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Tim Colebatch

Tim Colebatch (1949–2024) was a frequent contributor to Inside Story between 2014 and 2023. He joined the Melbourne Age in 1971 and was successively environment writer, investigative reporter, editorial writer and columnist before becoming the paper’s Washington correspondent, economics writer, and ultimately economics editor and columnist.

Tim’s widely praised book, Dick Hamer: The Liberal Liberal, was reviewed for Inside Story by Judith Brett. His articles for Inside Story during 2016 received the Keith Dunstan Award for Commentary at the Melbourne Press Club’s Quill Awards.

Peter Martin recalls Tim’s career.

International Tim Colebatch 21 September 2018 On balance, it’s been a good first term for the Indonesian president. But is he putting the gains in danger?
National affairs Tim Colebatch 7 September 2018 Ten things you need to know about the state of the Australian economy National affairs Tim Colebatch 24 August 2018 The party room’s choice of leader and deputy shows that the insurgents didn’t achieve their ultimate goal National affairs Tim Colebatch 23 August 2018 An early election is the only solution to the chaos in the Liberal party room National affairs Tim Colebatch 21 August 2018 The reckoning has arrived for a party — and its Coalition partner — long riven by cultural fixations
National affairs Tim Colebatch 6 August 2018 If the government offers Labor a deal it can accept, it will be rejected by the Coalition’s backbench. It’s hard to escape the obvious conclusion
National affairs Tim Colebatch 30 July 2018 Judged against previous by-elections in opposition-held seats, the government performed badly on Saturday. The message for Malcolm Turnbull is clear National affairs Tim Colebatch 23 July 2018 Experts gathered in Canberra last week to pool their views about China’s forty-year record of economic reform, but Donald Trump’s trade war pushed its way to centrestage National affairs Tim Colebatch 19 July 2018 Amid a flurry of reports comes the information we need for real progress — and some sobering data National affairs Tim Colebatch 27 June 2018 On top of a misconceived ad campaign, the opposition leader left a needless hostage to fortune
National affairs Tim Colebatch 22 June 2018 New electoral boundaries create a close contest in a key federal seat
National affairs Tim Colebatch 7 June 2018 Let’s clear up any confusion about the size of the Chinese economy National affairs Tim Colebatch 21 May 2018 On the figures, a sympathetic majority in the upper house seems unlikely after the next election International Tim Colebatch 16 May 2018 Can the five parties of the governing coalition reconcile very different priorities? National affairs Tim Colebatch 10 May 2018 The prime minister and the Victorian premier are talking infrastructure after a long federal funding drought
National affairs Tim Colebatch 9 May 2018 Why has the government chosen to fight the next election on weak ground?
National affairs Tim Colebatch 2 May 2018 Cautious in parts, extravagant in others, the Victorian budget is built on a boom National affairs Tim Colebatch 20 April 2018 Buried in a Treasury report is the data that shows where most of the jobs are going National affairs Tim Colebatch 18 March 2018 Voters swung to Labor in Batman and South Australia, but with very different results National affairs Tim Colebatch 13 March 2018 Behind the day-to-day swings in the economic data are worrying longer-term trends
National affairs Tim Colebatch 23 February 2018 The International Monetary Fund gets some things right and some things wrong — but you wouldn’t necessarily know which from the coverage it’s had
National affairs Tim Colebatch 15 February 2018 The bookies are backing the Greens at next month’s by-election in inner-Melbourne. But the contest is more complicated than punters might think From the archive Tim Colebatch 4 February 2018 Despite the sceptics, Melbourne’s Australian Open has become the biggest and best on the Grand Slam circuit National affairs Tim Colebatch 14 December 2017 The detailed figures are out at last, and they confirm that One Nation’s preferences barely mattered National affairs Tim Colebatch 11 December 2017 Dig a little deeper into the result of the Northcote by-election, and there’s hope yet for Labor in what was starting to look like Greens territory
National affairs Tim Colebatch 11 December 2017 With four state elections and a national poll on the horizon, it’s worth looking more closely at what happened north of the Tweed
National affairs Tim Colebatch 1 December 2017 A Labor government is certain, but beyond that it’s Brisbane versus the rest National affairs Tim Colebatch 26 November 2017 Historically low support for the major parties has contributed to a result that’s still too close to call National affairs Tim Colebatch 21 November 2017 A shock by-election in Victoria has boosted optimism among Greens. But does electoral geography support their wider hopes? National affairs Tim Colebatch 14 November 2017 Bad drafting, bad interpretation and bad politics have contributed to an unnecessary crisis. The solution is in the hands of parliament