Search

The author evaluates the performance of Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd after fourteen months in office. He sees Rudd as failing to take the opportunity provided by the recession to reorganize the Australian economy away from globalism and laments that the administration has not chosen to do this. The author also examines Rudd's ability to communicate with voters and the likely return of protectionism, and contrasts him with his predecessor, John Howard.

The article discusses the role of aesthetics in politics, especially in Australia under Prime Minister John Howard, and also Kevin Rudd. Political stagecraft in the era of mass media is discussed, in particular the importance to conservative politics of communicating a state of emergency through the manipulation of symbols and imagery.

The article presents the author's views on what the political left in Australia must do to reverse what he sees as the regression in political culture under the conservative government of Prime Minister John Howard. The Australian Liberal Party under Kevin Rudd is urged to do more than be slightly moderate.

The author reflects on the governance of John Howard during his term as prime minister of Australia. He notes that central to Howard's policies were social and cultural issues. He points out that Howard was far more comfortable with a democratic approach to foreign policy than most before him. He says that the Howard administration extended Australia's commitment to economic reform through a decade when the politics of reform were both harder in the community and tougher in parliament.

The author describes the government of former Australian Prime Minister John Howard. He mentions his own relationship with Howard. He believes Howard's worst policy judgment was his 1997 decision to introduce a Goods and Services Taxes. He highlights the accomplishments of Howard as the prime minister.

The article discusses the political actions of Australian prime minister John Howard regarding Indigenous relations and sexual abuse. The military application of peacekeeping forces to assist in domestic sexual abuse of children within Indigenous Australian communities in 2007 is criticized, highlighting the more universal nature of abuse and claiming that the non-indigenous sector need not assert involvement.

The author presents his political outlook on Australia, focusing on the 2007 prime minister election. He cites that Federal Australian Labor Party leader Kevin Rudd casts Australia's choice as one between a stale government and a refreshed Labor Party. He believes that while Australian Prime Minister John Howard has been unconvincingly attempting to reposition himself from sceptic to saviour, Rudd has been a clear and articulate advocate. He adds that Rudd seems to offer an optimistic alternative to Australian politics.

Discusses political and social developments from around the world during the preceding week. Fitful progress in Iraq; Comments from U.S. presidential candidate John Kerry about terrorism; Connection of the war in Iraq to the war on terror; Suggestion by John Kerry that the draft might be reinstated if George W. Bush is re-elected; Shortage of flu vaccines; Arrival of democracy in Afghanistan; Victory of conservative John Howard in Australian elections; Others.

The author reflects on the trends in Australia's public spending. Current Prime Minister Kevin Rudd strongly upholds regulation designed to stop reckless spending in the government budget. Under Rudd, the government has been maintaining a budget surplus and not spending as much as it could. He notes however, under John Howard's administration, it was debt averse. He notes that the Commonwealth Treasury reported that Commonwealth spending has risen 54% since 2000-2001.

The article focuses on events involving politics and government in Australia. It notes that current Prime Minister John Howard's administration has advanced its campaign's movement against potential opponent Kevin Rudd for the coming elections. The author points out that the Howard government asserted that 70 percent of potential Rudd supporters would be comprised of anti-business groups, which implies a bad outlook for job creation and inflation.

In this article the author examines the nation of Australia in 2007. A number of factors are discussed including trends in immigration to Australia and the departure of Australians for foreign countries, Australia's relations with Great Britain and the political policies and tactics of prime minister John Howard.

The article focuses on the political success of Australian Prime Minister John Howard. Hillsong is said to be Australia's fastest-growing church. Pastor Brian Houston, who founded Hillsong, once wrote a book called "You Need More Money". It may be tempting to dismiss Hillsong as an extreme example of "prosperity Christianity" and ignore it, but Howard and his Liberals certainly have not. Australia's evangelical churches may be booming, but the country still embraces staunchly liberal values. The attention paid to Hillsong is a symptom of something much broader: Howard and his party have understood, and profited from, a big shift in Australian attitudes.

Reports on the effect of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack against the United States on incumbent Australian Prime Minister John Howard's chances of winning the November 2001 elections. Factors that caused the decline in Howard's popularity prior to the terrorist attack; Reasons for the return of the public's trust on Howard; Comparison of the country's economic condition with neighboring Asian countries.

The article discusses how Australia's prime minister John Howard announced a climate-change package, which aims to create a cap on greenhouse gas emissions. According to the country' environment minister, the scheme could be up and running by 2011 and would apply to about 55 per cent of Australia's carbon emissions. The article explains that Howard has been under increased pressure to announce some sort of carbon trading system.

The article focuses on the constitutional change in Australia. It discusses the author's view on a referendum held in Australia in early November 1999 when Australians were asked to vote on two proposed laws to alter the Constitution. The said referendum was implemented during the administration of Prime Minister John Howard.

The article reports on the working of Australian government regarding to allow same-sex couples to marry. It mentions the working of Malcolm Turnbull, prime minister of Australia, with Australians that support gay marriage and states the working of Australian political party the Liberal Party for the same. It also mentions the Liberal government, led by John Howard had passed law on marriage.

The article reports that the temporary protection visa (TPV) introduced by Australian Prime Minister John Howard on October 20, 1999, was repealed by the Australian Labor Party on August 9, 2008. Topics discussed include the 8503 condition of the new TPV that disallows people to apply for other visa, the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) or Convention on the Rights of the Child (CROC), and the unauthorised maritime arrival (UMA) with unauthorised air arrival (UAA).

The author offers his thoughts about various topics. He cites an unpublished poem by incoming British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn who had submitted it to the publication in the 1960s. He cites the intra-party conflict in the Liberal Party of Australia, which recently ousted its leader, then-Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, and discusses the political success of former long-time Australian Prime Minister John Howard. He previews a television adaption of novel "The Go-Between."

The article relates author J. R. R. Tolkien's conception of power to the politics of Australia. Tolkien reveals power as addictive, corrupting and deadly. The notion of power as addictive resonates strongly in the political climate. It can be glimpsed in the actions of Prime Minister John Howard, as he sees that power must be passed on.

The article discusses the victory of Kevin Rudd over the Liberal Party's John Howard to become Australia's Prime Minister. Howard had led the Liberal party to its worst rout in its 63-year history with his divisive approach to politics. Rudd handpicked his first ministry on November 29, 2007, not following the tradition that right and left party factions should be consulted first. The article also presents public opinions of Rudd and what he will have to face as prime minister.

The article discusses general elections in Australia. Incumbent prime minister John Howard was initially hesitant about seeking an unprecedented fifth term for his conservative coalition government. Howard's reticence may have led to the commanding lead that Labor Party head Kevin Rudd has in polls leading up to the November 24, 2007 election. The election may be swung in Queensland, where Howard's coalition holds a vast majority of parliament seats, but to which Rudd is a native.

The article reports on the 2007 federal election campaign in Australia, where Labor Party leader Kevin Rudd is mounting a serious challenge to the five-term conservative government of Prime Minister John Howard. Rudd, whose background in politics is discussed in some detail, has promised environmental reforms and a diversified energy policy.

The article discusses aspects of Australian political life in the summer of 2007. The piece is primarily a profile of Labor Party leader Kevin Rudd, providing details of his childhood, education and political actions and philosophy. Also addressed are the problems besetting the Liberal Party government of prime minister John Howard.

The article reports on the decision by the government of Australian Prime Minister John Howard to take federal control of aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory in the wake of a report indicating rampant alcohol-induced violence and child sexual abuse in the settlements. The timing of the action is questioned, given the nearness of a national election and the fact that the aborigines' condition is not new.

The article profiles Kevin Rudd, the leader of Australia's Labor Party. Labor is ahead by 14 percentage points in the polls, and has a promising shot at breaking John Howard and the Conservative's 11-year hold on Australian politics. Rudd has been attempting to appease the unions while being more business-friendly than Labor politicians traditionally have been. While popular with the public, this attempt has failed to win him strong favor with business or labor.

The article focuses on the rise in popular use of the Australian flag in relation to national identity, an issue used by many previous political campaigns. John Howard, Australian prime minister seeking re-election, has cited the national identity as an ideal to revive in upcoming campaigns against chief political rival Kevin Rudd. A history of Australian national identity is also discussed.

The article profiles Australia's Prime Minister, John Howard who has won four general elections in a row and has been in power since 1996. His popularity with Australians is referred to. The importance of the fact that Mr. Howard is the leader of both the conservative party and the conservative movement is emphasized. Mr. Howard has focused on controversial policies and tough reforms. His economic reforms and especially his tax reforms and their results are discussed. Mr. Howard is now introducing new anti-terrorist laws that mirror those of the United States and Great Britain. Aspects of the cultural Left's criticism of Mr. Howard are presented. Reference is made to his likely successor, Treasurer Peter Costello.

The article reports on politics and wage reform in Australia. On June 7th, the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) delivered what is likely to be its last ruling on the country's minimum wage. Under reforms planned by the conservative coalition government, led by John Howard, the commission's regulatory role is about to give way to a more market-driven system, which will also allow workers more power to negotiate their own wages with employers. The government's chief targets were a centrally determined method of fixing wages under the AIRC, and myriad federal and state "awards" for separate industries--everything from clerical workers to hairdressers--each containing a multitude of stipulations over working conditions. The Howard government went further by allowing individual employees to strike their own deals with bosses through Australian Workplace Agreements (AWA), before the Senate blocked more changes. The planned changes Mr Howard announced last month should go to parliament in August. They contain four key features designed to strengthen the power of employers to do their own pay deals, unburdened by regulation. The AIRC will lose its wage-fixing role to a new body called the Fair Pay Commission, which will be expected to base its decisions mainly on their overall economic impact.

Contends that Australia has collaborated with Guantanamo more closely than any other western government and is guilty of human rights abuses of its own. Australia's myth of an egalitarian society; Issues of colonialism and racism; Significance of "Australia Day," which celebrates the dispossession of the Aboriginal people by the British in 1770; Efforts of Australia's attorney general, Philip Ruddock, to stop Mamdouh Habib from speaking publicly about his suffering at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Details of the tortures Habib endured while imprisoned by the U.S.; Thoughts on media coverage in Australia; View that many Australian journalists remain silent; Detention of prisoners in Australia under Prime Minister John Howard and Ruddock.

John Howard, Australia's prime minister, is seeking a fourth term for his conservative coalition government. However, 43 of Australia's former defence and diplomatic chiefs have attacked him for what they described as his deception of the Australian people. Their charge, in a statement on August 8th, had to do with "false assumptions" behind Howard's commitment of Australian troops to the Iraq war--about 850 of them are still there. Howard's assertion last year that Australia had moved on from the Iraq war may turn out to have been wishful thinking. The murkiness surrounding Australia's involvement suggests the issue is likely to damage the government in the election campaign. The prime minister's credibility on Iraq and other issues has also brought pressure from a more unsettling front. John Valder, a former president of the conservative Liberal Party, which Howard leads, has launched a campaign to defeat Howard in his Sydney electorate of Bennelong. Valder is not standing himself, but is urging voters in the Liberal Party's heartland to support other Bennelong candidates.

This article considers a political blunder concerning Australia's Iraq policy on the part of opposition leader Mark Latham. With an election expected later this year, and the opposition Labor Party powerfully invigorated under Mark Latham, its latest leader, the prospects for John Howard winning a fourth term as prime minister have been looking a bit dim of late. Youthful and dynamic, and deftly able to steer the political agenda towards issues such as health and education, where Labor resonates strongly with voters, Mr Latham has opened up a commanding lead for the party over Mr Howard's conservative coalition since he took over the leadership just four months ago. Apparently emboldened by a sense that Australians wanted to put their military contribution to the war in Iraq behind them, Mr Latham said on March 23rd that, if Labor wins the election, he will bring the troops home by Christmas. There were echoes of the Spanish election on March 14th, soon after terrorist bombings in Madrid, and the pledge by Jos& eacute; Luis Rodr& iacute; guez Zapatero, the Spanish leader-elect, to withdraw Spain's troops from Iraq. Once Australia's responsibility was discharged after the handover to a sovereign authority in Iraq in July, he said, a Latham government would be hoping to have the troops back by Christmas: hardly revolutionary, given that Labor originally opposed the Howard government's despatch of troops to take part in the American-led invasion.

The article focuses on Mark Latham, leader of Australia's opposition Labor Party. Faced with an election by the end of 2004--and the prospect of Prime Minister John Howard winning a fourth term--Labor parliamentarians decided to ignore Mr Latham's colourful past and on December 2nd elected him to replace the lacklustre Simon Crean, whose public-approval ratings collapsed. Mr Latham is Labor's youngest leader in a century. Yet he also seems to be the party's best hope for overcoming the identity crisis that has plagued it since it lost power to Mr Howard's coalition almost eight years ago. Mr Latham is a champion of the market and individual enterprise and favours tax cuts for high earners. The job of government, he says, is "to help the people who are doing the right thing--the people who are getting stuck in, doing things the fair dinkum Australian way." He will push his ideas to make Australia an "upwardly mobile society", and boost health and education, where the Howard government is vulnerable. His biggest challenge will be to unite his party behind him before the election, whose timing is up to Mr Howard. The government coalition will try to exploit Mr Latham's inexperience and his inconsistencies on economic policy. But the new Labor leader is as formidable a communicator as Mr Howard, and every bit as adept at responding quickly to circumstances.

Reports on the victory of the conservative Liberal-National coalition in Australia, led by Prime Minister John Howard, in the November 10, 2001 election. Discussion of the outlook for Howard's third consecutive term as prime minister; Issue of his border security policy and economic management agenda; Outlook for the opposition Labor Party.

Focuses on the conservative coalition government led by John Howard in Australia. Importance of the budget to the re-election of Howard; Opposition from the Labor Party; Issue of tax reforms and surpluses.

Discusses the outlook for a referendum in Australia concerning the country's continued status as a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II of England as its head of state. Political problems facing Australian prime minister John Howard, including the political aspirations of his senior minister, Peter Costello; Howard's and Costello's differing opinions on the referendum; Discussion of the wording of the referendum; Howard's problems with the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, including the requirement that a head of state open the games.

Presents information on the efforts of Australian Prime Minister John Howard to have his proposed goods and services tax (GST) approved in Parliament. His calling of a general election in 1998; How the win reduced the Liberal party's majority in Parliament; How the GST shifts taxation in Australia; The difficulty that the government will have in getting the tax bills through the Senate.

Announces that John Howard was re-elected to the position of Prime Minister of Australia in 1998. Defeat of Pauline Hanson's One Nation party; Problems facing Howard; Economic views of Howard; Howard's proposed reforms of Australia's taxation system.

Comments on the re-election of John Howard to the position of prime minister in Australia in October of 1998. Howard's proposed tax on goods and services; Defeat of Pauline Hanson's One Nation party; Problems with Australia's taxation system.

Reports on the political situation in Australia. General election called for October 3, 1998 by Prime Minister John Howard; Polls indicating an edge for the Labor Party of Kim Beazley over Howard's Liberal-National parties; Howard staking his re-election on tax reform; Waning popularity of Pauline Hanson and her One Nation party.

Focuses on the general election in Australia on October 3, 1998. Election called for by Prime Minister John Howard; Impact of Pauline Hanson and her One Nation party; Hanson calling for economic protectionism; closing the doors to immigration, and an end to benefits for aborigines; Political victories of One Party; Fall in Howard's popularity; Reasons for Hanson's popularity in Australia; Conflict between farmers and aborigines concerning land.

Looks at politics in Australia as of July 18, 1998. Plans of prime minister John Howard for an early general election; Opposition from One Nation, a racially divisive party led by Pauline Hanson; Political successes of One Nation; Campaigning of Hanson; Where Hanson draws her support; Pressure from One Nation to push a bill through Parliament that restricts aborigines rights to traditional land; Failure of Howard's plan for the government to sell it shares in Telstra, Australia's main telecoms company; Popularity of One Nation.

The article discusses the denunciation by Opposition Leader Tony Abbott on the tax policies of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in Australia. It highlights the criticism made by Abbott on Rudd's emission trading scheme referring to it as a fund for politicking and bribing which was practiced by the government of former Prime Minister John Howard. The possibility of social conservatism in the Labor Party due to the support of baby boomers and Abbott's suggestion to cut taxation are also included.

The article examines Australia's immigration policies relating to refugees seeking political asylum. A disaster involving a boat used by refugees from Afghanistan has revived attention to this issue. The government of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has ended some of the restrictive policies of his predecessor Kevin Howard. It is unclear if this change has increased or decreased the number of asylum-seekers.

The article discusses the policies and plans being launched by Australia's new prime minister, Kevin Rudd, who was elected in a resounding victory in November 2007. The article explains that Rudd is looking to reverse many of the policies implemented by his predecessor, John Howard. Because of Australia's lagging economy, the article notes that it may be difficult for Rudd to make his campaign promises of putting more money into health and education, and to phase in tax cuts worth $28 billion.

In this article the author examines the 2007 election campaign in Australia, an event that led to the election of Labor Party candidate Kevin Rudd as prime minister over the Liberal-National coalition incumbent John Howard. Among a number of issues the popular environmental policies advocated by Rudd are discussed, as are the unpopular labor policies of Howard.

The article reports on the political future of Australian prime minister John Howard. The author states that Howard will likely lose the November 2007 elections due to the association of the droughts the country has been experiencing and Howard's views on climate change and global warming. The author states that the Australian public is linking the drought with global climate change.

The article discusses the general elections to be held in Australia on November 24, 2007, and the prospects for Prime Minister John Howard, who has held power for 11 years but trails in opinion polls. Howard's main political opponent is Maxine McKew, a former television journalist, of the Labor Party. Australia's economic conditions and unemployment are discussed.

This article reports that Australia's Prime Minister, John Howard, is in danger of losing his position. His Liberal coalition government is trailing the opposition Labor party in opinion polls by as much as 18 points, with an election expected before the end of 2007. A recent visit by U.S. President George W. Bush did not help and challenger Kevin Rudd is gaining momentum.

The article discusses the competition for Australia's premiership. Incumbent prime minister John Howard is seeking a fifth term for his conservative government, but opinion polls show that he is far behind the opposition Labor Party, and Labor's prime minister candidate, Kevin Rudd. Howard's slipping popularity may be tied to his support of U.S. President George W. Bush and the U.S. effort in Iraq. The article also discusses Howard's hosting of the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation forum.

The article discusses Australia's uranium mining industry. The author reports on the lifting of a ban on the sale of uranium to India by Australian prime minister John Howard. The author also discusses the history of government policy concerning uranium sales, the divisions among Australians on whether to mine the uranium, and the delicate nature of Australia's relationship with India over uranium.