Our Team

Sarah IsonPolitical Reporter

Sarah Ison is a political reporter in The Australian’s Canberra press gallery bureau, where she covers a range of rounds from higher education to social affairs. Sarah was a federal political reporter with The West Australian’s Canberra team between 2019 and 2021, before which she worked in the masthead’s Perth newsroom. Sarah made her start in regional journalism at the Busselton-Dunsborough Times in 2017.

@@sarsison

Sarah Ison

Latest

Operation Bring ’em HomeNation

Operation Beech. Australian Army Soldiers board a Royal Australian Air Force aircraft in support of Operation Beech, at RAAF Base Amberley, Queensland. *** Local Caption *** Australian Defence Force personnel and aircraft have deployed to the Middle East in non-combat roles under Operation Beech 2025 to assist Australian Government efforts to support Australians seeking to leave the region. This is as a precautionary measure to support Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade led whole-of-Australian-Government contingency planning and delivery of support to Australian citizens and approved foreign nationals in the region. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade are the lead agency for Australian consular assistance and support.

Major operation underway to evacuate Aussies from the Middle East

The Albanese government has shuttered the nation’s embassy in Iran and launched a major bid to bring stranded Australian citizens home from the Middle East.

Ben Packham and Sarah Ison

AUKUS reviewDefence

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Australian Minister for Defense Richard Marles deliver remarks prior to a bilateral exchange at the U.S. Embassy in Singapore, May 30, 2025. (DoD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Alexander Kubitza)

PM lets deputy take heat over defence spend

Richard Marles will come under fresh pressure at next week’s NATO summit for a big boost to Australia’s defence spending, taking the heat for Anthony Albanese, who has decided not to attend.

Ben Packham and Sarah Ison

EXCLUSIVEPolitics

Aged Care is an area that will require more trained staff in the future.elderly, senior, nursing home, hands,

Release care packages now ‘or risk suffering’ for elderly

A member of the taskforce advising on Labor’s aged-care reforms has warned that the government is not releasing enough home-care packages.

Sarah Ison

Politics NowNation

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - NewsWire Photos - APRIL 17, 2024.Liberal Senator Matt Canavan at a press conference during a hearing of the Senate Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport in Brisbane. The committee discussed Australiaâs preparedness to host Commonwealth, Olympic and Paralympic Games.Picture: Dan Peled / NCA NewsWire

‘Real cost of net-zero’: Canavan to lead review into Nationals’ energy policy

Nationals Senator Matt Canavan says he has been asked by the Nationals party room to help measure the ‘real cost of net-zero’ after making repeated calls for the Coalition to step away from the policy.

Sarah Ison and James Dowling

AUKUS reviewPolitics

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks to media as the G7 summit gets under way in Calgary, Alberta, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)

PM ‘must raise subs with Trump’

The waning possibility of Anthony Albanese landing a meeting with Donald Trump in coming weeks has sparked alarm from the Coalition and defence experts.

Sarah Ison

Israel battles IranWorld

(COMBO) This combination of pictures created on March 9, 2025 shows US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House on March 6, 2025 in Washington, DC, and Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attending a meeting with Iranian goverment officials in Tehran on March 8, 2025.. Iran said on March 9, 2025 it would consider nuclear negotiations with the United States, but only as they pertained to external concerns of the

Israel takes out Iran’s military chief as Trump steps up pressure

Israel says it has killed Iran’s top military commander as the nations’ escalating war prompted Donald Trump to leave the G7 summit early and call for Tehran’s evacuation.

Ben Packham and Sarah Ison

‘Warts and all’Nation

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA - NewsWire Photos - May 28, 2025: Leader of the Opposition Sussan Ley and Party leader of the National Party of Australia David Littleproud hold a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Autopsy into Libs’ dead duck campaign

The Liberal Party is promising a rebirth as it announces its federal election review strategy and rejigs a controversial administrative committee for NSW.

Sarah Ison and James Dowling

israel at warNation

PETAH TIKVA, ISRAEL - JUNE 16: Residents are evacuated from a damaged building after ballistic missiles fired from Iran struck Petah Tikva, Israel, on June 16, 2025. (Photo by Nir Keidar/Anadolu via Getty Images)

US go to war? It’s possible: Trump

Donald Trump has warned that the US may enter the escalating war between Israel and Iran, as hundreds of stranded Australians plead for help to leave the region.

Stephen Rice and Sarah Ison

Defending AustraliaPolitics

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA - June 16, 2025: Former Minister for Government Services of Australia,Joe Hockey speaking at Defending Australia 2025 at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: Martin Ollman

Hockey’s tip: offer Trump a hand

Anthony Albanese should ask Donald Trump what Australia can do to help the US, says former ambassador to Washington Joe Hockey.

Sarah Ison

Defending AustraliaNation

‘What can I do to help?’: Hockey offers PM advice for Trump meeting

Former Australian ambassador to the US, Joe Hockey, says Anthony Albanese should try a different approach with US President Donald Trump in an attempt to get the AUKUS pact back on track, amid earlier warnings of strategic risk in the region. | CATCH UP

Jack Quail and Sarah Ison

Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/author/sarah-ison