Will the Baird government allow elite sports to take over the green lungs of Sydney? Urban planning analyst Vivienne Skinner reports.

The Property Council of Australia is supporting the NSW Coalition’s planned infrastructure privatisation. Not that it would advertise for the government directly, of course …

While it’s unlikely Luke Foley will lead Labor to victory in the NSW election on March 28, he will recover many of the seats the party lost after its devastating defeat in 2011.

The Nationals are strongly opposed to the key policy of their coalition partners. What will that mean for their election chances?

A bevy of independents and maverick candidates has the made the NSW March 28 election a much closer race.

Luke Foley is hoping the electorate will have forgiven Labor for previous sins during the past three years But his “new approach” still has a lot of the old approach in it.

NSW Labor might be able to drive the Coalition from the state’s north-east — if it plays its hand right.

Politicians love to opine about housing affordability but are unlikely to ever do anything serious about it.

According to the High Court, the Independent Commission Against Corruption is guilty of “over-reach”.

Jodi McKay is taking on sitting Liberal Charles Casuscelli in Strathfield, and the result could be predictive of the state election as a whole.

Labor’s recent surprise victory in Queensland was due, in large part, to the optional preferential voting system. NSW has the same system, but whether Opposition Leader Luke Foley can match Palaszczuk’s feat remains to be seen.

The High Court’s latest ruling is likely to have sweeping consequences for ICAC, writes senior associate at Maddocks specialising in public law Todd Neal for The Mandarin.

NSW Premier Mike Baird has bet it all on privatisation. Unfortunately for him, voters seem to hate it.

Luke Foley has his work cut out for him to defeat the country’s most popular political leader, Mike Baird. And so far Labor’s election promises have been rather modest.

Ahead of the NSW state election, Premier Mike Baird and his staff strut around, exuding smugness, enjoying their high polling figures, while Opposition Leader Luke Foley launches a Labor scare campaign.

NSW Labor has historically turned its attention to competing with the Greens, giving the Liberals a free run.

The claim that the ability of governments to reform is dead is wrong — voters will back even complex reforms if they understand the benefits.

Hicham Zraika has been found guilty of branch stacking in the NSW Labor Party — but that’s not all bad for Luke Foley.

Suspicions that former police commissioner Peter Ryan was secretly bugged by his enemies was dismissed as paranoia — but this week’s revelations tell a different story.

The NSW Labor Party is very keen for Tony Abbott to keep his job, because the only campaign against popular Premier Mike Baird that has a hope of working is one that links the NSW Coalition with Abbott’s unpopularity.

Personal rivalries and a war of recrimination have worn away the public’s patience with the police — and Martin Place didn’t help.

While the ICAC blowtorch was focused on ALP politicians, conservatives applauded from the sidelines, happy to see Labor’s scandals unearthed and publicised. They seem to have changed their tune.

New NSW Labor boss Luke Foley is emphatically not a socialist. So where are the socialists in government?

Bart Bassett has been foiled by the Liberal executive in his bid for the seat of Riverstone. And he’s not about to take the snub lying down.

Fred Nile’s tired attempts to stir up controversy after the Sydney Siege are just further signs that the Christian Democrats have lost all relevance.

You’d think the debate over fee regulation would send student politicians Leftward, but the reality is very different, write Sally Whyte and Myriam Robin.

The government’s move to prosecute a whistleblower and his lawyer for revealing an ASIS scandal illustrates its determination to send a signal to all potential whistleblowers.

Bureaucratic deck chairs have been shuffled, some tossed overboard, but in the main the good ship HMAS Australia has come through relatively unscathed, writes The Mandarin publisher Tom Burton.

Victoria and South Australia will finally expunge those convicted of consensual gay sex. So will other states follow? Crikey intern Broede Carmody examines the roadmap.

Gay couples in the ACT are nervously awaiting a decision on whether their historic new unions will stand. Farz Edraki attended some of the country’s first same-sex weddings for Crikey.

The tactics of the Obama administration’s war on whistleblowers and journalists have now been openly deployed in Australia. The Coalition government is on the attack.

Protecting the corridor of a high-speed rail network that will never be built will inflict significant damage on outer suburbs in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

The ACT gay marriage act is in deliberate breach of the constitution and is designed only to embarrass the Prime Minister, writes gay rights activist and former Democrats leader Brian Greig.

Canberra: a great place to live, or akin to being embalmed alive in a dull, overly planned city of public servants? We asked our readers to decide, and the verdict was clear. Read the winners in our Crikey comp here …

Opposition to same-sex marriage is fading, and Tony Abbott’s approval is picking up, today’s Essential Report finds.

It looks like the ACT will pass same-sex marriage laws, and the feds will try to knock them down in the High Court. ANU constitutional law lecturer Ryan Goss looks at the legal aspects of the looming stoush.

The ACT wants to legalise gay marriage but there’s a bevvy of legal challenges the bill could face. David Donaldson lists the obstacles … and finds the big problem could be divorce, not marriage.

Labor lost its grip on the electorate covering the south of the national capital amid the wreckage of the Whitlam and Keating governments, but few people suggest it will go that way again this year, writes William Bowe.

The idea that there are “federal implications” of state elections doesn’t hold up under examination. But that doesn’t mean the Gillard government will hold on in this year’s federal election.

Local ACT Liberal leader Zed Seselja has launched a raid on the seat of sitting Senator Gary Humphries, pitching conservative against moderate and annoying some at the federal level.

Despite unfavourable redistributions and a statewide swing in 2010, Bill Hayden’s old seat has returned to safe Labor hands since the famous interruption of Pauline Hanson. It is William Bowe’s seat of the week.

The recent ACT election saw an unexpected swing towards women, though the overall number of women in the Legislative Assembly is declining, writes Glen Fuller.

Ahead of the ACT election, The Canberra Times called it as an easy Labor victory based on its “exclusive poll”. The poll was way out. So what went wrong?

Andrew Wilkie’s move to introduce a whistleblowing bill prompted some action from a government hitherto content to ignore the issue — but legislative action may fall off the “to do” list again.

Election results in Sydney, Melbourne and the ACT point to moderately good news for Labor — and the Greens will take some comfort from their inner-city results. Is the anti-incumbency vibe waning?

The ACT has voted and political types are biting their nails as counting continues — but a Labor-Green government is the most likely outcome, due to fractious relations between Greens and Liberals.

Leaving national implications aside, the major parties can both take heart from the gains made at the expense of the Greens in Saturday’s ACT election.

Student journalists Jacqui Garrity and Jelisa Apps, after gobbling down a couple of snags, analyse the ACT election result and the state of negotiations between the three parties.

A national-first prison needle exchange proposed for the ACT has sparked debate ahead of the territory’s election on Saturday. Reporter Ben Westcott examines the proposal.

Renowned Aboriginal activist Leigh Bruce “Tracker” Tilmouth died on the weekend. Crikey’s Northern Myth blogger, Bob Gosford, takes a look back at some of his most memorable quotes.

Recently sacked Country Liberal Party minister Robyn Lambley rose in Parliament to launch an all-out verbal attack on Chief Minister Adam Giles’ government.

The Australian Defence Force was standing by to provide disaster relief in the wake of Cyclone Lam. So why weren’t the troops sent in?

An assortment of select quotes from the transcript of a very candid meeting the NT Chief Minister Adam Giles had with Alice Springs branch members of the Country Liberal Party.

Why does Australia continue to fail Aboriginal Australia at such gross levels? John B. Lawrence SC, a Darwin-based barrister and immediate past president of the Northern Territory Bar Association, explains.

The Northern Territory endures another round of politicians behaving badly — and this time it’s the Labor Party.

A Pakistani-Australian man has won a Federal Court battle against a Northern Territory strip club after he was racially abused by one of its employees.

The NT is a failed state — a “rotten boroughâ€? so corrupt and corrupted that it is beyond self-redemption

It has been a very weird 24 hours for Northern Territory politics. And the failed midnight leadership coup isn’t the half of it …

Willem Westra van Holthe has promised his new government will bring “stability” to the NT, but that seems extremely unlikely. Byelections could cost the CLP its slim majority.

A long history of confrontations and bad behaviour within the Northern Territory’s Education Department culminated recently in a very strange public apology.

Who’s responsible for morgues in rural areas of the Northern Territory? Years of buck-passing have resulted in truly horrific facilities.

The Northern Territory’s new public sex offender website may make us alarmed, but it might not make us alert, writes criminal lawyer Russel Goldflam.

The rates of end-stage kidney disease in remote areas are up to 30 times the national average. Why are so many Aboriginal people dying from a preventable disease?

APA wants to build a billion-dollar pipeline to connect the gas supply in the Northern Territory with the east coast. And that might not be such a bad idea …

Who is Peter Chandler anyway? The Northern Territory’s brand new Deputy Chief Minister is something of a dark horse. Whether that makes him at all exciting or interesting is quite another matter.

The Northern Territory’s Country Liberal Party can’t seem to put a foot right, but an upcoming meeting of the CLP’s parliamentary wing will try to stem the tide of mistakes.

Northern Land Council media officer Murray McLaughlin responds to claims made in Crikey last week by opponents of the shelved Muckaty Station nuclear dump.

The Warlmanpa have successfully blocked government plans to put a nuclear waste dump on their land. But will that be the end of the story?

Today is the UN’s official International Mother Language Day, a day to recognise the importance of indigenous languages. But writer and linguist Greg Dickson says that for Australia’s indigenous communities, those languages are being erode — and will never return.

Victoria and South Australia will finally expunge those convicted of consensual gay sex. So will other states follow? Crikey intern Broede Carmody examines the roadmap.

Economist Hernando de Soto’s ideas on capitalism and poverty don’t fit the Australian Aboriginal experience. So why is the Abbott government trying to apply them, asks ANU professor Jon Altman?

Newly minted NT Senator Nova Peris used her maiden speech to denounce plans to put a nuclear waste dump at Muckaty Station, raising concerns about the impact on indigenous people. Freelance writer Sally Whyte takes a look at the issue.

The notoriously turbulent Northern Territory government has unceremoniously dumped another minister — but this one has friends in high places.

Is Warren Mundine in favour of military intervention in the NT?

NSW Labor has historically turned its attention to competing with the Greens, giving the Liberals a free run.

Despite ominous warnings from the LNP of the “chaos” that could be caused by overzealous crossbenchers, Labor has formed minority government fair and square. And the Queensland Parliament in no stranger to minority governments.

The claim that the ability of governments to reform is dead is wrong — voters will back even complex reforms if they understand the benefits.

The Queensland LNP’s new leader Lawrence Springborg hopes to prevent Annastacia Palaszczuk from forming government by triggering a byelection in the Labor-won seat of Ferny Grove.

Queensland independent MP Peter Wellington tells freelance journalist James Rose why proposed asset sales and the current culture of political donations helped shift his support to the ALP.

The polls were unanimous: the LNP was going to retain government in Queensland. How did we all miss the great Labor comeback?

Anti-big business feeling and a targeted social media campaign gave Labor the votes to win the Queensland election, writes freelance writer and small business owner Andrew Stewart in Queensland.

The LNP has had its collective arse handed to it, surprising just about everyone. What was the factor psephologists overlooked?

If not the direct cause, Tony Abbott is the lethal dose of background radiation that is crippling the conservative cause.

A crippled Tony Abbott must completely reset the political agenda with his Press Club speech. And John Howard offers some inspiration.

A premier who’s not even in parliament? It can happen — in Canada, it’s not even that unusual.

What is really at stake in tomorrow’s Queensland election? Freelance journalist James Rose reports from Maryborough.

Campbell Newman is polling badly in his seat of Ashgrove — it might have been wiser to depart the seat for a safer LNP one to ensure a stable transition to the new government.

As if things weren’t already looking bad enough for Campbell Newman in Queensland’s upcoming state election, the numbers now indicate voters could elect as many as 10 crossbenchers.

Both major parties, and some of the minor parties too, are manipulating the optional preferential voting system to secure seats.

Crikey’s founder draws some interesting parallels between Jeff Kennett and Campbell Newman’s defamation lawsuit.

Campbell Newman’s nerves appear to be frayed, with some questionable campaigning by the Queensland Premier.

Remember when the Queensland LNP campaign was unrelentingly positive? That phase appears to be over …

Campbell Newman’s gutting of political donation disclosure laws means many hundreds of LNP donors can remain secret.

Labor is likely to do very well in the upcoming Queensland election, but probably not well enough to win government. But the real question is: will Queensland Premier Campbell Newman lose his own seat?

The Queensland LNP and Labor launched their campaigns this week, with both focusing on one important issue: whether Campbell Newman should be premier.

Two Liberal party stalwarts, shock jock Alan Jones and New Hope Coal chairman Robert Millner, are at political loggerheads over the looming Queensland election.

Labor and the LNP agree on one thing in their election campaigning: it’s all about Campbell Newman.

Calm down — privatising some state assets does not mean Bjelke-Petersen-style brown paper bags of cash.

Premier Campbell Newman prepares for his manifesto launch on Sunday while Labor waits, ready to pounce.

The South Australian Liberals have been in the electoral wilderness for 36 of the last 50 years. A Liberal elder statesman explains what the problem might be, writes InDaily political reporter Tom Richardson.

Royal commissions usually investigate events after they’ve happened, so why is the case for nuclear power being put to a royal commission in South Australia? Crikey intern Rowan Forster reports.

Independent Senator Nick Xenophon has announced plans to form his own political party. But will his popularity in South Australia translate to a national party? Freelance journalist Casey Briggs reports from South Australia.

Labor’s surprise victory in a byelection for the South Australian state seat of Fisher at the weekend can be largely attributed to the plummeting stocks of the Abbott government.

The death of independent MP Bob Such has triggered a byelection in the South Australian seat of Fisher. It looked like an easy Liberal win, but things aren’t so certain now.

The loss of the local editions of 7.30, which used to be called Stateline, have prompted a fierce reaction, and a look at the ratings helps reveal why.

The unfortunate death of South Australian state independent Bob Such has triggered a byelection in the seat of Fisher. This presents a make-or-break opportunity for the SA Liberals.

Bill Shorten tried to gee up workers at South Australia’s ASC, but it was a few soundbites with little substance, writes InDaily political reporter Tom Richardson.

Will abandoning its promise to build new submarines in South Australia hurt the Coalition’s chances in that state? Probably — but does it need SA to win at the next election anyway?

You’d think the debate over fee regulation would send student politicians Leftward, but the reality is very different, write Sally Whyte and Myriam Robin.

The South Australian Liberal Party is trying to bastardise the Westminster system further to deliver it the results it wants. But Crikey’s Poll Bludger says that’s a lost cause — it’s time to think bigger.

Access to housing is a key issue in welfare reform that has been missed by the McClure report

Years of frustrations have tipped former Liberal Party leader Martin Hamilton-Smith into Jay Weatherill’s cabinet, writes his former communications adviser and InDaily journalist Kevin Naughton.

(Barely) re-elected South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill will drop the Treasury portfolio. And there could be other surprises, write David Washington and Kevin Naughton at InDaily.

Two men seem certain to decide the next government of South Australia. And it all started with a plate of warm lasagne, writes Kevin Naughton in Adelaide for InDaily.

The Liberal Party won more support than Labor in South Australia, but it’s still short of government. Does the system need fixing? Our electoral analyst considers the possibilities.

Liberal oppositions are in the box seat to win government in state elections in Tasmania and South Australia tomorrow. But one of the races could be closer than many think.

South Australia is in flux. Labor will lose power; the mining boom is ending; Holden is leaving. There’s a new coterie of power players making their mark. Here’s who you should keep an eye on.

South Australia’s new legislation significantly raises the barrier for entry for minor parties. Liam Mannix reports at InDaily that this year’s election will have a lot fewer candidates as a result.

The decision by Toyota to end manufacturing in Australia means there is no further rationale for our remaining car tariffs. The government should immediately dump them.

An extraordinary morning in SA politics has crippled the Labor government ahead of the March state election. InDaily editor David Washington explains what happened.

The brains behind Kevin07 are turning to Jay4SA. But InDaily editor David Washington says the last seven years have not been kind to the Labor Party — and Jay Weatherill is facing a very different battle.

South Australia has tried to ensure its electoral boundaries are fair to ensure the majority party wins government. But it does not always work out that way.

The evidence is mounting that government grants for business don’t work. InDaily journalist Kevin Naughton finds past subsidies to businesses have done more harm than good.

Jay Weatherill looks on the way out as South Australia’s Premier. InDaily journalist Liam Mannix talks to the man who just might be able to turn things around.

Proposed new defamation laws for Tasmania could have an Australia-wide chilling effect on free speech.

Authorities are considering introducing Tasmanian devils onto Wilson’s Prom to decrease the feral cat population. But biologist Allen Greer says there’s little evidence the devils will make any difference.

The loss of the local editions of 7.30, which used to be called Stateline, have prompted a fierce reaction, and a look at the ratings helps reveal why.

Two BRW rich listers have donated thousands of dollars to prevent a feasibility study into a wind farm off the coast of Tasmania.

Tasmania’s woodchip industry is uncompetitive, overseas demand has dried up, and Australian plants are closing. So why on earth are loggers still talking about the closed Triabunna woodchip mill as if it could be reopened?

Tasmania punches well above its weight in terms of political influence — and the state’s aluminium smelting industry is not happy with keeping the Renewable Energy Target.

Tasmania’s judges just don’t have a bad word to say about John Gay. How is it the former Gunns boss can run a company again, asks business director and commentator John Addis.

The Liberals have won the Tasmanian election after a long time in the wilderness, consigning Labor and the Greens to history. Here are the biggest challenges they face this term …

Liberal oppositions are in the box seat to win government in state elections in Tasmania and South Australia tomorrow. But one of the races could be closer than many think.

They said the conflict over Tasmania’s forests was over. But with the Liberals poised to win the state election on Saturday, should we be bracing for another round of protests?

Julia Gillard came to the member for Denison with a curious proposal. Federal MP Andrew Wilkie is now spilling the beans on the secret deal — and why he ultimately tore up an agreement once she stabbed him in the back.

As Tasmanians prepare to vote in the state election on March 15, Crikey names the most powerful people behind the scenes — the svengalis, staffers, journalists and businesspeople running the apple isle.

As Tasmania gears up for a state election on March 15, here is Crikey’s list of the 20 most powerful people behind the scenes in the apple isle.

The Labor Party is under attack from both sides, writes La Trobe University professorial fellow Dennis Altman at Inside Story. Voters trust the Liberals more to manage the economy; progressives are increasingly turning to the Greens.

A fresh poll shows the Liberals on track to win the Tasmanian election in March. Will the Coalition hold every state and federal government from March 15?

Victoria and South Australia will finally expunge those convicted of consensual gay sex. So will other states follow? Crikey intern Broede Carmody examines the roadmap.

The Tasmanian Liberals look set to win the state government at the March poll — but could Clive Palmer’s party cause an upset? Crikey’s polling analyst crunches the numbers.

Three state elections and some important byelections are likely to test voters’ loyalty to the newly minted Abbott government. Crikey’s resident polling analyst previews the electoral year.

Data appears to show populations of Tasmanian devils have stabilised. Biologist Allen Greer asks why you’re not hearing that from the state government or advocates of “saving” the devil.

Calls for anti-boycott legislation by the Tasmanian forest industry will test the free speech bona fides of Attorney-General George Brandis. Will he take up the challenge?

Jacqui Lambie, a Tasmanian Senate candidate for PUP, looks likely to win a seat and co-hold the balance of power. So who is she?

A day out on the campaign trail in Andrew Wilkie’s seat of Denison shows the power of personal connection — and pork-barrelling. Crikey hits the road with Wilkie and ALP candidate Jane Austin in Hobart.

It’s de rigueur to hate independents in this federal election campaign — but Andrew Wilkie is on track to hold his Tasmanian seat, probably with the help of Liberal preferences. What happens next?

Hobart’s Dark Mofo arts festival, which runs till the Winter Solstice (June 23), is a celebration of the dark through large-scale public art, food and music, as well as “light and noise”.

Tasmania has too many holes in its budget, amplified by shrinking GST revenue and failing government businesses. Tasmania-based economist and accountant John Lawrence looks at the structural problems.

This Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park is likely to cost taxpayers close to $70 million. But the benefits don’t come within cooee of that outlay; there are much better uses for the money.

The brutal dismissal of the CEO and chairman of WorkSafe in Victoria over a water contamination scare left some breathless. Did the Premier go too far in publicly calling them liars? The Mandarin examines.

Why would a supposedly pro-business federal government be so intent on restricting foreign investment in Australia?

Last night, heartfelt vigils for Bali Nine duo Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were held around Australia.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews faces several key challenges before his promised Melbourne Metro rail tunnel comes to fruition.

The Hazelwood mine fire was not a natural disaster; it was a chronic industrial mishap of the most unnatural kind, writes freelance writer Tom Doig.

Although high-density housing can be done badly, it is also essential to the community, particularly for affordable housing.

The new Victorian government has to decide what to do about the lacklustre performance of Melbourne Bicycle Share. One possible action could be to exempt it from the mandatory helmet law.

Melbourne is fortunate it inherited the largest tram network in the world, because building something like it today — say in a city such as Sydney — would be extraordinarily expensive and difficult.

A complicated loophole in vote-counting legislation has awarded a seat to Labor that should have gone to the Country Alliance in Victoria.

With the excitement of an election win behind him, incoming Victorian premier Daniel Andrews must get to work on managing the makeup of his parliament.

The Napthine government’s signature East West Link policy would not have been able to pay for itself. Crikey Victorian politics reporter Dan Moss reports.

James Packer gave his support to Daniel Andrews during the election campaign, and now it seems it’s time to pay the piper.

The Greens’ electoral success in Prahran was due to a number of demographic factors, with the seat an interesting mixture of hip young things and old money. Sounds like a certain federal Sydney seat we know …

The Labor Party seems fresh out of ideas. And the Greens are more than happy to eat Labor’s lunch.

The Victorian Greens were up against a very popular Liberal incumbent and a strong Labor candidate in the Melbourne seat of Prahran. So how did they squeeze out a win? Victorian politics journalist Dan Moss explains.

The Labor Left is very good and making costly promises, but will it be able to keep them without breaking the bank?

The East West Link was bad policy, but that’s no excuse for perpetuating bullshit about it.

Labor has promised to lease out the Port of Melbourne in order to pay to replace 50 level crossings. But Crikey Victorian politics journalist Dan Moss says the Greens might make that tricky.

Denis Napthine doesn’t want to lead the Victorian Liberals, battered and humiliated, in opposition. But what sort of man would want a job like that? Crikey Victorian election correspondent Dan Moss reports.

The Greens have finally won a Victorian lower house seat, but their primary vote has not increased since last election. Is the minor party on its way up, or is this all the support it will be able to manage?

Denis Napthine’s government has been comprehensively booted out of Victoria in a historic loss for a one-term government. And Crikey’s writer-at-large says there is more to come.

There are some conspicuous omissions in the costings of Dan Andrews’ election promises. Will the incoming Labor government

The Greens got almost twice the number of votes as the Nationals in the Victorian election — and yet they have at best three seats to the Nats’ seven.

The counting isn’t over yet, but Victoria’s Parliament is in for a big shake-up, writes Crikey Victorian election correspondent Dan Moss.

Policies are made in Canberra with the best of intentions, but in remote Western Australia, the outcome is very different to what politicians imagined. East Kimberley Homelessness Project co-ordinator Rachelle Irving details life on the ground.

The WA government has announced it will close down some remote indigenous communities. Is that legal? And what will happen to the people living there? Crikey intern Diana Hodgetts reports.

Half of white rural Australia is a drain, but we overwhelmingly agree that we want it to persevere, because people live there, have made lives rich in tradition and memory there. The attack on Aboriginal Australia is about skin colour, plain and simple.

The loss of the local editions of 7.30, which used to be called Stateline, have prompted a fierce reaction, and a look at the ratings helps reveal why.

The Labor Party is uncompetitive in the south-western WA seat of Vasse, but the Nationals and Liberals are giving it all they’ve got.

Don’t worry about the AAA rating, writes economist and University of Queensland academic John Quiggin. It’s of little consequence for the day-to-day running of a state.

Yesterday morning, former Western Australian treasurer Troy Buswell resigned, ending his political career on his own terms. Unfortunately for Labor, the resulting byelection is unlikely to further ruffle the state’s already embattled Liberal government.

James Price Point looms as another zombie fossil fuel project — but that’s not stopping the WA Premier.

A Californian algae producer has mysteriously abandoned its $300 million Pilbara project, writes freelance journalist Kerry Faulkner.

Access to housing is a key issue in welfare reform that has been missed by the McClure report

Voters strongly support caps on political advertising spending, today’s Essential Report shows, and they’re not enthusiastic about Clive Palmer having the Senate balance of power.

The WA senate byelection on the weekend has produced three very different, and symbolic, examples of current trends in Australian politics. Some of it is good, but much of it is ugly politicking.

The major parties had an unprecedented 58% of the vote in a clear sign voters are looking for alternatives. The Greens, who outspent Labor and the Coalition, were big winners, as was Palmer United.

Palmer’s spent half a million on ads. And for those who don’t watch ads, he’s spent weeks playing the buffoon, earning him more coverage than any other party running on Saturday, write Myriam Robin and Ania Dutka.

The recall Western Australian Senate election is effectively a race for three seats — and Clive Palmer will probably decide it one way or another. Crikey’s polling analyst previews the race.

Would you eat genetically modified food? If a landmark legal case in Western Australia rules one way, you may not even know. Freelance journalist Tim Oliver explains the crop fight out West.

Western Australians get another crack at the Senate election, and their dissatisfaction with the Abbott government is likely to translate into a win for the Left. But will it matter for the Abbott government?

Victoria and South Australia will finally expunge those convicted of consensual gay sex. So will other states follow? Crikey intern Broede Carmody examines the roadmap.

Three state elections and some important byelections are likely to test voters’ loyalty to the newly minted Abbott government. Crikey’s resident polling analyst previews the electoral year.

Colin Barnett rose from the political ashes to win the WA state election by a landslide, but now he’s facing a leadership spill against him. Perth journalist Tim Oliver asks: how did it all go wrong?

The High Court is almost certainly going to call for a fresh election in WA. That means a fresh set of candidates — and Julian Assange could have another tilt at the Senate.

There may be just one or two votes between two of the minor parties in the Western Australian Senate election, so voters will be heading back to the polls. But that doesn’t mean the system is broken.

With 1375 votes missing, will Western Australians be forced back to the polls over the disputed Senate result? The courts will decide, but our resident psephologist says it could be avoided.

If you’re looking for sovereign risk in the resources sector, look no further than Colin Barnett’s threat to shutter the Browse project. Bernard Keane and Glenn Dyer report.

The downgrade of Western Australia’s credit rating illustrates how governments can’t merely talk about fiscal discipline, they need to show it. Glenn Dyer and Bernard Keane report.