David Penberthy

David Penberthy

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 journalist in 1992 and spent his first few years on the newspaper as education reporter, industrial reporter and state political reporter.

In 1996, shortly after the election of the Howard Government, he was posted to Canberra to head the Advertiser’s parliamentary bureau. In 1999 he moved to Sydney to join The Daily Telegraph as state parliament bureau chief, a position he held for three years before his appointment as chief of staff and then as opinion editor and roving columnist for the paper. In April 2005 he became editor of The Daily Telegraph, a position he held until November last year. He is now the editor-in-chief of news.com.au and The Punch.

When not writing about stuff or reading stuff other people have written, he can be found at home in the kitchen cooking traditional dishes from Mexico, where he lived for a year in 1986, and which after a few tequilas he will wrongly cite as his place of birth.

Articles by David Penberthy

Sorry, but Christine Nixon deserves the criticism

Sorry, but Christine Nixon deserves the criticism

05 Aug 11 There can be no doubt that Christine Nixon’s size played an unpleasant part in some of the public criticism she…... Read more

One rule for Britannia, another for Abbott

One rule for Britannia, another for Abbott

02 Aug 11 As one of Australia’s pre-eminent forelock-tuggers for the royal family, there was something faintly hilarious in hearing Tony Abbott firing…... Read more

Trams might fly: Melbourne gets the jump on Sydney

Trams might fly: Melbourne gets the jump on Sydney

25 Jul 11 This is the third and final piece by Penbo for the Herald Sun about what Australia really thinks of Victoria.…... Read more

Crappy coach complains about the umpiring

Crappy coach complains about the umpiring

24 Jul 11 If Julia Gillard is looking for a shoulder to cry on about the torrid media coverage she has been receiving…... Read more

The sport that transcends race, class…and humility

The sport that transcends race, class…and humility

18 Jul 11 This is the second instalment of Penbo’s series of columns for the Herald-Sun on what Australia really thinks of Victoria.…... Read more

Turnbull whisperers turning Libs into a right wing cult

Turnbull whisperers turning Libs into a right wing cult

17 Jul 11 If the whispering campaign aimed at driving Malcolm Turnbull out of politics succeeds, it will have two effects. It will…... Read more

20 cents stands between Labor and electoral oblivion

20 cents stands between Labor and electoral oblivion

12 Jul 11 A 20 cent piece is all that stands between the Gillard Government and electoral oblivion. Shorn of its complexities and…... Read more

Can Julia Gillard turn Tony Abbott into Kim Beazley?

Can Julia Gillard turn Tony Abbott into Kim Beazley?

10 Jul 11 At long last, Julia Gillard today releases her carbon tax blueprint. For her struggling government the launch could not have…... Read more

Free to believe in God, free to keep quiet about it

Free to believe in God, free to keep quiet about it

05 Jul 11 The latest sortie in the war between Islam and Christendom involves a billboard which in the eyes of its critics…... Read more

Melbourne, the club we secretly wish we could join

Melbourne, the club we secretly wish we could join

04 Jul 11 Like my fellow South Australians, I’m still upset about the poaching of Stephen Kernahan and John Platten, irritated about the…... Read more

Miley Madness and society’s irreversible moral decline

Miley Madness and society’s irreversible moral decline

01 Jul 11 Of the many challenging aspects of parenting, one of the greatest is the pressure to restrict or ban your kids…... Read more

Aussie actors unite - we grew here you flew here

Aussie actors unite - we grew here you flew here

28 Jun 11 Imagine if the construction workers union, the CFMEU, issued a statement calling for Maoris and Islanders to be banned from…... Read more

Next up: Go back to suburbia you stinking racist bogan

Next up: Go back to suburbia you stinking racist bogan

26 Jun 11 Hot on the heels of its successful documentary about asylum seekers, Go Back to Where You Came From, SBS will…... Read more

Just yobbos, not a crisis of multiculturalism

Just yobbos, not a crisis of multiculturalism

24 Jun 11 Is the case of the niqab-clad Sydney woman who berated a police officer and fronted court this week with an…... Read more

Forlorn hope that a smited Kevin would go quietly

Forlorn hope that a smited Kevin would go quietly

21 Jun 11 There are two ways to deal with dumped political leaders. They can either be accommodated or destroyed. The fatal mistake…... Read more

Nothing to celebrate on Julia’s 1st birthday as PM

Nothing to celebrate on Julia’s 1st birthday as PM

19 Jun 11 This time last year Labor’s factional bosses were loading the bullets into the chamber so that Julia Gillard could pull…... Read more

Even smokers have a wheezy laugh at tobacco campaign

Even smokers have a wheezy laugh at tobacco campaign

17 Jun 11 In the gruesome final scene of Martin Scorcese’s remake of Cape Fear, the sadistic murderer Max Cady has been bashed…... Read more

Long to reign over us: our immovable Royals

Long to reign over us: our immovable Royals

14 Jun 11 What a month it’s been for our Royal Family. Yesterday we pretended to celebrate the Queen’s Birthday, even though it’s…... Read more

Dopey old men and a deeply troubled schoolgirl

Dopey old men and a deeply troubled schoolgirl

12 Jun 11 It’s a terrific relief to hear that Sam Newman has reportedly offered to mentor the so-called St Kilda school girl,…... Read more

Australia’s most liveable city produces excellent whine

Australia’s most liveable city produces excellent whine

10 Jun 11 In the exciting world of statistics and public policy, one set of findings often begets another diametrically opposed set of…... Read more

No level playing field in Qatar’s 2022 World Cup rort

No level playing field in Qatar’s 2022 World Cup rort

07 Jun 11 In hindsight maybe Australia’s tactics were all wrong. Instead of spending $46 million taxpayer dollars for the 2022 World Cup…... Read more

13 eminent plumbers speak out on the carbon tax

13 eminent plumbers speak out on the carbon tax

05 Jun 11 In a telling intervention which will change the dynamics of the debate, thirteen of the nation’s leading plumbers have spoken…... Read more

Another close shave in the humourless war on terror

Another close shave in the humourless war on terror

02 Jun 11 You would think after the recent happy news that Osama bin Laden had been shot, placed in a bag and…... Read more

Climate critics should play the ball not the (wo)man

Climate critics should play the ball not the (wo)man

31 May 11 Not since the Federated Actors Guild launched a musical campaign against the AIDS virus in the movie Team America has…... Read more

Tanner’s one-sided sideshow lets the pollies off the hook

Tanner’s one-sided sideshow lets the pollies off the hook

30 May 11 Lindsay Tanner isn’t happy with the mainstream media’s treatment of politics and politicians. The mainstream media is lazy, superficial, biased,…... Read more

Tony and Julia battle for air with Mal and Kev show

Tony and Julia battle for air with Mal and Kev show

29 May 11 They both have the unpleasant distinction of being among our shortest-lived political leaders – in the case of Malcolm Turnbull,…... Read more

Packer’s patsy sells his soul, and our intellectual property

Packer’s patsy sells his soul, and our intellectual property

27 May 11 James Packer had better watch his back. He’s just hired the guy who helped knock off former NSW Premier Morris…... Read more

Tough on planking. Tough on the causes of planking.

Tough on planking. Tough on the causes of planking.

24 May 11 As the planking epidemic enters its second week, some tough questions must be asked. Is the Government doing enough to…... Read more

Grizzling Greens want power without scrutiny

Grizzling Greens want power without scrutiny

23 May 11 It has come to the attention of the Australian Greens and their supporters that members of the media have been…... Read more

Every teat-pipette of alcohol is doing you damage

Every teat-pipette of alcohol is doing you damage

17 May 11 According to new research, by the year 2090 the principle cause of death in Australia will be boredom. The cumulative…... Read more

Tony Abbott, alternative PM or political commentator?

Tony Abbott, alternative PM or political commentator?

15 May 11 As an alternative Prime Minister, former Bulletin journalist Tony Abbott makes a pretty good shock jock. For the second time…... Read more

Let us pray that school chaplains are given the chop

Let us pray that school chaplains are given the chop

13 May 11 It is 222 years since the French Revolution established the principle of the separation of church and state. It is…... Read more

Swanny cuts away at spending with a tomato

Swanny cuts away at spending with a tomato

11 May 11 It was billed as a tough budget but the document Wayne Swan brought down tonight will win no awards for…... Read more

Taxpayers the idiots in the great set-top box rollout

Taxpayers the idiots in the great set-top box rollout

10 May 11 For the sake of the pensioners of Australia we can only hope that the guys installing free set-top boxes under…... Read more

Not everyone is celebrating Osama Bin Laden’s demise

Not everyone is celebrating Osama Bin Laden’s demise

08 May 11 Osama bin Laden isn’t dead. For all we know he’s lying low in Vegas, possibly with Elvis, or living at…... Read more

The deserved demise of the man who changed us all

The deserved demise of the man who changed us all

03 May 11 There is probably no other person in history who altered human behaviour and undermined our presumed freedoms and collective quality…... Read more

I am, you are, we’re un-Australian

I am, you are, we’re un-Australian

14 Apr 11 To borrow from their confected dinki-di lexicon, the Australian gaming industry must be officially up shit creek without a paddle…... Read more

There’s nothing Julia can do about Kevin

There’s nothing Julia can do about Kevin

10 Apr 11 There was much laughter and teasing from the Labor side about the decision of the Queensland Liberal National Party to…... Read more

Cuttlefish are people too

Cuttlefish are people too

08 Apr 11 It has taken humanity less than a million years to claw its way to the top of the food chain.…... Read more

Say yes to Easter eggs but no to naughty corners

Say yes to Easter eggs but no to naughty corners

05 Apr 11 He’s been billed as New Zealand’s answer to the Super Nanny and his program The Politically Incorrect Parenting Show, which…... Read more

Sorry Greens, we’re not apologising.

Sorry Greens, we’re not apologising.

04 Apr 11 The Greens are taking The Punch to the Press Council over my column of last Friday accusing them of pushing…... Read more

Check out the hypocrisy in the war on supermarkets

Check out the hypocrisy in the war on supermarkets

03 Apr 11 There is a glossy protest poster which rural conservative MPs put up in their parliamentary offices in Canberra last month.…... Read more

The Greens: when all else fails cry conspiracy

The Greens: when all else fails cry conspiracy

01 Apr 11 It’s a telling reflection on the Greens’ woeful campaign at last Saturday’s NSW election that the one politician they may…... Read more

Likely NSW Labor leader is the worst choice possible

Likely NSW Labor leader is the worst choice possible

29 Mar 11 The man most likely to lead the NSW Labor Opposition is the man least equipped to bring the party together…... Read more

NSW repays Labor in spades for years of contempt

NSW repays Labor in spades for years of contempt

26 Mar 11 The fallout from the destruction of the Labor Party in NSW today will be almost nuclear. The once-mighty ALP has…... Read more

How a football club helped change a city

How a football club helped change a city

25 Mar 11 Can a football team change a town? Can sport become a symbol of renewal, and give a community a sense…... Read more

The bills that could cost our politicians power

The bills that could cost our politicians power

22 Mar 11 The staggering rise in electricity prices over the past few years has been the single-biggest cost of living issue for…... Read more

Kissing another state Labor government goodbye

Kissing another state Labor government goodbye

20 Mar 11 It will be the political equivalent of a slasher movie, a bloody affair in which the bodies of sitting members…... Read more

A dumb, webbed-up nation cheers on the fat kid

A dumb, webbed-up nation cheers on the fat kid

17 Mar 11 About 10 years ago in southern California a young fellow by the name of Ryan McPherson hit upon the idea…... Read more

NSW: from shonkiness and sloth to visionless inertia

NSW: from shonkiness and sloth to visionless inertia

15 Mar 11 “Some day someone will write the full story of Australian roguery, from the rum racketeers of the First Fleet to…... Read more

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Abbott’s crass logic: trash the Parliament in order save it

Abbott’s crass logic: trash the Parliament in order save it

An email was sent to almost every politician in Australia this week saying that someone should cut off…

Our special forces don’t always need special treatment

Our special forces don’t always need special treatment

We admire them, but we’re not entirely sure why. We allow them to operate in the shadows; we rarely…

A good holiday is about unrest, not rest

A good holiday is about unrest, not rest

Like a fat full-stop, it lay in my hand. A small orange – not exactly fresh, but purchased anyway…

Gentle jabs to the ribs

They must pay for one’s bitter disappointments

They must pay for one’s bitter disappointments

A private school girl’s family is sueing her elite, extremely expensive private school for not… Read more

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