After four years as political editor of the Paramount-owned Channel Ten, Sydney-based Peter van Onselen has decided to return to academia.

The ex-political staffer and academic burst on to the journalism scene 15 years ago with a biography of John Howard (penned with Wayne Errington) containing explosive on-the-record criticism from Howard’s then-treasurer (now Nine chairman) Peter Costello. The book’s success led van Onselen to a regular column in The Australian, a (concluded) hosting gig on Sky News and a more recent daily political news role at Ten. The latter is coming to an end.