Adjunct Professor, School of Communications, La Trobe University
The Australian Financial Review: International Editor (2010-2016), Washington correspondent (2004-2010), Political Editor (2000-2004), Financial Times: Middle East correspondent (1984-1993), Beijing bureau chief (1993-1998), North American correspondent 1998-2000. Publications include Arafat: The Biography (Virgin Books 2004) and The Thomson Five: A golfing legend's greatest triumphs (Melbourne University Press 2016). Graduate Australian National University BA.(1968) Dual Walkley award winner for commentary (2003 and 2007). Paul Lyneham Award Excellence Press Gallery journalism (2003).
A matter of (mis)trust: why this election is posing problems for the media
May 02, 2019 17:14 pm UTC| Insights & Views Politics
Election 2019 may well prove a watershed event in more ways than one. This will likely be the first time in the countrys electoral history that more voters are following the campaign online than via conventional media ...
No matter who wins the next election, managing the China relationship will be tricky – and vital
Mar 09, 2019 05:35 am UTC| Insights & Views Politics
This is part of a major series called Advancing Australia, in which leading academics examine the key issues facing Australia in the lead-up to the 2019 federal election and beyond. Read the other pieces in the series...
The Chinese coal 'ban' carries a significant political message
Mar 01, 2019 13:45 pm UTC| Insights & Views Politics
As a standoff over Australian coal shipments through the northern Chinese port of Dalian continues, it underscores the extent of Australias economic dependence on China. One-third of all Australias exports globally are...
Huawei executive's arrest will further test an already shaky US-China relationship
Dec 16, 2018 13:12 pm UTC| Insights & Views
When US Vice President Mike Pence got to his feet at the conservative Hudson Institute in Washington on October 4, it was clear that US-China relations were entering a new, certainly fractious, possibly destructive...
G20 summit bring a truce in US-China trade relations – but it's likely to be temporary
Dec 04, 2018 00:04 am UTC| Insights & Views
The United States and China have arrived at a temporary truce in a trade conflict that was threatening to further destabilise world equity markets, entrench a global slowdown and cause more damage to a rules-based...
Shifting the Australian embassy in Israel to Jerusalem would be a big, cynical mistake
Oct 17, 2018 21:55 pm UTC| Insights & Views
In the Gospel of Matthew 26:15, it took 30 pieces of silver for Judas Iscariot to betray Jesus. In modern Australian politics it has taken the prospect of a loss of a byelection for a political leader to opportunistically...
All eyes on November's G20 meeting as tensions between China and the US ratchet up
Oct 16, 2018 15:14 pm UTC| Insights & Views
When G20 finance ministers met in Bali last week to review economic developments in the lead-up to the annual G20 summit, they could not ignore troubling signs in the global economy driven by concerns about an intensifying...
Johannesburg in a time of darkness: Ivan Vladislavić’s new memoir reminds us of the city’s fragility
Labour can afford to be far more ambitious with its economic policies – voters are on board
Sudan: civil war stretches into a second year with no end in sight