Labor pushes through net zero ‘hell’ as Liberals return to ground zero

The opposition’s shambolic attempts to carve out a position on net zero have turned into a rolling catastrophe - in sharp contrast to Anthony...

yesterday 5

Phillip Coorey

This was not a process to settle net zero, it was an obstacle course

Like a cork on the ocean, Opposition Leader Sussan Ley chose to give everyone a say. By late Wednesday, net zero was as good as dead.

previous day 6

Phillip Coorey

Unlike Gough, Albanese believes slow and steady wins the race

Fifty years on from the dismissal of Gough Whitlam and his government, there’s still plenty to learn from the sacked prime minister. Just ask...

07.11.2025 10

Phillip Coorey

Unlike Gough, Albanese believes slow and steady wins the race

Fifty years on from the dismissal of Gough Whitlam and his government, there’s still plenty to learn from the sacked prime minister. Just ask...

06.11.2025 6

Phillip Coorey

‘Give it to Turkey’: $1b COP cost unites Coalition on climate

The Liberals and the Nationals say hosting next year’s COP summit is not worth the cost

05.11.2025 4

Phillip Coorey

By destroying the Liberals, the Nats become a party of protest

Sussan Ley is at risk of joining Alexander Downer and Brendan Nelson as one of the Liberal Party’s short-lived leaders. She’s tough, but it’s...

03.11.2025 7

Phillip Coorey

Mission accomplished: The Libs are anxious and One Nation thwarted

The Nationals dumping of net zero is an attempt at product differentiation to preserve the party’s own territory while warding off the rising threat...

03.11.2025 20

Phillip Coorey

The real test for Sussan Ley isn’t cancel culture

While the immediate challenge is to quell divisions within, convincing voters may be helped by support for net zero “at any cost” waning in the...

30.10.2025 8

Phillip Coorey

Trying to kill Barnaby Joyce with love has only made him stronger

The former deputy prime minister’s two decades of travails are all self-inflicted, yet he manages to come across as the victim every time.

23.10.2025 4

Phillip Coorey

For Joyce, it’s a choice between being a letter writer or policymaker

The latest bout of self-absorption is not constructive. As the May 3 election showed, there are no shortcuts back to government, just hard work,...

20.10.2025 20

Phillip Coorey

The Liberals’ salvation starts with a return to basic principles

Regaining its reputation for lower taxes and smaller deficits won’t be easy as it will require telling a population which has lost its fear of debt...

16.10.2025 2

Phillip Coorey

The PM, not the Senate, drove the super backdown

Political fears ultimately forced Jim Chalmers to water down the super tax. It’s a lesson that when your own side tells you a policy is bad you...

13.10.2025 20

Phillip Coorey

Industry assistance back with a vengeance, with both sides up for it

While free marketeers clutch their pearls, separating the politics of saving jobs from the economic arguments is almost impossible.

09.10.2025 3

Phillip Coorey

Hastie by name, hasty by nature. They’ll come for Ley eventually

Andrew Hastie’s decision to quit the Coalition front bench reflects a strategy Liberal politicians have been using since Malcolm Turnbull was torn...

05.10.2025 6

Phillip Coorey

Albanese’s Liverpool kiss is up there with Morrison’s MAGA rally

The prime minister had been making a virtue of not weighing in to the domestic politics of other countries. Then he stood up at UK Labour’s annual...

29.09.2025 6

Phillip Coorey

Australia and friends strike back at the empire

Anthony Albanese’s approach appears to have paid off. He left New York with his integrity intact, and a long-awaited White House meeting locked in.

26.09.2025 20

Phillip Coorey

It’s the law of the jungle, inside and outside the Liberal Party

If what’s left of the Liberal Party can’t unite around economic management and budget sustainability, it may as well fold its tent.

18.09.2025 7

Phillip Coorey

Anxious government ‘floods the zone’ with defence dollars for Trump

The government is anxious to impress that Australia is doing more on defence than spending 2 per cent of GDP, ahead of a possible meeting with the US...

16.09.2025 10

Phillip Coorey

Ley’s task has never been simpler – or harder to achieve

The Liberal Party has a simple objective but a difficult task. Attract more younger voters while retaining the traditional base.

12.09.2025 9

Phillip Coorey

Sussan Ley would rather die on her feet than live on her knees

Whether it’s staring down the Nationals or taking on Jacinta Price, the opposition leader has demonstrated that she’s not going to die wondering.

12.09.2025 20

Phillip Coorey

Indian community and internal politics an explosive mix for Ley

Whether it’s stubborn pride, a wish to destabilise Sussan Ley or both, the row started by Jacinta Price is being duly noted within ethnic communities.

08.09.2025 9

Phillip Coorey

Timid or savvy politics? The reasons behind the shift on super tax

The prime minister is serious when he says he wants this year to be one of delivering on promises to generate voter goodwill for more contentious...

06.09.2025 10

Phillip Coorey

When it comes to EVs, climate target anxiety outweighs budget anxiety

Despite the clear agreement from the economic roundtable about getting on with the road user charge, the language from Canberra remains one of...

04.09.2025 4

Phillip Coorey

Why middle-class Australians are joining March for Australia rallies

Not everyone who joined the Sydney Harbour Bridge protest supported Hamas, just as most people who protested against high immigration on Sunday were...

01.09.2025 8

Phillip Coorey

For the Coalition, it’s back to ground zero on net zero

The party has wound back the clock to where the Nationals and the conservatives are simply not going to toe the line.

28.08.2025 4

Phillip Coorey

PM had no choice but to act after explosive Iran revelations

After years of rejecting overtures to sever ties with Iran, the government was left with no other option.

27.08.2025 5

Phillip Coorey

Another Coalition climate explosion appears inevitable

Each time Barnaby Joyce demands an end to the pursuit of net zero, most voters hear a different message. Climate change denial.

25.08.2025 6

Phillip Coorey

Budget repair a goodwill gesture for higher taxes

The government has realised it would be unfair and unwise to hike taxes while doing nothing to rein in spending.

22.08.2025 10

Phillip Coorey

Hosting COP next year could be a case of be careful what you wish for

It seemed like a good idea from the opposition when Albanese was leading it, but it’s now a more delicate proposition.

15.08.2025 10

Phillip Coorey

Albanese won’t bring peace to Gaza, but he’s pacified the ALP

The recognition of Palestine may not change anything in the Middle East, but it does prevent a fracture in Labor’s unity.

11.08.2025 2

Phillip Coorey

Sitting on the fence on WFH won’t do much for productivity

Questioning work from home is not only politically taboo, it has become a wedge, regardless of the consequences.

07.08.2025 4

Phillip Coorey

On Palestine, Labor recognises most voters just want the war to stop

Anthony Albanese’s position on the Middle East taps into the same middle-Australia sentiment that delivered Labor an overwhelming victory on May 3.

31.07.2025 9

Phillip Coorey

Memo to Nats: You can’t abolish net zero if you can’t form government

Sussan Ley had a process to manage the Coalition’s climate policy. The mad rush by Barnaby Joyce and Michael McCormack to abandon it undoes all that.

25.07.2025 10

Phillip Coorey

Tasmania election shows Libs have a pulse but that’s it

After the fourth snap election in seven years, and almost the same result as last time, Tasmanians may well be asking: what was that all about?

20.07.2025 4

Phillip Coorey

Tax may test Albanese and Chalmers’ relationship at roundtable

The prime minister speaks about Labor being the party of aspiration, but the treasurer is more of a redistributor of wealth than a creator.

17.07.2025 3

Phillip Coorey

Ken Henry’s not calm, he’s seething. And with good reason

For a bloke whose every utterance on tax is regarded as holy writ, Ken Henry is equally dismissed by many of those same economic adherents as “a...

16.07.2025 2

Phillip Coorey

Sydney-centric government oblivious to SA climate catastrophe

The government wants to host the 2026 COP summit in Adelaide. It should pay attention to the climate disaster unfolding there now.

03.07.2025 10

Phillip Coorey

Talk of tax is starting to consume Jim Chalmers’ reform summit

The propensity to chase revenue rather than rein in spending, or at least aim for a mixture of both, is beginning to loom large over the August...

26.06.2025 10

Phillip Coorey

Sussan Ley takes on the old guard, not for the first time in her life

The opposition leader, as her colleagues are starting to discover, can handle herself.

25.06.2025 4

Phillip Coorey

Meeting Trump has become a box Albanese needs to tick

There’s a growing sense of urgency within government about the need to secure a meeting with the US president.

20.06.2025 10

Phillip Coorey

PM can’t be seen to be begging when it comes to Trump

Given the fallout from the G7 snub, a second in as many weeks would be disastrous.

18.06.2025 5

Phillip Coorey

He came, he saw, but he had no meeting. What now for AUKUS and trade?

Anthony Albanese is not to blame for Donald Trump’s early departure, but he’ll return home with nothing to report.

17.06.2025 7

Phillip Coorey

PM won’t get raucous over AUKUS, however hard he’s pushed

Anthony Albanese’s approach with US President Donald Trump is to neither beg nor be bullied.

12.06.2025 10

Phillip Coorey

Business aims for the ‘achievable’ at productivity summit

Business groups accept wholesale tax reform is too much to expect from the August productivity conference.

11.06.2025 10

Phillip Coorey

Business will go to productivity summit with eyes wide open

After being burnt by the Jobs and Skills Summit in 2022, business will want more from Anthony Albanese’s August productivity jamboree.

10.06.2025 3

Phillip Coorey

Albanese has one weapon in tariff talks: the periodic table

Convincing Trump that Australia can guarantee a reliable supply of critical minerals remains Albanese’s best option of securing a tariff exemption.

08.06.2025 20

Phillip Coorey

Look at what governments do on super, not what they say

In isolation, Labor’s proposed new Division 296 tax on superannuation balances above $3 million is not the end of the world. But it’s not an...

05.06.2025 8

Phillip Coorey

Ley might not save the Liberal Party, but she won’t die wondering

Sussan Ley speaks like someone reading a children’s book. Behind the scenes, she’s as ruthless as Thatcher.

28.05.2025 7

Phillip Coorey

Coalition or no Coalition, Libs should do a deal on environment laws

Sussan Ley had yet to bury her dead mother when the Nationals decided to become the Prince Harry of politics.

22.05.2025 5

Phillip Coorey

After three wobbly years, Albanese’s second term is taking off

The stack of new Labor MPs is reminiscent of the “class of 96”, which acted as John Howard’s praetorian guard for many years.

15.05.2025 2

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Popular

Labor pushes through net zero ‘hell’ as Liberals return to ground zero

Phillip Coorey

This was not a process to settle net zero, it was an obstacle course

Phillip Coorey

Unlike Gough, Albanese believes slow and steady wins the race

Phillip Coorey

Unlike Gough, Albanese believes slow and steady wins the race

Phillip Coorey

‘Give it to Turkey’: $1b COP cost unites Coalition on climate

Phillip Coorey

By destroying the Liberals, the Nats become a party of protest

Phillip Coorey

Mission accomplished: The Libs are anxious and One Nation thwarted

Phillip Coorey

The real test for Sussan Ley isn’t cancel culture

Phillip Coorey

Trying to kill Barnaby Joyce with love has only made him stronger

Phillip Coorey

For Joyce, it’s a choice between being a letter writer or policymaker

Phillip Coorey

The Liberals’ salvation starts with a return to basic principles

Phillip Coorey

The PM, not the Senate, drove the super backdown

Phillip Coorey

Industry assistance back with a vengeance, with both sides up for it

Phillip Coorey

Hastie by name, hasty by nature. They’ll come for Ley eventually

Phillip Coorey

Albanese’s Liverpool kiss is up there with Morrison’s MAGA rally

Phillip Coorey

Australia and friends strike back at the empire

Phillip Coorey

It’s the law of the jungle, inside and outside the Liberal Party

Phillip Coorey

Anxious government ‘floods the zone’ with defence dollars for Trump

Phillip Coorey

Ley’s task has never been simpler – or harder to achieve

Phillip Coorey

Sussan Ley would rather die on her feet than live on her knees

Phillip Coorey

Indian community and internal politics an explosive mix for Ley

Phillip Coorey

Timid or savvy politics? The reasons behind the shift on super tax

Phillip Coorey

When it comes to EVs, climate target anxiety outweighs budget anxiety

Phillip Coorey

Why middle-class Australians are joining March for Australia rallies

Phillip Coorey

For the Coalition, it’s back to ground zero on net zero

Phillip Coorey

PM had no choice but to act after explosive Iran revelations

Phillip Coorey

Another Coalition climate explosion appears inevitable

Phillip Coorey

Budget repair a goodwill gesture for higher taxes

Phillip Coorey

Hosting COP next year could be a case of be careful what you wish for

Phillip Coorey

Albanese won’t bring peace to Gaza, but he’s pacified the ALP

Phillip Coorey

Sitting on the fence on WFH won’t do much for productivity

Phillip Coorey

On Palestine, Labor recognises most voters just want the war to stop

Phillip Coorey

Memo to Nats: You can’t abolish net zero if you can’t form government

Phillip Coorey

Tasmania election shows Libs have a pulse but that’s it

Phillip Coorey

Tax may test Albanese and Chalmers’ relationship at roundtable

Phillip Coorey

Ken Henry’s not calm, he’s seething. And with good reason

Phillip Coorey

Sydney-centric government oblivious to SA climate catastrophe

Phillip Coorey

Talk of tax is starting to consume Jim Chalmers’ reform summit

Phillip Coorey

Sussan Ley takes on the old guard, not for the first time in her life