Chris Kenny
Chris Kenny | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 28, 1962 Australia |
| Occupation(s) | Conservative commentator, author, political advisor, journalist |
| Years active | 1980s–present |
| Known for | Columns for The Australian; host of The Kenny Report on Sky News Australia; former political advisor |
Chris Kevin Kenny (born 28 September 1962) is an Australian conservative commentator, author, and former political advisor. He writes columns for The Australian and hosts the nightly current affairs show The Kenny Report on Sky News Australia.
Early life and education
Kenny was born on 28 September 1962. He initially pursued studies in wildlife and park management in South Australia and worked with the National Parks and Wildlife Service before transitioning in 1984 to a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism.
Career
Kenny launched his journalism career at the Murray Pioneer in Renmark, later contributing to Adelaide’s The News, ABC’s The 7.30 Report, Channel 10, and Channel 9. He also wrote columns for publications such as The Advertiser, Sunday Mail, and The Adelaide Review.
In 2000, he was appointed Director of Strategic Communications for South Australian Liberal Premier John Olsen and subsequently became chief of staff to Premier Rob Kerin. In 2002, Kenny took on the role of media advisor to Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, advancing to chief of staff in 2006.
Following the Howard government’s defeat in 2007, Kenny returned to media as a columnist for The Advertiser, a television reporter for A Current Affair in Adelaide, and a talkback radio host on 5AA.
In January 2009, he was hired as chief of staff to opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull amid the Utegate controversy but resigned after Turnbull lost the Liberal leadership to Tony Abbott. Kenny then contributed opinion articles to The Australian and ABC’s The Drum, while also appearing as a commentator on Sky News. In 2010, he briefly served as General Manager of External Affairs at transport firm Asciano before resuming his media career.
Starting in 2013, Kenny hosted several Sky News opinion programs including Viewpoint and Friday Live, with the latter replaced by a second weekly edition of Viewpoint by late 2014. He has also presented Saturday Agenda.
He currently writes two weekly columns for The Australian and hosted talkback radio on Macquarie Radio until March 2019.
Kenny has appeared on ABC shows such as Insiders and Q&A. Presently, he hosts The Kenny Report on Sky News Australia and formerly led the weekly media analysis program Kenny on Media.
Opinions and other roles
Kenny has frequently criticized the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), accusing it of bias and overreach. In 2020, he labeled both ABC and SBS as "enemies of the people."
In July 2011, he asserted that Julia Gillard’s position as prime minister was untenable, forecasted Labor’s defeat at the next election, and suggested Kevin Rudd could mitigate electoral losses.
Following the 2014 Sydney hostage crisis, Kenny condemned the #illridewithyou campaign and expressed concern over reluctance to acknowledge the Islamist motives behind the attack. Notably, he had been at the Lindt Chocolate Café shortly before the siege began.
In November 2019, Kenny joined the Senior Advisory Group (SAG) established to assist in designing the Indigenous voice to government, chaired by Minister Ken Wyatt under the Morrison government. SAG leadership included Wyatt alongside Marcia Langton and Tom Calma. Kenny had previously described Langton as "aggressive" toward those she viewed as ideological opponents.
In 2021, after Prime Minister Scott Morrison committed Australia to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and following a shift in climate policy stance by Kenny’s employer News Corp, he claimed that founder Sir Robert Menzies would be "turning in his grave," attributing these changes to an expansion of governmental authority.
Approaching the 2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum, Kenny endorsed the Yes campaign, characterizing opposition efforts as predominantly fear-driven. This position sparked criticism from some supporters but did not elicit rebuke from his colleagues at News Corp.
Defamation case
In September 2013, the ABC show The Hamster Decides broadcast an altered image of Kenny that was defamatory in nature. By the close of 2013, Kenny had launched defamation legal action against both the ABC and presenter Andrew Hansen. In April 2014, the ABC's managing director issued a formal apology to Kenny, admitting that the response had been delayed. Subsequently, in June 2014, the Australian Communications and Media Authority determined that the sketch had the potential to cause "profound offence" to Kenny and others, labeling it as "alarmingly bullying." As part of the resolution, ABC compensated Kenny with $35,000 and delivered a public on-air apology. Kenny remarked that he would be remembered as "the journalist called a dog f**ker who defended his rights." Nonetheless, some media analysts expressed worries about the ruling's effects on freedom of expression. For instance, Mark Rolfe from The Conversation argued that Kenny "removed the skit from its original context," while David Marr of The Guardian raised significant concerns regarding free speech protections in Australia.
Personal life
Kenny is passionate about Australian rules football and has competed at reserve grade level for SANFL teams Norwood and West Adelaide. In 2014, he was appointed as an official ambassador for the AFL team Adelaide.
He is related to political journalist Mark Kenny, who is his cousin. Additionally, his sister Therese Kenny stood as the Liberal candidate for Torrens during the 2018 South Australian state election, although she did not win.
Published works
- State of Denial (Wakefield Press, 1993), which examines the 1992 failure 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), detailing the Hindmarsh Island bridge controversy
- The opening chapter titled "The race card" in The Forgotten People – Liberal and conservative approaches to recognising Indigenous peoples (Melbourne University Press, 2016)
- The Adelaide Crows chapter in Heartfelt Moments in Australian Rules Football (Connor Court Publishing, 2016)