Crikey is an independent news website featuring commentary on politics, media, business, culture and technology.

Crikey
Scroll to top
Former Liberal MP and newly appointed AAT member Jane Prentice (Image: AAP/Mick Tsikas)

Porter gives some last-minute Christmas presents at the AAT

The attorney-general made 14 appointments to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal on Friday, five of which are linked to the Coalition.

(Image: AAP/James Ross)

2020: when Australians, and government, stepped up

Australia ends the year in a much better economic position that we might have expected six months ago. And that's down to ordinary Australians and a rapid government response.

The rort that got away: it started with a Downer

Georgina Downer's big cheque is but an early footnote in the sports rorts affair. But in many ways, it sums up what the whole sorry episode was about.

Remember the biggest scandal of the year? We do. As the year ends, let’s not forget it

Crikey looks back at one of the most egregious cases of pork-barrelling in Australian political history.

Get all the dirt for breakfast

Free to your inbox every weekday morning.
Most Read

Help us keep digging

Save up to 50% on a year of Crikey
Join now
Our Columnists
(Image: AAP Image/David Crosling)

A key COVID lesson: put scientific funding on a whole new level or pay the price

Want your scientists to find a cure for cancer — or a deadly pandemic? It's not the research standing in the way, it's the funding model.

Google Australia and New Zealand managing director Melanie Silva (Image: Google)

Google code pushback raises prospect of a local pullout and global deal

Is Google planning to pull out of the Australian market? It's not as unlikely as it may seem.

Rupert Murdoch

Here’s a radical way to fix News Corp — let’s sue it for deceptive conduct

It's an out-there idea, but it's not impossible. And just think of the schadenfreude.

ACCC chair Rod Sims.

Inside the murky world of franchising where dreams are too often shattered

The Retail Food Group is being sued for acting 'unconscionably and engaging in false, misleading and deceptive conduct'.

People line up for COVID-19 testing in Sydney (Image: AAP /Dean Lewins)

The real test is how fast we can test, but the government keeps dragging its feet

Until the vaccine is deployed, the fastest route to normality is the widespread deployment of rapid testing. Yet the government seemingly has no interest in groundbreaking, Australian-made technology to allow for just that.

(Image: SOPA/Pietro Recchia/Sipa USA)

Mutant strains are mostly the same, but Europe’s COVID-19 spread is alarming

The northern hemisphere is facing a COVID Christmas as the virus continues to surge.

US President Donald Trump (Image: AP/Alex Brandon)

Trump’s odyssey is destined to continue, but history tells us it won’t end well

As a leader with an insatiable thirst for power, attention and money, Trump will not go quietly. But he's merely treading a well-worn path of populists before him.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama (Image: AAP/Dan Himbrechts)

How Australia and Fiji’s leaders approach climate change

Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison couldn't have more different attitudes to climate change.

The big smoke job: a century of peddling a killer product

Australian regulation has long been a thorn in the side of big tobacco. But while it might have slowed them down, it certainly hasn't stopped them.

(Image: AAP/Private Media)

Sleaze of Origin: All to play for in the corruption grand final

It's down to one final contest. Can Victorian Labor face down the hard-nosed professionals of the Morrison government?

(Image: AP/Mark Lennihan)

COVID vaccine just a shot in the dark against the next global killer virus

This coronavirus is merely a dress rehearsal but there's no sign of any comprehensive plans for the viral age's next attack.

Gladys Berejiklian and Daryl Maguire (Images: AAP)

Secrecy in the year that was: Crikey asks the questions we didn’t get answers to in 2020

Once again with feeling: who, what, when, where and why. Simple questions, elusive answers.

Disney+ (Image: Supplied)

How to hurt Murdoch: boycott Mickey Mouse, Marvel and all things Disney

Kevin Rudd's call to shun the REA Group wouldn't raise a blip on Rupert Murdoch's screen. But there'd be massive shock waves if Disney went broke.

(Image: Twitter)

Tweet this: it’s time for journalists to listen and learn — and dump aggressive hot takes

The best journalism of 2020 was created by those who combined social media nous and wanting to inform — not berate — their audience.

(Image: AAP/Penny Stephens)

2020 was a record year for journo job losses. What comes next?

The cuts have sent a terrible message to readers: if the media doesn’t value journalism, why should you?