AFTER THE LABOR GOVERNMENT, the organisation facing the biggest test in the Queensland election was the new conservative hybrid, the Liberal National Party. It had polled well in the lead-up to the election, but in reality the swing it needed - in the vicinity of 8 per cent - was always on the outer margins...

THERE was a time, hard as it might be to imagine, when the Australian Labor Party struck fear into the hearts of the establishment, and it is this very fear that has shaped the Australian political landscape to this day. This year marks the centenary of one of the truly seminal political events - and...

Introduction A creeping authoritarianism and a pronounced lack of diversity are making their impact felt on Australia’s already fragile media landscape. Despite Australia’s traditions of freedom and its status as a long-time liberal democracy, its ranking in terms of press freedom has fallen below that of many newer democracies. In an international survey by Freedom...

Reflecting on the recent decision to ban two Islamist books, Norm Abjorensen is critical of how censorship has been used in the war on terror to pursue political rather than security goals. In July 2006 the Australian Government took the unusual step of banning two radical Islamic books on security grounds - the only western...