ANU experts have their say on Australian federal politics

Many ANU academics have provided analysis and commentary on the evolving political situation in Canberra. Some salient examples are highlighted below. Click on the relevant headline to be directed to the original article.

Scott Morrison Is a New Kind of Australian Prime Minister: An Evangelical Christian

Jill Sheppard | New York Times | 27 August 2018

“He won’t run on a campaign as being a cultural warrior or a socially conservative reformer,” said Jill Sheppard, a lecturer on politics at Australian National University. “Sometimes he does reference his church and his beliefs,” she added. “But he also hasn’t shown much willingness to fight the moderates in his party on those issues.”

Peter Dutton's leadership campaign is about winning the Liberal Party, not the election

John Wanna | Australian Financial Review | 24 August 2018

Pretty much anyone who has studied Australian politics would have been exposed to one of the 45 books John Wanna wrote or edited over the past 43 years. Given his experience, I thought the Australian National University political scientist might be able to answer the most enigmatic question of the Liberal Party implosion: how does Peter Dutton win the election?

Agencies in holding pattern after ministers abandon Turnbull

John Wanna | Sydney Morning Herald | 24 August 2018

Professor of politics at ANU and Griffith University John Wanna said politics meant the government was not providing the strategic direction that would let public servants work effectively.

The breaking of Australian politics: why and how we got here

Jill Sheppard | Canberra Times | 24 August 2018

Political scientist Dr Jill Sheppard has done some research with colleagues from the Australian National University on the changing backgrounds of politicians. “We are seeing more politicians who have worked in political staffing, who worked in business or lobbying either inside or on the periphery of Parliament House,” she says.

Julie Bishop was no 'Lady Macbeth'

Jill Sheppard | Sydney Morning Herald | 24 August 2018

“Conservative voters and parliamentary members tend to look at men as natural leaders in a way they don’t look at women. This is probably also true of most parts of the ALP and still a part of parties like the Greens,” says Dr Jill Sheppard. “It’s something embedded in Australian society ... It could take another 20 years before the idea of women in politics becomes mainstream.”

Explainer: What in the world is happening in Australian politics?

Jill Sheppard | NewsHub | 24 August 2018

Dr Sheppard has told NewsHub that the original removal of Kevin Rudd in 2010 set a precedent for politicians in both of the major parties to jostle for the leadership over the years until it eventually became almost normal to voters.

'Trump-esque' former cop Dutton eyes Australia PM role

Ian McAllister | Reuters International | 23 August 2018

Despite a ministerial career spanning over a decade, Dutton is not widely known around the country, said Ian McAllister, professor of Political Science at Australian National University in Canberra.

Right vote likely to be split with two candidates: John Wanna

John Wanna | ABC Radio | 23 August 2018

John Wanna, professor in political science at the Australian National University, speaks with The World Today's Rachel Mealey.

Scott Morrison, Australia’s Next Prime Minister, Pledges to ‘Heal Our Party’

Jill Sheppard | New York Times | 23 August 2018

Jill Sheppard, a lecturer in politics at the Australian National University in Canberra, the capital, said Mr. Morrison was among the most conservative members of the Liberals’ moderate wing. “He has managed to straddle factions in the Liberal Party really nicely in the last couple of decades,” she said.

Leadership spill: Malcolm Turnbull's political management 'as bad as Whitlam'

John Wanna | Australian Financial Review | 23 August 2018

Academic John Wanna, a prolific writer about Australian politics, said the five cabinet reshuffles since Mr Turnbull became prime minister on September 15, 2015, were part of a failure to establish a political ascendancy over his party and the opposition that was as bad as Gough Whitlam's government from 1972 to 1975, when it was removed by Governor General John Kerr.

Australia PM Malcolm Turnbull's troubled leadership hangs in balance

Jill Sheppard | DW | 23 August 2018

"We have quite considerable ideological cleavages within both of our major parties, but it's a particular problem in the Liberal Party at the moment," Jill Sheppard, a political scientist at the Australian National University in Canberra, told DW. "This split between progressives and conservatives means that no leader in the last 10 years has really been able to bridge that gap."

Peter Dutton, the immigration hardliner who could be Australia's next PM

Professor John Warhurst | CNN | 23 August 2018

"(The conservatives) have a very strong ideological position and have never been convinced Malcolm Turnbull ought to be Liberal PM. They don't accept his credentials," John Warhurst, emeritus professor of Australian Politics at the Australian National University, told CNN.

Leadership uncertainty throws big business under a bus

Professor John Warhurst | Sydney Morning Herald | 23 August 2018

"Corporate Australia is the big loser from the Liberal leadership uncertainty because of the collateral damage to its reputation. To shore up his position Malcolm Turnbull has not just abandoned his emissions target but rounded on business in an unprecedented way", writes Professor Warhurst in the Sydney Morning Herald.