Former Australian Prime Minister John Howard was booted out in the 2007 elections. He had been Prime Minister for 11 years and in that time he had taken the country to war and divided the country on issues like Aboriginal reconciliation and workplace reforms.
The Howard Years, a four part documentary originally screened on the ABC, is now online and available to view for free and takes a detailed look at the legacy of his Prime Ministership. The four part series explores in greater detail than ever before Howard's fractured relationship with his deputy and heir apparent, Peter Costello, and also contains some startling revelations from Howard Government ministers that many candidly admit they would never have told you while they were still in Government.
posted by Effigy2000
on Dec 8, 2008 -
32 comments
The Soapbox is a collection of photographs, texts of speeches, transcripts of debates and political ads from Australian election campaigns (both State and Federal) from 1901 to the present day. More materials will be added when they become available.
posted by Effigy2000
on Oct 25, 2007 -
3 comments
And we're off! Prime Minister John Howard has set the date for the Australian Federal election as November 24th, meaning we're up for a long six-week campaign. With Kevin Rudd leading the PM by
between 16 to 18 points (depending on who you read) in recent opinion polls, this election seems the most likely to provide a change of Government since Howard was first elected 11 years ago. Antony Green's usual excellent election guide is
up and running here, along with an
excellent calculator which shows which seats are up for grabs dependent on a
2 party preferred swing. You might also want to check out the
Vote-O-Matic, a fun but entirely disposable quiz which aims to help you decide who you'll vote for.
[more inside]
posted by Effigy2000
on Oct 13, 2007 -
603 comments
""We only have to recall the colour of the faces of those in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi who are most devastated by Katrina to know that there are not yet equal opportunities for all Americans." - Former President Jimmy Carter.
Coretta Scott King was
laid to rest Tuesday after a six-hour service attended by four presidents and 10,000 ordinary people who came to pay tribute to the first lady of the civil rights movement - and one of its last icons. But at an event designed to remember the lady who was as memorable as her late husband in fighting for civil rights, politics entered the fray with both former President Jimmy Carter and Rev Joseph Lowery taking
swipes at the Bush Administration. They say that there's a time and a place, and while this was clearly not the place, with
thousands of Katrina victims (mostly African-American) about to be evicted because of
budget cuts by the Bush administration, was it the
time?
posted by Effigy2000
on Feb 8, 2006 -
149 comments
It seems increasingly more likely that Saddam Hussein's regime was
getting kickbacks from the
Australian Wheat Board and, worse still, the Australian Government
may have known about it. This major scandal is causing big headaches for the Australian Government and is emerging as a diplomatic sore point between the US and one of its strongest Iraq War allies. The Australian Opposition is calling for the official inquiry into the matter, the Cole Inquiry,
to be widened, whilst in the US,
several US senators including
Norm Coleman and
Patty Murray are demanding answers whilst simultaneously calling for a ban on Australian wheat. [more inside]
posted by Effigy2000
on Feb 1, 2006 -
31 comments
