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Chris Kenny

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Chris Kenny
Born (1962-09-28) 28 September 1962 (age 62)
NationalityAustralian
Occupations
Employers

Chris Kenny (born 28 September 1962) is an Australian conservative political commentator, author and former political adviser. He is a columnist for The Australian newspaper as well as the host of a weeknight current affairs program, The Kenny Report on Sky News Australia.

Early life and education

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Chris Kenny was born on 28 September 1962.[1]

He initially studied wildlife and park management in South Australia and worked for the National Parks and Wildlife Service as a fire-spotter and park assistant, before switching his studies to a BA in journalism in 1984.[citation needed]

Career

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His first journalism job was at the Murray Pioneer in Renmark. He later worked for the Adelaide newspaper The News, ABC's The 7.30 Report, Channel 10 and Channel 9 in Adelaide.[2] He also wrote columns for The Advertiser, Sunday Mail and The Adelaide Review.[when?][citation needed]

In 2000 he was appointed Director of Strategic Communications for South Australian Liberal Premier John Olsen, before serving as chief of staff to Olsen's successor as premier, Rob Kerin.[3] Kenny was appointed media advisor to foreign minister Alexander Downer in 2002 and became his chief of staff in 2006.[3]

After the defeat of the Howard government in 2007, Kenny worked as a columnist for The Advertiser, as a television reporter for the Adelaide edition of A Current Affair, and as a talkback radio host for 5AA.[citation needed]

In January 2009, Kenny was recruited as chief of staff to then-opposition leader, Malcolm Turnbull. Kenny was Turnbull's chief of staff during the Utegate scandal but has written that he had no contact with Turnbull's mole Godwin Grech,[4] resigning when Turnbull subsequently lost the Liberal leadership to Tony Abbott in 2009. After leaving Turnbull's office, Kenny wrote opinion pieces and analysis for The Australian and ABC's The Drum, and appeared as a commentator on Sky News. In 2010 Kenny was appointed General Manager, External Affairs, for transport giant Asciano, but left at the end of the year to return to media work.[5]

From 2013, Kenny has hosted Viewpoint and Friday Live on Sky News Australia, which are both opinion programs. Friday Live finished on 12 December 2014, replaced by a second weekly edition of Viewpoint.[6] Prior to these formats, Kenny hosted Saturday Agenda.[7]

Kenny has two weekly columns in The Australian. He relinquished his weekly column for Adelaide's Sunday Mail.[when?] He has hosted afternoon and evening talkback radio on Macquarie Radio filling in for hosts such as Ben Fordham, Steve Price and Ross Greenwood, as well as hosting his own weekly Friday Feedback show until March 2019.[citation needed]

Kenny has appeared on ABC TV programs such as Insiders and Q&A alongside politicians and community figures.[8]

He is currently a columnist for The Australian newspaper as well as the host of a weeknight current affairs program, The Kenny Report, and formerly, weekly media program, Kenny on Media, on Sky News Australia.[9][10][11]

Opinions and other roles

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Kenny has been a vocal critic of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) for alleged expansionism and bias.[8] In 2020, he referred to the Australian public broadcasters ABC and SBS as "enemies of the people".[12]

He argued in July 2011 that Julia Gillard could not recover as prime minister, that Labor would lose the next general election and that Kevin Rudd could limit the extent of those losses.[13]

Following the 2014 Sydney hostage crisis, Kenny criticised[14] the #illridewithyou campaign and the refusal of many to accept the Islamist motivation of the siege. Kenny had been at the Lindt Chocolate Café, the scene of the hostage crisis, only minutes before it unfolded.[15]

In November 2019, it was announced that Kenny would be one of 20 members of the Senior Advisory Group (SAG) to help co-design the Indigenous voice to government set up by Ken Wyatt, the Minister for Indigenous Australians under the Morrison government. SAG was co-chaired by Wyatt, Marcia Langton, and Tom Calma.[16] Kenny has previously criticised Langton as being "aggressive" towards "perceived ideological enemies".[17]

Kenny is a harsh critic of global warming alarmism, and climate change and energy policies but has never denied the science of climate change. In 2021, after Prime Minister Scott Morrison started aiming for net zero carbon emissions by 2050, and his employer News Corp changed its position on climate change (having previously denied its existence), Kenny wrote that the founder of the Liberal Party, Sir Robert Menzies, would be "turning in his grave", claiming that "expansion of government power" was responsible for News Corp's change in direction.[18]

In the lead-up to the 2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum, Kenny supports the Yes campaign, saying that the No campaign is "overwhelmingly based on fear". He has been criticised by his fan base for his stance, although not by his colleagues at News Corp.[19]

Defamation case

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In September 2013, the ABC program The Hamster Decides broadcast a photoshopped image of Kenny having sex with a dog. At the end of 2013, Kenny launched defamation action against the ABC program involved and one of its hosts, Andrew Hansen. In April 2014, the managing director of the ABC apologised to Kenny for the incident, and expressed regret for "the delay in making this apology".[20] In June 2014, a ruling by the Australian Communications and Media Authority found that the skit was a potential source of "deep offence" to Kenny and others, and was "disturbingly bullying" in character.[21] As part of its settlement of Kenny's defamation suit, the ABC agreed to pay Kenny $35,000 and apologize to him on-air.[22] Kenny defended his conduct during the case, telling The Guardian that "I'll be remembered as the journalist called a dog f**ker who stood up for his rights".[23] Nonetheless, sections of the Australian media expressed concern about the ruling, with The Conversation's Mark Rolfe arguing that Kenny "took the skit out of its context"[24] and The Guardian's David Marr saying that the case "raise[d] serious questions about free speech in Australia".[23]

Personal life

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Kenny is a keen Australian rules football follower, having played at reserve grade level for SANFL clubs Norwood and West Adelaide.[3] In 2014 he was appointed an official ambassador for AFL club Adelaide.[25]

Kenny is the cousin of political journalist Mark Kenny.[26] His sister Therese Kenny ran unsuccessfully as the Liberal candidate for Torrens in the 2018 South Australian state election.[26]

Published works

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  • State of Denial (Wakefield Press, 1993, ISBN 978-1862543003) about the 1992 collapse of the State Bank of South Australia
  • It Would be Nice if There was Some Women's Business: The Story Behind the Hindmarsh Island Affair (Duffy & Snellgrove, 1996, ISBN 978-1875989102) about the Hindmarsh Island bridge controversy
  • Chapter One, "The race card" in The Forgotten People – Liberal and conservative approaches to recognising Indigenous peoples (Melbourne University Press, 2016, edited by Damien Freeman and Shireen Morris)[27]
  • Adelaide Crows chapter, Heartfelt Moments in Australian Rules Football, (Connor Court Publishing, 2016. Edited by Ross Fitzgerald ISBN 9781925138948)[28]

References

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  1. ^ Kenny, Chris (29 September 2022). "Biden's latest 'bumbling moment' was 'one of his worst'". The Kenny Report. Sky News Australia. Event occurs at 00:05. Retrieved 25 September 2023. Look, no one should mock the elderly, least of all me having turned 60 yesterday...
  2. ^ "Behind the Media: Stephen Brook", podcast[time needed][dead link]
  3. ^ a b c "Chris Kenny". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 20 December 2018.
  4. ^ "Subscribe to The Australian". Dsf.newscorpaustralia.com. Retrieved 19 November 2021.[failed verification]
  5. ^ "Turnbull hires Downer's former top adviser". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 7 January 2009. Archived from the original on 16 February 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
  6. ^ "Sky News Live and ready in 2015". Foxtel. 20 January 2015. Archived from the original on 21 January 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  7. ^ Knox, David (26 June 2013). "SKY News adds Friday Night Live edition". TV Tonight. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  8. ^ a b Kenny, Chris. "Looking for Budget Cuts? Try the ABC". The Australian. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  9. ^ "Chris Kenny, Paul Murray in Sky News revamp". The Australian. 17 December 2014. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  10. ^ "Sky's eye on journalism: Chris Kenny launches Media Watch; the Weekly Beast". The Guardian. 24 January 2019.
  11. ^ "Chris Kenny". Sky News Australia.
  12. ^ Kenny, Chris (20 June 2020). "Enemies of the people reveal their true colours". The Australian. Retrieved 22 July 2020.(subscription required)
  13. ^ "Rudd is Labor's last chance" by Chris Kenny, The Australian, 25 July 2011
  14. ^ "Hashtag for an imaginary backlash". The Australian. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  15. ^ "Sliding door tragedy of the Lindt cafe in Sydney's Martin Place". Herald Sun. Melbourne. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  16. ^ "Voice Co-Design Senior Advisory Group". Ministers Media Centre. 8 November 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  17. ^ Remeikis, Amy (8 November 2019). "Chris Kenny added to group working on Indigenous voice to parliament". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  18. ^ Meade, Amanda (22 October 2021). "Menzies would be turning in his grave, Chris Kenny rails – as News Corp turns against him on climate – Weekly Beast". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  19. ^ Meade, Amanda (15 September 2023). "Weekly Beast". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
  20. ^ Benns, Matthew (14 April 2014). "ABC boss Mark Scott apologises to The Australian's Chris Kenny over Chaser skit depicting him having sex with a dog". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney.
  21. ^ "Editorial: ACMA exposes ABC failings". The Australian. 23 June 2014. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  22. ^ Knott, Matthew (20 June 2014). "Chaser sketch on Chris Kenny breached ABC editorial policies: ACMA ruling". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  23. ^ a b Marr, David (7 June 2014). "Chris Kenny: 'I'll be remembered as the journalist called a dog f**ker who stood up for his rights'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  24. ^ Rolfe, Mark (17 April 2014). "Kenny's dog days are over – but is satire's bark worse than its bite?". The Conversation. Archived from the original on 7 August 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  25. ^ "Club Ambassadors" Archived 20 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Adelaide Football Club
  26. ^ a b Jeffrey, James (3 March 2015). "Cop the boots – That sinking feeling". The Australian. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
  27. ^ "Mr Chris Kenny | McKinnon Prize". Mckinnonprize.org.au. 23 January 2019.
  28. ^ "Heartfelt Moments in Australian Rules Football". Connor Court Publishing.
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