
Crikey
An independent Australian website for news, investigations, analysis and opinion across politics, world affairs, business, society and culture.
Featured Writers


Kristine Ziwica
Kristine Ziwica is a Melbourne-based columnist and consultant who has 20 years' experience working in Australia, the United States and the UK on human rights and gender equality campaigns.
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Tom Hawking
I'm a New York-based writer and editor, originally from Melbourne, Australia. My work focuses on culture, society and politics. I am a former Managing Editor of Renew, and I was …
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Petra Stock
Petra Stock is an award-winning freelance journalist, specialising in science, technology, education and climate change. Her portfolio includes news, magazine and online features, explainers, investigations and podcasts, with stories published …
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Kurt Johnson
Italy-based Australian writer on memory, tech and climate.Author of The Red Wake (Random House, 2016)
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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has accused the Nobel Foundation of helping encourage the Trump administration to interfere in Venezuela, via its decision to award the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado. This follows a legal complaint he filed in December against the foundation. “The number …

Forget Snoop Dogg, let's talk about the AFL's reliance on gambling and alcohol revenue instead
Last week, the AFL announced that the US rapper Snoop Dogg would headline pre-game entertainment on Grand Final day — an announcement that was promptly met with condemnation from some Victorian-based organisations dedicated to the prevention of violence against women. They demanded the rapper be dumped due to his history …

'I'm a TERF': Inside the UK's version of Sky News — and Trump's new media partner
“I hope you like TERFS and Jews,” quips Josh Howie, host of GB News’ Free Speech Nation, a program that involves guests fielding live questions from the crowd about the news of the day. Debuting on British free-to-air TV just over four years ago and last year beating BBC News …

Is Tanya Plibersek up to tackling her mounting inbox as she returns to the Social Services portfolio?
The post-election reshuffle has gifted us a new minister heading up the department responsible for delivering the National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children and its bold promise to end gendered violence “within a generation”: Tanya Plibersek. Plibersek has returned to the Department of Social Services, and, in …

Women's rage helped deliver Labor victory in 2022. This campaign has lost all momentum
As this campaign hurtles chaotically towards election day, try casting your minds back to the 2022 election. That was the election — a mere three years ago — when women’s rage, in no small part fuelled by ongoing high rates of gendered violence and extreme disquiet at the handling of …

Is Substack's ascent in Australia a tipping point for traditional media?
Substack, the widely used publishing and social media platform, recently surpassed 5 million paid subscriptions globally, with tens of millions of total active subscribers. You might recognise some writers and journalists on it, such as Rick Morton, John Birmingham, Bec Shaw, Tim Burrowes, Dan Barrett, Jonathan Green, Joel Jenkins, Mia …

Women have seen gains on many fronts. Can Australia hold on to them?
If you like this article, share it with your friends.While plenty of Australian businesses across the country still host pink-cupcake-catered “empowerment” events for International Women’s Day, it’s worth noting that the vacuous, corporate, “empowerment” feminism fever has broken. The past few years have seen significant, bringing meaningful policy and cultural …

'Hymn karaoke': Veterans organisation and War Memorial told to modernise Dawn Services or face 'irrelevance'
The RSL and the Australian War Memorial (AWM) have been warned they’re out of step on the Canberra Anzac Day Dawn Service that has been likened to church, after a complaint that the service amounted to discrimination against the growing number of irreligious people in Australia. Si Gladman, executive director …

Inside News Corp’s backfired 'UNDERCOVERJEW' operation
A News Corp operation sending an “undercover Jewish man” to a popular Egyptian cafe this week backfired when staff called the police following an altercation with Daily Telegraph journalists.

Journalists boycott SEN after sacking of pro-Palestine cricket commentator
Earlier this week, veteran freelance cricket commentator and journalist Peter Lalor was axed from radio station SEN’s cricket coverage midway through the Australian men’s Test tour of Sri Lanka due to his social media posts about Palestine.

‘Extremely prevalent’: Election betting rife in halls of Parliament
As the election draws ever closer, staffer group chats are heating up with talk about how to make money off democracy, according to sources speaking to Crikey.

Foxtel axing online access to streaming services in country Australia, including Binge, Kayo Sports
Foxtel has begun shutting down access to its online streaming services in remote areas of Australia.

Crikey’s editor says farewell, shares some gossip, and argues why independent media has never been more important
In early 2022 I unblocked Crikey’s political editor Bernard Keane on Twitter. I figured it was only polite before I began editing him. He graciously unblocked me too and neither of us acknowledged it. Little did I know, the first thing that would surprise me at Crikey was that Keane …

What are Australia’s journalists reading, listening to and subscribing to?
We began Crikey’s Movers and Shakers series with a look at what the biggest names in Australian journalism considered to be the last great piece of journalism they read. We finish the series with a look at their media diets.

‘Salaciousness’, ‘Qantas’, ‘Melissa Caddick’: Revealing the clickiest, most loved subjects with readers
It’s a constant battle between audiences, audience editors and data teams. Readers say they want positive, detailed, feel-good stories, while the data says they want negative, digestible slop that pulls on their emotions. Newsrooms are filled with the exasperation of reporters forced to write what clicks over something that fulfils …

Here are the stories Australia's top journalists say they're missing
This is the fourth instalment of a Crikey series, Movers and Shakers.

What’s your favourite journalist’s favourite piece of journalism?
This is the third instalment of a Crikey series, Movers and Shakers.

Australia’s media movers and shakers on who survives in Australian journalism
This is the second instalment of a Crikey series, Movers and Shakers.

Australia’s media movers and shakers on the biggest threats to journalism
This is the first instalment of a Crikey series, Movers and Shakers.

'They'll be more upset': Albo flagged shift in Australia’s Israel-Palestine position at private Labor event
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told those gathered at a private Labor event that a change to Australia’s Israel-Palestine position coming this week will “upset” critics of the government’s support of a two-state solution in the Middle East.

Documents reveal what the ABC spends on legal fees — but Aunty won't say how much Lattouf fight has cost
The ABC spent $3.42 million in legal fees in the 2023-24 financial year, new documents obtained by Crikey under freedom of information (FOI) laws reveal.

No, cricket is no longer the national sport, its window is getting smaller and smaller
The question of what Australia’s national sport is has occupied us for decades, igniting passionate debate at the pub, forcing us to grapple with ideas of what makes a sport part of the national identity and even inspiring a TAB campaign in which famous athletes cast a vote for their …

Americans voted for Trump. Many also voted for abortion rights. What happens next?
In a country where a majority of people support legal abortion, American voters have chosen for president a man who bragged about his role in appointing the Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v Wade, ending the federal constitutional right to an abortion. CNN’s national exit poll found 28% of …

'The camera and the mirror': Sitting down with Kim Williams on the future of the ABC
Earlier this year, after hearing about ABC chair Kim Williams’ thoughts on the broadcaster’s direction, Crikey got in touch and asked if he wanted to chat with us about what exactly he envisioned. Williams, a former News Corp chief executive known for his way with words, was announced as the …

WIN launches probe into employee, Lehrmann spotted, and we remember Colin Chapman (because the Oz doesn't)
WIN Corporation has launched an investigation into an employee’s social media accounts after receiving questions from Crikey. An X (formerly Twitter) account seemingly linked to a WIN Corporation employee, who Crikey has chosen not to name, appears to have abused sporting and media personalities dating back to October 2023. Following …

‘Widespread scepticism': Nine staff unimpressed by executives' response to damning cultural review
Nine staff have refuted executives’ claims that the findings of the company’s bombshell independent report into workplace culture, were “not about individuals”. Nine released the findings of the long-awaited review, conducted by consulting firm Intersection, on Thursday following allegations of toxicity, sexual harassment and bullying at the company across its …

Yes, journalists should publicise each others’ mistakes — we deserve that and so do you
Journalists are just like you — humans who make mistakes. At a time when they’re under increasing pressure, should reporters be writing about each other’s mistakes? That’s the question our debaters are tossing around in today’s Friday Fight. Arguing in the negative we have shareholder activist and Crikey founder Stephen …

A non-exhaustive list of NRL media figures involved with gambling companies
Last month Crikey brought you a list of many of the AFL media figures who publicly involve themselves in the betting industry, following our Punted series on gambling advertising. With the NRL grand final this Sunday, we’ve turned our attention to the favoured football code north of the Barassi Line. …

‘Farcical’: ABC staff react to racism review
Editorial staff at the ABC have reacted to a review that found “overwhelmingly” consistent experiences of racism within the national broadcaster’s workforce. On Tuesday, the Janke review into “ABC systems and processes in support of staff who experience racism” was released, and the findings were damning. The majority of participants …

'It’s fucked … most people know that': Sports podcasters speak out over gambling ad influence
As Crikey previously addressed via our Punted series, gambling advertising in sport is almost inescapable. Last week, we published a list of just how many people in AFL media were publicly involved in the betting industry, prompting some backlash and strong views from other sports media personalities. Crikey received this …
