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
Abbott campaign takes spousal support to a new level
Phillip Coorey The perception that Tony Abbott has a problem with women has continued to grow, leading to today's nuclear option.
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.
Phillip Coorey
Jakarta on Abbott's to-do list but no one has told the Indonesians
Phillip Coorey Should Tony Abbott win the next election, his first week in office, by any measure, is going to be a busy one.
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
Liberals can walk policy tightrope while Labor circus is in town
Phillip Coorey As a follower of Irish politics, the Liberal Party's federal director, Brian Loughnane, is a fan of the acronym GUBU.
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
Abbott faces battle telling NSW Liberals what to do
Phillip Coorey Tony Abbott will have no quibble with a finding in part two of Labor's post-election review, the unreleased section that deals with the election campaign.
Phillip Coorey
Howard's book simply circles the wagons around his own legacy
Phillip Coorey Nothing is ever certain in politics, but in late 2007 it was a near certainty - and had been for some time - that John Howard's Coalition government was going to lose.
Phillip Coorey
Labor 2.0: a lumbering beast that might just avoid extinction
Phillip Coorey The soft carpet throughout the ministerial wing in Parliament House has its benefits, especially if you are a Labor minister walking behind two Liberal frontbenchers who do not realise you are there...
Phillip Coorey
Turnbull adds spice as leaders languish
Phillip Coorey One of the daftest statements this column has made came one year ago, with the call not even Tony Abbott was ''crazy enough'' to believe he would ever lead the Liberal Party.
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
Celebrity showdown in former PM's sacred seat
Phillip Coorey At the last federal election, it was the battle for Wentworth that gripped Sydney's attention because of the soap opera it became as Malcolm Turnbull fended off the eccentric human rights lawyer...
Phillip Coorey
Libs fear Joyce will overpower Hockey
Phillip Coorey ''This is going to be a disaster,'' said one MP. ''Great retail politician? Sure, but so was Pauline Hanson''.
Phillip Coorey
Rivals poised to give Hockey stick
Phillip Coorey Last Thursday night, as the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, flew to the Caribbean and senior Liberals started leaping off the front bench like lemmings, Labor MPs and their staff had a knees-up in...
Phillip Coorey
Railroaded by Rudd, Liberals fume
Phillip Coorey Today is about much more than Kevin Rudd's emissions trading scheme. It is a fight for the heart and soul of the federal parliamentary Liberal Party.
Phillip Coorey
Minchin's game is swallow the leader
Phillip Coorey Kevin Rudd's Government marks the second anniversary of its election tomorrow, but most attention most attention will be focused on the Opposition and its two climate change factions - Nick Minchin's...
Labor punished in polls for fumbling on asylum seekers
Phillip Coorey IF the Newspoll results are correct, Labor has a right to feel a little miffed. For Malcolm Turnbull, the poll is an obvious and welcome circuit breaker.
Phillip Coorey
Another job for a Tory, but Costello will have to help Labor look good
Phillip Coorey At the conclusion of the weekly cabinet meeting a fortnight ago, a minister, mostly in jest - but not entirely - dismissively slid a file along the table after a quick perusal.
Phillip Coorey
Costello's sharp tongue may never taste the milk of human kindness
Phillip Coorey When Labor stalwarts speak of the debt the party owes Kim Beazley, you need look no further than the state of the federal Liberal Party to understand why.
Phillip Coorey
Turnbull tortured by his own party
Phillip Coorey You really have to wonder about the Liberal Party. Only weeks after Peter Costello anoints the Opposition spokesman on health, Peter Dutton, as a future leader, and days after Malcolm Turnbull and...
