Federal MP and businessman Clive Palmer claims he will ask the Prime Minister for the same level of resources as the Greens had in the last government.

Drawing on the statistical tables featured in the 32nd edition of the Parliamentary Handbook, this paper examines the biographical details of the senators and members of Australia's 43rd Parliament. Introduction In recent years, academics and media commentators have documented the rise of a professional political class and the apparent shrinking gene pool in parliament, where...

Senators and members receive an annual allowance by way of basic salary—$195,130 from 1 July 2013. This background note explains the legislative basis, fixing and linking mechanisms for the allowance. Adjustments to the base salary since 1968 are provided in Table 1 and Graph 1. Constitutional and legislative basis for payment Section 48 of the...

This research paper summarises the performance of the economy during each Government from Fraser through to Rudd/Gillard (up to March 2013) by providing period averages across a range of economic indicators. Though this approach has its limitations, it provides a useful overview and means of comparing the different Governments. The paper updates previous papers released...

Populism, an academically contested political theory, has been subject to few thorough studies in the New Zealand context. With a history of strong, successful leaders, and fervent political rebels, New Zealand provides a useful political context in which the theoretical platform for what constitutes populism can be explored. While the current pre-eminent model of New...