About us

Lucy Kippist (289 posts)

Lucy has nursed her ambition to be a journalist since 1987 when at the age of seven she announced her intention to the family video camera with steely determination. Born in Victoria but raised in NSW, she worked in the subscription department of Murdoch Magazines before completing an undergraduate degree…Read more »

Paul Colgan (189 posts)

PAUL’S first journalism was an audio documentary on a trip from Riyadh to Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast. The audio was punctuated by travelling companions yelling at him to shut up and have fun, which he should have done, because he was 10. His first paid assignments were music reviews…Read more »

Tory Maguire (174 posts)

Tory Maguire joined The Daily Telegraph in Sydney in 2000 as a Copy Girl – one of the last in the news room to answer to the name “Copy” and spend most of the day running to the shops to buy cigarettes for senior staff. After completing a cadetship in…Read more »

David Penberthy (209 posts)

Dave grew up in Adelaide’s southern suburbs and attended a really nice public school, Marion High, which was subsequently bulldozed during the tyrannical reign of Liberal Premier Dean Brown. He fell into journalism while not studying law at the University of Adelaide. He joined The Adelaide Advertiser as a cadet…Read more »

Leo Shanahan (97 posts)

Leo started in journalism when he published a family newspaper after reading a book called “What To Do When You’re Bored”. Fortunately being from a family of 11 the readership of the newspaper was larger than any article he has published since. He also worked out that journalism was indeed…Read more »

Chris Deal (12 posts)

Designer of The Punch, occasional writer and rabbit fancier Read more »

John Cobb (6 posts)

John Cobb was no stranger to politics when he entered Federal Parliament in 2001. Born and raised in western NSW and a former president of the NSW Farmers’ Association, John made the move into federal politics to change city-centric politics and achieve a fair go for country people. John served…Read more »

Peter Lewis (36 posts)

EMC Director Peter Lewis used to describe himself as ‘spinning for lost causes’, until his campaigns started to work, thanks largely to the political research that underpins his offerings to the Punch. He has worked previously for Unions NSW and helped advise the ACTU on its Workchoices strategy ahead of…Read more »

Clive Small (1 posts)

Clive Small is a former detective and Assistant Commissioner of the NSW Police. His investigations included the murder of anti-drugs campaigner Donald Mackay, the Nugan Hand bank, the shooting of police officer Michael Drury, the murder of Cabramatta MP John Newman and the backpacker murders which led to Ivan Milat…Read more »

Alex Dickinson (10 posts)

Alex is a relative baby in the News Ltd family. After nutting through a law degree at the Queensland University of Technology and a stint at the Glasgow University Law School in Scotland in 2005, “Dicko” finally turned to journalism to annoy his once-proud mum. He began on the Courier-Mail’s…Read more »

Zac Martin (6 posts)

Zac Martin is an 19 year old university student, currently in his third year of a Marketing degree. He is a freelance writer and social media marketing consultant but hates the word “expert”. Depending on whose authority you’re going on, he’s either a Gen Y or an iGen but often…Read more »

Christine Westwood (1 posts)

Christine Westwood is Picture Editor for The Australian arts and travel and The Weekend Australian Magazine, Wish and The Deal. She has written pop culture articles for The Australian, Sunday Telegraph and Yen and Pavement magazines. She has a particular interest in arts and film and provided reports the The…Read more »

Ken Hillman (1 posts)

Professor Ken Hillman is a professor of intensive care at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. He was the first doctor in Australia to become formally qualified as an intensive care specialist and is recognised internationally as a leading figure in the field. Professor Hillman developed the concept…Read more »

Stephen Conroy (1 posts)

Senator the Hon Stephen Conroy was appointed Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy in December 2007. He is also Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate. Stephen has a broad range of portfolio responsibilities, not least the National Broadband Network—the largest nation-building infrastructure project in Australian history,…Read more »

Ellen Whinnett (2 posts)

Ellen Whinnett is chief reporter of the Sunday Herald Sun in Melbourne. She got her start in journalism as a 17-year-old copygirl at The Examiner in Launceston in 1989, and jumped ship to The Mercury in 1996. In a 16-year career in Tasmania, she covered the Port Arthur massacre, the…Read more »

Keeva Stratton (2 posts)

Keeva currently operates her own copywriting and communications company, Quip Creative. Having initially freelanced in sound design in Perth, she was given the opportunity to cut her advertising teeth in Sydney, writing 10 second radio commercials. Several years, and many ads later, Keeva branched out into writing for other forms…Read more »

Graham Brown (1 posts)

Graham holds a PhD in Public Health and is currently the Director of the WA Centre for Health Promotion Research at Curtin University. Graham is involved in a number of HIV-related policy and research committees at state and national levels, and is the current President of the Australian Federation of…Read more »

James West (1 posts)

James West is researching Internet regulation at the Journalism and Media Research Centre at the University of New South Wales. His first book Beijing Blur (Penguin 2008), explored, among other things, Internet censorship and youth culture in China. He blogs at http://jameswest.net.au Read more »

Nicole Gurran (1 posts)

Natasha Stott Despoja (1 posts)

Alan Howe (2 posts)

Alan Howe is executive editor and columnist with Melbourne’s Herald Sun newspaper. He was born in Farnborough, Hampshire, to Royal Air Force parents, but is proudly an Australian. The Queen has been fortunate enough to meet him twice. Read more »

Leigh Sales (19 posts)

Leigh Sales is an award winning journalist and author. She anchors Lateline on ABC1 on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights. She has held a number of senior reporting roles at the network, including National Security Correspondent and NSW Political Reporter. From 2001 to 2006, she was based in Washington DC…Read more »

Renee Watt (1 posts)

Renee is in her third year of an undergrad law degree at UNSW. She is also involved with the Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre, attached to UNSW, which has seen her co-author a couple of articles on Australia’s foray into internet filtering. She is currently working on a paper concerning…Read more »

Tim Wilson (3 posts)

Tim Wilson is the Director of the Intellectual Property and Free Trade Unit at the Institute of Public Affairs. He’s a frequent commentator in the media, including being published in the Wall Street Journal and The Australian; appearing on ABC1’s Q&A, and radio, particularly Melbourne community station Joy 94.9’s media…Read more »

Ben McKelvey (1 posts)

Ben Mckelvey was born at Canberra Hospital in the seventies very small and at a very early age. After that, his mass increased relative to his age (which continually increased) until his late teens. With all that excitement behind him, Ben then studied journalism at Curtin University in Western Australia…Read more »

Neil Wilson (2 posts)

Neil Wilson is a journalist for Melbourne’s Herald Sun, who recently made the jump from print to online. Since starting his career in Melbourne in 1979 he has covered most rounds, particularly crime and industrial, been a Deputy COS, Opinion Editor and reported from around Australia and overseas. During a…Read more »

Rob Mills (1 posts)

In 2003, Rob auditioned for Australian Idol. He found himself in the Top 12 and went on reach the Top 5, on what became the highest rating TV show in history. The Top 13 went on to tour the country with packed multiple arena shows in every major Australian city.…Read more »

Davina Storer (1 posts)

Davina Storer was born in Queensland and spent most of her childhood growing up in Tasmania before moving to Melbourne. She currently works as a marketing officer and is also a documentary filmmaker. Read more »

Tim Costello (1 posts)

Tim Costello is one of Australia’s leading voices on social justice issues. He’s taken a prominent role in national debates on issues such as gambling, urban poverty, homelessness, reconciliation and substance abuse. Tim’s also been instrumental in keeping the issues surrounding global poverty on the national agenda since February 2004,…Read more »

Robyn Willis (1 posts)

Robyn has been a journalist for 20 years this year. After graduating from Charles Sturt University when it was still Mitchell College, she worked on the news desk at The Sun-Herald for five years, including a year in the Brisbane Bureau. Since then, she has worked for magazines and newspapers…Read more »

Matthew Pinkney (1 posts)

Matthew Pinkney is editor of heraldsun.com.au. He has worked in a variety of roles for the newspaper including opinion editor, online news editor and News Ltd European Correspondent. He was state politics bureau chief during the reign of Jeff Kennett and is still recovering. He has written two sports books…Read more »

Fiona Donnelly (1 posts)

Fiona Donnelly is the food writer for the Courier-Mail’s daily CM2 section and co-editor of The Courier-Mail Food & Wine 2010 Guide. She’s lived and enjoyed coffee on quite a few continents and if you’re shouting she’ll have a latte with fat girl milk and a double shot. Read more »

Erwin Jackson (1 posts)

Erwin Jackson joined the Climate Institute as Director of Policy and Research in 2007. With nearly 20 years practical experience in climate change policy and research, Erwin has developed and led many national and international programs aimed at reducing greenhouse pollution. This work has been undertaken in Australia, Europe, North…Read more »

Neer Korn (4 posts)

Neer Korn is a founder and director of Heartbeat Trends. The company studies social trends and attitudes and has produced over 120 large scale reports on Australian society. He is a popular speaker at conferences on social issues and trends. He is frequently quoted on radio, newspapers and magazines nationally.…Read more »

Claire Mallinson (1 posts)

Claire Mallinson joined Amnesty International Australia as National Director in October 2007 with more than 20 years of experience in rights-based work and the not for profit sector. Claire began her work in the sector at the UK’s biggest not for profit disability organisation, Scope, before becoming the youngest Director…Read more »

Mick Neven (2 posts)

Mild mannered writer of radio commercials by day…Stand Up Comedian by night! Mick Neven also trawls news websites and blog sites to comment on people’s comments. He has a wife, a daughter, two dogs, 7 chooks and a veggie garden. Catch him soon at a Comedy Club near you. Read more »

Graham Long (1 posts)

Graham has been the Pastor and CEO of The Wayside Chapel since 2004. At the time that Wayside called him into Ministry, Graham was a postie. He’d almost perfected riding a little motor bike when Wayside called him to be their next Minister. In his first life, Graham was a…Read more »

Aaron Obrien (1 posts)

Pete Wilson and Damon Jalili (1 posts)

Pete Wilson and Damon Jalili are social researchers at a leading market and social research firm. As part of their work, they provide high-level strategic analysis and insight of research data to government and corporate Australia. With backgrounds in psychology, medicine, education, peace & conflict studies and rock’n'roll, they are…Read more »

Stephen Cartwright (1 posts)

Stephen Cartwright is the CEO of NSW Business Chamber. The Chamber works directly with small business members, and in conjunction with 120 local chambers of commerce throughout NSW and the ACT. Prior to joining the Chamber, Stephen started two small businesses, one of which Chandler Macleod went on to ASX…Read more »

Geoff Hinds (1 posts)

Geoff Hinds, 71, has been a lay preacher in all kinds of Churches for 50 years, and influenced by Alan Walker and Ted Noffs has been actively involved in social issues. Read more »

Glenn Walker (1 posts)

Glenn Walker is Wild Rivers Campaigner for The Wilderness Society. Read more »

Mary-Jo Fisher (3 posts)

Senator Mary Jo Fisher grew up on her family’s grain and sheep farm near Beverley in Western Australia. Senator MJ went to boarding school and university in Perth, graduating from the University of Western Australia with a Law degree. After moving to SA, she spent over six years in senior…Read more »

Lynne Bradshaw (1 posts)

Lynne Bradshaw is the President of RSPCA Australia (since October 2006) and also the President of RSPCA WA. Though she has always taken a strong interest in animal welfare and environmental issues, Lynne was motivated to take action and subsequently to become involved with the RSPCA in Western Australia after…Read more »

Brian Morton (1 posts)

Dr Brian Morton has been a General Practitioner in Willoughby since 1977 and since 2008 has served as the President of AMA (NSW), the state’s peak medico-political body. He has represented the AMA on a number of Federal Government Committees, including the Professional Services Review Advisory Committee, the PIP &…Read more »

Catharine Lumby (8 posts)

Professor Catharine Lumby is the Director of the Journalism and Media Research Centre at UNSW. A former journalist, she is the author of seven books and a researcher in the fields of media and gender studies. Catharine enjoys robust debate, cooking lunch for friends and reading polite emails. Read more »

Dean Marzolla (1 posts)

Kate Ellis (5 posts)

Kate Ellis grew up in the in the Murray River town of Mannum in South Australia. Her family owned the local bakery and her mother worked as a teacher at the local primary school. Kate moved with her family to Adelaide where she attended high school in the inner south-western…Read more »

Maxine McKew (10 posts)

Maxine McKew MP is the Parliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government and the Member for Bennelong. Before entering politics, Maxine covered national and international affairs extensively for ABC TV, on prestigious programs such as Lateline and The 7.30 Report. These days she divides her time between…Read more »

Peter Dutton (2 posts)

Peter Dutton is a former copper and small business owner who at the age of 31 defeated Cheryl Kernot to win the Federal seat of Dickson in 2001. He was re-elected in 2004 and promoted by John Howard to be the youngest member of the Howard Ministry. He first served…Read more »

Michael Cook (1 posts)

Michael Cook did a BA at Harvard and an incredibly long cadetship at the Sydney Morning Herald’s subs desk changing semi-colons into commas. After wandering aimlessly through life he stumbled upon bioethics during a decade of bushwalking in Hobart. Eventually he climbed the greasy pole and became one of the…Read more »

Matt Keneally (2 posts)

Mathew Kenneally is an Australian comedian. His career was launched with his award winning 2007 show, Mathew Kenneally for Parliament. Followed up with his nomination for best newcomer at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Before turning to comedy, Mathew trained as a lawyer, and practiced as a plaintiff lawyer for…Read more »

Sarah Ayoub (7 posts)

Sarah Ayoub is a freelance writer and University of Sydney research student who is writing her PhD thesis on the Australian media and their glamorisation of gang culture amongst Sydney’s Middle-Eastern Community. A self-confessed nerd and goody-two-shoes, Sarah decided that she’d like to pursue a career in journalism at the…Read more »

Shane Evans (3 posts)

Shane is a former political adviser to the Howard government. Born in Adelaide, he moved to London in his twenties where he worked in the ostentatiously named Office of the Deputy Prime Minister resurrecting democracy and basic service provision in some of London’s most dysfunctional local governments. He now lives…Read more »

Kyle Sandilands (1 posts)

Co-host of the Kyle and Jackie O Show on 2DayFM Read more »

John Connor (1 posts)

John Connor is CEO of independent The Climate Institute. John initially trained as a lawyer and most recently worked for World Vision where he co-convened the Make Poverty History campaign. He joined The Climate Institute in March 2007. The Climate Institute is a non-partisan, independent research organisation that works with…Read more »

Kelly Simpson & Nic Christensen (1 posts)

Kelly Simpson and Nic Christensen are research journalists at The Punch. Nic holds a degree in political science from UNSW and has had his journalism published in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. He also works as a casual producer for 2GB Radio in Sydney. Kelly holds a degree…Read more »

Nola James (6 posts)

Nola was a Melbourne-based writer and photographer who went to Tasmania for a weekend two years ago and is still there because she loves the local produce. After treading the boards in some of Melbourne’s best restaurants for 10 years she has a largely unused Bachelor of Arts in Illustrative…Read more »

Greg Clarke and John Dickson (2 posts)

Dr Greg Clarke is co-founder and Director (with John Dickson) of the Centre for Public Christianity (CPX). He has directed centres of Christian scholarship at New College, University of New South Wales and Macquarie University. Greg has a Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Sydney and his research…Read more »

Matt Morris (1 posts)

Matt has been an avid football supporter since sitting in a rural Victorian grandstand with his dad in the freezing rain. After moving to Melbourne and getting married in the early 00’s he has become a rather boring Call Centre manager. Still, he keeps himself occupied by drinking beer in…Read more »

Marie Najjar (1 posts)

Marie Najjar believes communication is the crux of culture and how we make sense of the world we live in. She works as a communication consultant and is also studying a Master of Arts in Organisational Communication. Read more »

Chris Rhyss (3 posts)

Tony Thirlwell (1 posts)

As Chief Executive Officer of the NSW Division of the Heart Foundation, Tony Thirlwell is responsible for the leadership of the NSW Division including the strategic, financial and operational management of cardiovascular health and fundraising programmes, relationships with research institutions, governments and corporate sector, as well as the public positioning…Read more »

Kieran Gilbert (4 posts)

Kieran Gilbert has been a journalist for 15 years and has been a member of the Federal Parliamentary press gallery since 2003. In that time he has covered major stories at home including the 2004 and 2007 elections and overseas including the Boxing Day tsunami from Banda Aceh and from…Read more »

Bruce Hawker (4 posts)

Bruce Hawker is managing director of the Government Relations and political campaign firm Hawker Britton. He is a campaign adviser to the ALP and has worked on virtually every state and federal election in the last 12 years. He was chief of staff to NSW Labor Leader, Bob Carr, in…Read more »

Virginia Stewart (1 posts)

Virginia is the Social Reform Director of the Church of Scientology Australia where she has worked for the last 20 years, minus a few stints overseas. She is a second generation Scientologist and was born into a pluralistic family - comprised of strict Catholics, Scientologists, lapsed Christians and atheists. She…Read more »

Michele Smart (1 posts)

Michele Smart taught English and History in high schools in Sydney before studying journalism at UTS. She went on to work for Law Press Australia and was an editor at APN Educational Media. She had a stint in Vancouver, Canada, earning eight dollars an hour supporting her husband while he…Read more »

Simon Crean (1 posts)

Simon Crean is Minister for Trade Read more »

Nick Minchin (1 posts)

Senator Nick Minchin entered the Commonwealth Parliament in 1993 representing South Australia. He is the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate and Shadow Minister for Resources and Energy. He served as a Cabinet Minister in the Howard Government for nine years and is Australia’s longest-serving Finance Minister. Read more »

Zsa Zsa Bowie Wilson (1 posts)

Scott MacKillop (2 posts)

Scott MacKillop is a freelance writer, publicist, broadcast producer and author of the blog Pro Human Writes. Scott believes that sarcasm is the highest and most effective form of humour, despite what he is constantly told by friends, family and his long-suffering girlfriend. A strong proponent of civil liberties, Scott…Read more »

Andrew Ramadge (1 posts)

Andrew Ramadge writes about technology and pop music. He works full-time as a reporter for news.com.au and contributes to titles including Mess+Noise, Overland and The Weekend Australian. He has a kitten named Sebastian and a very serious profile photo. Read more »

Megan Clark (1 posts)

Dr Clark began her career as a mine geologist and subsequently worked in mineral exploration, mine geology, R&D management, venture capital and technical strategy areas with WMC Resources over a 15 year period. During 2001-2003 she served on the Board of NM Rothschild & Sons (Australia), as Director of Arrow…Read more »

Steve Keen (1 posts)

Steve Keen is Associate Professor of Economics & Finance at the University of Western Sydney. His popular book, Debunking Economics, explained how many widely believed economic models have been shown by economists to be wrong “hence the subtitle, the naked emperor of the social sciences”. Since 1995, Keen’s main research…Read more »

Rory Gibson (4 posts)

Rory Gibson is a senior journalist on Queensland’s Courier-Mail newspaper. His most recent roles have included Weekend Editor and Night Editor, but by far the job he invests most of his time and energy in is writing the newspaper’s weekly beer column. He is a former Editor of the Townsville…Read more »

Anthony Sharwood (29 posts)

Anthony is senior writer for Australia’s biggest sports magazine Alpha. Otherwise, his CV is embarrassingly flimsy compared to the glittering array of intelligent, well-groomed, nation-shapers on this site. In 2000, Anthony wrote You Talkin’ To Me: the Diary of an Olympic Cabbie, an upbeat book about the Sydney Olympics as…Read more »

Frank Zumbo (22 posts)

Frank Zumbo is an Associate Professor within the School of Business Law and Taxation at the University of New South Wales. Frank has been a tireless consumer advocate and is one of Australia’s leading commentators on competition, consumer and franchising law. During the past 20 years Frank has been at…Read more »

Tim Gartrell (4 posts)

Tim Gartrell is the Chief Executive Officer of Auspoll. Tim joined Auspoll in November 2008 after almost a decade of applying social research and managing the research process in federal and state election campaigns. From September 2003 to October 2008, Tim was the National Campaign Director and National Secretary of…Read more »

Meredith Burgmann (1 posts)

Meredith was born and bred in Beecroft but lies and says she was born in Goulburn because it sounds more exciting. She was radicalised at Sydney University by the Vietnam war and was one of the leaders of the Anti Apartheid Movement, infamously receiving a two month gaol sentence for…Read more »

Chris Vermeulen (1 posts)

Chris Vermeulen was born in Brisbane. His family lives in Yandina on the Sunshine Coast. His first bike was a Yamaha Pee Wee 50 his dad bought him for his first birthday. He has been a championship motorbike racer all his adult life and currently races on the world’s fastest…Read more »

Steve Fielding (6 posts)

Steve, who is 48, was born in Reservoir in Melbourne’s northern suburbs and was one of 16 children. After finishing high school, Steve did a Bachelor of Engineering degree at RMIT University which he completed in 1983. He then started work at Hewlett Packard where he met Susan, who also…Read more »

Saeed Saeed (1 posts)

Saeed Saeed is a journalist for Leader Newspapers in Melbourne. He was formerly a freelance writer and published pieces in The Australian, Herald Sun and Courier Mail. Saeed’s dream job was to be an airline pilot, but then downgraded it to a train driver to accommodate his lack of mathematical…Read more »

Andrew Southcott (1 posts)

Andrew Southcott is the Federal Member for Boothby in South Australia. He is the Shadow Minister for Employment Participation, Training and Sport. Prior to entering Parliament in 1996, he was a surgical registrar working in Adelaide’s public hospitals. Aside from a Medical degree, Andrew has an Economics degree from Flinders…Read more »

Nicola Roxon (2 posts)

Nicola Roxon is the Minister for Health and Ageing. She has been a member of Federal Parliament since 1998 representing the western suburbs seat of Gellibrand in Melbourne. She previously held the positions of Shadow Minister Children and Youth, Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader on the Status of Women, Shadow…Read more »

Gillian Nalletamby (3 posts)

Gillian Nalletamby is a freelance writer who has written for publications such as Women’s Health and Fitness, Sunday Magazine and the Sydney Morning Herald. She was born and bred in the western suburbs and lives on what she believes is the right side of the bridge. She is not afraid…Read more »

Michael Ronaldson (3 posts)

Michael Ronaldson was born in Ballarat. He was educated at the University of Melbourne, and he returned to his hometown where he subsequently worked as a barrister and solicitor. He has been a member of the Liberal Party for 26 years. He began a life of public service as a…Read more »

Gary Ramage (2 posts)

Gary Ramage is currently the News Limited Group’s Chief Photographer at the National Press Gallery in Parliament House in Canberra. He has worked all over the world for the News Limited Group of newspapers from chasing Politian’s at high level bilateral meetings to the front lines of Afghanistan. He is…Read more »

Kevin Andrews (11 posts)

Kevin Andrews is the Federal Member for Menzies in Victoria. He is a keen recreational cyclist. Read more »

Helen Coonan (1 posts)

Competition Policy and Deregulation. She represents the Shadow Treasurer in the Senate. She commenced her political career following a diverse legal career that spanned establishing her own legal firm, partnership in a large commercial law firm, practise as a commercial barrister in Australia and as a registered New York Attorney.…Read more »

Symon Madry (1 posts)

After a brief stint as a freelance music journalist, Symon now balances the world of communications by playing in independent Sydney hard rock/metal band, Centred Self. Read more »

Shane Prince (1 posts)

Shane is a Sydney barriser with State Chambers, practising in the areas of commercial and equity, constitutional and administrative, and employment and industrial law. He is co-convenor of Labor for Refugees (NSW). Read more »

Margy Osmond (1 posts)

Margy Osmond is the Chief Executive of the Australian National Retailers Association, She was CEO of the State and Sydney Chambers of Commerce in NSW for five years and founder of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Commerce Centre and the Sydney First projects. In that role she sat on the Olympic…Read more »

Luke D'Anello (1 posts)

Luke lives in Melbourne and graduated from La Trobe University’s Bachelor of Journalism course in 2008. He began writing articles at the age of 15 on local football competitions and completed a five-month internship at Leader Newspapers last year, as part of his university course. Read more »

Rob Pegley (4 posts)

Rob Pegley used to be a carefree freelance writer in the UK almost two decades ago, and thought he was pretty good at it. His money went on beer, books, CDs (plus the odd cassette), and more beer. Life was fairly one-dimensional, but it was a dimension he was very…Read more »

Bob Brown (1 posts)

Bob Brown was elected to the Senate in 1996, after 10 years as an MHA in Tasmania’s state parliament. Bob was re-elected to the Senate in 2001. Following the election of 4 Greens senators in 2004, Bob became parliamentary leader of the Australian Greens in 2005. The 2007 election saw…Read more »

Ross Neilson (1 posts)

Ross Neilson is a teetotaller and free-thinking Christian who nevertheless supports the right of his fellow citizens in an liberal secular democracy to enjoy a glass of wine with their meal and a sherry before retiring, as Tom Waits once said. He performs ill-defined duties for CPR Communications, a leading…Read more »

Simon Thomsen (2 posts)

Simon Thomsen is restaurant critic for The Daily Telegraph. In a past life, he wandered the world, working as a chef and waiter before deciding he wields a pen better than a knife. Simon’s munched his way around NSW for 15 years and was editor of the Good Food Guide…Read more »

Hugh Riminton (1 posts)

Hugh Riminton is senior political reporter for the TEN Network. He previously worked as an anchor, foreign correspondent and reporter for CNN and the Nine Network. Read more »

Michael Lund (1 posts)

Michael Lund is an award winning journalist with more than two decades experience in print, radio, television and online reporting in the UK and Australia. He is currently a feature writer for The Courier-Mail in Queensland, and a lecturer and tutor in journalism at Queensland University of Technology. Read more »

Ron Curry (1 posts)

Ron Curry is the CEO of the Interactive Games and Entertainment Association Read more »

Rebecca Huntley (1 posts)

Dr Rebecca Huntley is a researcher and author with a background in publishing, academia and politics. She holds degrees in law and film studies and a PhD in Gender Studies. She is the author of The World According to Y: Inside the New Adult Generation and Eating Between the Lines:…Read more »

Mark Arbib (6 posts)

Mark Arbib is a Labor Senator for NSW and the Minister for Employment Participation and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on Government Service Delivery. He was general secretary of the NSW ALP from 2004 to 2007. Read more »

Joe Hockey (3 posts)

Joe Hockey is the federal Member for North Sydney and the Shadow Treasurer. Joe Hockey was born in North Sydney, as the youngest of four children. His father was born in Bethlehem of Armenian and Palestinian parentage and his Mum in Chatswood. His family worked hard running a small business…Read more »

Sophie Mirabella (17 posts)

Sophie grew up working in the family milk bar from the age of 12. She graduated from the University of Melbourne with Bachelor degrees in Law and Commerce and a Masters degree in Law. Before entering Parliament Sophie was a barrister at chambers in Melbourne and Wangaratta. Sophie maintains a…Read more »

David Fagan (2 posts)

David Fagan is editor of The Courier-Mail, the main source of news and information in Queensland. He gets crankier each day at the failure of governments of all flavours to deliver meaningfully on anything they promise - whether it’s building a barbecue, a submarine or reshaping the health system. This…Read more »

Joe Bageant (2 posts)

Joe Bageant writes an online column (http://www.joebageant.com) that has made him a cult hero among gonzo-journalism junkies and progressives. He is the author of Deer Hunting with Jesus: dispatches from America’s class war (Scribe) described by Charles Firth as the ‘single most insightful book about America available — written in…Read more »

Alan Oakley (3 posts)

Alan Oakley is Editor, National Features, for News Ltd. He is a former editor of The Sydney Morning Herald, Herald Sun, Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Age and Newcastle Herald. This makes him a serial editor. He didn’t go to university, began his career in journalism aged 17 on the Leighton Buzzard…Read more »

Scott Douglas (1 posts)

Natasha Lee (3 posts)

Natasha starred in the TV shows Always Greener and Home and Away. She lost the acting bug and gained a passion for writing when she joined News Ltd as an editorial assistant at 16, and has had articles and reviews published in The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph and The…Read more »

Mark Tedeschi (1 posts)

Mark Tedeschi has been a passionate photographer since 1988. He has had ten solo exhibitions and participated in over 20 joint exhibitions in Australia, Italy and France. His images are included in the collections of the New South Wales Art Gallery, the National Library in Canberra, the Museum of Sydney,…Read more »

Bronwen Clune (4 posts)

Bronwen’s first story as a journalist was covering a meeting on how to attract ladies to the town of Narrogin, WA, to marry the local farmers. She got lots of winks that day and it’s been downhill since then. Her next story was covering a sheep auction. Luckily she was…Read more »

Andrew Laming (3 posts)

Andrew is the federal Liberal member for the seat of Bowman in Queensland, and the secretary of the Coalition Parliamentary Economics Committee. After graduating in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Queensland in 1990, Andrew undertook research at the Menzies School of Health Research in Darwin where he pioneered…Read more »

Kayley Harris (1 posts)

Kayley Harris is a radio veteran of 30 years. She was co-host of the Breakfast show on Radio 2WS for 12 years with Hans Torv and is currently working at Radio 2GB as a producer of the Jason Morrison Drive Show and as a part-time presenter. Kayley is a single…Read more »

Graham White (1 posts)

Graham White is Managing Director of Howorth, Ogilvy PR’s specialist business and technology PR consultancy, based in Sydney. Graham has been developing and driving strategic communications and media relations programs for a range of major technology and business brands in Australia and the Asia Pacific region. Graham is also a…Read more »

Ben Barren (1 posts)

Ben Barren has spent 15 years working in nothing but the online industry. He is currently working on [url=http://www.modelfeed.com]http://www.modelfeed.com[/url] and advising social media clients. His blog is at benbarren.com + twitter.com/benbarren + friendfeed.com/benbarren. Read more »

Susie O'Brien (1 posts)

Susie O’Brien is a journalist and commentator with the Herald-Sun in Melbourne. Read more »

Adam Ferrier (2 posts)

Adam Ferrier is a Consumer Psychologist and a Founding Partner of Naked Communications, Australia. After completing university with degrees in Psychology and Commerce Adam began his career as a psychologist working in maximum security prisons before making the natural, seamless, move into advertising. During this time Adam also managed to…Read more »

Brad Hunter (1 posts)

Brad’s artistic expression started at a young age, emulating his grandfather with his love for gadgets and the camera. In his early twenties Brad took a valued decision to study a Diploma in Fine Arts, majoring in Painting and Photography. In December of 2005 he was thrust into the spotlight…Read more »

Australian Press Council (1 posts)

The Australian Press Council Incorporated is the self-regulatory body of the print media. It was established in 1976 with two main aims: to help preserve the traditional freedom of the press within Australia and ensure that the free press acts responsibly and ethically. According to its recently revised Constitution, the…Read more »

Amanda Rishworth (2 posts)

Amanda Rishworth was born and educated in Adelaide, attending state schools before studying at Flinders University. She later graduated with a Masters Degree in Psychology from the University of Adelaide. Before becoming a Member of Parliament, Amanda was a practising Psychologist and worked with General Practitioners in the delivery of…Read more »

Shannon O'Meara (3 posts)

Shannon O’Meara is an Australian journalist and works for News Corp in New York. Her career started by reading news bulletins at the dinner table to annoy of her four sisters. After studying Liberal Studies at Sydney Uni she backpacked until she ran out of money and got a job…Read more »

Hamish McDougall (1 posts)

Hamish is the books, food and opinion editor at GQ magazine. He¹s been reading for 27 years, eating for 30, and stirring controversy for 30 years and nine months. After completing a PhD in absurdism, he made a seamless transition to News Magazines, where his research continues. Read more »

Chris Kelly (1 posts)

Chris Kelly is an award-winning graphic designer and artist currently working for Leader Newspapers. He once converted a cartoon idea into a Tasmanian political party, the “Extremely Greedy 40% Extra” party to protest successfully against the state parliament awarding themselves a 40% pay rise. His artwork has featured in The…Read more »

Michael Danby (3 posts)

After 10 years in parliament, Michael Danby is not a Minister, even though he chairs the Government’s Migration Committee and Sub-committee on Foreign Affairs. As a backbencher he is a little freer to express views. Some of them don’t make him popular with the PM or the hollowmen. Last year…Read more »

Zoe Taylor (1 posts)

Zoe started her career in journalism more than 15 years ago covering parish council meetings in tiny village halls in the Kent countryside in the UK and later specialised in health journalism, spending three years as a medical correspondent on the London Evening Standard before re-locating to Australia. She was…Read more »

Margherita Tracanelli (2 posts)

Margherita has worked as a journalist, publicist and producer in film on TV Commercials. She has made short films, and radio documentaries for ABC Radio National. She has worked as a speech a writer, a legislation and policy adviser in the NSW state government and internationally for Jose Ramos Horta…Read more »

Jeremy Storer (1 posts)

Jeremy is a media, communications and technology lawyer with law firm Blake Dawson. Originally from Adelaide, he has worked in Canberra and London, and is now currently based in Sydney. Read more »

Simon Benson (1 posts)

Simon Benson is Chief Political Reporter for The Daily Telegraph. He was the former State Political Editor and the past President of the NSW Press Gallery, and a good mate of Penbo’s. Read more »

Emma Ashton (9 posts)

Ever since Noelene Donaher was on our television screens in Sylvania Waters, Emma has been obsessed with Reality TV. Her addiction has led to her creating Australia’s leading independent reality TV blog - Reality Ravings. This TV genre, for which the term ‘15 minutes of fame’ could have been created,…Read more »

Jason Clare (2 posts)

Jason Clare was born and raised in Cabramatta in Sydney’s west. He has a law degree from the University of NSW and was a senior adviser to NSW Premier Bob Carr and an executive at Transurban. In November 2007 he was elected to the Australian Parliament. He represents about 140,000…Read more »

Naomi Toy (3 posts)

Naomi has worked as a reporter at The Daily Telegraph for more than a decade. She once steered the ship that was Sydney Confidential, and is now a senior feature writer. Read more »

Effie (1 posts)

As an up myself, proud and extremely well groomed battler I have paved the way - with concrete on most occasions due to it’s durability and cultural significance - for other unlikely legends like moi to put themselves on the Australian ‘multicultural’ map. I was a former hairdresser by trade…Read more »

Lisa Davies (6 posts)

Lisa Davies is the Daily Telegraph’s Chief Court Reporter and has recently published her first book. She began her career in 2000 at AAP’s Brisbane bureau where she briefly considered a career in sports journalism – but a news cadetship and a move to Sydney put paid to that. A…Read more »

Jon Ryan (8 posts)

Jon Ryan is editor of Melbourne weekly newspaper the Progress Leader. An Englishman, he has lived in Australia since 2007 and writes the Whinging Pom blog on the Leader Community Newspapers blog. A keen cricketer, Jon can be found during the summer serving up his left-arm filth for Caulfield in…Read more »

Wilson Tuckey (1 posts)

Wilson Tuckey was born in Perth. A son of a Motor Mechanic, educated at West Leederville and Wembley Primary Schools and Perth Modern School. Mr Tuckey is married, (wife Jenny), and has three children, a son (Michael) and two daughters (Sue and Judith) and five grandchildren (Sarah, Andrew, Ellen, Lauren…Read more »

Tony Pitman (1 posts)

Tony grew up in Gippsland in eastern Victoria and, after a year as an exchange student in Nigeria, studied science and law at the University of Melbourne and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. During his studies, he was a member of the Melbourne Uni. team that won…Read more »

Greg Hunt (1 posts)

Greg was born in Frankston in 1965, the son of Alan Hunt, who served West Gippsland and the Mornington Peninsula for over 30 years as the State Upper House member for South-Eastern Province. In 1990, he graduated from Melbourne University with First Class Honours in Law, winning an award for…Read more »

Joe Spagnolo (1 posts)

Joe Spagnolo, 44, is the chief political reporter of The Sunday Times and a columnist with the paper. A three-time Walkley finalist, he was also a finalist in last year’s News Ltd awards in the Specialist Writer Of The Year category after exposing the Troy Buswell chair sniffing scandal. Read more »

Katrina Blowers (1 posts)

Katrina Blowers is an award-winning newsreader, broadcaster and features writer for publications including Madison magazine, The Sunday Telegraph, The Sydney Morning Herald and Cosmopolitan. Beginning her career in radio, Katrina went on to co-host the breakfast show on Nova 969 FM in Sydney with Merrick and Rosso for five years.…Read more »

Thomas Mawson (1 posts)

Thomas has no experience in writing articles or in the field of journalism beyond the scope of a few interviews and photos in papers and on the news. His debut for The Punch is the first article Thomas has ever written, and certainly the first to be published. Upon completing…Read more »

Simone McDonnell (1 posts)

Simone is a 23-year-old Economics Student from Adelaide University. A former board director of the Adelaide University Union, she currently sits on the National Union of Students Executive. Read more »

Patrick Johnson (1 posts)

Patrick Johnson, founder of Suit Shop, has an impressive background in men’s tailoring. Following his studies at Central St. Martins, London, he trained under renowned Chelsea tailor Robert Emmett at Emmett London. Johnson soon moved to Mayfair, the home of British tailoring, where he established Emmett’s made-to-measure business. It was…Read more »

Julie Novak (2 posts)

Julie Novak is a Research Fellow with the Institute of Public Affairs. She has previously worked for Commonwealth and State public sector agencies, including the Commonwealth Treasury and Productivity Commission. Julie was also previously advisor to the Queensland Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Her opinion pieces have been published in…Read more »

Bonita Mersiades (2 posts)

Some people might think Bonita Mersiades is one dimensional because her professional life and her sporting passion combine, but it hasn’t always been that way. While she has been around football all her life as a child, player, community volunteer, ‘soccer mum’ and now as administrator/management (including time as the…Read more »

Robert Todd (1 posts)

Robert is an Australian lawyer at Blake Dawson who (outside his engaging and challenging legal practice in media and IT disputes) is involved in the debate to improve press freedom in Australia. Robert believes the more freely we share our ideas the more functional our citizens and communities become. He…Read more »

Steve Cumper (1 posts)

Steve is a city boy with a country heart. He’s chef with nearly 30 years’ experience with a deep commitment to regional cooking, which was recognized with a national award in 07. Steve and his family live the bucolic life on 11 acres in the township of Cygnet, in Southern…Read more »

Rod Masson (1 posts)

Rod Masson is the Acting National Secretary of the Finance Sector Union. Read more »

Matthew Abbott (1 posts)

Matthew Abbott is a director of strategic corporate affairs consultancy Cox Inall Communications in Sydney. He is a former Liberal party adviser in the Howard Government and a one-time financial journalist. Read more »

Lisa Millar (1 posts)

Lisa Millar is the bureau chief for the ABC in Washington. This is her second posting to the US for the national broadcaster. Her first stint was spent working alongside Well-readhead columnist Leigh Sales and the two became great friends. That meant she couldn’t say no when Leigh asked her…Read more »

Gary Humphries (1 posts)

Gary Humphries is the Liberal Senator for the ACT, elected in 2003 after a long career in the ACT Legislative Assembly where he held various Ministerial and Shadow Ministerial posts including that of Chief Minister. In 2009 he was appointed to the Federal Liberal Party’s frontbench as Shadow Parliamentary Secretary…Read more »

Monique Ross (1 posts)

Monique Ross is a fresh graduate who works as a journalist with ABC News Online and tutors in Media and Communication at the Queensland University of Technology. She is also working on a thesis on how journalists use Twitter as a form of audience engagement. Read more »

Ian McPhedran (1 posts)

Ian McPhedran is the National Defence Writer for News Limited. He covered the diplomatic round in Canberra for several years and is the author of the best selling books ``The Amazing SAS’’ and ``Soldiers Without Borders’‘. Read more »

Nic Christensen and Tina Tek (1 posts)

Nic Christensen is currently completing his Masters of Journalism at the University of Technology Sydney. Since beginning his Masters’ degree he has written for a variety of publications including The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. As well as interning at The Punch he works as an associate producer for…Read more »

Luke Foley (7 posts)

Luke Foley was the winner of the Channel Nine Sidchrome Supertest team competition in the summer of 1983/84. He is also a journeyman suburban park cricketer. Read more »

Cameron England (2 posts)

Cameron England took over the resources reporting round at The Advertiser in 2003, just as SA was about to wake up and realise that there was plenty to be found, dug up and flogged overseas in its backyard. Along with swanning around in eight seater aircraft en route to remote…Read more »

Nathan Sharpe (1 posts)

Nathan Sharpe, the only man to play in all seven of the Wallabies games in the 2007 World Cup. As captain of the Western Force Super 14 team, he has cemented his place as the number one lock in Australia. He was voted by his team mates and opponents as…Read more »

Charles Miranda (6 posts)

Charles Miranda began working in journalism in 1989 when he joined The Canberra Times. Five years later he joined The Daily Telegraph in the press gallery initially as industrial relations reporter then defence and foreign affairs reporter covering coups, conflicts and crisis about Asia. In 2003 he moved to London…Read more »

Simon Birmingham (7 posts)

Simon spent his early years living with his grandmother, a war widow and school teacher, before moving with his parents to a horse agistment property at Gawler River in Adelaide’s north. Educated at local public schools, Simon has been engaged in politics from his uni days. In between stints as…Read more »

Daniela Elser (8 posts)

Daniela Elser is a freelance writer who has spent the past six years toiling at the media coalface after getting her start photocopying in the ABC newsroom. After several years of handing Kerry his scripts every night and studying journalism at UTS, Daniela joined Charles Firth’s short-lived news start-up, Manic…Read more »

Phil Hillyard (1 posts)

Phil Hillyard began his career as a copy boy with the Adelaide News, gaining a cadetship as a photographer eight months later in 1989. After its closure in 1992 he freelanced for a couple of years before accepting a staff position on the Adelaide Advertiser working there as a news…Read more »

Latika Bourke (1 posts)

Julia Gillard (1 posts)

Julia was born in Wales, migrating to Australia with her family in 1966. She studied arts and law at university in Adelaide before being elected as national education vice president of the Australian Union of Students in 1983. In 1983, Julia was national president of the AUS. She began work…Read more »

Paul Wilson (1 posts)

Professor Paul Wilson OAM is Professor of Humanities and Social Sciences and Chair of Criminology at Bond University. He holds a BA Hons (Canterbury), MA Hons (Canterbury) and PhD (Qld). His previous academic positions include Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Bond University 1993-2001,Foundation Dean of Arts,…Read more »

Daniel Glaubert (1 posts)

Daniel Glaubert is a third year Nursing student studying at Griffith University and has been involved with The Smith Family for close to eight years. Daniel is passionate about many areas of current affairs and world news and particularly issues related to health. Daniel has witnessed first-hand the financial impact…Read more »

Annie Markey (2 posts)

Annie Markey is the national online chief of staff at News Digital Media, and can be outraged by a range of subjects including Kevin Rudd’s speech patterns, people who disagree with her, and Croc shoes. She finds the term “journey” deeply upsetting. In previous lives, she’s worked on country papers,…Read more »

Ainslie MacGibbon (1 posts)

Ainslie MacGibbon is a freelance journalist and writer, who is published in the Sydney Morning Herald, New Matilda and various magazines. In a previous life she worked for the Royal Commission into the NSW Police Service (paedophile reference), the police and ASIO - yet has no immediate interest in writing…Read more »

Sam Mooy (1 posts)

Sam Mooy picked up a camera and began his photographic career at age 15 in Tamworth, New South Wales. He worked various photographic jobs throughout high school before beginning a brief stint as a cadet journalist in Armidale. At 18, Sam moved to Sydney where he worked as a freelance…Read more »

Vanessa Muradian (1 posts)

Vanessa Muradian is a researcher and editorial assistant for the Herald-Sun as well as a business owner. Read more »

Gus Worland (1 posts)

Gus is a 39 year old sporting tragic. He has been married for 14 years and has three kids. Women want him to meet their mothers and blokes want to be him. Gus just wants to shout them all a beer. He turned his passion into a reality when he…Read more »

Anonymous (1 posts)

Contributor who has asked to remain anonymous. Read more »

Rebekah Devlin (1 posts)

Rebekah Devlin is News Ltd’s National Entertainment Editor. She is also a massive Britney fan. She has been writing entertainment for nearly six years. Read more »

Leon Carter (1 posts)

Leon Carter has been the National Secretary of the Finance Sector Union since 2007. It represents 50,000 workers in the finance sector, which has lost more than 5000 jobs to off-shoring. Read more »

The Punch Team (1 posts)

This is the byline all four of us use (Leo, Colgo, Tors and Penbo) when we work collaboratively on live blogs, stories and campaigns. Read more »

The Swagman (1 posts)

Anonymous and well-connected political operative. Read more »

Peter Garrett (1 posts)

Peter Garrett was elected as the Labor Member for Kingsford Smith at the 2004 federal election. In 2007, he was appointed Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts following the election of a Rudd Labor Government on 24 November. Widely known as a passionate advocate and campaigner on a…Read more »

Nick Champion (4 posts)

Nick was elected to the federal seat of Wakefield in 2007. He is a former president of the ALP (SA) and holds a BA and GradDip in Communications. Before entering Parliament he was an occupational health and safety officer, training officer and organiser for the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees’…Read more »

Kathy Keele (1 posts)

Kathy Keele has been chief executive officer of the Australia Council since December 2006 and last December was confirmed in the role for a further five years. Read more »

Michael O Connor (1 posts)

Michael O’Connor has been National Secretary of the CFMEU Forestry and Furnishing Products Division since 2005, and has worked for the union for over twenty five years. During this time he has been an outspoken supporter of timber workers, their families and communities and has coordinated a large number of…Read more »

Judy Lumby (1 posts)

Professor Judy Lumby began her professional career as a registered nurse working mainly in intensive care before moving into the higher education sector. Her doctoral and post doctoral work focused on patients’ experiences of our health care system believing that unless we listen to and involve patients in their care…Read more »

Joe Hildebrand (16 posts)

Joe Hildebrand was born in Melbourne and extradited to Sydney in 2000. Despite this he considers Adelaide his spiritual home, having spent a pleasant weekend there in the mid-1990s. He currently “works” at The Daily Telegraph, where he wrote a column for several years until it was removed on bad…Read more »

Craig Greenhill (1 posts)

Craig Greenhill is a multi-award winning senior photographer with The Daily Telegraph in Sydney. He joined the newspaper in 2000 and has won several industry and media awards for his work. They include the Walkley for News Photography in 2006 for his coverage of the Cronulla riots, and the Walkley…Read more »

John Warhurst (1 posts)

John Warhurst was born in Adelaide and educated in politics and economics at the Flinders University of South Australia. He has taught political science in various universities for more than 30 years and is now Professor of Political Science at the Australian National University. He is a former president of…Read more »

Jorge Cervantes (1 posts)

Jorge Cervantes is a Mexican journalist in Mexico City writing for Reforma, the most influential business newspaper in Mexico. He is a former producer of MonitorNews, one of the most important radio news shows in Mexico and with hispanic audiences in the US. Read more »

Tony Burke (2 posts)

Tony Burke, Federal Member for Watson, has a background in Small Business and in Industrial Relations. He was a founding director of Aticus Pty Ltd and later worked as a union official for the SDA. Tony was appointed as Shadow Minister for Small Business on election to the Australian Parliament…Read more »

Sam Cleveland (10 posts)

Sam Cleveland is a freelance entertainment journalist with an arts degree and near-perfect manners. Gold Coast-born and based, Sam nurses a pre-occupation for films directed by Michael Mann and Brian DePalma, comics written by Alan Moore and Mark Millar and music made by (mostly deceased) black folk. For years he…Read more »

Vince Taskunas (1 posts)

Vince Taskunas was appointed to the role of General Manager, Public Policy and Communications at the Royal Automobile Club of Tasmania Ltd in January 2008. He is the Club’s representative on the national public policy committee of the Australian Automobile Association, which collectively represents over 6 million motorists. Vince is…Read more »

Fiona Nash (1 posts)

Senator Fiona Nash is Deputy Leader of the Nationals in the Senate and was elected at the 2004 Federal Election to represent NSW. Her term began on 1 July 2005. Fiona and her husband David Nash are farmers at Crowther near Young in south-west NSW and have two teenage boys.…Read more »

Helen Razer (2 posts)

Helen Razer ekes out a living as a freelance writer. She’ll tell you she’s working on her novel but, really, which aging hack isn’t? Honestly, though. It’s out next year. She has worked in radio; primarily at the ABC for the moderately young, Triple J, and the ABC for the…Read more »

James Campbell (2 posts)

James Campbell is a reporter and columnist with the Sunday Herald Sun in Melbourne. He has also written for The Times of London. Before joining the paper he worked as an adviser to the State Opposition in Victoria. Read more »

Mitch Fifield (2 posts)

Senator Mitch Fifield was sworn in as Senator for Victoria in the Australian Parliament on 1 April 2004 and re-elected at the 2007 election. Mitch was appointed as the Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities, Carers and the Voluntary Sector on 20 February 2009 by Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull. Before entering…Read more »

Tim Mendham (1 posts)

Tim Mendham is an experienced journalist, editor and copywriter. Over a career spanning more than 30 years, he has written extensively on IT, technology, R&D, business finance and marketing issues. During this time he has edited a number of publications, including Lab News, a technical journal for the R&D community;…Read more »

Sarrah Le Marquand (4 posts)

Armed with an honours degree in government and a federal parliamentary internship, Sarrah Le Marquand left university determined to become a political reporter. Yet an early detour on a magazine devoted to the surprisingly intricate world of daytime soap operas redirected her career. Having worked as an entertainment journalist in…Read more »

Margo Zlotkowski (1 posts)

Margo has been with The Cairns Post since the early 1990s, variously covering local council, environment, indigenous affairs and health rounds, including campaigning for a better hospital for the fast-growing region last year amid a time of chronic bed-block, ambulance ramping and blown-out waiting lists. As a senior journalist with…Read more »

Stuart Robert (5 posts)

Stuart Robert is the Federal MP for the electorate of Fadden on the Northern Gold Coast and is the Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Defence. Stuart is an ADFA and Duntroon graduate and served as an Army officer for 12 years including operational service overseas. Just prior to entering politics Stuart…Read more »

Julia Thornton (7 posts)

Julia Thornton is a 30-something, unashamed Gen X, post modernist and iconoclast. Trained in public relations, she spent 13 years in government and corporate communications and knows a disaster when she sees it. A strong advocate of Western Australia’s succession and the removal of Section 100 from the Constitution of…Read more »

Chris Back (1 posts)

Chris Back has a degree in veterinary science and is a former businessman who has worked in the fuel, oil and gas industries. He also served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Rottnest Island Authority and the Bush Fires Board of Western Australia 1995-97.He has been a Liberal Senator…Read more »

Kate Norris (1 posts)

Kate Norris is the Senior Sustainability Policy Officer for Choice and runs Choice’s Green Watch campaign, which aims to lift the standard of environmental marketing claims, expose shonky advertising and help Australians get a better deal for themselves and their environment. Read more »

Graeme Innes (1 posts)

Graeme has been Australia’s Human Rights Commissioner and Disability Discrimination Commissioner for over three years. Graeme is a lawyer, mediator and company director, and has been a human rights practitioner for almost 30 years in NSW, WA and nationally. He was Chair of the Disability Advisory Council of Australia, and…Read more »

Danielle Noble (1 posts)

Nick Dyrenfurth (1 posts)

Nick Dyrenfurth is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Work and Organisational Studies at the University of Sydney. Growing up in Melbourne Nick supported a range of hopeless causes including the now defunct Fitzroy Football Club and the Victorian Labor Party. He moved to Sydney in early 2009, where he is…Read more »

Will Colvin (2 posts)

William Colvin is a film student, musician, and word-maker. He is mildly interested in penguins, greatly interested in leopard seals, and spends a great deal of time in the bath. Read more »

Sadhbh Warren (3 posts)

Sadhbh Warren is an Irish woman who moved to Australia in 2006, on the grounds that it’s sunny, has great food and the pubs open later. Her name is easier to say than spell - it’s pronounced Sive (like five). Having variously worked as an executive assistant, travelling carnie and…Read more »

Jody Melbourne (1 posts)

In the 90’s Jody spent his teenage years huddled in front of computers, trying to find ways to access things that other people really didn’t want him to access. A few years later at age 17 he was visited by the friendly federal police, which caused him to reconsider his…Read more »

Nigel Bowen (1 posts)

Despite having several university degrees, Nigel Bowen has spent the last decade writing for men’s magazines and is currently Chief Subeditor of GQ Australia. A gloomy Generation Xer deeply aggrieved by the chokehold the baby boomers have maintained on the levers of power for the last four decades, he nonetheless…Read more »

Tim Vollmer (2 posts)

For 13 years school teachers complained that Tim talked too much and didn’t respect authority. Thankfully he didn’t listen and now makes a living out of both, predominantly by helping unions and non-profit organisations improve their media profile through his day job at Mountain Media (http://www.mountainmedia.com.au). In former lives he…Read more »

Mathias Cormann (1 posts)

Having joined the Liberal party in Western Australia in 1996, Mathias was elected Senior Vice President of the Perth Division in 2000, State Vice President in 2003 and State Senior Vice President in 2004, a responsibility he fulfilled until March 2008. In September 2008 Mathias was appointed Shadow Parliamentary Secretary…Read more »

Marcus Kuczynski (19 posts)

Marcus Kuczynski is a senior online sub-editor, moderator and blogger with The Courier-Mail in Brisbane and has worked in print, electronic and web journalism in Australia and Europe for more than 25 years. He likes to know what makes people tick and what they think. He believes online forums are…Read more »

Roger Coombs (9 posts)

Roger Coombs worked for The Daily Telegraph for 25 years. In that time, he was a reporter, bureau chief, section editor, manager, leader writer, feature writer and columnist. His principal claim to any semblance of journalistic credibility, he says is “writing 14 consecutive editorial columns about the death of Princess…Read more »

Mark Colvin (19 posts)

Mark Colvin has been the presenter of ABC Radio’s long-running national daily current affairs program ‘PM’ since 1997. For more than 35 years, he has covered national and international stories for the ABC. In 1980 he reported from Iran on the US hostage crisis and the violent struggles for power…Read more »

Wendy Squires (5 posts)

Wendy Squires has been a journalist for more than 20 years, starting work at News Ltd as a cadet journalist before moving to New York to work as a freelance writer. She has edited Cleo and Australian Style magazines as well as holding senior positions on Elle, Mode, Who Weekly,…Read more »

Stephen Evans (1 posts)

Stephen Evans presents Business Daily on the BBC World Service. Before that, he was the BBC’s North America Business Correspondent, based in New York. He’s married to an Australian and spends much time in Sydney and even more in Melbourne. Read more »

Ben Mitchell (1 posts)

Ben Mitchell is the Director of Public Affairs for the Minerals Council of Australia. Read more »

Don Grover (1 posts)

Don Grover has been CEO of the Dymocks Group of Companies since 2003. Previously he was Managing Director of R.P.S (NSW) Pty Ltd a company he started to consult on strategies in the retail and property sectors. His clients included LEK Consulting, Lend Lease and Dymocks. From 1995 to 2003…Read more »

Dave Oliver (1 posts)

Dave did his apprenticeship as a fitter and turner and then worked as a lift mechanic in the construction industry. He was elected National Secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union in 2007 after working as a union activist and official for many years. He has campaigned on many key…Read more »

Simon Sheikh (4 posts)

Simon is the National Director of advocacy group GetUp. Simon has been behind campaigns on climate change, changes to our anti-terrorism laws and GetUp’s work on internet censorship. Simon was born and raised in Sydney and studied Economics at the University of New South Wales. In a career change Simon…Read more »

Alastair MacGibbon (2 posts)

Alastair is an internationally-respected authority on high-tech crime including Internet fraud, consumer victimisation and a range of Internet security issues. Alastair is founder of the Internet Safety Institute and Managing Partner of internet consultancy the Surete Group. Prior to that, Alastair headed Trust & Safety at eBay Australia and later…Read more »

Kelly Simpson (2 posts)

Kelly likes the beach, punk rock and reading, so it was never going to work out between her and her hometown of Cooma. Escaping to Sydney the day after she turned 18, Kelly completed a Communications degree at UTS where she is now studying for a Masters in Journalism. Kelly…Read more »

Blair Trewin (1 posts)

Blair Trewin is a senior climatologist with the National Climate Centre, a section of the Bureau of Meteorology, where he has worked since 1998. His main areas of research are long-term trends in climate extremes, and the development of data sets suitable for studying them. He was responsible for developing…Read more »

Barry Everingham (13 posts)

Barry Everingham is a Melbourne-based broadcaster, author and journalist. A former News Limited reporter, it was while he was working in News Limited’s London Bureau in the late 1970s and began covering the Buckingham Palace round that his interest in the British and European royals commenced. He is an acknowledged…Read more »

Peter Holmes a Court (3 posts)

Businessman and co-owner of the South Sydney Rabbitohs Read more »

Simon Sharwood (2 posts)

Simon Sharwood is a freelance technology writer, editor and podcaster, who spent 15 years in the technology industry as a journalist, marketer and public relations consultant. Simon is proprietor of JargonMaster Corporate Communications, a fancy name for the writing and photography business he runs with his wife, Elissa Baxter. He…Read more »

Kim Dalton (1 posts)

James Panichi (1 posts)

James Panichi is a journalist with ABC Radio National in Melbourne. He also writes in Italian about Australian and Pacific affairs for Italian magazine Diario and daily newspaper Il Foglio, as has written for Australian Italian newspaper Il Globo/La Fiamma. He covered the Australian campaign for Italy’s 2008 election for…Read more »

Matthew Sweeny (1 posts)

Matthew Sweeny is President of the Sydney University Young Entrepreneurs Society, and an undergraduate at the University of Sydney studying Philosophy. In 2008, he was Managing Director of a Young Achievement Australia Company, which brought together fifteen successful business leaders to inspire our next generation of young Australians to become…Read more »

Claire Struthers (4 posts)

Claire was a production journalist on the London Evening Standard and finally ran away to Australia in 2006. She was the first female cricket commentator on British radio back in the 80s, mainly because it was World Cup Final day and nobody else wanted to cover Surrey v Northamptonshire. She…Read more »

John Mikkelsen (5 posts)

A career journalist, former editor of regional daily The Observer in Gladstone. John is now a freelance writer and columnist featuring regularly in websites and regional papers. Read more »

Alan Mascarenhas (2 posts)

Alan began his career at the Sydney Morning Herald before departing to find fame and fortune in the US. He found neither, but did complete a Master’s degree, work for the Mayor of Chicago and get to shake hands with Chelsea Clinton. Alan has a unique understanding of US politics…Read more »

Bob Carr (1 posts)

Jon Dee (1 posts)

Jon Dee is the NSW Australian of the Year for 2010 and is the Founder and Chairman of the Australian action group ‘Do Something!’. He is is one of Australia’s most influential figures on environmental issues, and has inspired millions of Australians in to making positive environmental and social change.…Read more »

Judith Ireland (3 posts)

Judith Ireland is a freelance journalist. Born in Sydney, she has previously worked as a policy adviser in Canberra, think tank intern in London and cafe pianist in the ‘burbs. Recently returned from a year studying in the UK, she has degrees in Government, Media and International Relations. Read more »

Cal Paterson (1 posts)

Cal is a Consulting, Supervising and Clinical Psychologist in Sydney. He has presented papers and workshops in Australia and overseas on topics including Cognitive and Behaviour Therapy techniques, client factors affecting treatment outcome, working with parents and carers of people with disabilities, personality disorders, working with couples, and psychotherapy integration.…Read more »

Stephen Keim (8 posts)

Stephen Keim has been a lawyer for 30 years and a barrister for 23. He became a Senior Counsel for the State of Queensland in 2004. He is book reviews editor for the Queensland Bar Association emagazine Hearsay. Read more »

Ed Charles (5 posts)

Ed Charles is a food and drink and business journalist. What he is not, is a foodie. In fact, he has instructed his wife to slap him if he shows any signs of foodie-ism. This includes waxing lyrical about the new season’s peaches, slurping his wine to aerate his palate…Read more »

Fiona Hudson (8 posts)

Fiona Hudson’s cadetship at the Melbourne Herald Sun got off to a bad start in 1996 when she declined the beer offered by a hard-bitten police reporter and instead asked for a cup of Milo. She was banished to the features department until she toughened up, returning to the newsroom…Read more »

David Gazard (15 posts)

David Gazard is one of the founding partners of Advise, a specialist communications and government relations consultancy. A former journalist, he worked for both John Howard and Peter Costello. He started his career in Canada as a crime reporter and worked from the federal press gallery covering economics. He also…Read more »

Matt Hingerty (2 posts)

Matthew Hingerty studied at Macquarie University in the carefree, free education days of the early 80s, where he achieved a Bachelor of Arts in modern history and English Literature. An occasional bushwalker, he found himself roused by environmental politics in the era of the Franklin Dam debate and rainforest logging.…Read more »

Tony Abbott (2 posts)

Tony Abbott was elected Member for Warringah at a by-election in March 1994. Prior to entering Parliament he was Executive Director of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy from 1993-94. From 1990-93 he was press secretary and political advisor to the Leader of the Opposition, Dr John Hewson. His previous career was…Read more »

Miranda Ryan (2 posts)

Born and bred in Sydney, Miranda escaped to the “country” to study Communications at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst. If she were to be remembered there, it would be for her keen ability to find the best dress-ups from Vinnie’s for that week’s uni bar theme, as well as being…Read more »

Lucien Leon (2 posts)

Lucien Leon is a lecturer in animation and screen media at the Australian National University School of Art. Looking back on it all – the Pickering-style caricatures of his maths teachers, the smart-alec retorts and bon mots in science class, and the flip-book animations drawn on the page corners of…Read more »

Erica Bartle (2 posts)

Erica Bartle is editor of the popular media blog site Girl With A Satchel (http://girlwithasatchel.blogspot.com), a sort of Top Gear meets Media Watch for the glossy magazine industry. In her editorials, Bartle attempts to put a positive spin on the oft-maligned business of gloss, while keeping magazines accountable for dubious…Read more »

Sharan Burrow (2 posts)

Sharan Burrow was first elected President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions in May 2000, the second woman to hold the position. She was elected to a fourth term in June in 2009. In December 2004, she became the first woman to be elected President of the world union…Read more »

Christopher Scanlon (5 posts)

Christopher Scanlon is a writer and commentator whose writing on a wide range of topics has appeared in major Australian newspapers. He teaches in the journalism program at La Trobe University where he co-founded Upstart, the magazine for emerging journalists, http://www.upstart.net.au/ Between 1999–2007 he co-edited Arena Magazine and continues to…Read more »

Caro Webster (2 posts)

Caro Webster is the mother of two young children, a freelance writer, passionate gardener and author of the recently released Small Fry Outdoors – inspiration for being outside with children (ABC Books). She is also Past President of the Friends of the Botanic Gardens in Sydney. You can contact her…Read more »

Paul Toohey (6 posts)

Paul Toohey is based in Darwin as senior reporter for News Ltd publications. For those people who think nothing happens in Darwin, he asks: has your town ever blown away (Cyclone Tracy)? Has your town been a staging point for a military invasion of a foreign nation (East Timor liberation,…Read more »

Mark Lennon (1 posts)

Mark Lennon is the Secretary of Unions NSW, the peak body for working people in the state. Mark campaigns to improve conditions for more than 800,000 trade union members, both in the workplace and beyond. Mark has degrees in Commerce and Law from the University of NSW. He is married…Read more »

Victoria Simos (1 posts)

Victoria was sent to pound the pavement and gather stories the old fashioned way for the Herald Sun, when a power blackout affected Melbourne’s entire CBD. She currently works as newsroom assistant where she has written for the daily news, country sport and features pages. Between knuckling down at the…Read more »

Charlie Lynn (1 posts)

Major Charlie Lynn established Adventure Kokoda in 1991 and has led 56 expeditions across Kokoda since then. During this time he has established close relations with the Kioari and Orokaiva people who live in villages along the Track. He was elected to the NSW Legislative Council as a Liberal Member…Read more »

Clint Hillery (1 posts)

Clint’s extensive hospitality and wine experience has seen him work with leading industry figures and within Sydney’s finest wine bars. His passion for wine started through varied hospitality roles within the Holiday Inn Hotel Group. He was later employed as Operations Manager of Zibar, a small city wine bar where…Read more »

Abbie Muntz (1 posts)

With a degree in Visual Communication, Abbie began her working life as a photographer but soon realised her interests lay more in working on the images in post, behind the computer. Spotting a gap in the market for quality, specialist retouchers, Abbie honed her skills and restarted her career as…Read more »

Steve Williams (3 posts)

Steve Williams was born in the shadow of the Big Merino, a rather attractive concrete likeness of a sheep in Goulburn N.S.W. He wrote his first satirical piece when he was nine, commenting on the unique playing styles and exotic fashions of his mother’s ladies midweek tennis club. Steve’s done…Read more »

Bob McMullan (2 posts)

Bob was born in Perth in 1947. He went to Guildford Primary School and Stirling High School and graduated from the University of Western Australia with degrees in arts and economics. In 1975 Bob became Secretary of the Western Australian Branch of the ALP. In August 1981 he was elected…Read more »

Nathan Nettleton (1 posts)

Rev Nathan Nettleton is an ordained minister of the Baptist Union of Victoria and currently serve as Pastor of the Baptist Church at South Yarra, a neighbourhood with one of Melbourne’s larger gay populations. Read more »

Amanda McKenzie (3 posts)

Amanda McKenzie is a co-director of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition. She established ASCENT, the Australian Climate Change Education Network in 2006, an independent non-profit organisation aiming to bring accurate information about climate change to the average person. She has also played a key role in the development of the…Read more »

Alexandra Carlton (1 posts)

Alexandra Carlton is a mum first, then the Deputy Features Editor for Madison magazine and Associate Editor for Your Body magazine. Previously, she’s written for The Sydney Morning Herald, ABC Online, The Sunday Telegraph, Who, GQ, Cosmopolitan and Home Beautiful. When she’s not being paid to write she writes recreationally…Read more »

Amit Menghani (1 posts)

Indian born, raised in Dubai (UAE), Amit has graduated with a Bachelors degree in Aerospace Engineering from RMIT, Melbourne in 2009. He came to Australia in 2005 and since then he has been very well recognised and awarded with LEAD (Leadership) award in 2006 and 2008, Cross Cultural Leadership Award…Read more »

James Morrow (1 posts)

A New Yorker by birth and an Australian by the grace of God, James Morrow is a Sydney-based writer and consultant. Before moving to Australia in 2001, Morrow built an eclectic career in journalism in the US that saw him cover the Clinton White House for US News & World…Read more »

Niki Savva (1 posts)

Niki Savva was one of the most senior correspondents in the Canberra Press Gallery. She was twice political correspondent on The Australian, and headed up the Canberra bureaus of both The Herald Sun and The Age. When family tragedy forced a career change, she became Peter Costello’s press secretary for…Read more »

Staff writers