Jason Koutsoukis

Tokyo

Special Correspondent at The Saturday Paper

former @NikkeiAsia opinion editor.

Articles

This man is not going to win - probably

1 week ago | thesaturdaypaper.com.au | Jason Koutsoukis

On Monday night, standing under fluorescent lights at Gladesville Sporties, a popular local sports club and restaurant in the Labor-held Sydney seat of Bennelong, Peter Dutton delivered a full-throated endorsement of his candidate, Scott Yung. This was no ordinary stop. Bennelong is sacred Liberal ground – the former seat of John Howard, Dutton’s political hero, who has returned to the trail this election to campaign hard for Dutton’s leadership.
How much are Dutton and Taylor actually worth?

2 weeks ago | thesaturdaypaper.com.au | Jason Koutsoukis

News The opposition leader and his prospective treasurer are among the richest people to ever sit in parliament – although their wealth is held in a series of complex arrangements that would breach the ministerial code. By Jason Koutsoukis. SHARE Copy Link Bluesky Facebook X LinkedIn If Peter Dutton wins next Saturday’s election, one of his earliest tests will be whether to keep Labor’s ministerial code of conduct.
‘This is going to stick’: Inside Dutton’s Trump thump

1 month ago | thesaturdaypaper.com.au | Jason Koutsoukis

Peter Dutton’s election campaign is faltering just as momentum should be building, fuelling growing unease inside the Coalition that his abrasive image and perceived ideological closeness to Donald Trump is pushing away the swing voters he needs to win.
Choosing Australia’s frigate suppliers

1 month ago | thesaturdaypaper.com.au | Jason Koutsoukis

Defence officials are preparing to choose between a German or Japanese supplier for Australia’s $11 billion general purpose warship fleet – and it’s far more than a competition over ship design and cost. The SEA 3000 procurement decision will send a geopolitical signal that could shape Australia’s defence industrial partnerships for a generation. Opting for the Mogami-class frigate would anchor Tokyo firmly within Australia’s defence industrial base.
Dinner at Towers Road: The billionaires dining with Dutton

1 month ago | ourcommunitynow.com | Jason Koutsoukis

Share According to Geoff Wilson, chairman of investment firm Wilson Asset Management, the dinner was an important opportunity to present his view that the Albanese government has unfairly cracked down on franking credits. Wilson, whose company has more than $5.9 billion under management, was surprised by how open and engaged Peter Dutton was. “It wasn’t as if Peter was holding court.
Dinner at Towers Road: The billionaires dining with Dutton

1 month ago | thesaturdaypaper.com.au | Jason Koutsoukis

News At the same time as he positions himself as fighting against corporate Australia, Peter Dutton has proved an effective fundraiser and popular guest of billionaire donors. By Jason Koutsoukis. SHARE Copy Link Bluesky Facebook X LinkedIn According to Geoff Wilson, chairman of investment firm Wilson Asset Management, the dinner was an important opportunity to present his view that the Albanese government has unfairly cracked down on franking credits.
Inside the Dural caravan terrorism hoax

2 months ago | thesaturdaypaper.com.au | Jason Koutsoukis

The abandoned caravan had sat idle for weeks on Derriwong Road in Dural, a quiet suburb north-west of Sydney, until early December when one local resident decided it was becoming a road hazard and towed it onto his property. About seven weeks later, on January 19, a mixture of curiosity and concern prompted the same man to force the caravan open.
Shark fishing with Don Jr and Bob Katter’s son-in-law

2 months ago | thesaturdaypaper.com.au | Jason Koutsoukis

Donald Trump Jr has his hat on backwards, the branding of weapons manufacturer Barrett printed across the strapback. Grey clouds sit low and almost touch the horizon. There is a spray of silver in Trump Jr’s beard. The rod he is holding doesn’t seem large enough for the sharks he says he’s catching. Alongside him is Bob Katter’s son-in-law, Robert Nioa, an Australian weapons tycoon and confidant to Peter Dutton. His eyes have the slightly fearful quality of a person fishing for sharks.
Inside the Coalition’s unfunded election promises

2 months ago | thesaturdaypaper.com.au | Jason Koutsoukis

Peter Dutton’s Coalition has all but abandoned the fiscal restraint that once defined the Liberal Party, matching nearly all of Labor’s $23 billion in pre-election spending pledges this year without a clear plan to balance the federal budget.
ASIO ratchets up the warnings

2 months ago | thesaturdaypaper.com.au | Jason Koutsoukis

Before he took the stage at ASIO headquarters in Canberra on Wednesday night, a tracking camera beamed Mike Burgess’s lone silhouette walking along a shadowy corridor onto a giant screen inside the Ben Chifley Building auditorium. “That had to be done,” the ASIO chief quipped as he arrived at the lectern to deliver his sixth Annual Threat Assessment.