Malcolm Turnbull, losing battles without putting up a fight
The picture this week was of a leader prepared to lose battles without even fighting them.
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Michael Gordon
Michael Gordon is the political editor of The Age.
When words fail
Peter Dutton found himself in unfamiliar territory this week, cast as the victim of the "tricky language" of Bill Shorten.
A lack of leadership is to blame for Australia's malaise
The people are driving America's malaise. The same can't be said in Australia.
Lacking a Plan B, Turnbull will need Shorten
The biggest concern about the plebiscite is the huge emotional toll it could take on young people seeing the legitimacy of their identity debated on the national stage.
A Turnbull leadership tragedy could be unfolding
Malcolm Turnbull's own backers fear they are witnessing the unfolding of a tragedy as epic as the one that destroyed Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard.
Inside the Labor ambush
The plot was hatched under their noses, but they didn't see it coming. Not the ministers, who left the Parliament in blissful ignorance. Not the MPs, who did the same, or the party whips whose task is to instil discipline. And not the Prime Minister or his chief tactician, Christopher Pyne.
Coalition, Hawks - nothing in common
Let's rewind the clock. It's the Tuesday before polling day and Tony Nutt, Malcolm Turnbull's campaign director, rings his Labor counterpart with an offer George Wright could not refuse: a final leaders' debate on prime time TV.
A glimpse of the inner Malcolm
There has been much discussion this past six months about whether we have been seeing "the real Malcolm" or a politician who has traded convictions and adopted a more conservative stance to secure the prime ministership.
Punishment by proxy
The danger is that immense damage will be done to communities served by the CFA by pitting professional against volunteer.
Malcolm in the dock
Turnbull's return to Q&A; might be his most daring move in this risk-averse campaign to retain government.
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