Mark Kenny
Mark Kenny has been Political Editor of The Advertiser since 2006 after several years at the ABC having worked in both radio and television. He is a director of the National Press Club, a member of the Federal Press Gallery committee, and a member of the House Howlers - the satirical press gallery choir. He regularly appears as a political commentator on Sky’s Agenda program, Ten’s Meet the Press, Insiders, and numerous radio programs around the country.
Articles by Mark Kenny
This concern for Thomson won’t change the script
Under pressure himself over his crusade against Craig Thomson, Tony Abbott has moved to present a softer side, suggesting that…... Read more
The world puzzles over Australia’s Prime Minister
Even in Chicago, they are puzzling over Labor’s long march to oblivion. In 1987, prior to becoming chief of staff…... Read more
Wise words for all politicians: the truth will normally do
Bill Kelty’s awkward syntax and mumbled diction have always been a bit of a paradox. For 17 years to 2000,…... Read more
They just are… dumb politics
Wayne Swan’s 2012-13 blueprint was well crafted and immediately drew errors from the Opposition. Tony Abbott’s one-speed approach to political…... Read more
Surplus circus serves a purpose, on the surface.
Labor’s recovery plan is simple and unexciting: delivering an unlikely Budget surplus. Yet with a primary vote languishing in the…... Read more
No comfort for Gillard even if Slipper dons robes again
Last Friday, Minister for Mental Health and the Ageing Mark Butler gave Canberra correspondents a pre-announcement briefing on his aged…... Read more
Middle-class welfare will test Australia’s means
When Tony Abbott went to London last year, he talked up the Australian economy against that of Britain, other European…... Read more
A Herculean effort in Afghanistan
Among the multiple emergency exits built into the mighty C130 Hercules is one in the forward half of the aeroplane…... Read more
A bunch of insiders risk pushing Labor outside
“I can see clearly now, my job is gone,” to paraphrase the 1972 hit song. Suddenly seeing clearly is what…... Read more
Why we actually are the economic envy of the world
Consider this. Twenty-three per cent of home owners in the United States currently have underwater mortgages. That’s close to one…... Read more
Tony Abbott is losing faith
John Howard notched up his final election victory in 2004 by pointedly asking voters “who do you trust?’‘ Years of…... Read more
The big, fat tax on mining is crucial to the budget surplus
At some point late in 2011, Julia Gillard and Wayne Swan decided to firm-up their language on delivering the small…... Read more
Defence goes on the attack as Smith hangs tough
Rising proudly from the rich green lawns between the main Defence Department buildings at one end of Canberra’s Kings Avenue…... Read more
Gillard needs her reshuffle to be a high-kicking can-can
Julia Gillard is preparing to unveil her new ministerial line-up today. It should be a triumph, the crowning moment when…... Read more
Why is Labor’s favourite son backing the pretender?
The existential threat to Julia Gillard’s prime ministership has now passed but the price in political terms will be colossal.…... Read more
Why is this man so popular, and how long can it last?
There are several theories about Kevin Rudd’s alleged popularity. One is that it is simple nostalgia - made possible because…... Read more
From the moment of victory Gillard headed for defeat
When a victorious Julia Gillard walked in to a packed press conference on the morning of June 24 2010, she…... Read more
Wrap of the week: It’s the economy, stupid
There is a touch of Lleyton Hewitt about Julia Gillard. It is not merely that both are redheads or that…... Read more
Kevin 2.0 could be better. Or it could be even KRuddier.
As key moments go, it ranked with Gough Whitlam’s dramatic dismissal speech branding Malcolm Fraser “Kerr’s cur’’ or the latter’s…... Read more
Julia Gillard is on the highway to the danger zone
Typically, leadership contests have that nagging chicken-or-egg feel about them. They usually involve a period of intense public speculation with…... Read more
The saying goes, politics is showbusiness for ugly people
AND, action! A senior cabinet minister generally regarded as among the more effective, uses a major speech on Australia Day-eve…... Read more
2012: Julia Gillard’s year of living precariously
It was a common question over the break: “What’s going to happen in Canberra this coming year - will there…... Read more
Someone’s getting grounded: our pollies’ 2011 report card
Let’s get one thing straight up front. Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott probably deserve points merely for surviving this arduous…... Read more
Anyone but Gillard vs. anyone but Rudd
When Julia Gillard walked into a press conference on Monday to announce a new ministerial line-up, it was already being…... Read more
She robs Rudd of office, then rubs him from history
“She gave us nothing really, no inspiration and no feeling for the party’s mood. She calls Abbott ‘Dr No’ but…... Read more
A mini budget with an eye to a major electoral payoff
Yesterday’s mini-budget tells an economic story but it is primarily a political document. Outwardly designed to position the nation against…... Read more
Arsegate and other Upper House shenanigans
Australian senators accused of leering at each other’s posteriors? Of failing to show respect? Of not “bowing and scraping” sufficiently…... Read more
Who’d a thunk it? A political year with no spilled blood
It is called the killing season in Canberra for a reason - a curiously fractious time of year when weakened…... Read more
Churlish Abbott not ready to play with the big kids
Power, Chairman Mao once observed, grows from the barrel of a gun. For incumbent PM, Julia Gillard, it arrived this…... Read more
The carbon baby is cooing, but wait till the terrible twos
With Julia Gillard’s carbon price finally locked in, several questions in national politics can be pared back to one suggesting…... Read more
Gillard’s carbon victory more toxic than sweet
Two years after Kevin Rudd’s carbon pollution reduction scheme crashed in Parliament, Julia Gillard is poised to achieve what he…... Read more
Qantas turbulence reveals IR policy vacuum
Contempt ran deep for the old IR club with its protected unions and compulsory arbitration, spawning the short-lived “new right”,…... Read more
Labor points behind but finally kicking with the wind
They are reluctant to discuss it but Labor insiders see reasons for hope - however slight. One reason, surprisingly enough,…... Read more
Take-no-prisoners approach could bite Abbott on the…
The conservative radio personality Alan Jones is regarded as the most powerful broadcaster in the country. So his appearance at…... Read more
The carbon comic farce and Gillard’s pound of flesh
You know things have sunk pretty low when forcing an electorally toxic broken promise through Parliament prompts high-fives and kisses…... Read more
Just like Medicare, except Australians don’t want it
Given the bitterness of political exchange, Julia Gillard may be excused for crowing, for basking in the warm light of…... Read more
Malaysia: The worst possible solution
Winston Churchill once noted that democracy was the worst form of government, except for all the rest. It may also…... Read more
Labor’s karma not dogma their own worst enema
Exquisite for some, bitter for others, the irony or perhaps karma of Labor’s current dilemma cannot have escaped members of…... Read more
Abbott may need to revive dead, buried IR policy
“Dead, buried, cremated,” Tony Abbott decreed theatrically of WorkChoices amid a shaky start to his 2010 election campaign. It turned…... Read more
Malaysia ruling sweet music for some, dirge for others
The taut grimace on Chris Bowen’s babyish countenance said it all. This was as tough a task as the widely…... Read more
Craig Thomson, carbon tax and a risky road to nowhere
A “CT’” scan of the Gillard Government shows up the problems clearly enough. Two of them actually: the Carbon Tax…... Read more
An island of calm amid global economic meltdown
Twenty years ago today, Muscovites awoke to tanks in their streets in a ill-fated coup against the modernising leader, Mikhail…... Read more
Swipe your way to a parliamentary career
If Macquarie Bank was capitalism’s “Millionaires Factory,’’ the Labor equivalent, at least in SA, is the powerful Shop Distributive and…... Read more
South Australia in limbo, governed by an also-Rann
South Australia has not so much two premiers now but none. The outgoing Mike Rann has played his assassins off…... Read more
It’s well worth debating the state of public debate
It has become fashionable to engage in a debate about the state of public debate of late. This introspection comes…... Read more
Retreat and withdraw: Gillard’s new strategy
APRIL 8,1974. My darling Heather, I write to you at a time when I think I’ve never felt worse about…... Read more
Britain can teach us how to keep our House in order
From the parliamentary precinct across Lake Burley Griffin to this correspondent’s home takes six or seven minutes by car -…... Read more
Labor’s dilemma: Plan B is to stick to Plan A
Tony Abbott has undermined his own multi-billion dollar climate change policy declaring the bipartisan target of 5 per cent emissions…... Read more
In Abbott we trust, sort of
When John Howard finally called an election in 2004, he had a cunning plan. The ageing PM had trailed for…... Read more
No one’s tuning in to Gillard FM
Labor strategists believe that in normal circumstances, their Prime Minister has both sufficient time and enough fibre to turn things…... Read more
Facebook Recommendations
Read all about it
Punch live
Up to the minute Twitter chatter
RT @JamieTravers: I'm in Europe and don't care for Eurovision, why is my twitter feed filled with Aussies recounting the bloody thing!?
Ukraine song pinches chord progression from The Verve's Bittersweet Symphony. Fo real #sbseurovision
RT @GerardDaffy: @antsharwood all the talk over there is the grannies will win.they entered to get a church built,feelgood story
Recent posts
The latest and greatest
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
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
Like a fat full-stop, it lay in my hand. A small orange – not exactly fresh, but purchased anyway…
Nosebleed Section
choice ringside rantings
From: They must pay for one’s bitter disappointments
Michael S says:
"A teacher at Geelong Grammar had criticised her for using words that were too long, which had left her confused and had made her doubt her ability to write essays. She became ''quite distressed'' when her English marks began to fall." I can sympathise. My scholastic mentors conveyed to me a causal relationship… [read more]From: Welfare for breeders is a bonus for everyone
Change Up! says:
I have no problem paying my taxes. As a single, childless person on a very decent income, I can afford it and not have my life severely altered. Plus I understand that my taxes paying for things like schools, childcare and infrastructure is ultimately a good thing. A better community is better for me… [read more]Gentle jabs to the ribs
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
