Katharine Murphy
Canberra
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Articles by Katharine Murphy
Domestic Revolutionaries: Subverting Hierarchies of Influence in Joseph Conrad and Pío Baroja
Joseph Conrad was already well-known in Spanish intellectual circles before the translation of several of his works into Spanish in the mid-1920s, following a commemoration of the Polish émigré author in the Madrid literary review Revista de Occidente in 1924. Inspired by Conrad’s writing, the Basque author Pío Baroja collected a substantial number of his volumes in the library at his house ‘Itzea’ (in Vera de Bidasoa, Navarra), with several in French translation.
This year brought Labor back down to earth. What does 2024 hold for Albanese and Dutton?
Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP Australians have kicked over into summer mode, but major party strategists have their eyes firmly on outer suburban Melbourne. A byelection in commuter country set the scene for politics in the first quarter of 2023 and the same thing will happen in 2024. Labor secured an upset – a once-in-a-century victory – in the Aston byelection in April.
Pro-nuclear MP says Labor ‘weaponising’ CSIRO report showing renewables are cheapest
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Pro-nuclear MP says Labor ‘weaponising’ CSIRO report showing renewables are cheapest
Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian The shadow energy minister and long-time nuclear advocate Ted O’Brien has accused Labor of weaponising a CSIRO report which found renewables to be the cheapest form of energy. The Australian Energy Market Operator/CSIRO report found renewables was the cheapest form of power. This prompted the climate change minister, Chris Bowen, to say the opposition’s crusade for a nuclear option was not viable.
Labor’s ‘policy shift’ on Gaza may have been inelegant, frayed and contested, but was in no way incoherent
Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP Penny Wong in foreign minister mode is a cool sort of customer; erudite, cerebral, inclined to swot, not generally the kind of politician found at the centre of a “merde” storm. And yet people have been losing their minds about what Australia’s foreign minister is or is not doing, or saying, since she had the temerity to urge restraint at the beginning of the terrible war in the Middle East.
Chris Bowen calls on News Corp to sack Andrew Bolt for column saying Australians sick of ‘kowtowing to the primitive’
Climate change minister Chris Bowen has called on News Corp to sack columnist Andrew Bolt after the controversial commentator penned a column suggesting Australians are “sick of kowtowing to the primitive”. Bolt on Wednesday criticised the climate minister for staging what he contended was “a one-man clown show at the United Nations’ global warming jamboree in Dubai” which included a “sermon” linking “the government’s disastrous race-based tribalism with its ruinous crusade against oil and gas”.
Australia shifts position to vote in favour of UN resolution calling for Gaza ceasefire
Australia has voted in favour of a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza and an immediate and unconditional release of all hostages in an emergency session of the United Nations general assembly. In a shift in position, Australia joined 152 other nations in voting in favour of the resolution on Wednesday morning. Canada and New Zealand also voted in favour.
Somehow Australian politics has delivered a Christmas miracle - and that’s a big deal
It’s been a difficult year for so many people. Many of us are battling adversity of one type or another and we are reminded very often that the world is a dangerous and – at times – ugly place. Closer to home, we’ve seen a dispiriting revival of zero-sum politics, supercharged by a media cycle geared to making news consumers feel things as opposed to thinking about them.
As the political clock ticks relentlessly, there is little time for substance over optics in parliament
On the second last sitting day for 2023, parliamentarians filed into the House of Representatives to remember the late member for Dunkley, Peta Murphy. Many wore black. Many dabbed moist eyes. A beautiful floral arrangement marked the spot where only a few days ago the Labor backbencher had sat, ravaged by the cancer that claimed her life on Monday at the age of 50. Politics is a savage business. Murphy was unapologetically human, and she didn’t mind who knew it.
Coalition to have sizeable contingent at Cop28 despite Peter Dutton jibe at climate change minister’s attendance
A significant contingent of Coalition MPs – including federal opposition frontbenchers Paul Fletcher and Bridget McKenzie – will fly out to the Cop28 climate summit in Dubai funded by two ginger groups.
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Josh Frydenberg is choosing life over politics – which paves the way for Full Dutton
Josh Frydenberg is choosing life, having reintroduced himself to his wife and children and slept in his own bed for more than a year. In his shoes, I would choose life too. But his decision does have implications for the Liberal party, at least in the short term. Frydenberg electing to remain in the sidelines solves one problem for Peter Dutton.
David Littleproud faces push at National party conference to dump net zero commitment
Annastacia Palaszczuk has been a favourite topic of discussion at just about every media event held by Queensland ministers over the past week, despite the Labor premier being more than 15,000 kilometres away on holidays in southern Italy. That's not a good sign. Her deputy — and this week Acting Premier — Steven Miles also revealed the premier's own cabinet colleagues, not just the media, are keen to join in the conversation.
David Littleproud faces push at National party conference to dump net zero commitment
Nationals leader David Littleproud will face a concerted push at the federal conference of the National party this weekend to dump the party’s commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2050.
Adam Bandt says Greens could support key Labor climate policy if fossil fuels developments paused
Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP The Greens say they could support the Albanese government’s changes to the safeguard mechanism – a key climate policy – if it agreed to pause new fossil fuel developments until the parliament has dealt with planned changes to national environment laws.
Peter Dutton says Bridget Archer ‘an important part of our team’ after claim Liberals could dump her
Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP Peter Dutton has declared the outspoken Liberal moderate Bridget Archer is “an important part of our team” in response to a suggestion from a veteran party insider that the Liberal party could dump her ahead of the next federal election. The federal opposition leader told journalists on Wednesday that Archer worked hard and represented the views of her constituents in the marginal electorate of Bass in Tasmania.
Peter Dutton says Bridget Archer ‘an important part of our team’ after claim Liberals could dump her
A Voice to Parliament will not give 'special treatment' to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. Here's why We asked our readers what they would like to know about the proposed Indigenous Voice to Parliament. In the lead-up to the referendum, our expert …
Labor could have unleashed a fiscal chainsaw massacre - instead it opted for a cautious hop on superannuation
Jim Chalmers thinks Australian voters will cop big things done slowly and little things done quickly, but not big things done quickly or little things done slowly. This is the treasurer’s theory of governing. Chalmers made a serious attempt last year to tweak the stage-three tax cuts.
‘Re-election vanity project’: Sussan Ley derides Anthony Albanese’s voice referendum campaign
Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP The deputy Liberal leader, Sussan Ley, will accuse the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, of using the voice referendum as a “platform for an early election” and a “re-election vanity project” in a speech in Perth on Friday.
Albanese government rounds on Greens ‘sabotage’ of emissions reduction plan
Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP The Albanese government has rounded on the Greens, declaring the party will repeat the mistake of rejecting a carbon pricing scheme in 2009 if it votes with the Coalition to torpedo Labor’s overhaul of the safeguard mechanism.
Greens will back safeguard mechanism revamp only if Labor bans new coal and gas projects
Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP The Greens say they will pass the Albanese government’s planned overhaul of the safeguard mechanism – a climate policy promised to cut industrial emissions – but only if Labor is prepared to stop new coal and gas projects.
Peter Dutton may be sorry for not saying sorry, but he’s still in no man’s land on the voice
Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP Peter Dutton is sorry for not saying sorry. He wasn’t there when Kevin Rudd delivered the landmark apology to the stolen generations in the House of Representatives in 2008 because the ghost of Peter past boycotted the event. Dutton’s pivot has been in train for some months. After he took the Liberal leadership last year, he acknowledged he had “made a mistake” in 2008.
Kate Jenkins says more workplace complaints in Australian parliament ‘not a backward step’
Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP Political staff pursuing “avenues to exercise their rights” is a clear sign that cultural change is under way in the Australian parliament, according to one of the leading architects of that change, Australia’s sex discrimination commissioner, Kate Jenkins.
Lidia Thorpe’s defection rattles the Greens but presents an opportunity for Albanese
Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian Speculation that Lidia Thorpe would part ways with the Greens had been around for several weeks – long enough to look like it would remain speculation. But on the first parliamentary sitting day of 2023, Thorpe ended the chatter abruptly by ejecting from the Greens and shifting to the crossbench. People with long memories might feel a sense of deja vu.
Fury over Chalmers’ essay is a reminder to Labor: change won’t get an easy ride
Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP You might have missed this because the tantrum was contained largely within those enclaves. If you missed the provocation that triggered the response, the treasurer penned a 6,000-word essay for the Monthly during his summer break. The Chalmers thesis was capital could be harnessed both for private profit and public good. He also posited (wait for it readers) that better informed markets make better decisions.
Malcolm Turnbull says Labor has failed to answer if Aukus deal compromises Australian sovereignty
Malcolm Turnbull Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP Malcolm Turnbull says the Albanese government has failed to answer fundamental questions about the Aukus nuclear submarine pact, including whether the arrangement with the US and Britain compromises Australian sovereignty.
Malcolm Turnbull says Labor has failed to answer if Aukus deal compromises Australian sovereignty
Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP Malcolm Turnbull says the Albanese government has failed to answer fundamental questions about the Aukus nuclear submarine pact, including whether the arrangement with the US and Britain compromises Australian sovereignty.
What the ghosts of campaigns past - and Dirty Dancing - can teach the PM about the voice referendum
Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian When I look at Anthony Albanese I see a prime minister surrounded by ghosts. Mostly this is a benign sensation. Ancestors and events leaving their imprint, either in wisdom or scar tissue, is a happier proposition than prime ministers too arrogant to learn. Albanese has been learning the art of activism since his teens.
With only a simple yes or no vote available in the referendum, scenes on Invasion Day expose the problem Labor faces
Photograph: Robert Wallace/AFP/Getty Images For a prime minister presiding over his first Australia Day in the top job, for a Labor leader who has sunk political capital into securing the next chapter of reconciliation with First Nations peoples, the call to action needed to be clear.
With only a simple yes or no vote available in the referendum, scenes on Invasion Day expose the problem Labor faces
Pip Edwards' revenge body: P.E Nation founder shows off her incredibly toned body in a skimpy bikini as she spends Australia Day at Sydney's Camp Cove two years after THAT infamous party Pip Edwards found herself at the centre of a wild argument between her ex Michael Clarke and his new girlfriend Jade Yarbrough in Noosa earlier this …
Senior Australian of the year Tom Calma ‘disappointed’ at Lidia Thorpe’s intentions to oppose voice
Photograph: Martin Ollman/Getty Images The newly minted senior Australian of the year and co-chair of the Indigenous voice co-design group, Tom Calma, says he feels “a bit offended” by Greens senator Lidia Thorpe’s decision to telegraph opposition to the advisory body.
‘My door is open’: Anthony Albanese challenges political foes to contribute to voice legislation
Anthony Albanese has challenged political colleagues across the spectrum to put the Indigenous voice debate “above politics”, declaring his “door is open” if leaders of other parties want to offer constructive suggestions on points of detail.
Lone Wolf: Albanese and the New Politics
Reviewed by Rama Gaind. By Katharine Murphy, Quarterly Essay/Black Inc., $24.95. Award-winning journalist Katharine Murphy offers a new portrait of Anthony Albanese. “Taking the party leadership was both a beginning and an ending. Insurgency was done. New skills were required … Albanese knew how to recruit people to a cause and to get them to a similar place. He’d been doing that since his teens.
Peter Dutton’s naked politicking over power prices is as cynical as it is calculating
Dutton’s political calculation is simple. Looking ahead to 2023, the Liberal leader thinks power bills will go on rising. He’s right about this. The price intervention the Albanese government legislated on Thursday is designed to take the edge off the increases, not prevent them altogether. Dutton intuits a voter backlash once people realise there are no magic wands to fully ameliorate a global energy shock.
Brittany Higgins settles personal injury claim against the commonwealth
Blumer said the terms of the settlement would remain confidential “at the request of Ms Higgins”. News that Higgins would pursue the personal injury claim coincided with a decision by prosecutors to drop charges against Bruce Lehrmann for the alleged rape of Higgins because of concern another trial would risk her wellbeing.
Energy makes the headlines, but reset on diplomacy is Albanese’s real power play
While energy has dominated the headlines since October, other important policy conundrums are gathering speed as we stagger towards the summer break. The Albanese government has been pushing ahead in diplomacy, security and in defence policy. This week, Labor’s Clare O’Neil reset key priorities in the national security portfolio most associated with Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton – home affairs.
Anthony Albanese warns premiers businesses will collapse without intervention in energy market
Albanese said he was continuing to have cooperative discussions with the premiers of New South Wales and Queensland, and “we’ll have a dinner tomorrow night and then we’ll have a meeting on Wednesday”. “We’ve said that we will act and we will act before Christmas,” the prime minister said on Monday. “And I don’t think that there is a premier or chief minister who will sit back and say, ‘yep, this is all OK’, for prices to continue to rise and projections which are there”.
Peter Dutton saying maybe to the Indigenous voice but meaning no is not a cost-free exercise
Dutton’s glancing grump across the dispatch box exemplifies the frustration of opposition. It’s hard to land a glove on your opponent when he’s airborne, thundering past you. But Albanese is not the only political actor failing to give straight answers to every question. Dutton has engaged in strategic ambiguity too, most notably on the voice to parliament.
‘Hands off our generators’: Queensland rejects calls to cap coal price to bring down energy bills
Photograph: Darren England/AAP The Queensland premier has resisted calls to allow a wholesale price cap on coal as a way to reduce household energy bills, telling the federal government: “hands off our generators.” But Annastacia Palaszczuk told state parliament on Tuesday she would not jeopardise her state’s ability to reimburse the public via profits generated from state-owned power generators. “I say very clearly to the federal government: hands off our generators,” Palaszczuk said.
Partner of detained Australian journalist Cheng Lei hopeful of ‘compassionate and speedy resolution’
The Australian journalist detained in China, Cheng Lei, is trying to remain positive despite her “very difficult situation” and is grateful for messages of encouragement from supporters, her partner has said. Cheng’s partner, Nick Coyle, said it was positive that the Australian prime minister, the foreign minister and the deputy prime minister had all raised her case in recent talks with their Chinese counterparts.
Warren Entsch may support Labor’s climate target if he can be shown it’s not a ‘brain fart’
Photograph: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images The veteran Liberal MP Warren Entsch says he is open minded about Labor’s bill to enshrine a 43% emissions reduction target if he can be convinced the Albanese government has a concrete plan to achieve the cut without driving up power prices.
Lone Wolf by Katharine Murphy
A portrait of a leader in the making, and a nation on the move A prime minister in the making, and a nation on the move. In Lone Wolf, Katharine Murphy offers a new portrait of Anthony Albanese. She reveals a leader who has always had to think three steps ahead, who was an insurgent for much of his professional life, but had to learn to listen and devise ‘strategies of inclusivity’ to win the 2022 election.
Hell hath no fury like the last days of Australia’s 46th parliament
Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian Australia’s parliament teems with people, so the place can sometimes feel like a living, breathing, organism. As Australia’s 46th parliament ground through its final week, at the tail end of three punishing years of fire, flood and plague, it was like the organism felt pain. The week began with public expressions of mourning. Colleagues shared tributes to the late Labor senator Kimberley Kitching.
Australia politics live news updates: federal parliament returns with religious discrimination bill up for debate
3.34pm EST 15:34 Hey, just in case you’d forgotten about deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce calling prime minister Scott Morrison a liar and a hypocrite, nationals deputy leader David Littleproud is talking about it on ABC television. He’s worried that the text saga is distracting from the nationals real message. He’s trying not to, but he’s still talking about the texts.
Australia politics news live updates: Liberal MP to vote against religious discrimination bill; Victoria and NSW record 21 Covid deaths
6.26pm EST 18:26 Good morning all. Tory has brought you up to speed with the former New South Wales premier and federal foreign affairs minister Bob Carr claiming Peter Dutton is the cabinet colleague who shared the text critical of the prime minister with Ten Network’s political editor Peter Van Onselen. Dutton has categorically denied it was him. I had a brief conversation with Carr just a moment ago to establish the basic facts. Had he seen the text exchange himself? (No).
Australia news live update: Covid reaches two-year mark in Australia, free RATs pledge falls short
Home Coronavirus Australia news live update: Covid reaches two-year mark in Australia, free RATs... 4.36pm EST 16:36 Trouble on the tracks: is Australia’s $14bn inland rail project going off the rails? A major Guardian investigation examines the 1,700km Melbourne to Brisbane megaproject to find out whether communities along its route will benefit and whether their concerns are being bypassed.
Federal Politics
Minister sends proforma response stating he ‘stands by his record’ in reply to a series of detailed questions from constituents. Journalists often complain that politicians aren’t accountable and won’t answer routine questions — and it seems constituents can find themselves similarly thwarted.
Pandemic Scott wants to shapeshift into Post Pandemic Personal Responsibility Scott - because that’s where the PM thinks the zeitgeist is
Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP At one level, it feels pedantic, three days before Christmas, to be debating the difference between a formal mask mandate and a strong recommendation to wear a mask. But this distinction is important when public health risks are real, and governments of Australia have spent much of this pandemic congratulating themselves for listening to experts and following the health advice. If you’ve missed the mask fracas, let’s summarise it quickly.
The second coming of Mr Miracle or drag on the brand: could the Liberals decide Morrison is more problem than solution?
Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP The PM is on the nose with women and navigating a tricky political landscape. It’s not inconceivable that he could go the same way as Abbott and Turnbull The year in politics has been brutal. The worst of it has been worse than dispiriting; parts have been nauseating. Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese have ended 2021 with a burst of campaigning, tracking between Queensland and Tasmania and the marginal seats of New South Wales.
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