menu_open Columnists
Annika Smethurst

Annika Smethurst

The Daily Telegraph

We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

Bland and fake: Why the electorate has given up listening to politicians

Picking a winner in the Melbourne Cup is a mug’s game, but it doesn’t stop us having a punt. Whether it’s a tip from a bloke who knows someone...

06.12.2024 4

The Age

Annika Smethurst

Labor has given up on Prahran. It’s an astonishing act of political cowardice

It’s an astonishing act of political cowardice. The Victorian Labor Party has ruled out running a byelection candidate in Prahran, where it has...

28.11.2024 1

The Age

Annika Smethurst

Allan’s likeability rating has tumbled and there may be no way back

It was late 1988 when current affairs magazine, The Bulletin, ran its famous cover story, featuring then federal opposition leader, John Howard....

14.11.2024 8

The Age

Annika Smethurst

Libs and Greens out, teals in: Election results send shockwaves across state

While the world’s gaze is fixed on the consequences of Donald Trump’s return to the White House, closer to home Victorian MPs are reeling from...

07.11.2024 1

The Age

Annika Smethurst

The voters Allan needs to win over on housing are volatile – and their numbers are growing

There was some rare good news on the economic front this week when fresh data showed we are winning the battle against inflation, with...

31.10.2024 3

The Age

Annika Smethurst

Housing is a tenure-defining policy for Jacinta Allan, if she can make it stick

Jacinta Allan’s first year as premier was characterised by backflips – the wash-up from the cancelled Commonwealth Games, a second safe injecting...

20.10.2024 2

The Age

Annika Smethurst

Pesutto’s would-be dethroners appear to have outwitted themselves

In an unlikely twist, John Pesutto’s strongest critics may have saved the Liberal leader from political oblivion. At the start of the week,...

10.10.2024 1

The Age

Annika Smethurst

Deeming has given Liberals the fuel to burn Pesutto. Who will dare to strike a match?

It’s been an unsparing 14 days for John Pesutto but as the defamation case brought against him comes to an end, his message is clear. “We were...

03.10.2024 2

The Age

Annika Smethurst

Not even MAFS could deliver the drama of the Deeming and Pesutto trial

Kim was double-crossed by John. John can’t stand Katherine. Louise wanted Moira gone, as did Matthew. Brad and Richard were in disbelief. And...

26.09.2024 3

The Age

Annika Smethurst

Secret recordings and Proud Boys: Trial has been four days of embarrassment for Liberals

If the Brits had Wagatha Christie and the Yanks had the Depp-Heard defamation case, then Spring Street’s answer to a (minor) celebrity trial has...

19.09.2024 10

The Age

Annika Smethurst

Jacinta Allan’s list of broken promises is growing. Instead of being a bug, it should be a feature

It’s long been considered a cardinal sin for politicians to break commitments to the electorate. And not only because it hands the opposition an...

12.09.2024 2

The Age

Annika Smethurst

The Liberal Party is going to war with itself in court, and the only winner will be Jacinta Allan

“Our only hope now is that Iran invades Israel, and only then might this saga stay out of the papers,” one Liberal MP quipped this week. The saga,...

05.09.2024 1

The Age

Annika Smethurst

Delays, blowouts and stuff-ups: Victoria’s project problem is bigger than Allan

“Over budget, over time, under benefits, over and over again” – it’s a phenomenon that Bent Flyvbjerg, professor at the University of...

22.08.2024 1

The Age

Annika Smethurst

Youth crime policy reversal is about politics, not safety

Let’s be blunt here. The government’s decision to back out of its promise to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14 was a political one....

13.08.2024 10

The Age

Annika Smethurst

Jacinta Allan is failing to cut through. The denials are making it worse

When polling is released – particularly bad results – MPs are encouraged to parrot the line that the “the only poll that matters is on election...

18.07.2024 2

The Age

Annika Smethurst