GIVEN the predilection of Australian voters to give an incumbent the benefit of the doubt, by far the hardest task in politics is winning government from opposition. With meagre resources and faced by governments that have an entire bureaucracy on call, an opposition leader who comes from behind to take line honours does so in...

This report from the International Crisis Group examines the opportunities offered by the generational and political transitions under way following the elections, and encourages Western governments to urgently adopt a new approach towards the country. Isolation and sanctions have failed to promote reform, and must end. Current policies have only served to harm the country’s...

For the last week, the Labor Party has been reflecting on a major review of the state of the party. The review finds Labor dying from the inside: its membership base collapsed and decision-making centralised like never before. But it also tentatively sets a path of renewal in Australia's oldest political party.

Primaries might work in the United States, but that doesn’t mean they’ll translate easily to Australia, argues Graeme Orr.

The 2010 federal election resulted in the first hung Commonwealth parliament and minority government for almost 70 years, though hung parliaments are common at the state and territory level. This background note provides a discussion of the hung Commonwealth parliament and associated matters including forming the minority Labor Government, voting dynamics in the House of...