Senior Writer + Columnist
@australian
Bestselling/award-winning author. Biographer of Prime Ministers Paul Keating, RG Menzies, Bob Hawke, Gough Whitlam (2025).
It’s thrilling to tear open a box and hold your book for the first time! Very proud of my biography of
#BobHawke
, packed with new interviews/archival discoveries, can’t wait for people to read it. In bookshops 1 March. Pre-order
@PenguinBooksAus
#auspol
This is worth saying again: Orders of Australia should not be given to former politicians for just being a politician, wealthy celebrities and sporting stars but reserved for unsung heroes, community champions, charity workers and those who enrich our national life.
#auspol
This is worth saying again and again and again: Orders of Australia should not be given to former politicians, wealthy celebrities and sporting stars but reserved for unsung heroes, community champions and those who enrich our national life.
#AustraliaDay2021
#auspol
#Honours2021
Yet again, this is worth saying: Orders of Australia should not be for politicians, judges, sporting stars, Hollywood celebrities for doing their jobs. These honours should be for unsung heroes, community champions, charity workers and those who enrich our national life.
#auspol
This is worth saying again and again: Orders of Australia should not be given to disgraced former politicians, wealthy celebrities and sporting stars but reserved for unsung heroes, community champions and those who enrich our national life.
#QueensBirthdayHonours
#auspol
Statement by Paul Keating who has been censored by
@smh
. It was agreed he would write an article in response to Peter Hartcher’s piece slamming him on Saturday for his China-Taiwan comments at the NPC, but they have refused to run it.
#auspol
You can't even get my name right. You have zero credibility. You are a grievance based politician who trades in fear and falsehoods. It is a disgrace that you sit in our national parliament. Delete your account. You have nothing to offer.
Hi Tony,
Do you deny the words of our Chief Scientist when he said that reducing Australia's CO2 output to zero would have "virtually no" effect on the global temperature?
If climate policies can't achieve their ultimate goal of reducing global temperature, what is their point?
Big night for NSW Labor and Chris Minns winning
#Bega
with a 13% swing, holding
#Strathfield
, a 7% swing in
#Monaro
and Liberals struggling in
#Willoughby
with a near 18% swing against. Coalition sinks further into minority. Labor’s leadership change validated.
#nswpol
#nswvotes
This is the most remarkable thing you’ll read today: George Bush’s letter to Bill Clinton on handing over the presidency: “Your success now is our country’s success. I am rooting hard for you. Good luck.”
#GeorgeHWBush
I have some sad news: former Hawke era minister Susan Ryan has died. Susan was a genuine trailblazer for women in politics and a policy innovator. She was my friend and collaborator, and she will be missed.
#auspol
#vale
Scott Morrison’s secret swearing-in as joint minister for three portfolios is a serious breach of Westminster tradition, cabinet governance and parliamentary convention. He had an obligation to inform cabinet, parliament and the Australian people.
#auspol
Rarely been a stronger case for a minister to resign than
@ANAO_Australia
report on Bridget McKenzie’s $100m sports grants. If she doesn’t resign, the PM should sack her, and if she refuses to go he should advise GG to withdraw her commission
#auspol
#GladysBerejiklian
thinks calling Daryl Maguire "you are my family" in a text message and saying she thought about marrying him did not mean she should disclose it as an intimate personal relationship under the Ministerial Code of Conduct. Is this for real?
#ICACnsw
#ICAC
#nswpol
My sincere condolences to
@ScottMorrisonMP
on the death of his father John. Losing your dad is always hard, and even more so when you are serving as PM. My thoughts are with him and his family.
I’m “the Left” am I Kenny? I’m a journalist and columnist working for the same paper you do. Have some respect. I call it as I see it. I don’t campaign for Labor, Liberal, National or anyone else. Don’t include me in your partisan hackery.
This is important. Parliament has shut down for 5 months. This is a mistake. It is the manifestation of democracy. It must sit so government can use its authority to communicate policy and oppositions can keep them accountable. It met during war. It must meet now.
#coronavirus
Paul Keating is right: “The reward for public life is public progress.” Enough with the honours for former politicians and Hollywood celebrities - gongs should be reserved for unsung heroes, community champions and those who enrich our national life
#queensbirthdayhonours
#auspol
Paul Kelly on Trump
@australian
:
“Why are Australian conservatives so forgiving of a President who violates virtually every norm of conservative behaviour? Defending Trump because he opposes the anti-liberal progressive left is good therapy but constitutes intellectual failure.”
Just arrived in Sydney from London via Dubai and I’m deeply worried that we are not taking enough precautions for
#coronavirus
. Sailed through customs/quarantine in minutes. No small group checking for symptoms, prolonged questioning or heat sensor equipment used in Dubai.
Happy birthday to Bill Hayden who turns 90 today! Bill has lived a life of service as minister in the Whitlam + Hawke governments, Labor leader and Governor-General. Spoke to him a few weeks ago and he’s still got the passion that inspired him to go into politics in ‘61.
#auspol
New column: Barnaby Joyce should do everyone a favour and quit parliament without delay. How long must we endure this debasement of our politics by a man so utterly unworthy of public trust and responsibility?
#auspol
@australian
Paul Keating savages
@smh
report that “Australia faces the threat of war with China within three years”.
Keating calls it “the most egregious and provocative” new story he has seen in 50+ years in public life.
He adds that it is “wantonly biased and inflammatory”.
#auspol
Craig Kelly often cites Robert Menzies as if he's in the Menzies tradition.
I wrote a biography of Menzies - the first in decades - with full access to his papers and interviewed family/MPs/staff.
Menzies would be appalled by Kelly and would regard him as an utter fool.
#auspol
#Exclusive
: Paul Keating has urged Labor to be brave and courageous, take policy risks and burn political capital, and not worry about polls, because voters will reward politicians who pursue bold reform in the national interest.
@australian
#auspol
The phrase “the Morrison recession” is one of the most inane, intellectually dishonest and politically stupid I have ever heard. It is cringeworthy. It treats voters like mugs. Labor needs to get serious about critiquing the Coalition - this doesn’t work.
#auspol
#BudgetReply
You don't have to agree with everything
#PaulKeating
says to recognise the intelligence, originality and turns of phrase that leave modern politicians, and noisy ex-PMs, for dead. Nobody can hold an audience like PJK.
#NationalPressClub
#auspol
No PM under siege has raised stakes higher than this before:
- asks insurgents to sign a letter
- orders advice on Peter Dutton’s eligibility to be an MP
- buys time with a party room meeting Friday
- will resign as MP if toppled - so govt loses majority until by-election
#auspol
Egg on faces for those claiming
#UluruStatement
was a secret radical 26-page manifesto. Always a short 1-page statement, as read and presented to the Australian people, in a spirit of reconciliation 2017. Now confirmed.
@australian
#auspol
@ulurustatement
My
#LeadersDebate
verdict: “Both leaders performed well and were disciplined and on message. But Shorten won because he outlined and defended a bolder, broader and more positive policy agenda for the future than Morrison”
@australian
#auspol
#ausvotes
My last point is: this is a very serious matter. It violates Westminster convention, legal principle, cabinet practice, parliamentary accountability and public duty. Democracy matters. Both Morrison and Hurley failed their oaths and should be held accountable for it.
#auspol
I can’t think of a bigger self-immolation than Peter Dutton in Australian politics. The worst organised leadership challenge I can recall but it caused maximum chaos - history will judge him VERY harshly
#auspol
In 2020, I discovered Prince Charles' letter to John Kerr supporting Gough Whitlam's dismissal. Sent without the Queen's approval, it is an embarrassment to the monarchy. Charles had no role in the dismissal but he should recognise this error of judgement.
#Coronation
#auspol
So the Solicitor-General's advice on the Voice demolishes Peter Dutton's repeated claims: it is compatible with representative/responsible government, won't undermine the powers of the parliament/executive and justiciability is very limited.
#auspol
Look, I’m sure Flo Bjelke-Petersen was a lovely person, made great pumpkin scones and was a dignified Senator (1981-93). But let’s not whitewash the fact that her husband ran a deeply corrupt government and a premier appointing his wife as a Senator is red hot.
#auspol
#qldpol
I can’t believe Peter Dutton actually said this:
“The Government’s budget is no different to the budget of your family or small business.”
I mean, really? Who thinks this?
#auspol
#Budget2023
#budget
Stunning result by
#JoeBiden
and US
#Democrats
to win the two
#Georgia
Senate seats, and a Senate majority. This is the price
#Republicans
pay for
#DonaldTrump
’s disgraceful, degenerate, disastrous presidency. It’s another rejection of Trump - will the
#GOP
get it? Georgia has.
Today’s
#Newspoll
@australian
show the Liberal Party is on a hiding to nothing opposing the voice. The only age group, ironically, that opposes the voice is over-65s. This is only age cohort that the Liberal Party represents: old, grey, white men.
#auspol
I’ve co-authored two books that deal with the relationship/powers between PM, GG, Queen. There’s no precedent for what Morrison did. He had a duty to inform ministers so he can be accountable to cabinet; he had a duty to inform MPs so he can be accountable to parliament.
#auspol
“I just don’t want the government any more in my life. I am sick of the government being in my life.”
But I’d like to become deputy prime minister, and a minister, in the cabinet.
#auspol
Sorry, Tony. I do this for a living. I don’t work for free. I gather you didn’t either in state or federal politics. It was a long interview, and a good one, and that’s what subscribers pay for.
#buythepaper
@australian
@TroyBramston
@australian
I don’t read the Toilet Paper Troy but I would be interested in reading your interview with Andrew Peacock if it is possible to send transcript.
Barnaby Joyce returning to the Nationals leadership, and deputy prime ministership, is an appalling prospect for the Coalition. Joyce is a destructive, self-serving, megalomaniac who damaged his party and trashed its conservative brand just a few years ago. 1/3
#auspol
Holy moly! Paul Keating’s prepared statement to
@PressClubAust
is explosive. I can’t recall a speech like this by a former PM. Still in the arena with insight and clarity, challenging the collective wisdom. Nobody is spared. We need this debate about
#AUKUS
. Must watch!
#auspol
Let’s be crystal clear: Kristina Keneally would never have become NSW premier without Eddie Obeid. And let’s not forget that she returned Ian Macdonald to cabinet. Both Obeid and Macdonald are now in jail. What on earth is Labor thinking?
#auspol
633 new
#COVID19
cases in NSW. A monumental failure by Gladys Berejiklian. Almost everything she has said about
#covidnsw
cannot be believed. Blunders, backflips, miscommunication at every step. We are so poorly led. This is far from over. A tragedy and a scandal.
#auspol
#nswpol
Steve Smith should resign for authorising ball tampering. This is an international scandal that has shamed Australia. We revere our Test captains. Smith is a cheat. He’s not a leader. His position is untenable. If he doesn’t resign, he should be sacked.
New column: Donald Trump Jr should be denied a visa for an Australian speaking tour because he fails multiple character test requirements under the Migration Act, including links to business and election criminality, and insurrection.
@australian
#auspol
I have some very sad news. Simon Crean, 74, died while overseas. Crean had a long and distinguished political and union career, serving as a minister under 4 Labor PMs and as ACTU president. The news is a shock and will be for many others. More soon
@australian
.
#auspol
#vale
This is a very generous statement by Bill Shorten - a rare note of grace in a terrible week that convulsed our politics. Maybe there is hope for us yet.
#auspol
ALP retain
#Dunkley
, a traditional Liberal seat that Dutton needed to win to make his party credible. Being “competitive” doesn’t cut it. Should have been easy if believe Dutton’s attacks. Breathless commentary Albanese was in trouble. Advance was totally ineffective.
#auspol
#Nemesis
is the deep dive TV doco we needed on the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison government and follows an
@ABCTV
tradition that began with Labor in Power (1993). Compelling viewing; nothing compares. Well done
@markwillacy
@MoragRamsay
on the access, depth, historical value.
#auspol
PJ Keating with a shot at Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg contemplating a backflip on increasing super contributions: “Working people have, through their efforts, lifted productivity by 10%. Not a cent of it has gone to wages ... why don’t they give 2.5% back?”
#abc730
#auspol
So ALP remains miles ahead of the Coalition and lifts its two-party lead to 55-45 and Anthony Albanese has increased his lead over Peter Dutton as preferred PM to 54-29. Albanese’s net satisfaction +11 while Dutton’s a dismal -13. All upside for ALP.
#Newspoll
#auspol
@australian
I wrote that Kimberley Kitching was being bullied by Labor’s Senate leadership in my
@australian
column Tuesday. Kristina Keneally said this was “not true”. It has now been backed up across all major media outlets — ABC, Nine/Fairfax, News.
#auspol
#BREAKING
John Kerr’s letter to Buckingham Palace notifying them of Gough Whitlam’s dismissal - 11 November 1975. “I decided to take the step I took WITHOUT informing the Palace in advance ... it was better for Her Majesty NOT to know.”
#auspol
#palaceletters
@australian
NSW is being run like a second rate banana republic. The entire state goes into a lockdown just hours after updating restrictions and announced via a tweet rather than a press conference. Confusion. Chaos. Farcical.
#auspol
#nswpol
#covidnsw
#Covid_19
Following the press conference today, I received health advice concerning multiple regional NSW areas. As such, from 5pm tonight, all of regional NSW will go into a seven-day lockdown. This means the whole state is in strict lockdown.
#ICYMI
: Monarchy is profoundly anti-democratic and cannot be defended by anyone who supports freedom/equality. It’s utterly illogical the firstborn in one family and head of a church should inherit a throne and reign over Australia.
@australian
#Coronation
The burning of Old Parliament House is both a tragedy and disgrace. A symbol of democracy, our social, economic, environmental achievements, the peoples' house. Vandals should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
@australian
@MoAD_Canberra
#auspol
ALP confident of getting 76-seat majority and I think they will. That could be it - the slimmest of majorities. Deakin, Gilmore, Sturt are possible ALP gains. But this masks the reality that the Coalition will need to win 17-20 seats to win government in 2025.
#auspol
#ausvotes
Wow! Sir Peter Cosgrove to serve as Administrator (performing the role of Governor-General) 30 April-10 May as David Hurley and ALL state Governors will be overseas. Extraordinary. Required permission from King and PM.
#auspol
The Liberal Party is experiencing its greatest crisis since 1944 — not losing government but losing its core base in affluent seats like Kooyong, Goldstein, Higgins, North Sydney, Mackellar, Wentworth. A crisis of identity, constituency, leadership.
#auspol
#ausvotes
#AusVotes22
New column: It has been sickening to watch Labor figures deny that Kimberley Kitching was bullied or frozen out. In truth, she was treated terribly. And there needs to be an inquiry.
@australian
#auspol
Good news! Pete Evans is a 19th century snake oil salesman, a charlatan and a huckster, who rolls into town with his wagon of fake cure-alls, phoney potions and dodgy pills, selling a con to the vulnerable and the desperate.
@australian
#auspol
Malcolm Turnbull's publisher, Hardie Grant, tell me they have sold a staggering 50,000 copies of the former PM's memoir to bookstores in the first week. Booksellers are comparing it to Harry Potter. Astonishing.
#auspol
#books
@TurnbullMalcolm
@HardieGrant
Will Hodgman’s secret promise to the gun lobby to water down John Howard’s gun laws is utterly disgraceful, morally repugnant and shows weak compromised leadership - and in Tasmania of all places, where they should know better
@australian
#tasvotes
#auspol
Another spectacular
#Newspoll
for those geniuses who thought it was a good idea to have our fifth PM in five years.
2PP:
L/NP 44%
ALP 56%
Primary:
L/NP 34%
ALP 42%
@australian
#auspol
How we miss John Clarke and Bryan Dawe on
@abc730
. Intelligent, insightful, clever. And actually funny. Imagine what they would do with politics today.
#abc730
#auspol
Home after 2 months in US visiting 25 states. The “red wave” prediction always overstated. US facing many challenges but also feeling of a nation at tipping point. Democracy WAS on ballot. Biden, with solid achievements, did very well. Trump still toxic for many voters.
#midterms
The former PM also had an obligation to inform Australians. This is where the GG has also seriously failed in his vice-regal duties as the Queen’s representative. David Hurley has confirmed he secretly signed-off on Morrison’s additional ministerial appointments.
#auspol
Stan Grant essentially absolves
#DonaldTrump
of responsibility for
#USCapitol
insurrection. Superficial view of US politics that normalises Trump. THIS IS WRONG. Trump tried to overturn election with a coup and incited rioters to "take back" their country.
GG Hurley says making appointments public was “a matter for the govt of the day”. But the GG should have, at least, disclosed this in the Vice-Regal Notice and ensured it was added to the Government Gazette. BUT GG Hurley should have advised Morrison to make it public.
#auspol
Good for Bill Shorten to describe Bill Hayden - present at the
#LaborLaunch
- as a “grandfather of universal healthcare” (Hayden has sometimes felt his role in creating Medicare/Medibank has been forgotten)
#auspol
#ausvotes
Look,
#coronavirus
is hard to manage. But look at the cruise ships disaster and Bondi Beach. Why are people getting off a plane with zero testing and minimal observation then walking straight into a crowd of people waiting, getting in taxis, buying drinks/food and duty free?
#Medicare
was introduced by Bob Hawke’s government
#OnThisDay
40 years ago. It’s the greatest social policy reform in the postwar era, bitterly opposed by the Coalition, but now sacrosanct. Hawke told me in his final interviews that it was among his proudest achievements.
#auspol
Annette Sharp claims in The Sunday Telegraph that “sources” tell her Bob Hawke has “started exhibiting dementia-type symptoms” - having done two lengthy interviews with Hawke in recent months, I can tell you this is complete and utter bullshit
#auspol
Paul Kelly not pulling any punches on the mooted relocation of Australia’s embassy to Jerusalem: a fiasco, an embarrassment, bad judgment, a folly, a monumental blunder - “this is the work of political amateurs”
@australian
#auspol
If you need any more evidence of the degeneration of the modern political class look no further than Sam Dastyari - a former secretary of NSW Labor, senator and faction leader - being a contestant on
#ImACelebrityAU
#auspol
Good on you, Doug. Looks like limelight deficiency syndrome has affected you too. Enjoy your generous parliamentary and union pensions while 1 million look for work. No point arguing with mad and the crazy Twitter trolls.
Murdoch sycophant and NewsCorp toady
@TroyBramston
asserts in the Australian that
@AlboMP
is damaging the country and undermining national unity.
A democracy needs an opposition that critically analyses govt decisions.
Albo is correctly holding this untrustworthy govt to account.
No surprise
@Qantas
facing a class action lawsuit. I spent 5hrs over 3 calls trying to use a flight credit they said was valid but couldn’t be activated. Repeated promises to fix it resulted in nothing. They don’t care about customers and loyalty never rewarded. Really shameful.
And if you don’t understand the voice, “try and understand it” as the song says. It’s not difficult: an advisory body that will help close the gap, does not challenge parliament’s authority or open the litigation floodgates, and is itself an act of recognition.
#auspol
#Yes23
#ICYMI
: Gladys Berejiklian's position as NSW Premier is untenable and she must resign over lapses of judgment, ethics and integrity, or we have to resign ourselves to a degraded democracy
@australian
#auspol
#nswpol
Happy Birthday to
#PaulKeating
, former Prime Minister + Treasurer, who is 80 today. Sharing a birthday with first PM Edmund Barton, he blazed a trail of reform, won the 1993 election and remains a standout leader. An honour to be his biographer.
#auspol
📷: John Feder
@australian
Horror poll for Labor, losing its campaign lead and now behind the Coalition on the primary vote and Anthony Albanese’s personal ratings have dived:
Primary
L/NP: 35% (+1)
ALP: 34% (-4)
Preferred PM
Morrison: 38% (+2)
Albanese: 30% (-7)
@smh
@theage
#ausvotes
#auspol
There should be an investigation — as the PM has ordered — and Morrison must be made accountable for these unconventional and unprecedented actions, and quite possibly censured, by the parliament for his secrecy and lack of transparency. He is still the Member for Cook.
#auspol
So much for the geniuses who thought the voters would welcome rolling Malcolm Turnbull. Yikes!
Primary
L/NP 33%
ALP 41%
2PP
L/NP 44%
ALP 56%
Better PM
Morrison 33%
Shorten 39%
@australian
#Newspoll
#auspol
Holy moly! 239 new
#COVID19nsw
cases. Insane. Out of control.
#Covid
response has been an utter disaster. No confidence in Gladys. Delayed action, mixed messages, ineffective management. She promised to keep Sydney open! This
#lockdownSydney
will go forever at this rate.
#nswpol
Absurd that the Greens have two deputy leaders in a party room of just 10 MPs. And Nick McKim is co-deputy leader to Adam Bandt but is the Senate deputy leader not the leader? The Senate leader is Larissa Waters but she is also co-deputy leader. Ridiculous.
#auspol
[new article] Harold Holt was a troubled man when he entered the treacherous surf at Cheviot Beach 50 years ago. Here’s my lengthy account of his disappearance, the flawed search and investigation, and the power struggle that followed
@australian
#auspol
That Kristina Keneally did not bother to contact Dai Le to congratulate her on winning the seat of
#Fowler
and wishing her well is so revealing of Keneally’s character.
#KitchenCabinetABC
#auspol