Balibo (2009) is a welcome recent entry in the relatively small field of overtly political Australian dramatic features. It’s a descendant of Peter Weir’s The Year of Living Dangerously (1982), which was also a thriller about an Australian journalist getting involved in Indonesian politics.

The political preferences of the main characters is integral to both Don’s Party (1976) and Newsfront (1978). Politics meets punk in Dogs in Space (1986) when an earnest young socialist tries to enlist the support of a Melbourne rock band (clip three).

Mini-series can be ideal for telling complex historical and political stories because of their longer screen time. During the 1980s, Kennedy Miller excelled at bringing the ins-and-outs of real-life political dramas like The Dismissal to the small screen.

For a range of other dramatic and factual political content, see titles tagged “Australian politics”:http://aso.gov.au/titles/tags/Australian%20politics/ and politics.