Insiders
Season 2007
Insiders is Australia's must-watch political program. Let one of Australia's best political analysts Barrie Cassidy and the nation's top political commentators take you to the heart of the action every Sunday morning, with a unique mix of news, interviews, analysis and plenty of laughs.
Where to Watch Season 2007
43 Episodes
- Morris Iemma - NSW Premier (25/3/2007)E7
Morris Iemma - NSW Premier (25/3/2007)Overnight the Iemma Labor Government in New South Wales has easily won the state election, although with a slightly reduced majority. That means that Labor has now won 21 consecutive state elections around the country. The Liberals and their leader Peter Debman did manage to achieve the first swing against Labor in NSW since 1988, but even that swing was not enough to guarantee them a single Labor gain. Their guaranteed gains were at the expense of independents. - Peter Costello - Treasurer (1/4/2007)E8
Peter Costello - Treasurer (1/4/2007)As every week goes by, it feels more like an election campaign. And as every week goes by, it is a fresh policy debate that dominates politics. Yes, policies. That is what the public constantly demands and right now that is what they are getting - in spades. During this week, and no doubt during many more to come, it was climate change. Taxation was in the mix as well, as it will be all the way through until the Budget in May, and beyond. - 15/4/2007E9
15/4/2007The premiers met the Prime Minister on Friday for the last time before the federal election and so - politics being what it is - that could have been messy. In fact, Tony Abbott predicted the premiers would simply turn up and spruik for Kevin Rudd. But when the business was done, that is not the way the Prime Minister wanted to present it. Yes, the premiers agreed, it was harmonious. All very professional. The Prime Minister was a first class chairman. All very agreeable - if it was not for one of the major election issues - climate change. - Joe Hockey - Workplace Relations Minister (22/4/2007)E10
Joe Hockey - Workplace Relations Minister (22/4/2007)Time is fast running out for the Federal Government to start hauling back the massive lead that Labor now enjoys in the opinion polls. So what can the Government do in the six months or so left until the election? It will be relying more heavily than usual on the May Budget and the shift in focus to the economy. The Coalition will be hoping to turn the country around on WorkChoices and hoping for a change of fortunes in Iraq, and are set to continue their criticism of Kevin Rudd's character. - Kevin Rudd - Opposition Leader (29/4/2007)E11
Kevin Rudd - Opposition Leader (29/4/2007)The Labor Party is smack bang in the middle of its national conference, a bigger deal than ever because it has a new leader and the party is 16 points ahead in the opinion polls well into an election year. But on Saturday, the Prime Minister stole page one right around the country. While Labor debated whether or not to mine uranium, John Howard announced the go-ahead for a nuclear power industry. He and Treasurer Peter Costello used a mere state-based political conference in Melbourne to deflect most of the political arrows that Labor leader Kevin Rudd had fired in their direction. But playing the nuclear card could either be clever or too clever by half. - Wayne Swan - Shadow Treasurer (6/5/2007)E12
Wayne Swan - Shadow Treasurer (6/5/2007)In the next three weeks, the Federal Government will be hoping for the biggest budget bounce in 11 years. They will want to see some early signs that Tuesday's Budget will start to erode Labor's 14 point lead in the opinion polls. And make no mistake - there are budgets, and there are election budgets, and election budgets get the biggest bounce. - John Howard - Prime Minister (13/5/2007)E13
John Howard - Prime Minister (13/5/2007)The budget is out there - Kevin Rudd has delivered his reply - the commentators have filled the papers and flooded the air waves. Now, what do you think? Has it changed your vote? We'll know soon enough, when the opinion polls are published from next Tuesday, but the politicians themselves are taking out a bit of insurance. Labor is raising expectations of a turnaround, and the coalition is hosing them down. - Philip Ruddock - Attorney General (20/5/2007)E14
Philip Ruddock - Attorney General (20/5/2007)It has been another weird week in politics. The Government was out and about selling a Budget that by and large, was well received - and the latest research put consumer confidence at its highest in 32 years. A neat juxtoposition with unemployment - the lowest in 32 years. At the same time, Kevin Rudd and Labor were under sustained attack from big business over its industrial relations policy. And yet the polls - all of them - either showed Labor maintaining its huge lead over the Coalition or building on it. - Mal Brough - Minister for Indigenous Relations (27/5/2007)E15
Mal Brough - Minister for Indigenous Relations (27/5/2007)Wednesday started like any other for Labor's industrial relations spokeswoman Julia Gillard. She is always on the lookout for examples of WorkChoices failing the fairness test. But the headline the very next day declared another company had underpaid workers - only this time the company was owned by Kevin Rudd's wife. Therese Rein was in London when the story broke and flew home so she and her husband could face the media. On reflection, the Rudds have taken the politically convenient decision and Ms Rein has announced she will be selling the Australian arm of the company. - Malcolm Turnbull - Environment Minister (3/6/2007)E16
Malcolm Turnbull - Environment Minister (3/6/2007)It is now on the record - Australia is going to embrace an emissions trading scheme no matter who wins the next election, but the major parties differ on how that scheme will work. In this election year, it seems much of the debate itself is based on politics rather than science. - Stephen Conroy - Shadow Communications Minister (10/6/2007)E17
Stephen Conroy - Shadow Communications Minister (10/6/2007)They may be just numbers on a sheet of paper, but this week poll figures, growth figures and jobs figures made a world of difference to the morale of the Coalition Government. But none of these figures came without some form of scepticism. - Julia Gillard - Deputy Labor Leader (17/6/2007)E18
Julia Gillard - Deputy Labor Leader (17/6/2007)It was fascinating to watch this week's two big political issues compete side by side for media space. The leaked union campaign was like the hare, exploding out of the blocks, and then suddenly stopping in its tracks. While the Kirribilli story was the tortoise, slow to begin but still inching along at the end of the week. - Jenny Macklin - Shadow Indigenous Affairs Minister (1/7/2007)E20
Jenny Macklin - Shadow Indigenous Affairs Minister (1/7/2007)A Federal Government team has been in some Northern Territory Aboriginal communities for a week now and we're witnessing the very early stages of a radical and ambitious project to combat child abuse. - Peter Costello - Treasurer (8/7/2007)E21
Peter Costello - Treasurer (8/7/2007)Defence Minister Brendan Nelson got world wide attention this week over his comments linking oil supplies with Australia's invovement in Iraq. Now the Prime Minister, John Howard, says it is a bit of a stretch to interpret anything that either he or Dr Nelson said as meaning the war in Iraq is about oil. - Alexander Downer - Foreign Affairs Minister (15/7/2007)E22
Alexander Downer - Foreign Affairs Minister (15/7/2007)This has been a bad week for Prime Minister John Howard - not because he forgot the name of one of his candidates and not because yet again, the polls refused to budge. It was a bad week because Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd got considerable traction on two cost of living issues - groceries and housing affordability. - Tony Abbott - Health Minister (29/7/2007)E24
Tony Abbott - Health Minister (29/7/2007)Dr Mohamed Haneef is due to be re-united with his family in India later today, ending a four week ordeal that saw him locked up and accused of associating with terrorists. But in the end it seems his crime was no more than having a relative overseas accused of terrorism. Through all the controversy, the Prime Minister is insisting it had nothing to do with him. - Kevin Andrews - Immigration Minister (5/8/2007)E25
Kevin Andrews - Immigration Minister (5/8/2007)A hospital on the north-west coast of Tasmania became the centre of one of John Howard's more audacious - and perhaps most effective - pre-election manoeuvres so far. He has bypassed the states and given $45 million a year to the Mersey Community Hospital in Devonport, in the marginal seat of Braddon. This single action has set off a giant lolly scramble around the country involving every city and town with rundown services. But John Howard has done this for the same reason that Kevin Rudd promised massive infrastructure projects in Western Australia - the election is almost upon us. - Bob McMullan - Labor Spokesperson on Federal/State Relations (12/8/2007)E26
Bob McMullan - Labor Spokesperson on Federal/State Relations (12/8/2007)To the Prime Minister and the Coalition this week was a microcosm of the year as a whole. One political negative after another, saved or at least tempered by the one issue that keeps giving - the economy. - Peter Beattie - QLD Premier (19/8/2007)E27
Peter Beattie - QLD Premier (19/8/2007)This week the country got a lesson in how politics and political reporting works at the highest level and it was not pretty. Federal Treasurer Peter Costello had an off the record dinner with three journalists two years ago and they say he told them of his plan to destabilise and eventually replace Prime Minister John Howard. - Wayne Swan - Shadow Treasurer (26/8/2007)E28
Wayne Swan - Shadow Treasurer (26/8/2007)Australians could be going to the polls in just two months from now - and with that in mind, this week the Coalition and the Labor Party had gifts for the electorate. The Government delivered a bigger than expected Budget surplus of $17.3 billion, and Federal Labor delivered a radical overhaul of the country's health system. - Peter Garrett - Shadow Environment Minister (2/9/2007)E29
Peter Garrett - Shadow Environment Minister (2/9/2007)What is it about Tasmania and Federal elections? How is it that the smallest state seems to create the most angst in the minds of the major parties? Going all the way back to the Franklin Dam issue in 1983, the Tasmanian issues have vibrated across the strait to the mainland. Most recently in 2004, Labor was hopelessly outmanoeuvred on the forestry issue in the dying days of the campaign and paid a high price. And this time a small hospital and a large pulp mill threaten to have the same impact. Not that Tasmanians necessarily welcome the attention. - Brendan Nelson - Defence Minister (14/10/2007)E35
Brendan Nelson - Defence Minister (14/10/2007)The Governor-General, Michael Jeffery, arrived back in the country late Friday night, and this morning dozens of media representatives have gathered outside the gates to Government House, waiting for the Prime Minister's car to roll up. - Bob Brown, Lyn Allison and Steve Fielding (28/10/2007)E37
Bob Brown, Lyn Allison and Steve Fielding (28/10/2007)The three leaders of the minor parties join Barrie on the couch to discuss the key issues in this federal election campaign, the likely make-up of the Senate and the preference deals. It is the first time the three of them have shared a platform outside of the Senate chamber. Later, Insiders is joined by the panel of political commentators and Paul Kelly. - John Howard - Prime Minister (4/11/2007)E38
John Howard - Prime Minister (4/11/2007)It is the half way point of the federal election campaign, and if Prime Minister John Howard is to win the election, there will have to be a dramatic shift in the major opinion polls in the second half of the campaign. - Wayne Swan - Shadow Treasurer (11/11/2007)E39
Wayne Swan - Shadow Treasurer (11/11/2007)The Coalition and Labor are officially launching their campaigns this week - so within three days, we will know precisely what the major parties are putting on the table. Labor is still leading in the polls and the two-party preferred figure has not budged in four weeks. - Jeff Lawrence - ACTU Secretary (9/12/2007)E43
Jeff Lawrence - ACTU Secretary (9/12/2007)As Brendan Nelson named his new frontbench in Opposition this week, the news from the Electoral Commission was a little more encouraging. At times on election night, it appeared the Coalition might need as many as 16 seats to win back government. But it now appears the target might be as few as 10 seats, and they can do that with a uniform swing of just 1.5 per cent.