http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/bruce-hawker/ Bruce Hawker is a leading campaign manager with 30 years experience advising leaders in business and politics. As MD of Campaigns & Communications, Bruce manages crises and plans and executes communications campaigns. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/election-fallout-economic-weaknesses-can-be-fatal/ Regardless of who won the South Australian election there was always going to be argument as to whether it provided any lessons for Canberra. Like just about every state election campaign I’ve been involved in over the last 20 years, the direct federal implications in this campaign were limited. Australians understand the difference between state and federal issues and generally resist attempts by politicians to intertwine them. For example, I recall watching focus groups in state election campaigns during the Howard years where participants rejected the notion that state Liberals would adopt WorkChoices. This, they said, was a federal issue and therefore not relevant to their decisions about state elections. They also said that they would judge the federal Liberals harshly when the time came - and they did. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Bruce Hawker) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/election-fallout-economic-weaknesses-can-be-fatal/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/election-fallout-economic-weaknesses-can-be-fatal/#item2671 Sun, 21 Mar 2010 19:54:32 +0000 Bruce Hawker | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/SA-election-A-party-that-cant-run-itself/ Bruce Hawker is the director of Hawker Britton and is advising the Rann Labor Government on its campaign. We are now at the business end of the South Australian election campaign and the contest is going down to the wire. After years of internal division the Liberal Party had - until this week - managed to develop an appearance of unity on the back of Mike Rann’s problems following the Michelle Chantelois allegations. With four leaders in four years and little more than a veneer of unity following an acrimonious leadership spill involving former deputy leader Vickie Chapman and current leader Isobel Redmond, the Liberal campaign settled on a “small target” strategy. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Bruce Hawker) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/SA-election-A-party-that-cant-run-itself/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/SA-election-A-party-that-cant-run-itself/#item2634 Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:35:13 +0000 Bruce Hawker | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Splitsville-could-a-new-party-result-from-Abbotts-purge/ The Liberal Party’s 42 to 41 vote to strip the Opposition leadership from Malcolm Turnbull and hand it to Tony Abbott was a split decision in more ways than one. The Liberal Party is now so badly divided that a distinct possibility exists that a group - possibly led by Malcolm Turnbull - will leave to establish their own party. A split party is the price that is sometimes paid when ideology prevails over moderate, pragmatic politics - just ask anyone who was in the Labor Party during the 20th century. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Bruce Hawker) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Splitsville-could-a-new-party-result-from-Abbotts-purge/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Splitsville-could-a-new-party-result-from-Abbotts-purge/#item1896 Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:55:24 +0000 Bruce Hawker | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/malcolm-turnbull-ideologys-latest-victim/ Last night Malcolm Turnbull announced his party’s support for the ETS bill with the resigned cheerfulness of a man who knows his days are numbered. He looked more like a defeated leader at the end of a campaign thanking his supporters than someone who had just prevailed over the Opposition old guard. It was a pyrrhic victory and nothing he said could disguise that fact. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Bruce Hawker) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/malcolm-turnbull-ideologys-latest-victim/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/malcolm-turnbull-ideologys-latest-victim/#item1835 Wed, 25 Nov 2009 01:19:18 +0000 Bruce Hawker | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/The-mouse-that-roared-may-have-changed-Labor-forever-/ Nathan Rees’s move to ambush the Labor factions and go directly to his Party Conference for the power to appoint his Cabinet was audacious. In my 30 years as an ALP member I can barely recall a gutsier attempt to reclaim the high ground. It will at least temporarily stop the rot for NSW Labor – and if he follows on with more unilateral displays of strength it may actually start turning things around. By taking control of Cabinet appointments Rees did more than achieve a short term political objective – he made a critically important long-term reform to culture of the ALP in NSW. For too long factionalism has stunted Labor’s ability to nurture and develop the best talent the Party has to offer. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Bruce Hawker) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/The-mouse-that-roared-may-have-changed-Labor-forever-/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/The-mouse-that-roared-may-have-changed-Labor-forever-/#item1782 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:52:24 +0000 Bruce Hawker | Author bios | The Punch