Evelyn Manfield
Evelyn Manfield is a political journalist at the ABC’s Parliament House office, covering federal politics, government policy and how national decisions play out in people’s lives. Her reporting joins the mechanics of parliament with the financial, social and security consequences of legislation and schemes. She works across digital, audio and television formats, bringing federal debates into clear, accessible stories.
Government policy, universities and the cost of living
A recurring focus of Manfield’s work is the intersection between government policy, higher education and household finances. In her coverage of the Job‑ready Graduates university funding scheme, she shows how dramatically higher fees for arts, law and humanities degrees translate into larger student debts that constrain home ownership prospects for young Australians.
She explains how the policy shifted the cost balance between priority degrees such as nursing or engineering and humanities courses, and tracks the growing pressure on the federal government to scrap a scheme that has been widely judged a failure. Her reporting follows the chain from cabinet decisions and regulatory reviews to the practical impact on borrowing capacity, savings, and access to the property market.
This work distinguishes her on the politics beat as someone who treats education and housing affordability as core federal political issues rather than separate social or business stories.
Federal politics, parties and polling
Manfield regularly covers party dynamics and polling that could reshape the balance of power in federal parliament.
In her reporting on opinion research suggesting One Nation could become the official opposition if an election were held now, she lays out how projected seat gains would deplete the Liberals and wipe out the Nationals, while also costing Labor seats. She uses the poll’s findings to examine what such a result would mean for the current opposition, the crossbench and future coalition politics. Her broader archive includes stories on Greens party tensions over policies such as koala park carbon credits and other environmental and social issues, showing an interest in internal party debates as well as headline contests.
She also covers national security and alliance politics, including broadcast reporting on responses to reviews of the AUKUS security pact, tying defence announcements to domestic political criticism and diplomatic pressure. Across these pieces she treats polling and party manoeuvres not as horse‑race coverage but as indicators of deeper shifts in voter sentiment and the policy direction of the parliament.
Parliament House reporting and live coverage
Manfield’s day‑to‑day work includes live reporting from Parliament House on unfolding political stories and question‑time debates.
She has contributed to federal politics live blogs that track events such as the OpenAI incident involving automated agents interacting with government websites, following ministerial briefings, opposition responses and questions over cyber security and legality. In that coverage she reports comments from senior figures including the acting prime minister, the opposition treasury spokesman and the communications minister, showing how the government frames the seriousness of the incident and what additional cyber defence measures are on the table.
Her audio reporting for current affairs programs has focused on budget politics, including stories on capital gains tax changes, consultations with start‑ups and small business, and the broader contest over how the budget affects different sectors. These pieces emphasise the combative atmosphere of parliament, highlighting how the opposition uses question time to pressure the prime minister and ministers over economic choices.
Together, her live blogs and broadcast segments mark her out as a reporter who is embedded in the rhythms of parliament and skilled at translating fast‑moving developments into clear updates for a general audience.
Broad news experience and national stories
Before taking up her Parliament House role, Manfield gained experience across several of the ABC’s newsrooms and programs. She started as an ABC News cadet in 2020 and has since worked as a reporter for the network, contributing to youth‑focused programming such as Behind the News as well as mainstream news output. Her career includes work on major national stories, including being part of the ABC team reporting on the disappearance and rescue of Cleo Smith, where she continued coverage on the ground as the investigation unfolded.
She has appeared as a political reporter on ABC News Breakfast, adding television to her mix of written and audio reporting. This broad platform experience feeds into her current political coverage, where she writes in‑depth explainer pieces, contributes to live blogs, and reports for radio and television.
Her background across general news and youth programming informs a style that keeps complex federal issues straightforward and focused on concrete outcomes for people affected.
4 more politics journalists.
Alexander Britton
Alexander Britton is a senior digital editor and political reporter whose work combines political strategy, economic policy and the human impact of major decisions. He covers tax and cost-of-living pressures, central bank forecasts, interest rates, trade risks, parliamentary accountability and social debates. His reporting also examines global crises, including Gaza, with a focus on humanitarian need, aid limits and direct testimony. Britton has written about sport, culture and language, including fans travelling for the Boxing Day Test and Words of the Year. He now works in senior newsroom leadership for a major news group, after digital editorial roles at SBS News. Earlier, he was a political correspondent in the UK. He writes in clear, accessible language, using concrete examples, eyewitness material and direct reporting to connect policy and political conflict to households, businesses and individual lives.
Andi Yu
Andi Yu reports on how politics and legal processes shape social cohesion, public safety and everyday life. She is a journalist and digital producer for ABC News. Her beat spans politics, antisemitism, extremism, multicultural and faith issues, housing, planning, transport, courts, crime, health regulation and inequality. She has covered a royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion, an alleged attack on an Indigenous protest camp, changes to the Suburban Rail Loop, high-rise housing plans, Erin Patterson’s appeal, black-market peptides and culturally tailored midwifery care for First Nations families. She previously reported for the Australian Associated Press and has covered politics, health, crime, refugees and diverse communities. Yu explains complex policy, court and regulatory issues in clear, accessible formats. She connects testimony, evidence and government decisions to their effects on residents, businesses and marginalised communities.
Andrew Bolt
Andrew Bolt is a journalist, columnist and political commentator known for combative conservative analysis across print, online and television. He writes for the Herald Sun, where his national affairs columns and political blog are promoted as driving the news cycle, steering discussion and offering a strong perspective on leadership and cultural conflict. He hosts The Bolt Report on Sky News Australia four nights a week, extending the same opinion-led style to broadcast. Bolt’s core focus is party politics and leadership struggles, using senior figures in government and opposition to argue about values, national interests and ideological direction. He also writes on culture, history, identity and race, including contested narratives about Indigenous identification, and covers populist movements, border control, terrorism and free speech. His work is written as arguments rather than reportage, using direct language, stark framing and sustained campaigns on chosen issues.
Ben Smee
Ben Smee is a public interest reporter whose defining work examines how state power affects justice and vulnerable people. He is Guardian Australia’s Queensland correspondent and senior correspondent, covering Queensland politics, policing, youth crime, domestic and family violence, courts, elections and major policy debates. His investigations into children held in police watch houses exposed institutional failures and won a Walkley Award and Queensland Clarion honours. He also reports on police use of force against vulnerable First Nations people, police culture, victims failed by domestic violence systems, human rights, health policy, electric vehicles, surrogacy and infrastructure spending. His work has appeared across breaking news, features, live blogs and investigative podcasts. A former editor, head of news and political reporter, he combines sustained investigations with daily coverage, returning to institutions and laws to track whether promises of reform produce change.