Currently in Magazine
QUIZ: April winners, May question (12 May)
By Ross McMullin
Ross McMullin has provided another question to test and extend your knowledge of ALP history. The answer will be revealed next month. Correct entrants will receive hearty praise and admiration.
BOOK: Freedom on the Fatal Shore (09 May)
OPINE: Carbon capture & storage (06 May)
Tony Maher, national president of the Construction, Forestry, Mining, Energy Union.
Years of experience worldwide in storing CO2 has proven that safe storage is not only possible, it's happening on a daily basis.
BOOK: Rights and Redemption (01 May)
OPINE: Resist the zealots (28 Apr)
By Bob Carr, Former NSW Premier
Common sense, not a declaration of abstractions, will keep us free.
OPINE: A minimalist referendum (18 Apr)
Michael Tate
Quentin Bryce would simply wake up the next morning as our autonomous head of state.
BOOK: History's Children (14 Apr)
VALE: Keating on Button (10 Apr)
By Paul Keating
Those of us who were close to him will always remember the fun in being around such a quixotic character.
QUIZ: March winners; April question (07 Apr)
By Ross McMullin
Ross McMullin has provided another question to test and extend your knowledge of ALP history. The answer will be revealed next month. Correct entrants will receive hearty praise and admiration.
BOOK: Morality and Political Violence (01 Apr)
OPINE: Rebound with infrastructure (30 Mar)
Fred Argy, Nicholls ACT
BOOK: International Affairs journal (28 Mar)
OPINE: Alcohol epidemic (25 Mar)
Ross Peacock, Mount Waverley VIC
BOOK: Violence (22 Mar)
OPINE: 40 years of partying (18 Mar)
Megan Stoyles, Brunswick North VIC
Here is one member's account of life in the ALP over 40 years of continuous membership.
BOOK: Love & Money (15 Mar)
BOOK: No Workplace Like Home (11 Mar)
QUIZ: Feb winners; March question (04 Mar)
By Ross McMullin
Ross McMullin has provided another question to test and extend your knowledge of ALP history. The answer will be revealed next month. Correct entrants will receive hearty praise and admiration.
BOOK: Dear Mr Rudd (03 Mar)
BOOK: Van Diemen's Land (01 Mar)
INFO: Bernie's gift (27 Feb)
QUIZ: January winners; Feb question (11 Feb)
By Ross McMullin
Ross McMullin has provided another question to test and extend your knowledge of ALP history. The answer will be revealed next month. Correct entrants will receive hearty praise and admiration.
OPINE: Truly delicious (06 Feb)
By Bob Carr, Former NSW Premier
Howard's downfall was the juicy result of his psychological dependency on his Praetorians.
BOOK: Coalminers of Queensland (04 Feb)
BOOK: Weavers & Believers (01 Feb)
OPINE: Fixing the federation (30 Jan)
By Peter Beattie
It's time to face reality and make the federation work more effectively.
BOOK: Welfare Wars Revisited (26 Jan)
REVIEW: Exit Right (22 Jan)
Dr Philip Laird, Faculty of Informatics, University of Wollongong
OPINE: Rail makes sense (16 Jan)
Philip Laird
Energy efficiency, climate change and safety are compelling reasons to upgrade Australia's rail networks.
QUIZ: Dec winners; January question (08 Jan)
By Ross McMullin
Ross McMullin has provided another question to test and extend your knowledge of ALP history. The answer will be revealed next month. Correct entrants will receive hearty praise and admiration.
OPINE: Crime commissions work (31 Dec)
By Peter Beattie
Crime commissions are the only long-term safeguards against political and police corruption, and every state should have one.
BOOK: What goes up (21 Dec)
BOOK: Exit Right, Mr Howard (14 Dec)
BOOK: Poll Dancing, with Mungo (10 Dec)
QUIZ: Nov winners; Dec question (05 Dec)
By Ross McMullin
Ross McMullin has provided another question to test and extend your knowledge of ALP history. The answer will be revealed next month. Correct entrants will receive hearty praise and admiration.
BOOK: Inside Spin (04 Dec)
OPINE: Sharing the peace (27 Nov)
By John Robertson, Head of Unions NSW
There is a mood for collaboration in the country that Labor’s election victory will unleash.
BOOK: What We Say Goes (26 Nov)
BOOK: Forced departures (22 Nov)
BOOK: Social Attitudes (15 Nov)
BOOK: Watching Brief (12 Nov)
BOOK: Blackwater mercenaries (10 Nov)
QUIZ: Oct winners; Nov question (05 Nov)
By Ross McMullin
Ross McMullin has provided another question to test and extend your knowledge of ALP history. The answer will be revealed next month. Correct entrants will receive hearty praise and admiration.
BOOK: Behind Closed Doors (21 Oct)
BOOK: No, Prime Minister (16 Oct)
BOOK: To Firmer Ground (11 Oct)
QUIZ: Sept winners, Oct question (08 Oct)
By Ross McMullin
Ross McMullin has provided another question to test and extend your knowledge of ALP history. The answer will be revealed next month. Correct entrants will receive hearty praise and admiration.
INFO: The Whitlam Institute (02 Oct)
The Whitlam Institute has a range of items for sale, with all proceeds helping build the Institute's program.
BOOK: Connor's Hill (01 Oct)
BOOK: Who Owns Our Health? (24 Sep)
BOOK: Future Perfect: What next? (17 Sep)
BOOK: Stuffed and Starved (14 Sep)
QUIZ: August winners, Sept question (11 Sep)
By Ross McMullin
Ross McMullin has provided another question to test and extend your knowledge of ALP history. The answer will be revealed next month. Correct entrants will receive hearty praise and admiration.
BOOK: QE 27: Reaction Time (10 Sep)
BOOK: Undiplomatic Activities (04 Sep)
OPINE: Ease the burden for vets (01 Sep)
By Kate Ellis, MP for Adelaide
If a nation sends its young off to bloody wars, it then has a duty to adequately care for them if they return injured.
OPINE: Is politics still a vocation? (21 Aug)
Michelle Grattan
Veteran journalist Michelle Gratton delivered this year's Kenneth Myer Lecture in Canberra .
QUIZ: July winners, August question (14 Aug)
By Ross McMullin
Ross McMullin has provided another question to test and extend your knowledge of ALP history. The answer will be revealed next month. Correct entrants will receive hearty praise and admiration.
OPINE: Lawyers must stand up (06 Aug)
By Duncan Kerr, MP for Denison (Tasmania)
There is a deeper obligation on lawyers than on the rest of the community to preserve basic rights.
BOOK: The Stupid Country (01 Aug)
OPINE: Aid policy wins Friends (27 Jul)
*Cam Walker, Fitzroy VIC
Labor's policy will assist nations in the region to prepare for, and adapt to, the effects of climate change.
BOOK: Kevin Rudd: The Biography (22 Jul)
BOOK: My Life as a Traitor (16 Jul)
QUIZ: June winners; July question (12 Jul)
By Ross McMullin
Ross McMullin has provided another question to test and extend your knowledge of ALP history. The answer will be revealed next month. Correct entrants will receive hearty praise and admiration.
OPINE: Electoral law scam (10 Jul)
The Howard Government's electoral laws will abolish the traditional five days voters had to get on the roll and disenfranchise tens of thousands of eligible voters.
BOOK: The Australians (08 Jul)
BOOK: Four Classic QEs (06 Jul)
OPINE: Lip service to a free press (03 Jul)
By Duncan Kerr, MP for Denison (Tasmania)
The government blows its trumpet on a free press but fails to back it up with the right legislation.
OPINE: Howard traffics the big lie (30 Jun)
By Paul Keating
Bounders like Howard and Costello can't match Labor's record of difficult economic reform.
BOOK: Power Without Responsibility? (28 Jun)
OPINE: Public life and the media (26 Jun)
By Tony Blair, UK PM
The relationship between public life and media is damaged and requires repair.
OPINE: The role of labour unions (24 Jun)
By Jeff Lawrence, Secretary, ACTU
The union movement exists to help working working families achieve a decent quality of life.
BOOK: Keywords To War (20 Jun)
REVIEW: David Marr's QE 26 (18 Jun)
David Bath
BOOK: Weighing Up Australian Values (14 Jun)
QUIZ: May winners; June question (12 Jun)
By Ross McMullin
Ross McMullin has provided another question to test and extend your knowledge of ALP history. The answer will be revealed next month. Correct entrants will receive hearty praise and admiration.
BOOK: The Lamb Enters the Dreaming (10 Jun)
BOOK: Shakedown (07 Jun)
OPINE: The soaring cost of learning (05 Jun)
By Kate Ellis, MP for Adelaide
Public education must not just sold off to the highest bidder.
BOOK: Quarterly Essay 26 (01 Jun)
BOOK: Longevity and Social Change (29 May)
BOOK: Sucked In (25 May)
OPINE: Assessing Tony Blair (19 May)
By Geoff Gallop
Being to trusting in politics is a fault that can can have terrible ramifications.
BOOK: Scorcher (17 May)
HISTORY: Ernie Crimes at 100 (15 May)
By Phil Robins
An interview with a remarkable SA Labor man.
QUIZ: April winners; May question (14 May)
By Ross McMullin
Ross McMullin has provided another question to test and extend your knowledge of ALP history. The answer will be revealed next month. Correct entrants will receive hearty praise and admiration.
OPINE: Women in politics (10 May)
By Kate Ellis, MP for Adelaide
Shallow journalism does nothing for representative government in this country.
OPINE: Rigged! (07 May)
By Michael Danby, Opposition Whip in the House of Representatives
The rigging the nation's electoral law is the real Liberal agenda.
BOOK: Allied And Addicted (29 Apr)
QUIZ: March winners, April question (17 Apr)
By Ross McMullin
Ross McMullin has provided another question to test and extend your knowledge of ALP history. The answer will be revealed next month. Correct entrants will receive hearty praise and admiration.
OPINE: China & Dafur (05 Apr)
By Michael Danby, Opposition Whip in the House of Representatives
Human rights issues are put on the backburner while economic deals are forged.
BOOK: Well Done, Those Men (02 Apr)
A memoir on the senseless damage of war.
OPINE: Social prosperity (23 Mar)
By Steve Georganas, Member for Hindmarsh
Flexible workplaces can yield both economic and social prosperity.
HISTORY: Gough Whitlam milestone (21 Mar)
By John Faulkner, Senator for NSW
An appreciation of Gough Whitlam's life-long commitment to public service.
BOOK: Bipolar Nation (15 Mar)
A timely title in this first class series.
QUIZ: Feb winners, March question (11 Mar)
By Ross McMullin
Ross McMullin has provided another question to test and extend your knowledge of ALP history. The answer will be revealed next month. Correct entrants will receive hearty praise and admiration.
BOOK: Ghost Plane (04 Mar)
Revelations about the CIA's secret torture program.
BOOK: The Fight (28 Feb)
A portrait of a Labor man who will never give up.
OPINE: Democracy at risk (23 Feb)
By Michael Danby, Opposition Whip in the House of Representatives
The Howard Government’s changes to the electoral laws will serve to deny many Australians their right to vote.
OPINE: The water crisis (20 Feb)
By Bill Shorten, AWU National Secretary
Some thoughts on waterproofing Australia
QUIZ: January winners, Feb question (13 Feb)
By Ross McMullin
Ross McMullin has provided another question to test and extend your knowledge of ALP history. The answer will be revealed next month. Correct entrants will receive hearty praise and admiration.
OPINE: Have pity for the doorknocker (05 Feb)
By Lindsay Tanner, Shadow Minister for Finance
A door-knocking MP is seeking to better understand your views.
BOOK: Silencing Dissent (02 Feb)
Serious questions about the state of democracy in Australia.
OPINE: Innovation the oil for growth (30 Jan)
By Bernie Ripoli
In order to ensure another sixteen years of solid economic growth, government must act now to help Australia become more innovative.
BOOK: Beyond Right And Left (22 Jan)
Where is politics taking the country? Is it time for a new politics? This is intriguing reading for all political pundits.
OPINE: Closure for socialism (15 Jan)
By Geoff Gallop
Labor should look beyond the language of socialism.
QUIZ: Dec winners, January question (10 Jan)
By Ross McMullin
Ross McMullin has provided another question to test and extend your knowledge of ALP history. The answer will be revealed next month. Correct entrants will receive hearty praise and admiration.
BOOK: Four Classic Quarterly Essays (22 Dec)
Top summer reading
BOOK: No fit place for women? (20 Dec)
Valuable reading for everybody interested in the issue of gender in politics and in the lives of the women who entered parliament.
OPINE: Work Choices essay in top five (18 Dec)
Shaun Mortimer
An essay by 25 year old ALP member, Shaun Mortimer, has been selected as one of the five finalists in the McCallum Medal Employment Law Essay competition. The competition is open to law students across the nation. This is an abridged version.
QUIZ: Nov winners, December question (11 Dec)
By Ross McMullin
Ross McMullin has provided another question to test and extend your knowledge of ALP history. The answer will be revealed next month. Correct entrants will receive hearty praise and admiration.
OPINE: Court opens nuke floodgates (08 Dec)
By Linda Kirk, Senator for South Australia
The High Court’s decision on IR may also give the Federal Government the green light to build nuclear power plants wherever it likes.
BOOK: Inside the Global Jihad (06 Dec)
Essential reading for everyone who wants to better understand the global jihad.
BOOK: The Family Law Handbook (05 Dec)
An up-to-date and indispensable guide for everyone involved in the field of family law.
BOOK: Wordwatching (04 Dec)
A book for everyone interested in the quirks and curiosities of language.
OPINE: On capital punishment (01 Dec)
By Bob McMullan, MP for Fraser (ACT)
The obligation on those who oppose the death penalty is to be consistent.
BOOK: Target Iran (27 Nov)
The story of the origins of the crisis and the individuals and organisations involved.
BOOK: The War on Democracy (22 Nov)
This timely book examines and exposes conservative opinion in the Australian press.
OPINE: Fine irony in Workchoices ruling (21 Nov)
By Duncan Kerr, MP for Denison (Tasmania)
The High Court decision on Workchoices might also give government the power to cap outlandish executive salaries.
OPINE: Tend Indonesian ties with care (16 Nov)
By Michael Danby, Opposition Whip in the House of Representatives
Tact and respect are vital ingredients for healthier relations with the emerging democracy of Indonesia.
OPINE: Everyone should work or study (10 Nov)
By Craig Emerson, Chair of Labor's Caucus Economic Commitee.
Long term unemployed young people need more options and stricter rules to prevent them falling by the wayside.
QUIZ: Oct winners; November question (06 Nov)
By Ross McMullin
Ross McMullin’s quiz question this month invites you to identify the former Labor MP whose superb autobiography includes the following extracts. The answer will be revealed next month. Correct entrants will receive hearty praise and admiration.
OPINE: Get serious on child abuse (03 Nov)
By Linda Kirk, Senator for South Australia
Violence against children is preventable, and a good start would be for the Howard Government to implement the UN’s recommendations.
OPINE: Good dialogue values difference (02 Nov)
By Maria Vamvakinou
Learning to listen could help to solve many of the problems we face today.
OPINE: Thinking about modern Labor (30 Oct)
Labor’s vision could promote opportunity for all, strong communities, reward for effort, tolerance, ecological sustainability, a community of nations and a world at peace.
BOOK: More on the history question (20 Oct)
This essay poses the question: what kind of history do we want and need?
QUIZ: Sept winners, October question (16 Oct)
By Ross McMullin
Ross McMullin has provided another question to test and extend your knowledge of ALP history. The answer will be revealed next month. Correct entrants will receive hearty praise and admiration.
BOOK: A Thinking Reed (04 Oct)
Barry Jones is a legendary figure in Australian public life. This is his autobiography.
BOOK: West Papua - its history and future (03 Oct)
Clinton Fernandes discusses the problems posed by the rise of the West Papuan independence movement for Australia’s relations with Indonesia.
OPINE: Hicks: Latest US moves don't help (27 Sep)
By Linda Kirk, Senator for South Australia
David Hicks deserves a fair trial. That’s hardly an outrageous statement yet the Howard Government, by its failure to press the US on Hicks, seems not to agree.
BOOK: Imagine If: A Handbook for Activists (18 Sep)
This handbook gives valuable tips on how to make your voice be heard.
QUIZ: August winners: September question (11 Sep)
By Ross McMullin
Ross McMullin has provided another question to test and extend your knowledge of ALP history. The answer will be revealed next month. Correct entrants will receive hearty praise and admiration.
OPINE: Sedition laws build climate of fear (06 Sep)
By Duncan Kerr, MP for Denison (Tasmania)
John Howard's sedition laws have helped build a climate of fear in which it is difficult for voices defending human rights to be heard.
BOOK: Is Australia the 51st State? (05 Sep)
This book tackles the national identity question and asks how Australia imagines its future.
OPINE: Beat negativity and win poll: Rann (03 Sep)
By Mike Rann, Premier of South Australia
The SA ALP’s achievements over the past decade are a timely reminder that a negative mindset is the greatest threat to Labor’s chances of winning next year’s federal poll.
OPINE: The nation needs student activism (01 Sep)
By Julia Gillard, Shadow Minister for Health , Manager of Opposition Business in the House of Representatives
Democracy depends on the stream of good young people coming forward to be part of the political process. Student activism is often the spark that leads to deeper involvement and should be encouraged.
BOOK: The ABC's history in two volumes (28 Aug)
A thousand page history of Australia's public broadcaster.
OPINE: Migration bill was border surrender (23 Aug)
By Maria Vamvakinou
The Migration Bill was a response to Indonesia's reaction over the decision to grant asylum to 43 West Papuans. It was not a policy of ‘border protection’, as claimed, but of ‘border surrender’.
BOOK: Reflected Light - La Trobe Essays (22 Aug)
Thought and discourse on a range of topics important to contemporary Australia.
OPINE: Schools need needs-based funding (17 Aug)
By Craig Emerson, Chair of Labor's Caucus Economic Commitee.
A needs-based funding that allows competition and specialisation in schools will give disadvantaged children a decent start in life.
BOOK: Shopping for Bombs (13 Aug)
The gripping story of nuclear proliferation, global insecurity, and the rise and fall of the A.Q. Khan network.
QUIZ: July winners; August question (10 Aug)
By Ross McMullin
Ross McMullin has provided another question to test and extend your knowledge of ALP history. The answer will be revealed next month. Correct entrants will receive hearty praise and admiration.
BOOK: House of War: The Pentagon (08 Aug)
This is a sweeping yet intimate look at the Pentagon and its vast, yet often hidden, impact on America.
OPINE: John Curtin: A Labor Life (06 Aug)
By John Faulkner, Senator for NSW
John Curtin said in 1943 that economic freedom is a precondition of every other sort of freedom – emotional as well as civil and political.
OPINE: Trade crisis needs swift attention (27 Jul)
By Bob McMullan, MP for Fraser (ACT)
The trade crisis is seeing Australia head back towards the bad old days of being just “a quarry and a farm”.
OPINE: Justice for Hicks under Australian law (24 Jul)
By Linda Kirk, Senator for South Australia
Contrary to claims by the PM and the Attorney General, there is plenty of scope under Australian law to charge David Hicks and to provide a fair test of these charges in court.
BOOK: Keywords in Australian Politics (20 Jul)
A new book on political keywords means there's no excuse now to be caught talking about things you don’t understand…
QUIZ: June winners; next question (13 Jul)
By Ross McMullin
Ross McMullin has provided another question to test and extend your knowledge of ALP history. The answer will be revealed next month. Correct entrants will receive hearty praise and admiration.
BOOK: Talking about Labor's regeneration (09 Jul)
The contributors in this volume call for policies that resonate with the electorate...and ambitious representatives to expound them.
OPINE: Self-reliance or the welfare state? (28 Jun)
By Craig Emerson, Chair of Labor's Caucus Economic Commitee.
The task will fall to a reforming Labor government to give power back to the people, allowing reward for effort, and creating fairness and opportunity for all out of the prosperity generated in open, competitive markets.
BOOK: Carmen Lawrence, fear & politics (22 Jun)
By Carmen Lawrence, Member for Fremantle
Fear has always been an easy emotion to exploit for political gain. This book outlines the antidote to that “toxin” and expresses hope for the return of human betterment as the prime focus of politics.
OPINE: The truth about AWAs and mining (20 Jun)
Tony Maher*
Strong productivity and wages growth in the highly unionised coal-mining sector is clear evidence that the Howard Government has been telling porkies on the importance of AWAs to the industry.
BOOK: The Wran Era (13 Jun)
Neville Wran is a giant in NSW Labor politics. He transformed the state during his decade at the helm with sound economic management and moderate progressive reform.
QUIZ: May winners, next question (08 Jun)
By Ross McMullin
This month, Ross has provided a 'Who-am-I?' quiz question with an interesting present-day resonance to test and extend your knowledge of ALP history. The answer will be revealed next month. Correct entrants will receive hearty praise and admiration.
BOOK: The life of a radical cartoonist (31 May)
Will Dyson was Australia’s first official war artist. His drawings of profound empathy and sympathy remain a unique record of the horror of war.
BOOK: The rise and rise of affluence (23 May)
This book examines the past thirty years of Australian political history. It’s an irresistible read for political junkies, and features some classic Paul Keating lines.
BOOK: All you wanted to know about WMD (15 May)
Rod Barton describes the serious game of weapons inspection, with its mixture of detective work, scientific analysis and mind-games – and the attempts, by Britain’s MI6 among others, to hide the truth about Iraq’s lack of weapons of mass destruction.
QUIZ: April winners; next question (11 May)
By Ross McMullin
This month, Ross McMullin has provided a 'Who-am-I?' quiz question to test and extend your knowledge of ALP history. The answer will be revealed next month. Correct entrants will receive hearty praise and admiration.
INFO: Mick's Trust makes a difference (08 May)
It’s been ten years since MHR for Port Adelaide, Labor legend and Hawke Government minister Mick Young died, but his work lives on through the Scholarship Trust in his name. All contributions to the fund are welcome and well appreciated.
OPINE: RAMSI & the strife in the Solomons (01 May)
By Bob McMullan, MP for Fraser (ACT) and David Peebles
The Howard Government's ignored requests for assistance in the three years before RAMSI was deployed, turning a local conflict into almost total state collapse. RAMSI's role must now be broadened in order to rebuild civil society and a cohesive nation.
OPINE: Competition is good for education (17 Apr)
By Craig Emerson, Chair of Labor's Caucus Economic Commitee.
Public and private resources should be combined and harnessed in a way that creates a competitive learning environment and the best possible education for Australian children.
HISTORY: The 8-hour day, 150 years old (11 Apr)
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the achievement by the labour movement of the eight hour day. The new IR laws will mean lower wages and, once again, the labour movement is called upon to protect working conditions now and for future generations.
OPINE: On indigenous representation (09 Apr)
By Bob McMullan, MP for Fraser (ACT)
Ending the marginalisation of indigenous people is not only desirable – it is achievable. A good start would involve establishing an effective representative body and a set of development goals against which performance could be measured.
BOOK: Politics is a contest of ideas (04 Apr)
By Craig Emerson, Chair of Labor's Caucus Economic Commitee.
This is Craig Emerson’s speech at the recent Sydney launch of his new book, ‘Vital Signs, Vibrant Society’.
QUIZ: March winners; next question (02 Apr)
By Ross McMullin
Ross McMullin has provided another question to test and extend your knowledge of ALP history. The answer will be revealed next month. Correct entrants will receive hearty praise and admiration.
OPINE: Tony Blair on poverty and war (30 Mar)
Tony Blair, Britain’s Prime Minister
If we want to secure our way of life, there is no alternative but to fight for it, says Tony Blair. Inactivity is just as much a policy, with its own results, but it is the wrong one.
BOOK: Politics, deprivation and abundance (27 Mar)
Can painting a picture of a new society that is less selfish and materialistic help the left forge an effective new politics?
OPINE: A ten year long litany of lies (22 Mar)
By John Faulkner, Senator for NSW
Scandals, lies and corruption characterise the past decade of Coalition government. The government and its hand-picked sycophants also suffer the worst case of collective amnesia in medical and political history.
BOOK: IR laws: who wins and who loses (21 Mar)
The new IR laws, the so-called 'WorkChoices', overturns a century of collective efforts to create basic rights and a ‘fair go’ in Australian workplaces. This book delves into the detail.
OPINE: End the hand-wringing on truancy (19 Mar)
By Craig Emerson, Chair of Labor's Caucus Economic Commitee.
Chronic truancy may be a sign of neglect and new approaches should be considered to assist these children before they go off the rails.
OPINE: Three whips & you're out (15 Mar)
By Chris Bowen, Member for Prospect
The community comment on the high quality of the parliamentary contributions on the recent RU486 legislation raises the question: why don’t we have more conscience votes?
QUIZ: February winners; next question (09 Mar)
By Ross McMullin
Ross McMullin has provided another question to test and extend your knowledge of ALP history. The answer will be revealed next month. Correct entrants will receive hearty praise and admiration.
BOOK: Original thought on Aussie history (05 Mar)
This collection of essays covers all the themes central to Australian history, from convict society and Gallipoli to communist threats, Aboriginal policy and the republic, all the while chiselling out a distinctive portrait of the nation.
OPINE: On cultural and religious tolerance (02 Mar)
By John Faulkner, Senator for NSW
The dog-whistling members of the Howard government are trying to create a new sectarianism in Australia – a division within our community on the basis of religion and race.
OPINE: Labor needs to win the bush (09 Feb)
By Joel Fitzgibbon, Shadow Assistant Treasurer and Shadow Minister for Revenue; Small Business and Competition
The current crisis in the Coalition and the ongoing failure of the National Party to stand up for the needs of country voters provides an opportunity for Labor to gain vital electoral support in the bush.
QUIZ: January winners; next question (06 Feb)
By Ross McMullin
Ross McMullin has provided another question to test and extend your knowledge of ALP history. The answer will be revealed next month. Correct entrants will receive hearty praise and admiration.
BOOK: Asbestos and corporate behaviour (31 Jan)
Dust and disease were central to the asbestos industry, yet the board and senior management of Hardies seem to have been indifferent and untroubled because the problems could always be deferred…
OPINE: Where to now for our democracy? (26 Jan)
By Carmen Lawrence, Member for Fremantle
In a recent paper, Carmen Lawrence argues that an actively engaged citizenry, informed public debate, and civil and cooperative parliamentary conduct are goals worth striving for. Here are some extracts.
OPINE: But the Vikings grew barley... (24 Jan)
By Peter Walsh, former ALP federal minister
Green activists are contemptuous of the values and aspirations of mainstream Australians, and truckling for their preferences alienates traditional Labor voters and lowers the party's primary vote.
OPINE: Why Austrade Needs a Board (23 Jan)
By Bob McMullan, MP for Fraser (ACT)
As Australia’s balance of trade goes from bad to worse, our exporters need a trade promotion agency which is focussed on their needs, not the government’s political agenda.
OPINE: Stepping into the mainstream (22 Jan)
By Craig Emerson, Chair of Labor's Caucus Economic Commitee.
To represent the interests of all Australians and lift the chances of victory at the next election, Labor needs to work itself back into the mainstream, step by step.
QUIZ: December winners; next question (09 Jan)
By Ross McMullin
This month, Ross invites readers to identify who said the following. The answer will be revealed next month. Correct entrants will receive hearty praise and admiration.
BOOK: SIEV X: The questions remain (19 Dec)
Tony Kevin
A Senate committee in 2003 examined the 'children overboard’ lie and called for a judicial inquiry into the government’s complicity in it. That, of course, never happened. This book recounts the known facts and again calls for a full enquiry. A must read.
BOOK: The Australian Electoral System (18 Dec)
David Farrell & Ian McAllister
One hundred years ago, Australia led the world in the development of democratic systems and was the world’s first truly democratic state. This book details our nation’s electoral systems from the beginning to the present day. Herewith is a brief excerpt.
QUIZ: November winners; next question (12 Dec)
By Ross McMullin
This month, Ross McMullin has provided a multi-pronged question to challenge and extend your knowledge of Labor history. The answers will be revealed next month. Correct entrants will receive hearty praise and admiration.
VALE: Hon. Peter Francis Salmon Cook (05 Dec)
By Simon Crean, Shadow Minister for Regional Development
Peter Cook’s extensive achievements for the labour movement and for the nation inspired numerous condolence speeches in the federal parliament. This is one of the best.
OPINE: Idealism & realism in the ALP (28 Nov)
By John Faulkner, Senator for NSW
Commitment to the goal of dignity and security for working men and women is the ideal by which Labor sets its compass – but progress can be frustratingly slow…
BOOK: I was there on 11.11.75... (21 Nov)
By Bob Ellis
Bob Ellis is one of numerous contributors, including Bob Hawke, Ken Wreidt and John Button, to a new book from MUP edited by Sybil Nolan about the Dismissal...herewith is a brief sample from Ellis' chapter.
BOOK: Another dismissal account re-print (19 Nov)
Michael Sexton
This book was originally published in 1979 as 'Illusions of Power'. The author worked in the attorney-general’s office during the Whitlam government. Herewith is a brief excerpt from the introduction to the reprinted edition.
BOOK: Gough tells the truth...again (16 Nov)
Gough Whitlam
This is the third edition of Gough Whitlam’s account of the 1975 dismissal. It is a book that belongs, dog-eared, on every party member’s bookshelf. This edition includes a new introduction by Gough, a brief excerpt of which appears here.
QUIZ: October winners; November question (06 Nov)
By Ross McMullin
Every month, Ross McMullin provides a question to test and extend your knowledge of Labor history. The answer will be revealed next month. Correct entrants will receive hearty praise and admiration.
OPINE: Greg Combet on the new IR laws (02 Nov)
By Greg Combet, ACTU Secretary
A prosperous and successful democracy should be improving opportunities for people, helping those in need, and protecting basic rights. The Howard government’s IR laws have the opposite intent.
BOOK: Launch of Pacific Regional Order (01 Nov)
By Bob Sercombe, Shadow Minister for Overseas Aid and Pacific Island Affairs
Dave Peebles, a staff member for Labor’s Pacific Affairs spokesperson, Bob Sercombe, is the author of a new book offering policy options for the Pacific region. Herewith are Bob’s comments at the launch, along with some further words by the author.
OPINE: Indigenous poverty blights us all (26 Oct)
By Bob McMullan, MP for Fraser (ACT)
The life expectancy for a young indigenous Australian is twenty years less than for other Australians…and it’s time the government put serious effort and serious money towards fixing this terrible statistic.
OPINE: The rhetoric should match the intent (24 Oct)
By Duncan Kerr
The rhyme of Robbie Burns and the imagery of Francisco Goya express lessons that ought to be observed in the efforts to combat terrorism.
OPINE: Renewables vs.nuclear (19 Oct)
Professor Ian Lowe, President of the Australian Conservation Foundation
Australia should follow the lead of other countries, including China, and put more faith in renewable energy rather than uranium and other finite sources.
QUIZ: September winner; October question (04 Oct)
By Ross McMullin
Every month, Ross McMullin provides a question to test and extend your knowledge of Labor history. The answer will be revealed next month. Correct entries will receive hearty praise and admiration.
OPINE: IR for successful economies (04 Oct)
By Craig Emerson, Chair of Labor's Caucus Economic Commitee.
There is simply no evidence that the Howard government’s program of deregulating the labour market and driving down the minimum wage will yield the holy grail of productivity growth.
BOOK: Review: Wayne Swan's Postcodes (29 Sep)
Reviewed by Ann Jensen*
Wayne Swan says he is saddened that the prosperity Australia has created over the last 14 years hasn't reached all of our postcodes.
OPINE: Annabel, I beg to differ... (29 Sep)
By Julia Gillard, Shadow Minister for Health , Manager of Opposition Business in the House of Representatives
This is an edited excerpt of Julia Gillard’s speech at the launch of Annabel Crabb’s new book, 'Losing It'. The full version is available under ‘downloads’ to the right.
BOOK: The Third Try: Can the UN work? (21 Sep)
Broinowski & Wilkinson, with an Afterword by Gareth Evans
Gareth Evans was foreign minister from 1988 to1996 in the Hawke and Keating Governments. Since 2000, he has been president and chief executive of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group. He has contributed an Afterword for the book.
QUIZ: August winners; September question (31 Aug)
By Ross McMullin
Every month, Ross McMullin provides a question to test and extend your knowledge of Labor history. The answer will be revealed next month. Correct entries will receive hearty praise and admiration.
BOOK: South Australia: Trends & Issues (29 Aug)
Edited by John Spoehr
The true state of Felicia...
VALE: David Lange: NZ Labour hero (17 Aug)
Selwyn Manning*
Selwyn Manning reflects on what David Lange meant to the people of south Auckland, what difference he made to New Zealand, and what it was like to be in his presence.
BOOK: Uncharted Waters (14 Aug)
By Greg Mallory, with a foreword by Jack Mundey
In 1938 and again in the 1970s, unions refused to allow workers’ labour to be used for what they considered ‘destructive’ purposes, and pioneered a new way of thinking about the nature of work and relations with the wider community. Herewith some excerpts
QUIZ: July winners; August question (01 Aug)
By Ross McMullin
Every month, Ross McMullin provides a question to test and extend your knowledge of Labor history. The answer will be revealed next month. Selected correct entries will receive a prize.
OPINE: The scourge of political corruption (28 Jul)
By Bob McMullan, MP for Fraser (ACT)
The Government’s advertising blitz in support of its IR legislation is said to cost around $20 million of taxpayers’ money. This misuse of public money is consistent with a pattern of behaviour which is damaging our democracy.
OPINE: Bob Carr: a tribute by Barry Jones (27 Jul)
By Barry Jones, National President of the ALP
A tribute by one Labor legend to another.
BOOK: Following Them Home... (24 Jul)
What happens to the people the Immigration Department rejects...
HISTORY: Bush campaigning, the hard way (20 Jul)
The late Don Dunstan, former Premier of South Australia
This excerpt from Felicia, the Political Memoirs for Don Dunstan (1981) describes campaigning in remote regions in a now remote era. Thanks to Don Dwyer* for suggesting this story would be of interest to today’s party campaigners.
OPINE: IR, employee rights and the economy (19 Jul)
By Greg Combet, ACTU Secretary
The campaign against the Howard Government’s IR laws will be a tough fight but, as Greg Combet says, it’s times like this that bring out the best in us – the unity, determination and character to fight for the dignity and respect of working people.
HISTORY: George Elmslie, Vic's first Labor Premier (18 Jul)
By Victor Isaacs
The story of George Elmslie, a stonemason, who was denied a fair run as Victorian Premier by the conservative ‘born-to-rulers’ in the parliament, and by an old English law.
OPINE: Indigenous Governance: a new approach (18 Jul)
By Warren Mundine, National Senior Vice President of the ALP
In a recent address to the Indigenous Labor Network,Warren Mundine offered a new agenda for effective indigenous governance in this country.
OPINE: Time for some politics of the long term (14 Jul)
By Julia Gillard, Shadow Minister for Health , Manager of Opposition Business in the House of Representatives
Julia Gillard takes issue with Labor’s policy development process and says the driving force should an unashamed focus on the future rather than an appeasement of the present. This article first appeared in New Matilda: newmatilda.com
REVIEW: Review: Geoff Goodfellow's poetry. (14 Jul)
Reviewed by Richard Hillman*
Geoff Goodfellow's Punch On, Punch Off...
The Vulgar Press (in association with SA Unions), Melbourne...
ISBN 0 9580795 28...
RRP $14.95
OPINE: Young Libs: the 'Rottweiler Right' rules (11 Jul)
Chloe Hooper
At the Young Libs national conference in Hobart earlier this year, the “far Rottweiler right” dominated and handed further power to the senior Rottweilers in the Liberals’ Federal Executive. Read on and be appalled. First published in The Monthly.
OPINE: Stories of the Ten Pound Poms (03 Jul)
By Julia Gillard, Shadow Minister for Health , Manager of Opposition Business in the House of Representatives
A new book about the life history of post-war British emigration to Australia, Ten pound Poms: Australia’s Invisible Migrants*, was launched recently by Julia Gillard.
OPINE: Labor and the battle for ideas (03 Jul)
By Craig Emerson, Chair of Labor's Caucus Economic Commitee.
Craig Emerson finds it marvellous that Labor has reconnected with the Hawke-Keating legacy of economic reform, but says that re-embracing the open, competitive economic model is not enough...
OPINE: Bill of Rights a right success (03 Jul)
By Jon Stanhope, ACT Chief Minister
None of the dire warnings that were advanced by the critics of the ACT Bill of Rights have come to pass…so should a national bill of rights now be considered?
OPINE: Taking parliament to the people (29 Jun)
By Brendan O'Connor, Member for Gorton
The parliamentary committee process is an intrinsic part of our democracy and ought to be respected by the government of the day.
HISTORY: Fred Ward: a Labor radical (28 Jun)
By Phil Robins
The socialist capitalist who wore a pith helmet in summer, smoked cigars and formed his own cricket team at Port Largs…
QUIZ: Ross McMullin's Quiz: the July question (28 Jun)
By Ross McMullin
Every month, Ross McMullin provides a question to test and extend your knowledge of Labor history. The answer will be revealed next month. A selected correct entry will receive a prize.
BOOK: New books: an invitation to submit a review (28 Jun)
Here are some recent releases which may be of interest to ALP members. Reviews of these books are welcome.
OPINE: Thomas Keneally and Pen International (28 Jun)
Renowned Australian novelist Thomas Keneally recently co-edited an anthology of writing by refugees entitled Another Country. He recently addressed a meeting of the Fraser FEC, and this is an edited version of his comments.
OPINE: Pick the best and be proud (28 Jun)
By Tim Gartrell, ALP National Secretary
The dreary Liberal Party mantra that too many Labor MPs have been staffers, unions officials and party officials in their former lives cannot remain unchallenged.
OPINE: How to make the polluters pay (28 Jun)
Robert Kennedy, son of the assassinated Senator Robert Kennedy, is credited with leading the fight to protect New York City’s waterways. This is an edited version of his comments to a function in Melbourne recently.
OPINE: The launch of The Loner. (28 Jun)
By John Faulkner, Senator for NSW
Mark Latham’s book, LONER: Inside a Labor Tragedy, was launched by Senator John Faulkner. This is what he said.
HISTORY: The Herald masthead in Labor history (28 Jun)
This is a short history of the Herald as an ALP journal. It is from an unpublished manuscript by the late Frank Kneebone, who was a Minister in the first Dunstan Government.
