Australian elections are not what they used to be. The policy debates have been reduced to ten-second audio grabs. The big public rallies have been replaced with pre-packaged and scripted set-piece television events. According to the majority of the contributors to this account of the 2004 election, the passions that Australian voters once carried to the polling booth have been swapped for somethi ... (read more)
Clement Macintyre
Clement Macintyre is Head of the School of History and Politics at the University of Adelaide. He has research interests in British and Australian politics and political history, and has recently published papers on South Australian political history and Australian Constitutional structures. He is a regular media commentator on Australian State and national politics.
A few months after the 2010 federal election, Geoff Gallop delivered the annual Hawke Lecture at the University of South Australia. In an address focused upon political engagement, he canvassed some possible reforms to the Australian political system. Among a number of other proposals, he called for appointments to Cabinet from outside the parliaments. As he explained, ‘our current method for pr ... (read more)