New Politics: Australian Politics, News, Analysis & Commentary

It's been dubbed the week of madness in Canberra, but it was also a week of gross incompetence and a fine example of the poor political management that has encompassed the Liberal National Party since it formed government in 2013. Why turn up to a leadership spill without an abacus?

Malcolm Turnbull is no longer the Prime Minister. It was the forces led by Tony Abbott and the extreme right wing of the Liberal Party that created the momentum to install their Manchurian Candidate, Peter Dutton. But the final day of Malcolm Turnbull was his best: running rings about his challengers, using brilliant strategy and tactics to make sure Dutton never became Prime Minister.

It's just a pity it took three years for Turnbull to play strategically and, by this time, it was too late. His demise was all of his own work. If only he behaved like a real Prime Minister. If only…

We now have a new Prime Minister, Scott Morrison. Hold back your excitement.

We dissect the seven days of madness in Canberra; how this leadership spill compares with other spills in Australia's history; and, what the future holds for the Liberal Party, the new Prime Minister, and Australian politics.

Super Saturday: it sounds so American, but we had it all in our own backyard – Perth, Fremantle, Mayo, Braddon and Longman. A campaign that started with all the pressure on Bill Shorten completely swung around and returned all the pressure onto Malcolm Turnbull. How did this happen? How did the media get it all wrong? They have form, and have constantly sided with the conservative forces in recent times.

We discuss in fine detail, the Super Saturday byelections and outline how and why Malcolm Turnbull is a poor election campaigner; the #KillBill campaign and how the Liberals turned it into Pulp Fiction; and what the ramifications are for both parties for the next election, which increasingly looks likely to be held in May 2019.

Hosted by Eddy Jokovich and David Lewis.

Five federal byelections, and we think the more things change, the more they will stay the same. We suggest there will be no change in the numbers on the floor, but politics is so unpredictable in this day and age, so who knows?

The Institute of Public Affairs: an insidious influence on politics, or part of the broad church of parliament? No, we think it's insidious and ruining democracy in Australia. It's the IPA and others, such as the Ramsey Centre of Western Civilisation, that are causing trouble, now wanting to influence Australian universities.

And the old punching-bag of conservatives, the ABC, is in the firing line. The Liberals want to privatise the ABC – yes, their Council voted for this – yet, federal cabinet is denying this to be the case. But who said "no cuts to the ABC", just before he cut $254 million from their budget? Yes, former Liberal Prime Minister, Tony Abbott. Can the Liberals be trusted with the ABC? No, we don't think so.

The 2018 Budget was a classic ‘here today, gone tomorrow’ Budget. Who remembers any of the key points, aside from ‘personal tax cut’, and ‘surplus’? (** Read the fine print: tax cuts in seven years). Perhaps that was the main and only message.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, scores of Palestinians have been killed and injured by the Israeli army at the border of the Gaza Strip, and the UN Human Rights Council voted to hold an investigation into the incident – we do need to find out. But why did Australia (along with the US) vote against the resolution to hold an inquiry?

Will the Australian electorate go to the polls in 2018? They will – either through a series of five byelections (on July 28), or a general election – to be held in August or November 2018 – according to our expect assessment. Listen to find out why.