Peter Hartcher
Peter Hartcher is the political editor and international editor of The Sydney Morning Herald. He is a Gold Walkley award winner, a former foreign correspondent in Tokyo and Washington, and a visiting fellow at the Lowy Institute for International Policy. His latest book is To the Bitter End, on the fall of the Howard Government and the rise of Kevin Rudd.
A chance to reform NSW Labor's worst gambling habits
Peter Hartcher Already, the new power of independents in Federal Parliament seems set to achieve one useful reform - encouraging some self-restraint on poker machine gambling.
Doubt clouds Labor gain
Peter Hartcher Julia Gillard won a vital advantage yesterday and is tantalisingly close to power, but any outcome is still possible as the reels keeping spinning on the poker machine of Australian democracy.
Darkness clouds ALP gain
Peter Hartcher JULIA GILLARD won a vital advantage yesterday and is tantalisingly close to power, but any outcome is still possible as the reels keeping spinning on the poker machine of Australian democracy.
Labor blows economic trump card - again
Peter Hartcher In a single day, we saw a snapshot of the best and the worst of federal Labor over the past three years. There was a first-class economic outcome, juxtaposed with dubious political judgment.
Crises of world worsened while we looked the other way
Peter Hartcher While we've been busy with our domestic festival of democracy, events in the wide world beyond have not paused in deference to our distraction. Seven of the most serious dramas have escalated.
Leaders walk the tightrope in a three ringleader circus
Peter Hartcher It seems that Australia's future now rests in the hands of the country's three most indecisive people.
Gillard's flexibility makes her difficult to reject
Peter Hartcher THE de-facto co-prime ministership of Australia began last night when Julia Gillard invited the three rural independent MPs to help her set the date for the next election in three years' time.
Stability? That's a promise made to be broken
Peter Hartcher IF YOU think about the recent history of federal Labor, one of the last qualities that comes to mind is stability.
A grab for the mantle of moral authority
Peter Hartcher THE people have rejected Labor, but failed to embrace the Coalition. So the two parties are left straining not only for extra seats, but arguing for something grander - legitimacy.
Behind the election stoush, the big issues they quietly agreed on
Peter Hartcher Elections define nations. This one has already redefined Australia even before the first vote is counted.
One missing ingredient in her pitch
Peter Hartcher JULIA GILLARD draws attention to her positive agenda and contrasts it with Tony Abbott's negative stance of cancelling out Labor's mistakes, but it's not quite enough.
The Greens are actually more like tomatoes - red all over
Peter Hartcher THE big parties' panicked abandonment of climate change has effortlessly transformed the Greens. They are now two days from winning more power than they've ever dreamed of.
Reality bites so Julia looks to make-believe
Peter Hartcher UNDER the cold gaze of her undead victim Kevin Rudd, it would have been awkward for Julia Gillard to appeal for trust at Labor's campaign launch in Brisbane yesterday.
Labor's ads back with a vengeance
Peter Hartcher LABOR has returned aggressively to the TV ad wars, outpunching the Liberals in an overwhelmingly negative campaign.
Mother Hubbard campaign leaves Abbott wanting
Peter Hartcher The Liberal Party's campaign launch last Sunday turned out, instead, to be its splashdown. It was an anti-climax.
Our network choice: cheap and slow or expensive but fast
Peter Hartcher DOES anyone really believe that the mining boom will last forever? Of course not. So what's Australia's next trick?
Role reversal from Swan and Hockey
Peter Hartcher For a man who could reasonably lay claim to being the most successful economic minister in the developed world, Wayne Swan sounded oddly like an opposition politician yesterday.
Poor man's Howard moving backwards to the future
Peter Hartcher TONY ABBOTT has launched the Liberal Party's campaign as a poor man's John Howard.
Lodge there for taking if Abbott keeps his head
Peter Hartcher Australian politics has a new normal - Tony Abbott as frontrunner in the race to lead Australia. For two consecutive weeks, the Herald/Nielsen poll has shown the same result, giving the Coalition a...
Surplus blunder reveals Coalition's economic woes
Peter Hartcher Tony Abbott is offering Australia a faith-based economics policy - because there's such a lack of vital detail that it requires deep belief in Abbott and his team.
