• OUT NOW

  Politics through the looking glass
  The inversion of Australian democracy.

  In the Autumn issue of Meanjin.

  

• Recent Posts

  • Awkward
  • The confusions of anti-politics: US edition
  • Fabulous(ish)
  • An incomplete revolution: Liberal edition
  • The confusions of anti-politics: UK edition

• From the archives

  The last six years have shown that what asylum seekers have more to be concerned about is an insecure, out of control political class that targets the most vulnerable to make itself look in command.

  - Sovereignty

  “We will decide” was a phoney bit of Australian unilateralism made possible at a time of that phoney bit of US unilateralism, the War on Terror.

  - The New Regionalism

  How do you change racial provisions in the Constitution when the entire infrastructure of land rights is based on it?

  - Caught in a racial trap

  Politics is becoming more cyclical, but only because the nature of politics is changing from what it was in the 20th century.

  - The problem of the “political cycle”

• Essay and Book reviews

  Latham is articulating a search for a new relationship of politics to society, based not on its representation, but on intervention on a degraded basis. You have been warned.

  Not Dead Yet by Mark Latham

  In reality under this complaint about the media lurks a political argument that is highly revealing about the mindset of the political class today.

  Sideshow by Lindsay Tanner

  Here is someone working for the ABC, from a Labor background as Hawke’s press secretary, who has written about the rise and fall of a Labor Prime Minister with all the distortions and omissions worthy of the most disingenuous right wing hack.

  The Party Thieves by Barrie Cassidy

  The most bizarre defence of the two party system comes over what for Megalogenis is the most personal – immigration.

  Trivial Pursuit by George Megalogenis

  Can Australian politics be that insubstantial?

  Confessions of a Faceless Man by Paul Howes
• Search for:

• THE PIPING SHRIKE ON TWITTER

  Tweets by @Piping_Shrike

• Archives

  • February 2016
  • December 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • October 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • August 2007
  • July 2007
  • June 2007
  • May 2007
  • April 2007
  • March 2007

You think it’s about Rudd v Gillard? You ain’t seen nothing yet.

Crean was trying to find a compromise between a party power structure that has lost its relevance and a challenger whose popularity rests on not being part of it. It failed because things have gone past the point where a compromise is possible.

What is more important is that Gillard and Labor, detached as they (like the Coalition) are, can be seen to relate to someone in society.

• 

• Key Posts of the Winter

  What we have here is the national security issue turned upside down.

  - The hole in the middle of national security

  The cave-in by the left was not because the left position’s in terms of numbers was weak, but because the leader was weak and the left leadership had to go all out to ensure that he wasn’t embarrassed.

  - Unity is death

  The first thing that should be dismissed is the idea that MPs should have a conscience vote on this, or any other issue. It’s rubbish.

  - Equality

• Recent Comments

  • Peter on Awkward
  • Linda on Awkward
  • F on Awkward
  • jeff holland on The confusions of anti-politics: US edition
  • The Piping Shrike on The confusions of anti-politics: US edition
  • The Piping Shrike on The confusions of anti-politics: US edition
  • Oldskool on The confusions of anti-politics: US edition
  • Luke on The confusions of anti-politics: US edition
  • Sam Roggeveen on The confusions of anti-politics: US edition
  • Riccardo on Fabulous(ish)

• Categories

  • International relations (50)
  • Key posts (57)
  • Media analysis (69)
  • Political figures (90)
  • Society (3)
  • State and federal politics (39)
  • State of the parties (195)
  • Tactics (196)
  • Terrorism (1)
  • The Australian state (46)

• Tags

  2004 Election 2007 Election 2010 election 2013 election Abbott Advertising ALP Anti-politics Asylum seekers Budget Climate change Costello Economy Environment Federation Garrett Gillard Greens Haneef Hockey Howard Immigration Independents Industrial relations Iraq war Joyce Keating Latham Liberals Media National Party Nelson NSW NT intervention Polls Queensland Race Rudd Senate Swan Turnbull US alliance Utegate WA War on Terror

• Calendar

  March 2013

  M	T	W	T	F	S	S
  « Feb				Apr »
  				1	2	3
  4	5	6	7	8	9	10
  11	12	13	14	15	16	17
  18	19	20	21	22	23	24
  25	26	27	28	29	30	31

• Recommended links

  • Mumble

• Contact

  thepipingshrike at gmail.com

• Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries RSS
  • Comments RSS
  • WordPress.org
•  Subscribe to The Piping Shrike

  Add to Technorati Favorites