Latika Bourke

3 weeks ago | thenightly.com.au | Latika Bourke

One of the Liberal party’s most conservative powerbrokers, Nick Minchin, has dropped his total opposition to quotas and urged the party to come up with policies that appeal to modern society instead of 1950s Australia. Mr Minchin, who served as Finance Minister in the Howard government, said the party needed to “come to grips” with the country’s modern outlook.

3 weeks ago | latikambourke.com | Latika Bourke

I am overjoyed to write this as I board my penultimate flight of what might be around 100 flights in the last eight weeks, covering the Australian election campaign for The Nightly. This means that, happily, I will be resuming normal programming here. Thank you so much for your patience as I took a slight break to focus on the campaign trail. I spent my last night in Sydney at the ABC’s Ultimo studios making my debut on the Q+A hosted by Patricia Karvelas.

4 weeks ago | thenightly.com.au | Latika Bourke

For months, the European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen has been trying to get a call with Anthony Albanese. First, the message was sent via the Prime Minister’s national security adviser, a bureaucrat who formerly advised Julia Gillard, Kathy Klugman, that Mr Albanese was too busy dealing with Cyclone Alfred to speak. Then the Europeans were told that the PM was now focused on the election, which he won in a massive landslide on the weekend. Sign up to The Nightly's newsletters.

1 month ago | thenightly.com.au | Latika Bourke

Australia’s first Muslim MP has lost his ministerial position in a shock move that could set the timer running on Ed Husic’s political career. This is because the Victorian right prevailed in a huge factional battle against the NSW right and won. The anger is palpable with fingers of blame pointed at Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, who leads the Victorian right faction. Sign up to The Nightly's newsletters.

1 month ago | thenightly.com.au | Latika Bourke

Teal-slayer Tim Wilson is a changed man. Gone is the arrogance and ego that used to dominate his public persona, and in its place is a far more humble, tenacious and resilient sounding character. As he paused to stifle the tears in accepting victory in his old seat of Goldstein in Melbourne, he recalled how the outlook appeared for him and the Liberals just three years ago. “We were written off,” he told reporters at a press conference in Brighton. Sign up to The Nightly's newsletters.