Laura Tingle

1 month ago | abc.net.au | Laura Tingle

As the internet came alive with memes of outraged Heard Island penguins protesting at being hit with 10 per cent tariffs by the US on Thursday, others online were speculating about just how the Trump administration had come up with its tariffs formula, which not only hit the scenic penguin colony but the US military base on Diego Garcia. There was some speculation that the White House might have asked ChatGPT for some suggestions the night before.

1 month ago | johnmenadue.com | Laura Tingle

On one side of the discussion there was a disparate collection of people expressing concerns about a profound policy shift which has a multitude of troubling and unanswered questions attached to it. On the other, a cabinet full of ministers who, before September 15, 2021, when it was announced by Scott Morrison,had never remotely considered that Australia buying nuclear-powered submarines from the Americans was obviously the strategic answer we needed.

1 month ago | abc.net.au | Laura Tingle

For most of the past three years, Peter Dutton — and his cut through, lethal lines of attack — have dominated the political landscape and agenda. Anthony Albanese has often sounded like he was having a jelly wrestle in a paper bag with his vocabulary. But at the absolutely crucial moment in the election cycle, something has happened to both leaders. The prime minister simply says we build, they cut. "Only Labor is acting on the cost of living," he said as he announced the May 3 election on Friday.

1 month ago | abc.net.au | Laura Tingle

If "it's the economy, stupid" was the political strategy phrase most associated with the Clinton White House, "flood the zone" is the one most frequently associated with the second Trump presidency. The phrase — as you probably well know by now — was one made famous by strategist Steve Bannon who said five years ago:"The opposition party is the media. And the media can only — because they're dumb and they're lazy — they can only focus on one thing at a time. "All we have to do is flood the zone.

2 months ago | abc.net.au | Laura Tingle

Wall Street's S&P 500 — the world's most widely followed share market index — has fallen more than 10 per cent in less than a month. Investors are voting with their feet in the face of the uncertainty about the Trump administration's ever changing policy decisions, but a growing belief that most of the things he has been doing are bad for the US economy.