This paper was presented as a lecture in the Department of the Senate Occasional Lecture Series at Parliament House. On 27 March the Victorian parliament passed legislation significantly reforming the upper house. Among other things, the Constitution (Parliamentary Reform) Bill 2003 reconstituted the Council to...

Campbell Newman’s premiership was an object lesson in the dangers of untrammelled power. Queensland needs an upper house to keep governments out of trouble From polling day on 31 January until the swearing in of Annastacia Palaszczuk as Labor premier seventeen days later, Queenslanders were...

State elections are often considered as barometers of the national political mood. Latest polls still show Labor winning this week's Victorian state election. Will Victoria's poll be decided on the Abbott government's economic policies? Guest Brian Costar, Professor of Political Science, Swinburne University Credits Presenter...

Senate voting needs to be simpler and more transparent. Brian Costar talks to Peter Clarke about a plan to fix the system, and looks at the politics of the federal budget.

READING Australian newspapers, watching TV, listening to the radio or browsing news sites online, the message is the same. Elections are decided by voters’ feelings about the leaders of the big parties. “Preferred prime minister” is the poll result to watch; voters’ liking for a...