One of the first pieces I wrote for Arena was a review essay on Graham Little's theory of political leadership. Little was a political psychologist and I have been thinking about his work as we have watched Scott Morrison trying to transform his leadership style in the wake of the massacre in Christchurch from the hard-nosed strongman who protects our borders and keeps us safe into a huggy bear of a man lovingly embracing us…
Around and inside the tube stations in London sit dejected figures in sleeping bags with signs - 'Homeless and Hungry. Please Help'. Some people come up to you and ask for your loose change. They are invariably polite, and if you oblige, they say 'God Bless You'. Such encounters are awkward, guilt, shame and embarrassment vying with sympathy and fellow-feeling to determine whether one will avert one's eyes, or give some money.
In the wake of its surprise defeat at the election, the Liberal Party has been getting a great deal of advice about what it should do to regain the electoral edge, much from members and supporters of the Party itself. Dame Beryl Beaurepaire said the Party had to return to its roots and once again become the type of party Menzies intended it to be, a liberal not a conservative, right-wing one. It also had…
If someone makes a capital investment in this country, they ought to be able to run that capital investment twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, without penalty just because of the time of day or night they run that investment', said John Howard, launching the Opposition's industrial relations policy, one of whose key recommendations is the abolition of penalty rates. Saturdays, Sundays, Christmas, Good Friday, weekdays, weekends: the diurnal,…
Opinion poll after opinion poll tells us that Australians are increasingly cynical about politicians. Leaders of all parties, at both state and federal levels, have historically high disapproval ratings, branch membership has plummeted, and party affiliation is weakening. How are we to understand this widespread disaffection? Are both parties doomed to be seen by their erstwhile supporters as nothing but teams of ambitious men (with the occasional woman) competing with each other for the power…
