there’s a growing number of voters whose support is biddable, and the independents and minor parties are benefiting from that kind of loosening of the hold of the major parties over the voters.”
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Tom Calma on the Indigenous Voice to parliament
Peter Dutton puts nuclear power on opposition’s agenda
Is Morrison’s absence from parliament disrespectful to his voters?
Health Minister Mark Butler warns COVID wave will worsen
‘Pandemic fatigue’ takes its toll of mandates and even the expert health advice
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People’s pockets hit again, with rate rise and floods set to boost veggie prices
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Greg Barns on the battle to free Julian Assange
On the economy, people smugglers, parliamentary sitting, and Julian Assange
Tony Wood on the unprecedented energy crisis
Bowen says “bumpy” time ahead for power supply – but don’t turn the heater off
Warm smiles in Indonesia, but chillier news
Tony Burke advocates on wages and arts
Word from The Hill: Albanese’s ministry mixes stability and surprise
Five seats to watch on Saturday night, and getting the hang of a hung parliament
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Grattan Institute’s Danielle Wood on election’s thin policy debate
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