Chris Wallace
Political historian Chris Wallace BEc (Syd) MBA (UNSW) BA PhD (ANU) is a professor at the School of Politics Economics & Society, Faculty of Business Government and Law, University of Canberra. Her fifth book, ‘Political Lives: Australian prime ministers and their biographers’, has just been published by UNSW Press. Her previous book, ‘How To Win An Election’ (NewSouth, 2020), contextualised Labor’s shock 2019 federal election loss in the context of the last half century of Australian elections. She was formerly a longstanding member of the Canberra Press Gallery, and her political analysis and commentary currently appears in Nikkei Asia, the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Saturday Paper and The Conversation. Twitter: @c_s_wallace
Chris's recent articles
1 April 2025
Labor’s in with a fighting chance, but must work around an unpopular leader
The Albanese Government has a fighting chance of winning the 2025 election, but will need to achieve in five weeks of campaigning what it hasn’t in three years in office. That is, work out a narrative explaining what it’s about and that can persuade Australians to back it for a second term.
12 July 2024
All ‘commit’ and no ‘disagree’: the real reason why Labor’s solidarity pledge is not working
The Australian Labor Party’s solidarity pledge is being widely sledged in the wake of Western Australian Senator Fatima Payman’s resignation from caucus.
17 December 2023
We all know about JobKeeper, which helped Australians keep their jobs in a global crisis. So how about HomeKeeper?
Bipartisan support for temporary extra government spending to preserve businesses and jobs through JobKeeper was one of the few positive outcomes from the COVID-19 pandemic.
7 August 2023
After Robodebt, heres how Australia can have a truly frank and fearless public service again
The Robodebt Royal Commission revelations have triggered revulsion in all fair-minded Australians.
1 January 2021
Cabinet papers 2000: the Coalition before climate denialism, but on the path to offshore detention
Australian Cabinet papers from 2000, released today, reflect a relatively quiescent Australia where Islamic militancy and offshore detention were barely glimpses on the horizon, and climate science denialism was not a factor in cabinet considerations at all.
14 July 2020
'Palace letters' reveal the palace's fingerprints on the dismissal of the Whitlam government (The Conversation 15.7.2020)
The palace letters show the Australian Constitutions susceptibility to self-interested behaviour by individual vice-regal representatives. They also reveal the vulnerability of Australian governments to secret destabilisation by proxy by the Crown.