Phillip Coorey
Phillip Coorey joined the Sydney Morning Herald in 2005 and is the paper's Chief Political Correspondent, based in Canberra. Previously he was the Political Editor for Adelaide's The Advertiser. He has been in the Canberrra Press Gallery since 1998, except for 2003 and 2004 when he was the New York correspondent for News Ltd.
Phillip Coorey
Absent Hockey will be front and centre if Abbott falters
Phillip Coorey There was a brief period of unrest in the Coalition last week when MPs were wondering why the shadow treasurer, Joe Hockey, was not among the speakers at an economic summit in Melbourne.
Phillip Coorey
States give Abbott a nasty headache
Phillip Coorey In one week, the NSW and Queensland governments effectively neutered two of Tony Abbott's attack lines against the Gillard government - school funding and the mining tax.
Phillip Coorey
Why the Coalition is on a winner - it's all about individual pain
Phillip Coorey W hen John Howard told Parliament on March 26, 2007, ''working families in Australia have never been better off'', he was entitled to boast.
The ghost of issues past still haunts Gillard, two years on
Phillip Coorey When Julia Gillard knocked off Kevin Rudd two years ago yesterday, Labor was floundering principally because of three intractable policy issues - the mining tax, carbon pricing and asylum seekers.
Phillip Coorey
Green dilemma has Labor in a spin
Phillip Coorey The whole political establishment will be watching this Saturday's byelection for the state seat of Melbourne.
Phillip Coorey
Labor hegemony may be dead but it's not all bad for Gillard
Phillip Coorey This Friday, the Labor government will find itself outnumbered for the first time in 4½ years in office.
Phillip Coorey
Gillard can rearrange the backdrop but the outlook remains the same
Phillip Coorey Last Thursday, before flying from Istanbul to Ankara, and then home, Julia Gillard held the final press conference of her trip abroad.
Phillip Coorey
New-look carbon fix makes Abbott a man of steel
Phillip Coorey The night before he became Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott virtually pleaded with Joe Hockey to take the job. ''Joe, we're offering you the leadership of the Liberal Party on a plate,'' he said.
Phillip Coorey
Plenty of signs, none of them good for ALP
Phillip Coorey THE backlash against the Brumby government in Victoria has surprised federal Labor, jeopardised its health reforms and paved the way for a thrashing of NSW Labor on March 26.
Phillip Coorey
Voters get a taste for miner miracles
Phillip Coorey A week is no longer a long time in politics, it is an eternity. With the rapid advent of new media - the internet, twitter, 24-hour television news and so forth - the news cycle has accelerated and...
Phillip Coorey
Rudd may be the blip in selling mining tax
Phillip Coorey The government's penchant for acronyms has reached the stage where even the opposition is struggling to keep up.
Phillip Coorey
A precious commodity called unity goes West
Phillip Coorey The refusal by the West Australian Premier, Colin Barnett, to cede a third of his GST revenue to Kevin Rudd to pay for health reform contained an element of parochialism.
Phillip Coorey
The overlooked truth: states cannot afford soaring health costs
Phillip Coorey When he was the opposition leader, Kevin Rudd once observed the two state Labor governments he rated the highest were those of Victoria and South Australia.
Phillip Coorey
Rudd's humble pie leaves a bad taste
Phillip Coorey Tony Abbott heads to Alice Springs today for four days, two of which will be spent mixing with young indigenous people on remote stations.
Phillip Coorey
No winners in fight over climate change
Phillip Coorey Principle will make a rare appearance in Parliament today when Malcolm Turnbull speaks in favour of the emissions trading scheme legislation that was reintroduced
