Political leadership in Australia has been characterised by instability and rapid change since the Howard government fell in 2007. Prime ministers, popular and unpopular, Labor and Liberal, have been dislodged by their own colleagues through destabilisation and party room ballots.
The United States is facing ‘midterm elections’ as voters give their views on the Trump Administration without voting for the presidency. But did you know this process has influenced the way politics works in Australia?
We worked hard to wrest power from the hands of the king so why do we still hold onto this ‘relic of barbarism’. Is it time to rethink?
When Enid Lyons and Dorothy Tangney stepped over the threshold into Parliament House in 1943 they were late. Not by hours, but decades.
Curator Holly Williams picks her 5 favourites from Behind the lines 2017: The three-ring circus.
'To get better politics, means more politics...not more disinterest'. In this address to the National Press Club, Professor Ian Chubb AC outlines a plan for increased accountability and transparency in politics, and the change 'we have to demand'.
How can we fix the 'tribalism and political narcissism' eroding trust in Australia's once vibrant democracy? Professor Anne Tiernan explores in this address to the National Press Club, delivered 5 September 2018.
As Australia settles into life with our 30th prime minister, our Museum Experience Officer Micci reflects on those turbulent few days of the leadership spill and the atmosphere on the floor of the Museum of Australian Democracy.
Is it time to clean up the Magic Kingdom (Canberra)? We don't trust the federal government very much. Or the state government for that matter. So what type of political system would we trust?
We trust the government to take care of defence and security, but when it comes to policy fundamentals we're not so sure. This matters. Good policy is the glue that holds the whole political system together.
The socio-economic data suggests they should be like pigs in clover yet, despite twenty years of unprecedented economic boom and growth, Grey Australians are some of the most dissatisfied with politicans and political processes. Find out why.
Indigenous Australians continue to be disillusioned with Australian democracy. Is there is a way forward?
On 25 July 1828 the Australian Courts Act 1828 came into power. It enacted legislation of the British Parliament which ensured that the laws of England would be applied in the two existing Australian colonies, New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land. It also provided for trial by jury in the Supreme Court in civil cases and empowered the Governor to introduce general trial by jury in criminal matters.
Take a look at the things we found after the move from Old Parliament House to Australian Parliament House in 1988.
This NAIDOC week we honour the theme of ‘Because of her, we can!’ by recognising the work of two contemporary Indigenous artists - Leah King-Smith and Andrea Fisher.
Say ‘implement’ and it can seem no greatly important thing – a mere functionary carrying out orders. Seeing through a new path against all the ingrained expectations of everyone who serves with or beneath you though, is no easy thing. The casual plundering of the Kables’ valuables during the First Fleet voyage is suggestive of just how unfathomable these new rules were. Convicts, especially illiterate convicts with no immediate great patron to protect them, were easy prey.
Only the cheapest remnants of books, clothes and sundry other items were handed over to Henry and Susannah Kable as the ships unpacked onto the shore at Port Jackson. And this, decidedly, was where the script of the story would and should ordinarily have stopped, if it was being written according to ordinary, common or garden 18th century reality.
Henry Kable and Susannah Holmes met in jail as teenagers, and clearly sparks flew. The result of their meeting was not just a child, but the first civil case in Australian history, one which fundamentally inflects the basic nature of our society.
As far as nation-defining events go, a young couple with a squalling toddler standing about on at the edge of a sheltered covelooking for luggage gone missing wouldn't register on even the most likely history buff's radar.
MoAD Director Daryl Karp picks five objects from our exhibition and tells us why these are her favourites.
