This Month
We’ll be back in election mode on the other side of Christmas
Three-year terms mean that the government, after just 20 months in power, will start pulling down the new policy shutters, with the opposition dialling everything up to 11.
- Phillip Coorey
The prime minister needs his mojo back
Voters want their prime minister to be of them, not like them. At the moment, they feel he is neither.
- Phillip Coorey
November
- Opinion
- Peter Dutton
With friends like the Labor states, who needs enemies
It’s not just the states that are sensing the government’s vulnerability. The opposition’s tone this week has been one of sheer irreverence.
- Phillip Coorey
- Opinion
- Opinion
Bowen’s big bang energy push puts heat back on Coalition
The opposition says Labor is “writing a blank cheque” to renewables investors. But it’s yet to detail how much its own nuclear energy alternative would cost taxpayers.
- Jacob Greber
- Analysis
- High Court of Australia
No mercy. How it’s going to be until the next election
It was Labor’s nightmare and Dutton’s fantasy to be once again fighting on immigration issues.
- Phillip Coorey
- Opinion
- Anthony Albanese
Albanese’s China visit was a whole different calibre
Despite the views expressed by some hawks, the prime minister was not kowtowing in China.
- Phillip Coorey
- Opinion
- Anthony Albanese
‘Airbus Albo’ risks leaving the home front aflame
Tricky international diplomacy is nothing compared with feral talkback radio at home.
- Phillip Coorey
October
- Opinion
- Opinion
It’s a balancing act on Israel at home and abroad
Given the long and violent history of the Israeli-Arab conflict, views towards it are pre-formed, polarised and, in most cases, utterly intransigent.
- Phillip Coorey
- Opinion
- Anthony Albanese
The longer Chalmers leaves it, the harder EV charging will be to fix
What are the Greens going to demand be spent when the fuel excise runs out? And do they not realise that just because a car is battery powered, it will still need a road?
- Phillip Coorey
- Opinion
- Opinion
Plan is to move on quickly from the referendum defeat
Pumping up its national security bona fides is not in Labor’s DNA. It needs to be.
- Phillip Coorey
September
- Opinion
- Opinion
To claw back power, the Libs need to stop being a hot mess
The Liberal party has swung to the hard right in some states - leaving Labor with the advantage. And accountability has suffered.
- Phillip Coorey
- Opinion
- Anthony Albanese
Dutton’s nuclear plans are getting under Labor’s skin
Advocating nuclear power these days is about as passe as a politician admitting they once smoked pot.
- Phillip Coorey
- Opinion
- Anthony Albanese
Focus begins to shift to the consequences of a No vote
The Yes case has been outplayed not by Peter Dutton but Aboriginal Liberal-Nationals senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, who was not factored in as a threat at the start of the process.
- Phillip Coorey
- Opinion
- Anthony Albanese
Prime minister takes off as midterm headwinds hit at home
Every first-term government since Whitlam has gone backwards at their next election. It’s a sobering statistic for a government with a three-seat majority.
- Phillip Coorey
August
- Opinion
- Ken Henry
Ken Henry has a dire warning on this forgotten issue
Ken Henry’s environmental warnings are arguably more dire, more imminent, more urgent, more troublesome and a great deal less hypothetical than the need to address a gradually shifting tax base.
- Phillip Coorey
- Opinion
- Jim Chalmers
Jim’s pilot light of purpose is yet to fully ignite
The release of the Intergenerational Report has been accompanied by a level of intellectual preening from the treasurer, who hopes one day to be leader.
- Phillip Coorey
- Opinion
- Anthony Albanese
PM’s message an important reminder of Labor’s fragile hold on power
It is not inconceivable that right now, Labor is notionally in minority government.
- Phillip Coorey
- Opinion
- Anthony Albanese
Baseless fears about Rudd’s apology give hope for the Voice
A year ago, the prime minister was hamming it up alongside Shaq. The mood is far more sober now.
- Phillip Coorey
- Opinion
- Opinion
Australians are owed a royal commission into the pandemic
A proper commission of inquiry should not be conceived with payback in mind but with a view to how things could be done better the next time.
- Phillip Coorey
July
- Opinion
- Opinion
Down but not out, the Voice could still be heard
Tony Abbott says the Yes campaign could yet “buy” the referendum with a short, well-funded campaign. Strip away the pejoratives, and he’s not far off.
- Phillip Coorey
