Judges
Barrie Cassidy
Barrie Cassidy was a veteran of political journalism. He was the host of ABC’s Insiders and Offsiders, has worked as a political correspondent for ABC News and 7:30, and as a foreign correspondent in Washington and Brussels. Barrie was Senior Press Secretary and Senior Advisor to former Prime Minister, Bob Hawke in the late 80s. Barrie has written The Party Thieves: The Real Story of the 2010 Election, Private Bill, and has co-authored An Ocean of Cricket with his son Adam.
Laura Tingle
Chief Political Correspondent for the ABC’s 7:30 Report and National Press Club of Australia President, Laura Tingle, has reported on Australian politics for over forty years. A multi-award-winning journalist, Laura’s astute analyses of the political landscape has provided Australians with valuable insights into the inner workings of our democracy. As well as her reporting Laura has written four Quarterly Essays: Great Expectations: Government, entitlement and an angry nation (2012); Political Amnesia: How we Forgot how to Govern (2015); Follow the Leader: Democracy and the rise of the Strongman (2018); and The High Road :What Australia can learn from New Zealand(2020) as well as Chasing the Future, a book about the recession of the early 1990s.
John Warhurst AO
Emeritus Professor of Political Science at the Australian National University, John Warhurst AO, has decades of experience analysing and evaluating Australian Governments. John has produced comprehensive and balanced analyses of the major parties, elections, lobbying and policy development. He has written many books, including Behind Closed Doors: Politics, Scandals and the Lobbying Industry, Keeping the Bastards Honest: The Australian Democrats’ First Twenty Years (ed), and Machine Politics (ed).
