Lexie Jeuniewic
Lexie Jeuniewic covers the point where federal politics meets the rules that govern technology, energy and social policy at the ABC. She is a political reporter filing regular coverage of national decisions that reshape data centres, social media, welfare programs, migration and public safety. Her work runs across online stories, live blogs and broadcast explainers, often framed around what new legislation will mean in practice for institutions and households.
AI data centres and energy policy
Jeuniewic returns frequently to the political fight over how Australia will power a new wave of AI data centres.
She reports on plans to require new facilities to put at least as much energy into the grid as they take out, treating the rules as a test of the government’s blueprint for AI regulation. Her coverage follows the dispute between federal and state leaders over whether data centres should be backed by renewables or existing coal and gas, drawing out how energy choices feed into national cabinet negotiations.
In broadcast explainers, she stresses that the centres are “hungry for power and thirsty for water”, then tracks meetings of water ministers and national cabinet as they work towards laws governing power and water use. Across these stories she ties technical questions about infrastructure directly to political risk, regulatory detail and the country’s positioning in the global race for AI investment.
Digital rules, social media and online safety
Jeuniewic’s politics reporting also follows efforts to regulate social media and online platforms. She covers proposals to strengthen age restrictions for users under 16, explaining how the government plans to double penalties for tech companies and expand the enforcement powers of the eSafety Commissioner. In a separate explainer on proposed digital duty of care laws, she outlines how platforms could be forced to reduce harm, give people more control over recommendation algorithms and face significant fines. These pieces situate online safety debates within broader questions of freedom of speech, regulatory responsibility and the practical obligations that would fall on large technology companies. Her focus stays on how political promises translate into detailed rules that govern what people see and do on social media.
Legislation, programs and economic impacts
A significant strand of Jeuniewic’s work tracks major federal programs and the legislation that underpins them. She reports on the government’s push to redesign the National Disability Insurance Scheme, following the bill through late-night Senate negotiations and back to the lower house, and outlining projected savings over the coming years. Her coverage of calls for a new national gun buyback links current debates to the original scheme announced after the Port Arthur tragedy, showing how historic policy decisions shape present-day arguments.
In stories about a stalled immigration shake-up, she explains planned conditions for family visa applicants and relays warnings from industry groups that such changes could hurt the economy. She also covers pressures on households as oil prices rise, connecting global commodity movements to domestic cost-of-living concerns.
Across these themes she writes in detail about legislative timelines, parliamentary tactics and the economic trade-offs embedded in federal reforms.
Parliamentary tactics and party dynamics
Jeuniewic regularly reports on the daily manoeuvring and rhetoric that define federal politics. She covers episodes where traditional opponents close ranks to back the prime minister after personal attacks, using scenes from airports and parliament to show how political alliances shift under pressure.
In live coverage of federal politics, she documents claims about ideology being taught in schools and tracks disputes over proposals such as cutting tobacco excise, highlighting the clash between social policy aims and fiscal arguments.
Her reporting revisits comments by figures like Pauline Hanson and follows how such remarks are republished, defended or condemned, including efforts by the ABC to seek further comment. She also brings historical context into present debates, as in her account of the original gun buyback when setting up contemporary calls for new action. In these pieces she focuses on what politicians say and do in public, the strategic framing of policy fights and the way individual moments feed into longer-running campaigns.
Across beats, Jeuniewic works in text and audio, contributing to programs such as AM and ABC News Top Stories as well as online articles and live blogs for the ABC. Her coverage is driven by the detail of policy and regulation, but it is anchored in clear explanations of who is affected and how political decisions move from proposal to law.
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.