CANBERRA, Australia — POLITICO announced the founding editorial team behind Canberra Playbook, marking the next major step in its expansion into Australia, its third continent.
Canberra Playbook will launch on August 17, bringing POLITICO’s signature mix of original reporting, political intelligence, insider sourcing and sharp analysis to Australia’s political capital. The editorial team will be led by Australia Launch Editor Ryan Heath, with Paul Karp joining as Canberra Playbook editor, as well as Finn McHugh and Miriam Webberas inaugural Canberra Playbook co-authors.
POLITICO Playbook is the go-to briefing for political power players and the most successful newsletter franchise in political journalism across every capital where POLITICO operates. Each edition combines insider reporting, sharp analysis and a distinctive voice, adapted to the rhythm and culture of each political capital.
Together, POLITICO’s Canberra team will build a morning briefing designed to drive the day across Parliament House, embassies, boardrooms and the wider political and policy community.
“POLITICO’s strength has always been connecting the capitals where power moves. Australia is the natural next step in that strategy, expanding our presence to a third continent and creating a truly around-the-clock newsroom spanning North America, Europe and the Indo-Pacific,” said POLITICO CEO Goli Sheikholeslami. “Canberra is a city built around government and policy, making it exactly the kind of place where POLITICO thrives. We can’t wait to get started.”
POLITICO announced in February 2026 that it would expand operations to Australia, bringing its ahead-of-the-curve political and policy journalism to one of the Indo-Pacific’s most consequential democracies.
Ryan Heath is spearheading the launch on the ground. The original author of Brussels Playbook, Heath was the first to take Playbook beyond America and is now helping bring POLITICO to a third continent. Since his appointment, he has been meeting with local power players, ministers, ambassadors, journalists and prospective partners while assembling the founding Australia team. “Canberra isn’t boring, and it’s not an afterthought for POLITICO: it’s the main game,” said Heath. “Political earthquakes happening in Australia and globally demand journalism that keeps us with these changes, connects the dots, and ensures Australia is heard in Washington, Europe and Asia.”
As Canberra Playbook editor, Paul Karp will bring deep press gallery experience and sharp political judgment to the newsletter’s daily voice and direction. Working closely with Heath, the co-authors, and POLITICO’s global network of journalists, Karp will ensure each edition drives the day in the Australian capital.
Karp joins POLITICO from the Australian Financial Review, where he served as a Sydney-based politics reporter and broke the globe-spanning story that Deloitte had inserted AI-generated hallucinations into a government report. Prior to that, as Canberra-based chief political correspondent for Guardian Australia, Paul’s months-long run of exclusives around the High Court’s decision to strike down the government’s immigration detention policy — saw him highly commended for the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery Journalist of the Year award in 2024. His political judgment, eye for where stories are heading and instinct for challenging conventional wisdom will help define Canberra Playbook from launch.
Finn McHugh and Miriam Webber will serve as Canberra Playbook’s inaugural co-authors, bringing strong federal reporting experience, distinctive voices and complementary backgrounds across politics, policy, public sector coverage and digital journalism. Together with Heath and Karp, they will help build the newsletter from the ground up and set the agenda for Australia’s political community each morning.
McHugh joins after serving as political correspondent at Capital Brief, covering Australian politics for News Corp, The Canberra Times and SBS, as well as reporting in the Middle East. His creative approach to complex stories, international perspective and experience across formats make him well placed to help Canberra Playbook break news, capture the conversation and connect Australian politics to POLITICO’s global newsroom.
Webber rejoins POLITICO from The Canberra Times, where she covered politics and the public sector, with a focus on integrity, transparency and accountability in government. Webber was previously Brussels Playbook producer, making this a return to the Playbook fold — this time as a reporter.
“POLITICO’s future is global, and it is rooted in the same qualities that have defined us from the beginning: urgency, authority, competitiveness and deep reporting on power,” said Jonathan Greenberger, POLITICO global editor-in-chief. “Australia is at the center of many of the defining political and policy debates of our time. With Canberra Playbook, we are bringing POLITICO’s distinctive journalism to another power center, delivering the authoritative reporting our audience needs, and connecting Canberra more closely to the conversations shaping politics and policy around the world.”
Canberra Playbook will launch on Aug. 17, when the Australian Parliament returns from its winter recess. Sign up here.
About POLITICO:
POLITICO is a global news organization focused on politics and policy, relied on by decision-makers and audiences around the world. Founded in 2007, POLITICO has more than 1,000 journalists and publishing professionals based in Washington, Brussels, London, Paris, Berlin, Sacramento and New York. Its reporting explains who holds power, how it is exercised and what it means for governments, businesses, and societies.
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