Suchergebnisse

This article explores the bizarre circumstances that produced a change of government in Australia at the September 2013 federal election. The Labor government led sequentially by Kevin Rudd, then by Julia Gillard (Australia's first female prime minister), and again briefly by Rudd, was consigned back into opposition. After a turbulent six years in office marked by the Global Financial Crisis (2008), successive policy scandals and almost four years of leadership tension, Labor was punished electorally, regarded as divided, unstable and unfit to govern by many. Victorious at the election was the Liberal-National Party Coalition led by Tony Abbott, a former minister in John Howard s government. Yet there was no great warmth for the Abbott conservatives from a largely disaffected electorate. While Abbott managed to secure a handsome majority in the lower house, his government's control over the Senate was actually eroded, meaning he will have to win the support of cross-bench senators hostile to many of his government's policies.

'Treasury advises and assists the Treasurer, and through him the Government, in the discharge of his and its responsibilities in relation to economic, fiscal and monetary matters. The Department's main responsibilities lie in the field of general economic management', Treasury, Annual Report 1983. 'The Treasury's mission is to improve the wellbeing of the Australian people by providing sound and timely advice to the Government, based on objective and thorough analysis of options, and by assisting Treasury ministers in the administration of their responsibilities and the implementation of government decisions', 'You can't really evaluate the performance of Treasury in terms of "outputs and outcomes" in any formal or public way because most of the time we are dissuading Treasurers and governments from doing stupid things', Senior Treasury Official 2000. 'We once had a "Treasury line", but now we are more pluralistic', Senior Treasury Official 2010. 'Treasury's executive board hunts as a pack, they trust each other and they've known each other for long times', Senior Treasury Official 2010.

The union movement enjoyed a high profile in the two years prior to the 2007 election based on its campaign against the Coalition Governments unpopular WorkChoices legislation. The campaign entitled, Your Rights at Work, campaign continued into the election campaign itself. Business groups, by contrast were less united and less focused. From a union perspective the campaign was its 'Stalingrad'.

The Academy of Social Sciences in Australia (ASSA) and the Institute of Public Administration Australia (IPAA) hosted a 'Policy Roundtable on Federalism' on the 17-18 May 2007 at the University of Canberra. Around 50 attended the roundtable comprising politicians, Commonwealth and state public servants, and academics. The roundtable was provided with a number of background papers including the Hollander-Patapan article and another produced by staff of the Commonwealth Grants Commission entitled 'Trends in Commonwealth-State Financial Relations: a Grants Commission Perspective'. The roundtable focused not only on issues and challenges but, more practically, on options and how to make federalism work better.

The union movement enjoyed a high profile in the two years prior to the 2007 election based on its campaign against the Coalition Governments unpopular WorkChoices legislation. The campaign entitled, Your Rights at Work, campaign continued into the election campaign itself. Business groups, by contrast were less united and less focused. From a union perspective the campaign was its 'Stalingrad'.

'Treasury advises and assists the Treasurer, and through him the Government, in the discharge of his and its responsibilities in relation to economic, fiscal and monetary matters. The Department's main responsibilities lie in the field of general economic management', Treasury, Annual Report 1983. 'The Treasury's mission is to improve the wellbeing of the Australian people by providing sound and timely advice to the Government, based on objective and thorough analysis of options, and by assisting Treasury ministers in the administration of their responsibilities and the implementation of government decisions', 'You can't really evaluate the performance of Treasury in terms of "outputs and outcomes" in any formal or public way because most of the time we are dissuading Treasurers and governments from doing stupid things', Senior Treasury Official 2000. 'We once had a "Treasury line", but now we are more pluralistic', Senior Treasury Official 2010. 'Treasury's executive board hunts as a pack, they trust each other and they've known each other for long times', Senior Treasury Official 2010.

This article explores the bizarre circumstances that produced a change of government in Australia at the September 2013 federal election. The Labor government led sequentially by Kevin Rudd, then by Julia Gillard (Australia's first female prime minister), and again briefly by Rudd, was consigned back into opposition. After a turbulent six years in office marked by the Global Financial Crisis (2008), successive policy scandals and almost four years of leadership tension, Labor was punished electorally, regarded as divided, unstable and unfit to govern by many. Victorious at the election was the Liberal-National Party Coalition led by Tony Abbott, a former minister in John Howard s government. Yet there was no great warmth for the Abbott conservatives from a largely disaffected electorate. While Abbott managed to secure a handsome majority in the lower house, his government's control over the Senate was actually eroded, meaning he will have to win the support of cross-bench senators hostile to many of his government's policies.

This chapter outlines the distinctive features and challenges of politics, governance, and leadership at the meso-level within national states, that is, provinces, regions, and states. It documents how regional interests, identities, and dynamics along with electoral and constitutional arrangements create meso-level political opportunity structures, as well as intergovernmental relations. It contrasts actor-centred and institutionalist approaches to understanding regional leadership, and discusses the various methodologies employed by scholars in this area. After critiquing what is currently a small yet disparate and conceptually poorly developed field, it concludes by sketching promising future directions.