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
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
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
Abrasive Newman gives Labor a lift
Phillip Coorey Fancy an elected leader likening people's jobs to dog poo. Boil it down and that's what the Queensland Premier, Campbell Newman, did last Thursday during a rowdy debate over his plans to take the axe...
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
For Labor, largesse may be last chance
Phillip Coorey Kevin Rudd looked a little lost last week when wandering the Senate corridors looking for Bob Brown.
Phillip Coorey
No room to gloat for glum Hockey
Phillip Coorey JOE HOCKEY hasn't looked so uncomfortable since Australia last avoided recession.
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
Gillard still queen of the jungle
Phillip Coorey Two weeks ago, leaked internal polling showed Labor on track to lose the state seat of Melbourne to the Greens in the byelection held on Saturday.
Phillip Coorey
Rudd turns to the people not the party
Phillip Coorey KEVIN Rudd is counting on the love of the people, not his colleagues, if he is to emerge victorious from Monday's leadership ballot.
Phillip Coorey
PM ends her week as she began - with a win
Phillip Coorey JULIA Gillard has turned disaster into a stunning victory and, in doing so, has reasserted the authority the party only renewed in her on Monday.
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
Gillard has faith in poll resurrection
Phillip Coorey Julia Gillard is not one to bemoan her lot publicly, nor is she prone to reacting to the potshots her detractors take at her personal life.
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
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
PM turns away from a taxing distraction
Phillip Coorey Julia Gillard set her own test for this budget when she addressed caucus on Monday. In what could be construed as a concession to her foe, Gillard told her charges that Tony Abbott had managed to...
Phillip Coorey
Labor's state losses are Gillard's gains
Phillip Coorey The Victorian government may have been a bit long in the tooth but it was still doing a decent job.
Phillip Coorey
CBA and its cronies can bank on the wails
Phillip Coorey Not so long ago, the government was singing the praises of the Commonwealth Bank and its boss, Ralph Norris. It was April last year and the nation was in the grip of the global financial crisis.
