opinion
Paul Bongiorno
politics November 17, 2018
Scott Morrison fails to persuade voters
The question dogging Scott Morrison as he rubs shoulders with world leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Port Moresby this weekend is how long he will remain a member of this exclusive club. By his own admission, the chances...
immigration November 3, 2018
PM Scott Morrison’s sinking popularity
There is a sense that Scott Morrison’s government has reached the point of no return as the realisation dawns that Bill Shorten’s Opposition is now the government-in-waiting. The near 20 per cent shift against the Liberals in Wentworth is the...
politics October 20, 2018
Judgement day cometh in Wentworth
The previous time a byelection was held to replace a prime minister dumped by his own party, the government lost the seat. It was 26 years ago, when Bob Hawke’s seat of Wills fell to the independent Phil Cleary. The Morrison government is giving...
politics October 27, 2018
Morrison and the tide of Wentworth
The cascading waters of Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains are an apt metaphor for what happened to the Liberal vote in the seat of almost the same name in last weekend’s byelection. Both were named after the explorer William Charles Wentworth...
politics October 13, 2018
Scott Morrison and his nine-year-old daughter, Lily, had the thrill of their lives last Sunday as white-knuckle passengers in a Bathurst Supercar. They were in the capable hands of champion driver Mark Skaife who skilfully avoided the safety fences...
environment June 2, 2018
Barnaby Joyce wreaks havoc again
The exasperation in the government is palpable. “The only thing anyone is talking about this week is the Barnaby Joyce soap opera,” was the reaction of one fed-up backbencher. But it is not only the distraction that is the issue; it is the spectre...
politics May 26, 2018
Pauline Hanson’s need for attention
Pauline Hanson sees herself as an Australian Joan of Arc. The saviour of a nation under siege from crippling debt, excessive spending and immigrants, neglectful of self-funded retirees, and abused by multinational energy companies. Worse, a nation...
politics May 19, 2018
Truth, they say, is the first casualty of war. And make no mistake, the government is in the battle of its life. Malcolm Turnbull is doing whatever it takes to regain a political ascendancy he has not had over the Opposition since last year’s...
economy May 12, 2018
Morrison’s budget fails to inspire
As treasurers go, Scott Morrison is no Paul Keating. He’s not even a Peter Costello when it comes to wit and making speeches. Morrison is dully combative and unimaginative. Even his own side found little that was inspiring in Tuesday night’s...
politics May 5, 2018
Next Tuesday Treasurer Scott Morrison will unveil the government’s blueprint for survival. His political opponents are convinced one bold move would go a long way to achieving it. And it’s giving Bill Shorten nightmares. Not that he’s admitting that...
politics April 28, 2018
Turnbull’s about-face on the banks
Maybe it was the Berlin location. More likely, it was the stark realisation that the government’s appalling handling of the banking royal commission was creating even more damage. Two kilometres away from Hitler’s bunker, where the Führer perished,...
