This Month
- Opinion
- Allegra Spender
Teals aren’t letting the Liberals whitewash them as Greens
Allegra Spender’s push to change the definition of small business complicates the Coalition’s attempts to pigeonhole the independents as lefties.
- Phillip Coorey
November
- Opinion
- Anthony Albanese
Like Morrison, Albanese’s hoping for a summer of love
Given the confirmation this week by Treasurer Jim Chalmers of a bigger budget deficit this financial year, it would make sense to call a federal election for April 12.
- Phillip Coorey
- Opinion
- Anthony Albanese
Albanese weighed down abroad by parlous state of world
It hasn’t hurt for the prime minister to witness first hand the changing global forces, more so as countries preposition for Trump’s second coming.
- Phillip Coorey
- Opinion
- Donald Trump
Playing flick the ambassador is an old diplomatic game
If Albanese fails where Turnbull succeeded, and tariffs are imposed, it won’t just be Rudd who will be blamed, but the bloke who gave him the job.
- Phillip Coorey
- Opinion
- Anthony Albanese
Inflation kills incumbents. Not that Labor needed a reminder
Amid all the fluff, bile and nonsense of the US election campaign, the seminal question was ‘are you better off than you were four years ago?’, and the answer was an emphatic no.
- Updated
- Phillip Coorey
October
- Opinion
- Anthony Albanese
Without trust, our institutions lose authority. Just ask Trump
In 2016 Donald Trump stormed into office on the back of a widespread voter cynicism and distrust. He is a coin toss away from doing so again.
- Phillip Coorey
- Opinion
- Peter Dutton
Dutton has tales to tell, but no log cabin story
For a bloke who has been in parliament for 23 years, much about the Liberal opposition leader remains unknown to the broader electorate.
- Phillip Coorey
- Opinion
- Anthony Albanese
In a sea of volatility, the ACT is Labor’s ‘forever government’
Labor has held power in the territory for 23 years. The Liberals hope that will prove to be enough in this weekend’s election.
- Phillip Coorey
- Opinion
- Anthony Albanese
Desperate Labor resorts to the ‘wedgislation’ it used to mock
This government is still in its first term yet is deploying end-of-days tactics – an observation not lost in an anxious backbench.
- Phillip Coorey
- Opinion
- Anthony Albanese
Middle ground on the Middle East is bleeding Labor
A fast end to hostilities in the Middle East would suit the Albanese government as it tries to focus on cost of living.
- Andrew Tillett
September
- Opinion
- Negative gearing
Resorting to riddles on negative gearing treats voters as mugs
This week showed the government’s performance remains far from polished when events wander off script.
- Phillip Coorey
- Opinion
- Anthony Albanese
‘Airbus Albo’ grounded as domestic struggles take over
Like a farmer waiting for rain, Albanese will hold out for a pre-election rate cut that could do a lot more to shift the dial than anything he’s tried so far.
- Phillip Coorey
- Opinion
- Peter Dutton
Dutton’s strategic reset targets treasurer and the teals
The latest moves are emblematic of a broader offensive buoyed by polls that suggest a very slim possibility of winning enough seats to negotiate minority government.
- Phillip Coorey
- Opinion
- Jim Chalmers
Just maybe, the worm has started to turn on the cost of living
The short-lived census row has sharply reminded the government that it cannot take its eye off the economic ball now.
- Phillip Coorey
August
Labor should invest in demonising Bandt as well as Dutton
The government wants us to believe Peter Dutton is dangerous and divisive. It might need to focus on the leader of the Greens as well.
- Phillip Coorey
- Opinion
- Opinion
This week showed politics can still work in the national interest
The NDIS breakthrough, the CFMEU deal, and in-principle agreement on aged care reform shows it’s not all about the antics of crossbench issue poseurs or the confected conflict of question time.
- Phillip Coorey
- Opinion
- Opinion
Treasurer might have created a monster with RBA reforms
Allowing the straight-talking Michele Bullock a press conference after every rates meeting has diluted the government’s power to control the economic message.
- Phillip Coorey
- Opinion
- Childcare
Short-term politics won’t leave sustainable childcare legacy
Five years ago, Labor promised to subsidise childcare wages and was howled down. Now, it hardly moves the dial.
- Phillip Coorey
- Opinion
- Political leadership
Like Howard, Albanese knows two heirs apparent are better than one
Labor’s leadership succession plan seems less obvious than it did six months ago.
- Phillip Coorey
July
- Opinion
- Building Bad
It’s not just Labor that let the CFMEU off the leash
Jacqui Lambie, Pauline Hanson and some independents have played a role in enabling the militant union.
- Phillip Coorey
