opinion
Paul Bongiorno
opinion July 31, 2021
Albanese makes a taxing decision
On the day the nation celebrated the extraordinary feat of Ariarne Titmus winning her first Olympic gold medal in the pool, Anthony Albanese did a political triple backflip with a twist he hopes will bring him just as glorious a victory. The timing...
health July 24, 2021
Delta variant’s political toll
There is an increasing likelihood that the Delta strain of the Covid-19 virus has dealt a fatal blow to the prospects of the Morrison government retaining office at the next election, whenever it is held. The prime minister has spent the week holed...
media July 10, 2021
It’s all going wrong for Morrison
No one more than Scott Morrison will be sweating on the prospect of other capital cities going into lockdown again after Sydney. The survival of his government – long thought to be guaranteed by the politics of the pandemic – has now become hostage...
health July 17, 2021
Covid-19 lockdowns and the PM for NSW
If a picture is worth a thousand words, nothing was more eloquent than the joint news conference of Scott Morrison and Gladys Berejiklian at the prime minister’s Sydney accommodation, Kirribilli House, this week. The Lodge in Canberra has been...
rural July 3, 2021
The Morrison government was brought to the brink of collapse this week in a confrontation between the prime minister and reinstalled Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce. And while Scott Morrison emerged the undisputed winner after bruising negotiations...
environment June 26, 2021
Before the voters got a chance to pass judgement on the Morrison–McCormack Coalition, the Nationals’ party room did. And its judgement was that the deputy prime minister was failing to deliver for his core constituencies. Dispatched was mild-...
media June 19, 2021
The relationship between the Australian prime minister and the country’s highest-profile devotee of the QAnon conspiracy cult became even more problematic this week for the absent Scott Morrison. The Labor opposition seized on revelations in the...
immigration June 12, 2021
The human toll of border protection
A picture is worth a thousand words and can dramatically influence public opinion. That realisation has been a motivating factor in the way the Morrison government and its predecessors have sought to shield from public gaze the cruelty of Australia’...
environment June 5, 2021
PM hits spin cycle again on rollout
At the Liberal Party’s recent annual gabfest in Canberra, the prime minister morphed into one of recent history’s more comical figures as he waxed lyrical about his government’s amazing successes. The figure that sprung to mind was “Baghdad Bob”...
rural May 29, 2021
Joel Fitzgibbon and Victoria’s virus crisis
Scott Morrison has found a very useful ally in an unlikely place. His name is Joel Fitzgibbon, opposition member for the New South Wales seat of Hunter, and the prime minister is certainly grateful for his contribution. The veteran Labor member,...
rural May 22, 2021
A government doesn’t spend $100 billion in a budget addressing every political problem, either of its own making or imposed on it, and leave anything to chance. Scott Morrison certainly didn’t this week. No sooner had parliament adjourned than he...
