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Jack Waterford

Jack Waterford

The Sydney Morning Herald

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Trump backlash offers no comfort for Albanese

Trump backlash offers no comfort for Albanese

The US midterm backlash against Donald Trump offers Anthony Albanese no reprieve at home, where Pauline Hanson is weaponising grey corruption,...

monday 20

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

The public humiliation of Trump does not undermine Hanson's potential

The public humiliation of Trump does not undermine Hanson's potential

The good news for Anthony Albanese from the US congressional midterms is that he need not even contemplate changing the government's default...

07.11.2026 20

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

Helen Haines shows what politics looks like when people still believe you

The attack on Helen Haines has sharpened concern about political violence but the deeper problem is a political culture increasingly poisoned by...

26.10.2026 30

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

In a toxic and confected environment, this is what sets Haines apart

The outbreak of grief after the attack on Helen Haines was genuine and spontaneous. Dr Helen Haines is the real thing in a world where Australians...

23.10.2026 30

The Examiner

Jack Waterford

In a toxic and confected environment, this is what sets Haines apart

The outbreak of grief after the attack on Helen Haines was genuine and spontaneous. Dr Helen Haines is the real thing in a world where Australians...

23.10.2026 30

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

Frydenberg wrestles with his manifest destiny

Josh Frydenberg may be entertaining a return to federal politics, but finding a seat is only the beginning. His record, Liberal Party divisions and...

19.10.2026 30

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

Frydenberg's past will catch up with him before he gets a chance to shape the Libs' future

Only three of the past 10 federal treasurers made it through to being prime ministers. Subscribe now for unlimited access. Login or signup to continue...

16.10.2026 50

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

Not the place for a cathedral of sport

Canberra needs better health, education, debt management and city planning long before it needs a new stadium, especially on one of the national...

12.10.2026 40

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

Commonwealth Park is not the place for a cathedral of sport

I expect that ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr will moderate his enthusiasm for a stadium on Commonwealth Avenue, even if the land in question is being...

09.10.2026 50

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

Greens can hope to pick up the mess Labor and Albanese have made

Labor’s shift to the right has opened political space on its left. If the Greens seriously want to become an alternative party of government, they...

05.10.2026 50

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

Liberal-lite Albo has become the problem. Now the party is really exposed

The new aspiration of the Greens to be seen as an alternative party of government, rather than as a left-wing prod on the Labor Party flank is a...

04.10.2026 60

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

Liberal-lite Albo has become the problem. Now the party is really exposed

The new aspiration of the Greens to be seen as an alternative party of government, rather than as a left-wing prod on the Labor Party flank is a...

03.10.2026 50

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

Small signs of independence

Australia’s push on AI and social media regulation has put it at odds with Washington. The disagreement offers a rare glimpse of a foreign policy...

28.09.2026 50

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

Australia is showing some small signs of independence from the US

America has been a particularly annoying notional ally and former friend over recent months. But what would be the point of complaining? President...

25.09.2026 50

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

Australia is showing some small signs of independence from the US

America has been a particularly annoying notional ally and former friend over recent months. But what would be the point of complaining? President...

25.09.2026 60

The Examiner

Jack Waterford

One Nation will not be defeated by tiny tweaks

Labor’s new migration restrictions respond to public concerns about immigration, but tighter visa rules alone cannot resolve deeper anxieties about...

21.09.2026 50

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

When will Labor learn? You don't beat Pauline Hanson with facts

Good policy makes good politics, Paul Keating used to say. The converse is not necessarily true. When the making of policy is subordinated to mere...

18.09.2026 50

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

Albanese’s credibility problem is becoming a political liability

Repeated reversals and broken promises are feeding a broader collapse of trust that reaches from economic policy to government transparency and...

14.09.2026 550

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

Albo, it's only your credibility at stake. But don't be a ScoMo

Anthony Albanese has acquired another cross to bear over recent months. It's one that will dog him, the more so for having come up in both One...

11.09.2026 100

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

Albanese governs with insiders and leaves voters outside the room

The Albanese government may be adept at negotiating with insiders, but its failure to explain decisions and engage voters is deepening public...

07.09.2026 70

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

These people have no idea how tough people are doing it

It's about time that the government stopped telling citizens that it feels and understands their pain. Subscribe now for unlimited access. Login...

05.09.2026 60

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

Secret sandwiches to ASIO raids: my life intertwined with this newspaper

Soon after I joined The Canberra Times 54 years ago, as a copyboy, I was taken aside by a senior journalist and allocated a discreet, clandestine and...

03.09.2026 70

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

When religious conservatives tried to reshape the ACT Liberals

Religious conservatives have long sought influence within the ACT Liberal Party. Their efforts under Zed Seselja offer a cautionary tale about...

01.09.2026 50

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

When religious conservatives tried to reshape the ACT Liberals

Religious conservatives have long sought influence within the ACT Liberal Party. Their efforts under Zed Seselja offer a cautionary tale about...

31.08.2026 60

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

Zed, I should have known you were a master of the dark arts

I have been waiting for some time for someone to notice the remarkable congruence between allegations of a cult of Opus Dei zealots seeking to take...

29.08.2026 50

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

Labor - the middle ground is not enough!

If Anthony Albanese wants Labor to remain in power for the long haul, it will need to offer more than competent management, says Jack Waterford....

24.08.2026 60

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

Albo is clinging to a safe strategy. What the people want is something bolder

Anthony Albanese is not busy stealing Liberal Party policies and shifting his party to the right simply because he admires Tory politics and...

22.08.2026 60

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

Are the rich and old to be pitched against the young and poor?

Making housing affordable for younger Australians will require lower land prices and a major increase in housing supply. But the rush to build risks...

17.08.2026 50

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

Homes cost more and the quality is worse. How did we end up here?

It seems to be dawning on some voters and political players that if housing is to be made affordable for young Australians, the price of land must...

15.08.2026 70

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

More immigration is a must, not an option

Australia needs a migration policy based on workforce reality, not populist fear, racial resentment or a political race to match One Nation’s...

10.08.2026 50

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

If Labor wants to stop embarrassing itself, here's the case for more immigration

It is too much to hope and expect that an Albanese Labor government would implement a liberal immigration and refugee policy simply because it was the...

07.08.2026 60

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

The truth, forced out, is more damaging than coming clean

A new round of royal commissions and public inquiries may expose not only corruption and mismanagement, but the deeper erosion of public trust in...

03.08.2026 60

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

The truth, forced out, could be more damaging than coming clean

Australia may be moving into chickens-coming-home-to-roost time. It is now royal commission and public inquiry season. Those in reasonable prospect...

01.08.2026 90

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

Labor cannot small-target its way past Hanson

Labor’s cautious path to a third term may be electorally defensible, but avoiding a fundamental argument with Pauline Hanson leaves both Hansonism...

27.07.2026 70

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

Labor's smugness about Pauline is about to get them into deep trouble

Anthony Albanese and the Labor Party have set their course for facing the next federal election. It's not a bold strategy, but it's a...

24.07.2026 60

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

Trachoma finally on the way out in Australia

Fred Hollows’ trachoma program exposed appalling Aboriginal health conditions and helped drive the growth of community-controlled health services....

20.07.2026 70

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

I've seen the chasm between white and Aboriginal Australia. It changed my life forever

In 1975, an Aboriginal friend in the federal Health Department, Gordon Briscoe, invited me to ask his department questions about the prevalence of...

17.07.2026 70

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

All Australians have the right to be protected against violence

The royal commission must confront hatred and violence against Jewish Australians while preserving free speech, political criticism of Israel and...

13.07.2026 70

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

Jewish Australians deserve protection. But nations shouldn't be shielded from criticism

The royal commission into anti-Semitism and social cohesion has heard convincing evidence that Jewish Australians have encountered increasing levels...

11.07.2026 80

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

The pity of modern systemic corruption in politics

The coming NSW ICAC hearings are only part of a deeper problem. Entrenched factional power, gambling interests and political cowardice are corroding...

06.07.2026 70

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

Our leaders are gutless prisoners of entrenched corruption

I cannot pretend to be terribly surprised or shocked to learn that the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption is to soon hold public hearings...

04.07.2026 70

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

PMs can't blame racist populists for their own timidity

It’s too late for Starmer, but Albanese has two years to take a bold stance against Hansonism and explain to the public his own plan. The fall of...

29.06.2026 80

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

Hanson won't cause Albo's downfall. The enemy is sitting a lot closer

The fall of Sir Keir Starmer as prime minister of the British Labour government is full of meaning for his friend Anthony Albanese as Australian prime...

26.06.2026 80

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

Australia was defeated by Iran too

Australia’s support for the US-Israeli war on Iran has again exposed the reflexive subservience of Australian foreign policy, tying the country to...

22.06.2026 80

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

Our doglike obedience to the US means we also lost this war Iran

It may be a while before the full dimension of the military defeat of the United States and Israel by Iran can be assessed. Subscribe now for...

19.06.2026 90

The Examiner

Jack Waterford

Our doglike obedience to the US means we also lost this war Iran

It may be a while before the full dimension of the military defeat of the United States and Israel by Iran can be assessed. Subscribe now for...

19.06.2026 70

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

Hanson is winning because politics has stopped listening

Pauline Hanson’s rise cannot be countered by facts, logic or clever campaign tactics alone, because One Nation’s appeal is rooted in disgust,...

15.06.2026 70

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

Pauline Hanson is gaining momentum for a very clear reason

Pauline Hanson is a handful for all the politicians opposing her, and not one of her rival political leaders has her measure in debate. Particularly...

12.06.2026 90

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford

How governments move into Mafia – or Trump – territory

Australia’s crisis of trust is being deepened by opaque lobbying, revolving-door appointments, weak accountability and an insider culture that gives...

08.06.2026 80

Pearls and Irritations

Jack Waterford

Mates doing deals with mates is baked into our political system

The guardians of the public accounts, particularly in the public service, have never manifested much intense interest in white collar crime of the...

06.06.2026 80

Canberra Times

Jack Waterford