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
Messy mining tax deal sealed in the early hours
Phillip Coorey Unsurprisingly, the government was able to find $100 million last night to soothe the concerns of the Greens and usher the mining tax through the House of Representatives at 2.42am.
Phillip Coorey
Greens held cards on mining tax but chose protest over action
Phillip Coorey Later today, if all goes to plan, the Senate will pass the legislation for the minerals resources rent tax, enabling it to start on July 1.
Coalition split over super rise linked to the mining tax
Phillip Coorey THE opposition spokesman for finance, Andrew Robb, has slammed the superannuation increases associated with the mining tax, despite the Coalition's decision to keep them if elected.
Phillip Coorey
Proof will be in the paying when mining tax kicks in
Phillip Coorey In the days leading up to last week's budget, the minerals giants grew nervous. Already cranky at having to pay the carbon tax and the mining tax from July 1, they were uneasy at speculation that...
Phillip Coorey
Rudd in no hurry to fix mining standoff
Phillip Coorey Kevin Rudd's decision to skip the Minerals Council of Australia's annual shindig this week and attend a Labor Party function instead is a gesture both symbolic and pointed.
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
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
Gillard on the front foot, lurches to right, but team Rudd not beaten
Phillip Coorey Kevin Rudd's dying words as prime minister were that he would never lurch to the right on asylum seekers, as was demanded of him as a condition of keeping his job.
Abbott having it both ways on BHP
Phillip Coorey The mining tax did not apply to Olympic Dam because it only applies to iron ore and coal. There is a strong but unsubstantiated rumour in the industry that when the minerals giants renegotiated the...
Phillip Coorey
Emissions trading easier to sell when it goes global
Phillip Coorey PUTTING a floor price on carbon pollution when the carbon tax morphed into an emissions trading scheme in 2015 was always a silly idea.
Phillip Coorey
Audacious spending plans aimed at drawing out opposition
Phillip Coorey A signature difference between government and opposition is that the former must account publicly for its promised spending every six months.
Phillip Coorey
PM fixes stalemate but funding battle will be Abbott's
Phillip Coorey Julia Gillard is taking a week off and, in the process, doing her bit for Queensland's struggling tourism sector.
Phillip Coorey
As the Coalition knows, there is a long history of costing opposition policies
Phillip Coorey The opposition and some sections of the media are in high dudgeon because information has been released. However, it's not the first time a government has costed opposition policies.
Phillip Coorey
Softly, softly, a slide into the red comes into view
Phillip Coorey Revelations today that not a single cent of mining tax was paid in the first three months of this financial year indicate the $1.1 billion surplus forecast on Monday may be gone already.
Phillip Coorey
Rudd camp stirs the surplus soup
Phillip Coorey Some weeks ago, Kevin Rudd accepted an invitation to join Bob Hawke and Bob Carr at Darling Harbour yesterday to celebrate 40 years of diplomatic ties between China and Australia.
Phillip Coorey
Slowdown a rich lode for politicians
Phillip Coorey Last week, when the Reserve Bank cut interest rates and downgraded its forecast for the economy, Tony Abbott became the latest politician to declare the mining boom over.
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
PM returns to disorder in the House and trouble over Rinehart deal
Phillip Coorey When Julia Gillard arrived home from Chicago on Wednesday morning and saw Anthony Albanese, she made an immediate observation: ''You look tired.''
Phillip Coorey
PM to bask in overseas glow as the knives sharpen at home
Phillip Coorey Sunday week, June 24, will mark the second anniversary of Julia Gillard's leadership coup over Kevin Rudd.
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.
