Laura Tingle
Laura Tingle is the chief political correspondent for nightly current affairs program 7.30. One of Australia's best journalists and top political analysts, she's spent most of her 35-year career in journalism reporting on Australian federal politics, and the country's major policy debates.
A journalist, author and essayist, she was formerly the political editor of The Australian Financial Review.
Latest by Laura Tingle
Analysis
analysis:Everyone smells blood in the water around the government. Framing the issues has become more important than ever
Some frame Julian Assange as a free press warrior and others a reckless hacker. As Anthony Albanese backed quiet diplomacy to free him, this unusual move to wield political influence over the legal systems of our democratic allies seems to have been lost in the haze.
'Not sustainable': NDIS architects say reform legislation must pass
An overhaul of the NDIS has left the disability community concerned but minister Bill Shorten says they have nothing to fear.
Analysis
analysis:A surge in the polls spurred the Coalition to announce its nuclear plans. Now both parties have a birthday cake problem
A surge in the polls helped spur the Coalition to announce its nuclear policy. Whether it holds on to that lead will come down to which side can persuade voters that such complex issues can magic up any short-term betterment in their lives.
Analysis
analysis:If Albanese doesn't move quickly, Dutton will continue to set the rules of play in political debate
The recent political debates have seen Peter Dutton set the rules of play — it's a strategy that Anthony Albanese will need to counteract quickly to avoid trouble.
Analysis
analysis:The cutting of public service 'fat cats' is popular, until it results in a bureaucracy run into the ground
Amid the "direction 99" controversy, the importance of adequate investment in institutions in order to meet the needs of Australians is once again coming to a head.
Analysis
analysis:Hysterical alarm at increases in government spending fails to acknowledge the elephant in the room
In the past 10-15 years, there has been bipartisan support for a range of decisions that profoundly increase the cost of government. Yet the hysterical alarm at increases in the size of government spending fail to acknowledge this.
Analysis
analysis:Dutton has reduced a massively complex issue to a populist and misleading piece of political mischief
The significance of a major political leader playing so divisive a card on our community is a step that shouldn't go unnoticed, no matter how inured to it we have become over the years in the wake of Pauline Hanson and "boat people" politics.
Analysis
analysis:Much of Chalmers's success will rest on just one budget measure that economists will hate
This federal budget doesn't read like one where the cabinet put a list together of disgruntled people to appease — instead, it acknowledges the government is facing a mountain of problems that cannot be solved any time soon.
Analysis
analysis:You can only judge a budget once you've seen the whole thing, but there's already a feeling of 'too many notes'
A few days before the budget there's a bit of a "too many notes" feeling to the Albanese government's current suite of issues in play and, sadly, not all of it is ingenious or quality.
Analysis
analysis:There is so much to be done to combat the gendered violence crisis. Here are a few places the government could start
The question now for all politicians is how to ensure the momentum to properly address at least some of the issues fuelling the gendered violence crisis continues.
Analysis
analysis:From domestic violence to terrorism and war, social media is a thread that connects all the issues that now challenge us
A debate that has largely been framed in terms of freedom of speech has become conflated with a whole range of issues that now challenge us: from social cohesion, to terrorism, to domestic violence.
Analysis
analysis:The uncomfortable truth of how our political leaders responded to Brittany Higgins's rape allegation lingers
Bruce Lerhmann's defamation case has exposed a continuing hostility to women in the broader Australian community which has seen women too eagerly cast as liars, whatever the nature of the issue that has brought them to public attention.
Analysis
analysis:Arab and Muslim voters in Australia feel unheard by our major parties
If Palestinians feel unloved by both Israel and Hamas in Gaza, their family and friends in Australia feel equally unloved by our major political parties.
Analysis
analysis:Governments are now outraged over Israel's actions in Gaza. But there's something disturbing about what triggered it
Something snapped this week in the international community’s tolerance for Israel's repeated alleged breaches of the rules of war, let alone its tolerance of a tragedy that has seen tens of thousands of civilians killed since October 7.
Analysis
analysis:There's only one issue that matters to voters right now and the Coalition won't talk about it
With a by-election in Dunkley this weekend, you would think the cost of living would be the major focus of the Coalition's political attack on the government. Or even that it might just be out there talking about it a bit, writes Laura Tingle.
Analysis
analysis:The widespread delusion that obscures what's at the heart of all real politics
The building blocks for a reconstruction of the political debate seem to be there — if there are willing takers who want to flesh out and examine these ideas, writes Laura Tingle.
Analysis
analysis:When bad politics became cunningly clever politics
When bad politics turn cunningly clever, voters might be tempted to overlook Anthony Albanese's broken promise, writes Laura Tingle.
Analysis
analysis:The public doesn’t give a stuff about much of what the government does. That's not true for the conflict in the Middle East
Whether we like it or not, the Middle East conflict already has massive ramifications for debate in Australia. That only increases the pressure on the government over how it conceives our national interest in the issue, writes Laura Tingle.
Analysis
analysis:A sullen electorate, an opponent with lethal populism and unanswered questions: Can the PM regain control in 2024?
Anthony Albanese is finishing the year with a sullen electorate that can't really see past the economic pain it is feeling, and national security back in the realm of talk about border security and terrorists, writes Laura Tingle.
Laura Tingle speaks to Anthony Albanese about the year in politics
Natural disasters aren't the only crisis preoccupying the Albanese government: 2023 has seen rising inflation, a cost of living and housing crisis, the defeat of the Voice referendum and war returning to the Middle East.
Duration: 17 minutes 17 seconds
Analysis
analysis:The fate of the stage 3 tax cuts could change the 'story' of the government's third budget
The real political danger — and the opportunity — that now confronts the government is that as nominal wages rise, the very issue that the stage 3 tax cuts were supposed to address is coming into play, writes Laura Tingle.
Analysis
analysis:The NDIS has many issues that need solving. The most pressing is what happens to the kids it cannot help
The NDIS is often described as having become the only lifeboat on the ocean for people with disabilities. It was also always one of the most complex and ambitious bits of public policy in the world, writes Laura Tingle.
Vale Patricia Barraclough, celebrated ABC producer who broke ground in 40-year career
In a career that stretched over 40 years, Patricia Barraclough – who died in Canberra last month – elevated the quality and intelligence of some of ABC television's most successful current affairs programs, Laura Tingle writes.
Analysis
analysis:In parliament and in homes, discussion over the Israel-Gaza conflict is reaching a very dangerous tipping point
What happened in the aftermath of the Sydney Theatre Company performance is a reflection of how the latest conflict in the Middle East has erupted into bitter and dangerous reductionism in political debates in Australia, writes Laura Tingle.
Analysis
analysis:There's plenty of gold in the government's mid-term chaff
Between Australia's economic situation and the crisis in the Middle East, there has been a growing sense that the government is not in control of events — and it's throwing out lots of chaff, writes Laura Tingle.