Terry Barnes

Send Xi the reparations bill

28 March 2020 9:00 am

China must be made to cough up for the coronavirus

Will Mr Invisible destroy the Morrison government?

11 February 2020 3:30 pm

What a shemozzle. A week after the mad uncle, Barnaby Joyce, tilted unsuccessfully to snatch the National party leadership back…

Mad Uncle Barnaby stays in the attic

4 February 2020 12:03 pm

Politics is the natural stage for egotists, narcissists and attention-seekers. So it was no surprise today to see Barnaby Joyce,…

Scott Morrison stopped the boats. If he wants to seize back the political agenda, he can stop the rorts

3 February 2020 5:00 am

So Bridget McKenzie has bitten the dust. Finally, and not because of the flagrant pork-barrelling she and her office were…

Why I’m over Australia Day

28 January 2020 2:00 pm

So Australia Day has come and gone for another year.  Yet again we had the Lay On the Guilt With…

Blunderbuss Bridget’s boondoggle blasts back

23 January 2020 5:00 am

Once the Bridget McKenzie grant approval story broke a week ago, it was never going to go away.  The revelation…

Sports Rorts revisited: Bridget’s big boo-boo

17 January 2020 11:13 am

In 1996, I was interim chief of staff to new health minister, Michael Wooldridge. I occupied a small room next…

We need a natural disaster supremo – and Tony Abbott’s the man for the job

8 January 2020 5:00 am

As catastrophic bushfires continue to rage across south-eastern Australia, as property continues to burn, human and animal lives continue to…

Stuff the diversity warriors and say it loud, say it proud: Merry Christmas!

22 December 2019 6:53 pm

An outfit called the Diversity Council claims to be the place to go for advice on diversity and inclusion in…

Beijing Bob bangs the wrong drum?

19 November 2019 6:03 pm

On Monday, ABC’s panel programme The Drum discussed Australia’s complicated relationship with China, and the Chinese Communist Party’s government decision…

Winnie, you and your Peking party panjandrums can’t purge our pols

18 November 2019 7:51 am

It seems that two prominent Liberal MPs, James Paterson and Andrew Hastie, have blotted their copybooks with the panda panjandrums…

John Howard’s one big blunder: persuading Malcolm Turnbull to stay

7 October 2019 4:16 pm

John Howard is a great Australian and a great Liberal.  Over the 75 years if its existence, only two figures…

What the world needs now is love, sweet love: ScoMo

11 July 2019 1:23 pm

In a speech to the Hillsong church in Sydney on Wednesday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison riffed intriguingly on the power…

G’day Albo, mate. Welcome to Hell

1 July 2019 5:00 am

When a loved one dies, the real grieving is often postponed. The senses numb the immediate shock, helping the bereaved…

Cassidy’s cheerio reveals the groupthink luvvieland that is the ABC’s Insiders

10 June 2019 2:21 pm

For political groupies, Barrie Cassidy’s last episode of Insiders on the ABC was reason to look both backwards and forwards.…

Kristina Keneally: Albo’s golden girl – or a golden goose?

3 June 2019 4:38 pm

The week just past in politics, the week to come: Rarely in federal politics has there been as meteoric rise…

The election is over; the future beckons

27 May 2019 3:52 pm

The week in politics, the week to come. The theme for this election-period weekly column has been Backwards and Forwards.…

Tony Abbott: with thanks to the fallen warrior

22 May 2019 5:26 pm

Last night former prime minister Tony Abbott succumbed to a perfect political storm: a climate zealot candidate dressed up as…

Mr Shorten, we knew Bob Hawke…

17 May 2019 2:27 pm

It didn’t take long, did it? After yesterday likening himself to Gough Whitlam, this morning Bill Shorten used Labor’s greatest…

Israel Folau is a bloody footballer, not St Thomas More

15 May 2019 12:49 pm

When I was on Sky’s The Front Page programme the other night the topic of Israel Folau and his religious…

We don’t want Shorten to succeed, but Liberals to act like Liberals

13 May 2019 1:13 pm

The week in politics, the week to come: The final week of this meandering election campaign is upon us. The…

Three debate tips for ScoMo for tonight’s debate

8 May 2019 12:57 pm

Tonight’s National Press Club debate is crucial in that it’s actually going to be watched and not just reported.  Not…

ScoMo’s enthusiasm just isn’t enough

6 May 2019 12:21 pm

The week in politics, the week to come. My five-month-old daughter Elizabeth loves music. Any music. Even my cack-handed piano…

Backwards & Forwards: watch out Bill. This is all very Magpies and Blues, grand final 1970

29 April 2019 3:14 pm

The week in politics, the week to come. Looking back The Coalition shaded Labor last week, but this time by…

Backwards & Forwards: happy clappy happy

22 April 2019 1:03 pm

The week in politics, the week to come: Looking back Scott Morrison and the Coalition won the week. Nothing more…