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Sarah Martin

Spin cycleBuckle up Australia, it’s campaign time

To help you survive the campaign, please find herewith an election guide to keep on hand for the next six or seven weeks. Hang on to your (hard) hats, it’s going to get ugly.

Sarah Martin

Budget analysisVideoThe PM wants your vote and he’s happy to pay for it

Last night’s Budget is not an economic blueprint, it’s an election manifesto.

Sarah Martin

Re-election pitchFrydenberg fires Coalition’s last shot in the locker

Trust is now the catchcry of the Coalition as it seeks to promote its economic credentials, while needling a weak spot of Opposition Leader Bill Shorten who voters still have doubts about.

Sarah Martin

Joyce factorCoalition’s clash of identities can rip it apart

Just like the Incredible Hulk, the internal conflict of the two competing personalities within the Coalition is making it hard for them to happily coexist.

Sarah Martin

Fringe dwellerVideoSenator 19 is best ignored for his extreme race-baiting

He spouts his racist propaganda while drawing a $200,000-a-year taxpayer-funded salary, complete with all trimmings thanks to the torchbearer of Australian fascist politics, Pauline Hanson.

Sarah Martin

Worst jobLiberals’ future options are looking thin

An election rout would leave the Liberals short of leadership choices.

Sarah Martin

Curtin callVideoHammond’s preselection a humiliation for Julie Bishop

This is more than just a victory for the conservative Right over moderates in the Liberals.

Sarah Martin

Power playVideoLibs will never be the same after Bishop-Cormann era

Bitter rivalries are nothing new in Australian politics. All fierce and fiendish. And then there is the tension that simmers between WA’s most senior Liberals, Julie Bishop and Mathias Cormann.

Sarah Martin

Gender imbalanceLibs’ women woes are no joke

Four women and a bloke walk into a Liberal Party preselection. You’d be right for thinking this sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, because that is exactly what it is.

Sarah Martin

Julie BishopTypical final act for Lib giant in sparkly red shoes

Julie Bishop shocked no one by announcing her exit, while at the same time managing to catch fellow MPs by surprise. Even her closest friends were not expecting her resignation this week.

Analysis: Sarah Martin

Final CurtinVideoBishop successor has big shoes to fill

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has just lost one of the party’s superstars. The long-serving member for Curtin today pulled the pin on her 20-year career in Parliament.

Sarah Martin

Hope restoredScoMo’s border battle bites as Coalition dreams of win

Coalition MPs are not known as a bunch of fantasists, but this week surely has them daring to dream — could they actually win the election?

Sarah Martin

Boat battleVideoWhy Labor can’t win this border war

Labor has won the battle, but its gamble on changing the country’s border protection regime could see it lose the war.

Sarah Martin

Pitch to votersVideoScoMo pulls on strong suit for election stoush

Banks or boats, tax hikes or investor lurks? This is the giant game of tug of war that the two major parties are playing this week that will shape the contest for the forthcoming election.

Sarah Martin

Royal commissionVideoBanks for nothing, Josh: Why Libs can’t escape blame

A reckless, unnecessary, populist whinge — this was how Scott Morrison described the royal commission into the banks time and time again. But now the jig is up.

Sarah Martin

Frank admissionLabor arrogance on display with Bowen’s gaffe

There are some Labor MPs who believe the only thing Bill Shorten needs to do to win the next election is to keep his mouth shut.

Sarah Martin

Pub testScoMo on a thong and a prayer

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is running out of time to sell himself to the public.

Sarah Martin

Curtin callJulie Bishop: It’s time to hang up the heels

The big question lingering in the Liberal Party in WA, is what is the member for Curtin’s next move?

Sarah Martin

Race debateScoMo’s song just a repeat

If anyone’s in any doubt that race politics is back in Australia, they need look no further than this week’s neo-nazi rally in Melbourne.

Sarah Martin

Royal CommissionSickening bank behaviour exposes Turnbull’s weakness

The Federal Government has been exposed for being on the wrong side of history after long opposing the public inquiry as an unnecessary and reckless stunt... how wrong they were.

Sarah Martin, Federal Political Editor, Comment

Federal BudgetWill Morrison be a Santa or a Grinch?

Where will Treasurer Scott Morrison land after he crunches away on his giant calculator trying to balance the books?

Sarah Martin

Good policy?Punters stuck in the middle of Australia’s energy war

When Josh Frydenberg called for stance that put consumers first, he seemed to be talking common sense. But this is politics, after all.

Sarah Martin

NewspollsTop dog needs inner mongrel as we head to dreaded 30

The expected 30th Newspoll loss next week will maintain the pressure on Turnbull to articulate a change in direction.

Sarah Martin, Federal Political Editor

Carve-upWA must keep up fight on GST reform despite small win

After the Productivity Commission review into the system reports next month, Morrison has the chance to come up with a permanent fix, to ensure WA gets a fair share of the GST pool into the future.

Sarah Martin, Comment