Federal Politics

Mark Kenny

Mark Kenny is Fairfax Media's chief political correspondent. A director of the National Press Club, he regularly appears on the ABC's Insiders, Sky News Agenda, and Ten's Meet the Press. He has reported from Canberra under three prime ministers and several opposition leaders.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull must seize his chance when addressing the National Press Club to unveil a bold plan.

Malcolm Turnbull's year is not cactus ... yet

The Wire's arch drug lord Avon Barksdale was philosophical in the face of a long jail sentence: "You only serve two days, the day you go in, and the day you get out". You'd think this mentality could work best for parties consigned to the opposition benches. But no. These days, its governments that feel most hemmed in, constrained at every turn by the crushing weight of febrile politics, internal divisions, anaemic growth, and inevitable disappointment.For Malcolm Turnbull, and indeed most governments recently, Barksdale's advice seems most apposite. Although in Turnbull's case, even the day he won was pretty terrible, marred as it was by something of a hissy-fit.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's leadership stands on a reactionary plinth of hostiles who will ensure that he does it ...

Courage goes AWOL on climate policy

Everything seemed to close in on Julia Gillard in August 2012, when the country's first female prime minister faced a personal crisis over a past relationship and an AWU slush fund set up in the early 1990s.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Tuesday he had never supported a carbon tax.

PM triumphs on union bill but is betrayed on backpacker tax

Morale within the Turnbull government spiked on Wednesday following the successful passage of its long-denied building unions watchdog legislation, but any smiles were shortlived when a crossbench deal on its 15 per cent backpacker tax collapsed just half an hour later, delivering a humiliating defeat in the Senate.