Queensland Premier Steven Miles is falling behind his Liberal counterpart as preferred premier. Federally, Labor and the Coalition remain tied, according to Freshwater polling.
The summer break hasn’t changed the Freshwater polling figures for the two major parties federally. Overseas, the former US President is in a strong position ahead of the Iowa caucus.
A proposed Senate election reform would be little to fix the unequal representation of the states and territories in the upper house - in fact, it would make it worse.
An activist premier, a gifted political communicator and a hard man of politics, Dan Andrews has been an enormously consequential leader and one of national significance.
Oppositions have two key jobs: to hold the government to account and prepare to take office themselves. At the moment, Liberal oppositions are failing on both counts.
The hardest thing for an ageing government is to remake itself. On balance, last week’s developments in Spring Street represent the first step towards Victorian Labor performing that elusive feat.
Branch stacking has been a problem for a long time in Australia, and changing it will take a genuine will to make party processes more open and accountable.
Lindy Willmott, Queensland University of Technology; Andrew McGee, Queensland University of Technology, and Ben White, Queensland University of Technology
The main arguments used by those who voted against assisted dying – including that the bill has insufficient safeguards – in Victoria’s upper house, deserve further scrutiny.