Political

JENI O’DOWD: Peter Dutton began his campaign so devoid of vision that it made Anthony Albanese’s costly promises look appealing. Now that’s changed, but he still has an enormous amount of work to do.

ANDREW CARSWELL: It may be the thinnest of silver linings, but for all the smirks and chest-beating in Camp Albanese, Labor is failing to capitalise on the Coalition’s bleeding primary vote.

CAMERON MILNER: We’re at half-time in this election campaign. The teams are back on the field and the crowd are back in their seats. It’s neck-and-neck and anybody could win from here.

PAUL MURRAY: The Opposition Leader’s backtracking and failure to differentiate his policies enough from those of the Government are hurting the Coalition.

MARK RILEY: Donald Trump's announcement of a pause on tariffs has effectively killed off Anthony Albanese’s strongest defence to the economic tirade.

PAUL MURRAY: Everyone is so consumed with panicking about Donald Trump that we seem to barely notice other pressing problems much closer to home.

THE FRONT DORE: It’s time to fess up. In the three years since he became PM, we’ve been wrong about Anthony Albanese. We’ve been unreasonable. Unkind. Definitely unfair.

JENI O’DOWD: The Albanese Government is doing everything it can to pretend things are under control. But voters aren’t stupid. They know exactly what’s going on — and they aren’t buying it.

ANDREW CARSWELL: If you’ve already locked in your vote for the 2025 Federal election, brace yourself for some bad news. Others will be deciding the final outcome on election night.

KATE EMERY: Happiness is the thing everyone wants, too few of us have and that Australian politicians so rarely mention. Maybe it’s time to change that.

KATINA CURTIS: A more proportional split in grants allocations than the Coalition’s egregious pork-barrelling doesn’t mean Labor’s cash splash shouldn’t be scrutinised.

AARON PATRICK: Victoria has finally decided to act, but evidence that the CFMEU is rapacious, amoral and unreformable has persisted for decades.

MARK RILEY: Who can best manage Australia’s relationship with Donald Trump will be the key foreign policy question in the coming election campaign. 

ELLEN RANSLEY: Standing up to the ‘bully’ and making the case that a surplus was in Washington’s interests may have worked for Turnbull in 2018, but Trump is determined to be far more ruthless this time.

CAMERON MILNER: Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton have both had shockers in the past few weeks. But it’s a behind-the-scenes stoush that will really determine the outcome of the Federal election.