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Alexandra Smith

Alexandra Smith

WA Today

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‘Law-abiding citizen’: After threats of arrest, Labor staffers face hours in the spotlight

‘Law-abiding citizen’: After threats of arrest, Labor staffers face hours in the spotlight

The five NSW Labor advisers who faced detention for ignoring the demands of a parliamentary committee told an inquiry they are not lawbreakers.

27.06.2025 8

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

NSW Labor’s biggest Achilles heel? Hubris

NSW Labor’s biggest Achilles heel? Hubris

Chris Minns’ team vowed to do things differently. But it’s been caught out.

26.06.2025 10

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

Will NSW Labor’s restrained spending last? The treasurer answered that by saying nothing

Will NSW Labor’s restrained spending last? The treasurer answered that by saying nothing

NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey’s steady-as-she-goes budget had some strong policies, without any bold reforms.

24.06.2025 8

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

Too safe for its own good? Our experts and the people deliver their budget verdicts

Too safe for its own good? Our experts and the people deliver their budget verdicts

A “canny use of the state’s balance sheet” or a letdown that missed the chance to build the city and invest in healthcare? Here’s our view of...

24.06.2025 10

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

Threatened arrests in the premier’s office? Now that’s explosive

The premier refuses to face an upper house inquiry into the “Dural caravan incident” – and he’s telling his staffers not to appear. But they...

19.06.2025 10

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

Why the Liberals should accept defeat in Bradfield

After one of the closest electoral contests in Australian history, the party faces a diabolical dilemma.

11.06.2025 7

WA Today

Alexandra Smith

Why the Liberals should accept defeat in Bradfield

After one of the closest electoral contests in Australian history, the party faces a diabolical dilemma.

11.06.2025 10

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

Why the Liberals should accept defeat in Bradfield

After one of the closest electoral contests in Australian history, the party faces a diabolical dilemma.

11.06.2025 10

The Age

Alexandra Smith

Why the Liberals should accept defeat in Bradfield

After one of the closest electoral contests in Australian history, the party faces a diabolical dilemma.

11.06.2025 7

Brisbane Times

Alexandra Smith

How to annoy Liberal women. Tell them they are ‘sufficiently assertive’

Former Victorian treasurer Alan Stockdale and former Victorian senator Richard Alston fronted the NSW Liberal Women’s Council on Tuesday night to...

04.06.2025 5

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

Could there be a second election in the nail-biter seat of Bradfield?

A recount of votes in the north shore seat may not settle who will represent it in Canberra as a Liberal and an independent brace for a rematch.

02.06.2025 9

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

Sydney’s too timid for a grown-up city. But is cloning V’landys really the solution?

Chris Minns wants to summon the can-do audacity of Peter V’Landys to turbocharge big, bold ideas for Sydney. But is the rugby league and racing...

28.05.2025 10

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

Rosehill was going to ease Sydney’s housing woes. Enter the mysterious ‘Plan B’

Premier Chris Minns has egg on his face after backing the Rosehill sale. He says alternatives are in the works, but next time he’ll need to deliver.

27.05.2025 4

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

Sydney’s commuters are sick of delays regardless of who is to blame

Commuters do not look for scapegoats. They just want the trains to run, and on time.

20.05.2025 10

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

Why losing Bradfield would be salt in the wound of the Liberal Party

Failing to hold on to this north shore seat says everything about the NSW Liberal Party.

20.05.2025 8

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

How anti-abortion influencer’s MAGA-style campaign fell flat

An anti-abortion campaigner has managed to unite both sides of the political divide with her Trumpian rhetoric.

14.05.2025 10

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

One Liberal leader will be grateful for Dutton’s demise

The opposition leader in NSW, Mark Speakman, would not say it, but the Liberal Party’s disastrous results at the federal election strengthen his hand.

07.05.2025 7

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

How UberEats killed the democracy sausage

More Australians than ever are shunning the Saturday sizzle and voting before election day. I wish they wouldn’t.

01.05.2025 40

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

Dutton bitten by Britton and the NSW Libs’ calamities

The current problems in the NSW Liberals are more than a distraction for Peter Dutton. They could disrupt the federal campaign.

09.04.2025 7

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

If NSW swings to Dutton, it’s curtains for the state Liberal leader

But if Dutton fails to seize critical seats in the state, it may be a boon for Mark Speakman.

02.04.2025 9

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

Will we really let a privileged few racing types kibosh 25,000 new homes?

It seems the Minns government will have a fight on its hands – or will it retreat from its great hope for desperately needed housing?

19.03.2025 9

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

Premier was quick to call caravan plot ‘terror’. It matters when he knew it was a con job

The timing matters because hate speech laws were rushed through, in part, because of the angst over antisemitic attacks.

13.03.2025 10

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

To be a political cleanskin, here’s a tip: Abstain from wineries

Both sides of politics have skeletons in the wine cellar. Now the door is being flung open.

26.02.2025 20

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

For jaded rail commuters, this is a city circle of misery

Like plenty of anxious parents, I spent the summer holidays prepping my daughter for her public transport commute to her new high school several...

20.02.2025 10

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

The $4500 sticking point that sent Sydney trains into chaos

After months of stalled negotiations, on Thursday rail union bosses were convinced a deal was almost done. By Friday morning, the system was in...

14.02.2025 10

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

Words of harm from a place of care add chilling new dimension to wave of hate

That anyone could use public healthcare as a weapon of hate is a most distressing thought. But we’ve been compelled to consider that reality.

12.02.2025 5

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

Unforced errors like Haylen’s are signs of hubris. Voters will have taken note

Jo Haylen’s unauthorised use of a government car and driver begs the question: has the Minns government grown too comfortable with the trappings of...

05.02.2025 10

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

Why Haylen had to go – and why the premier resisted pushing her

Premier Chris Minns is only changing the rules for parliamentary drivers because Jo Haylen was caught out. The government has better things to do with...

04.02.2025 8

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

Why Haylen has to go – and the premier is having so much trouble pushing her

Premier Chris Minns is only changing the rules for parliamentary drivers because Jo Haylen was caught out. The government has better things to do with...

04.02.2025 10

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

Premier’s leadership is strong, but he will need to find another gear to reassure Jewish community

Premier Chris Minns and NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb says covert investigations were crucial in the latest escalation of antisemitism attacks.

30.01.2025 10

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

Sydney can shake off its summer of bad news. Albanese may not be so lucky

Chris Minns is two years away from an election, so he can ride out these bad times, but an angry, scared Sydney is a big risk for Anthony Albanese.

29.01.2025 10

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

The U-turn on Sydney’s housing crisis no one saw coming

As far as new year’s resolutions went, no one saw this coming. Could it be that in 2025, an opposition party in NSW takes the unprecedented step of...

08.01.2025 5

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

How a 45-year-old act is holding Sydney hostage on housing reform

03.01.2025 4

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

The PM has been shown how to respond to antisemitism, but not by Peter Dutton

Here is a tale of two Labor leaders. On Friday night, Premier Chris Minns was at Sydney’s Central Synagogue, supporting a community stunned by a...

11.12.2024 10

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

A year ago it was Minns’ mini-city, but was he backing the wrong horse?

NSW Labor (and plenty of trainspotters) celebrated some highs in 2024, largely thanks to the government having the good fortune of being able to...

04.12.2024 10

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

After a trial that pleased no one, NSW’s biggest gambling loser is clear

To buy itself more time and escape the wrath – and campaigning prowess – of the state’s powerful clubs and pubs ahead of last year’s election, NSW...

03.12.2024 3

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

He almost became PM, now Latham’s the rank outsider who can’t stop spewing bile

The one-time federal Labor leader Mark Latham – who has a history of defecting to political parties willing to take him – finished the 2024...

28.11.2024 10

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

This shutdown will turn Pearl Jam into traffic jam, and commuters will play the blame game

The one-time Liberal transport minister David Elliott used to boast about his collegial relationship with the all-powerful Rail, Tram and Bus...

21.11.2024 10

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

Who cares? Voters will if NSW nurses start quitting state of origin

Colette Duff is angry and ready to quit her job. Duff, a registered nurse with 30 years of experience, works in the emergency department of...

14.11.2024 10

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

I loathe private health insurance. Do I have it? Of course

It is easy to begrudge private health insurance. It is even easier to begrudge private health insurers. They are the smaller cousins to the big...

30.10.2024 3

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

Damaged Liberals can’t blame Scott Morrison for latest teal trouncing

On Sydney’s insular peninsula, which has always voted blue except for a dalliance with an independent in 2005, the NSW Liberals were not prepared...

23.10.2024 8

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

Thorpey, a bishop, sex workers and a grieving mum walk into the premier’s office. It’s no joke

For a bill that was left languishing in NSW parliament for more than a year, it moved with incredible pace once an Olympic swimming great, a...

17.10.2024 20

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

Can someone fix the diabolical rental market before I evict my kids?

Like most parents with young kids, I assume mine will live with us forever. Or at least far longer than most of my generation stayed at home. It...

09.10.2024 2

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

When life gives you Libertarians, you build a lemonade stand (with or without permission)

The new kid on the conservative block reckons it has the answer to the state’s crippling housing crisis. Approve every development application...

18.09.2024 2

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

The NSW Liberals have many problems but they are finally fixing one

The looming byelections in Epping, Hornsby and Pittwater are somewhat unusual for the NSW Liberals. Not because two of the seats were left empty by...

12.09.2024 8

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

The PM is sigma, but his social media ban belongs in the skibidi toilet

Of course Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was right when he declared “parents are worried sick” about social media. As a mother of an almost...

11.09.2024 3

WA Today

Alexandra Smith

The PM is sigma, but his social media ban belongs in the skibidi toilet

Of course Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was right when he declared “parents are worried sick” about social media. As a mother of an almost...

11.09.2024 2

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith

The PM is sigma, but his social media ban belongs in the skibidi toilet

Of course Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was right when he declared “parents are worried sick” about social media. As a mother of an almost...

11.09.2024 3

The Age

Alexandra Smith

The PM is sigma, but his social media ban belongs in the skibidi toilet

Of course Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was right when he declared “parents are worried sick” about social media. As a mother of an almost...

11.09.2024 6

Brisbane Times

Alexandra Smith

The Libs had a man with a plan to fix their problems. If only they’d told him

If we needed a further reminder of the Liberals’ woeful ability to carry out basic admin critical to the party’s functions, it was on full display...

04.09.2024 5

The Sydney Morning Herald

Alexandra Smith