National Times

Annabel Crabb

Annabel Crabb

Annabel Crabb is a refugee from the legal profession who has been working as a journalist covering politics for ten years. She has written a book about the Labor Party ('Losing It', 2005) and recently published a Quarterly Essay on Malcolm Turnbull and the Liberal Party. A former political correspondent for The Age and London correspondent for Fairfax's Sunday titles, she is now a columnist and sketchwriter for the Herald and is a regular panellist on ABCTV's Insiders program.

Too much information: We are all now acquainted with the intimate details of Mr Rann's sexual peccadillos.

Depressing truth of Mike Rann's 'icky' business

Annabel Crabb Does anyone remember that Nicolas Cage movie where he wins the lottery then splits the $4 million winnings with the waitress whom he had been too poor to tip, the day before?

Questionable logic all round

Annabel Crabb It's kind of ironic that the Coalition started this week fighting tiredly once more on that well-worn battleground, Work Choices.

Choked up by a piercing adieu

Annabel Crabb IT WAS always going to be a high-Kleenex-count event. IT WAS always going to be a high-Kleenex-count event.

Oh boy - Julie and Julia turn up the heat

Annabel Crabb THE Liberal Party is having woman trouble. It all started yesterday morning with the Herald's report that Coalition chicks were not getting their fair share of questions at Question Time.

GFC becomes our surprise smash hit

Annabel Crabb It's now just about a year since two very significant things happened.

Sometimes it's wiser to let sleeping logs die …

Annabel Crabb There are many points of difference between Julia Gillard, Australian Deputy Prime Minister, and Tammy Wynette, late American country singer.

Ground control to Rudd: who the hell is running the ship?

Annabel Crabb

Annabel Crabb Who's steering this boat? After a third day of Coalition questioning on this matter, the answer remains resolutely unclear.

Ruddboat had all hands on deck to bale out flood of immigration queries

Annabel Crabb The Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, has much to report on the climate front. For instance, as he told his colleagues yesterday at their regular Tuesday morning love-in, Australia has just been invited by...

PM makes no apologies for being unapologetic

Annabel Crabb It was the previous prime minister, John Winston Howard, who became famous for not being able to apologise.

Left for dead like a Dutton chop

Annabel Crabb Certain ancient and enduring themes occupied the minds of our representatives under the Canberra Coat Hanger this week.

Fake-wrestling rivals box one another's ears

Annabel Crabb "YOU should go back to eating earwax," remarked Malcolm Turnbull pleasantly to his opponent the Prime Minister, towards the end of yesterday's wing-ding about refugee policy.

What a cover version: John Denver lookalike gets his mug in the mag

Annabel Crabb REALLY, we should have been prepared for this. Really, we should have been prepared for this. The news yesterday that Kevin Rudd has been interviewed and photographed for Rolling Stone magazine is -...

Hockey the winner as the old gang resumes hostilities

Annabel Crabb THE spring break having been spent in its customary way (the Ruddbot assailed by a freak illness, the Opposition Leader terrorised by his own back bench), Parliament resumed yesterday.

God's memo for Kevin and Joe

Annabel Crabb A Special Address to a Joint Sitting of the House of Representatives and the Australian Senate, from God.

A shape-shifter in the Lodge

Annabel Crabb The Wharf Revue, playing at the Sydney Theatre Company, depicts Kevin Rudd as Harry Potter - an earnest, nerdy boy-wizard with a delicately placed scar and a weakness for phantasmal buzz-words.

In your ears until they bleed, the calm, methodical Rudd

Annabel Crabb It's time for some fresh thinking on this asylum-seeker issue. We're running disastrously short of ideas on how to dissuade displaced Sri Lankans from pointing their boats towards the Australian...

Gracious Rudd turns grubby

Annabel Crabb One of the most gracious things I have ever seen Kevin Rudd do happened on February 13 last year, at 10 minutes to 10.

Sorry, I have a nagging doubt

Annabel Crabb Honestly, the Canberra weather system really needs to be investigated as a strong source of teleological evidence for the existence of God.

Day 'the Trellis' Ellis trounced Hulk Hogan

Annabel Crabb It's a demonstration of just how odd politics is at the moment that yesterday's Canberra highlight was a public arm wrestle between the Sports Minister, Kate Ellis, and the pro wrestler Hulk Hogan.

Knights of the Rudd Table say they're not tilting at windmills

Annabel Crabb THE Scourge of the Denialists continues in the House of Representatives.

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