Annabel Crabb

Annabel Crabb (born 1973) is an Australian political journalist, commentator and television host who is the ABC's chief online political writer. She has worked for Adelaide's The Advertiser, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the Sunday Age and The Sun-Herald, and won a Walkley Award in 2009 for her Quarterly Essay, "Stop at Nothing: The Life and Adventures of Malcolm Turnbull". She has written two books covering events within the Australian Labor Party, as well as The Wife Drought, a book about women's work–life balance. She has hosted ABC television shows Kitchen Cabinet, The House, Back in Time for Dinner, and Tomorrow Tonight.

Annabel Crabb
Crabb promoting The Wife Drought, October 2014
Born	(1973-02-01) 1 February 1973 (age 49) Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Nationality	Australian
Occupation(s)	Political journalist, commentator, television host
Years active	1997–present
Partner	Jeremy Storer
Children	3
Relatives	Tim Storer (brother-in-law)^[1]

Early years

Crabb was born in Adelaide to Christobel and Mac Crabb, and grew up on a small farm near Two Wells, South Australia.^[2]

She completed high school at the Wilderness School in Medindie, South Australia, then studied at University of Adelaide, graduating in 1997 with Arts and Law degrees. She was briefly involved in student politics, holding the position of women's officer at the University's Student Association.^[3]

Career

Journalism

Crabb undertook a cadetship at The Advertiser in 1997. She moved to The Advertiser's Canberra bureau two years later, having worked for The Advertiser in both state and federal politics, before departing in 2000 to move to The Age as a political columnist and correspondent.

Three years later Crabb travelled to the United Kingdom and spent several years there working as the London correspondent for the Sunday Age and Sun-Herald, and acting as an occasional and largely non-political correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald. During this time she wrote her first book, Losing It: The Inside Story of the Labor Party in Opposition.^[4]

She returned to Australia in 2007 and started work as a senior writer and political columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald, and until recently, Crabb's opinion pieces featured in a regular column in the publication.^[5] During this time, Crabb served as a commentator for the ABC's coverage of the 2007 Australian federal election.

Crabb took up a position with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in November 2009, working as its chief online political writer.^[6] Crabb is also one of the presenters of The Drum on the 24-hour news channel, ABC News 24.^[7]

In September 2014, Crabb's book The Wife Drought was published, contributing to the debate about work-life balance for women.^[8]

In 2017, in a footnote to readers of her Sydney Morning Herald column, Crabb implied that she had resigned from her role at that newspaper.^[9]

Television

From mid-2012, Crabb and radio personality Merrick Watts appeared in the ABC1 light-entertainment television program Randling, as part of a team called the West Coast Odd Sox.^[10][11]

Crabb is a regular panelist on the ABC Television political show Insiders, a guest on panel shows such as Network Ten's Good News Week and the ABC's Q&A. Crabb was a panelist on the 2010 ABC Federal Election series, Gruen Nation. She returned to her role on the panel for the 2013 series.

In 2012, Crabb began hosting her own TV program Kitchen Cabinet on ABC2 (later ABC1),^[12] an informal interview program with Australian politicians over a meal prepared by both Crabb and her guest.

In 2017, Crabb hosted a six episode documentary series about the inner workings of Parliament House called The House.^[13][14][15]

In 2018, she hosted a seven part series called Back in Time for Dinner, based on the format of UK show Back in Time for.... A family's home is transformed each week into a replica of a standard house from a different decade, with the family cooking and eating meals from that era.^[16][17]

In May 2018, the ABC flew Crabb and Jeremy Fernandez to London to host coverage of the Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.^[18]

Chat 10 Looks 3 podcast

In November 2014, Crabb started a podcast with Leigh Sales called Chat 10 Looks 3. It is independent of the work they do for other media outlets and is an opportunity for them to talk about books, movies, television, the media and culture.^[19][20] The podcast won two awards at the 2019 Australian Podcast Awards in the “Literature, Arts & Music” and “TV, Film & Pop Culture” categories.^[21] Described by Sales and Crabb as shambolic and peripatetic^[22] the podcast episodes are recorded every two to three weeks.^[23]

The podcast has spawned livestream shows in Australian capital cities^[24] and a book titled Well Hello published in September 2021.^[25] Self-proclaimed “chatters or chatterati” have formed a Chat 10 Looks 3 community on social media platforms^[26] built around the same tenets as the podcast - friendship, kindness, and an agreement to not discuss politics. Crabb has said “somehow, through word of mouth, this vast community has formed, bringing terrible humour and good book recommendations and the salve of human kindness to what turns out to be quite a big audience for that kind of stuff”.^[26]

Political views

Crabb is a regular political commentator with the ABC and Fairfax. She has written of former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott that as an opposition leader he was "potent, focused, absolutely deadly, and ultimately he succeeded", but of his period as Prime Minister she writes that Abbott's "most significant achievements... were acts of dismantlement or shutting down: ending the carbon and mining taxes, stopping the boats." In a May 2016 study of Abbott's successor Malcolm Turnbull she wrote that he "struggled as Opposition leader", his major flaw being that "he overleapt his colleagues in an attempt to build something". Of his Prime Ministership she wrote: "Turnbull is more upbeat, more expansive ("waffly," his critics would say), less disciplined and less aggressive".^[27]

Following the election of Donald Trump as US President in 2016, Crabb asked "Where will Angry White Man strike next?" and wrote: "A kind of madness has come over the world. The elevation of Donald Trump from talented freelance bottom-pincher to Leader of the Free World, substantially powered by angry white dudes in Michigan, has created, internationally, a mood of fear and uncertainty among the existing political class."^[28]

Crabb does not support reform of the controversial Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 limitations on free speech.^[29] She describes Immigration Minister Peter Dutton as having a commitment to free speech which "fully covers the right of everyday Australians to make racist remarks".^[30] Crabb supported proposals to legislate for same-sex marriage; proposals that were ultimately successful.^[31] She has described businesses and service providers who refuse to cater to same-sex weddings as "homophobes".^[30]

Gendered impacts of caring on work

Crabb has reported on the differential impact of parenting on workforce productivity^[32] and that following the birth of a child, fathers spend, on average, half the number of hours on household work that mothers do.^[33][34][35] Crabb shared demographic analysis by Jennifer Baxter of the Australian Institute of Family Studies showing that women spend on average 30 hours per week on household work, whereas men spend 15. In the 7am podcast, Crabb described the pattern, saying the graph "just leapt off the page", and that men's average work hours follow a flat line 'like a cruiser, just cruising along".^[35] Crabb reported "Whenever she (Baxter) shows the graph at conferences, people just go... (intake of breath)".^[35] The analysis looks at paid working hours, child care and unpaid domestic work in heterosexual couples. "The work is so evocative, like in ER when someone has a very dangerous elevation, the heartbeat of a highly stressed and anxious person".^[35][36] She suggests that by changing both Australian laws and societal pressures, the disparity in hours spent on household work may be addressed, and that fathers may have more time and stronger relationships with their children.^[37]

Crabb has reported on policy which has changed gendered aspects of parenting and work. She has reported on policy which has changed this.^[36][38] She said, "Employers are starting to recognise that the fathers of a young generation do want to be more involved in their kids lives than their dads were and that if you want to attract and retain great staff then trusting them to make the right decision in their private lives only strengthens their attachment to your workplace and commitment to the job you want them to do."^[39][40]

Personal life

Crabb's partner is lawyer Jeremy Storer, brother of Australian senator Tim Storer.^[41] They have three children.^[42]

Awards

• In 2009 her Quarterly Essay, titled "Stop at Nothing: The Life and Adventures of Malcolm Turnbull", won a Walkley Award for best magazine feature writing.^[43]
• In 2011 Crabb received an Eisenhower Fellowship.^[44]

Books published

• Crabb, Annabel. Losing It: The Inside Story of the Labor Party in Opposition. Picador Australia, 2005. ISBN 978-0-330-42216-1
• Crabb, Annabel. Quarterly Essay 34: Stop at Nothing: The Life and Adventures of Malcolm Turnbull. Black Inc., 2005. ISBN 978-1-863-95431-0
• Crabb, Annabel. Rise of the Ruddbot: Observations from the Gallery. Melbourne: Black Inc., 2010. ISBN 978-1-86395-483-9
• Crabb, Annabel. The Wife Drought. Melbourne: Random House Australia, 2014. ISBN 978-0-857-98426-5
• Crabb, Annabel and Sharpe, Wendy. Special Delivery – Favourite Food To Make and Take. Murdoch Books Australia, 2015. ISBN 978-1-74336-619-6.
• Crabb, Annabel and Sharpe, Wendy. Special Guest - Recipes for the happily imperfect host. Murdoch Books Australia,^[45] 2018. ISBN 9781760631949
• Crabb, Annabel. Quarterly Essay 75: Men at Work: Australia's Parenthood Trap. Black Inc., 2019. ISBN 978-1-76064-152-8

References

1. Mellroy, Tom (21 March 2018). "Meet SA's new centrist independent senator Tim Storer". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
2. Natasha Johnson (6 September 2020). "ABC journalist Annabel Crabb on juggling work and family, coping with coronavirus and making a podcast with Leigh Sales". ABC News. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
3. Alex Wheaton. . DB Magazine. Archived from the original on 13 February 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
4. Crabb, Annabel (18 September 2005). "How Latham Lost the Plot". The Age. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
5. Crabb, Annabel. "Twitsard: Live Question Time Blog with Annabel Crabb". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
6. Meade, Amanda (7 September 2009). "Aunty heralds its digital appointee Annabel Crabb". The Australian. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
7. Blundell, Graeme (3 July 2010). "24-hour party people". The Australian. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
8. Barrett Meyering, Isobelle (17 November 2014). "I Want a Wife, The Wife Drought – 1970s feminism still rings true". The Conversation. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
9. Crabb, Annabel (8 July 2017). "Against genuine fanaticism, conventional diplomacy is useless". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 8 July 2017. Note to readers: This is my last column for the time being. Thank you for your support and good humour for the past five years. Keep buying papers!
10. . Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 28 June 2012. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
11. "Can Andrew Denton's new show Randling measure up?". The Daily Telegraph. 13 April 2012. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
12. . Archived from the original on 24 March 2013. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
13. Neutze, Ben (8 August 2017). "Annabel Crabb brings her light Kitchen Cabinet approach to Parliament House for ABC series". Daily Review. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
14. Crabb, Annabel (3 August 2017). "Annabel Crabb: My five favourite discoveries about Parliament House". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
15. Blundell, Graeme (5 August 2017). "Annabel in the House: The irrepressible Ms Crabb goes where few have ventured before her to better appreciate Parliament House". The Australian. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
16. Fox, Tiffany (25 May 2018). "Annabel Crabb turns back time". The West Australian. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
17. Blundell, Graeme (26 May 2018). "Doing things our way: Annabel Crabb and Todd Sampson have new shows offering Australian audiences very different experiences". The Australian. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
18. Gomes, Luke Henriques (17 May 2018). "Sending Crabb, Fernandez to cover royal wedding is 'standard practice', says media expert". The New Daily. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
19. Lallo, Michelle. "Leigh Sales and Annabel Crabb launch new podcast". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
20. "Chat 10 Looks 3". Chat 10 Looks 3. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
21. "Winners Announced at 2019 Australian Podcast Awards". Australian Podcast Awards powered by iHeart. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
22. "Chat 10 Looks 3". Chat 10 Looks 3. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
23. "Chat 10 Looks 3". Chat 10 Looks 3. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
24. "Chat 10 Looks 3 Live | Arts Centre Melbourne". www.artscentremelbourne.com.au. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
25. "Well Hello". www.goodreads.com. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
26. "MEDIA RELEASE". Chat 10 Looks 3. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
27. Crabb, Annabel (15 May 2016). "Stop At Nothing: Malcolm Turnbull determined to transform political culture that has broken past PMs". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
28. \Crabb, Annabel (18 November 2016). "Australian politicians are terrified of where Angry White Man will strike next". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
29. Crabb, Annabel (1 April 2017). "There is nothing free about Mark Latham's Speech". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
30. Crabb, Annabel (25 March 2017). "There is method to Peter Dutton's madness on marriage equality". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
31. Sheldrick, Drew (2 December 2015). "Cory Bernardi's gay marriage grilling on Kitchen Cabinet". sbs.com.au. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
32. "Annabel Crabb Discusses Gendered Inequality Of Working Parents". 10 daily. 8 September 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
33. "Why don't more dads take parental leave?". ABC Radio. 5 September 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
34. Crabb, Annabel (7 September 2019). "Why Australia's culture around work and parental leave is trapping fathers". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
35. FM, Player. "The Daddy Quota 7am podcast". player.fm. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
36. Crabb, Annabel (September 2019). "Men at Work". Quarterly Essay. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
37. Dent, Georgina (5 September 2019). "Why don't more dads take parental leave?". ABC Radio. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
38. "Read a Q&A with Annabel Crabb, author of the latest Quarterly Essay!". The Booktopian. 8 September 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
39. Rapana, Jessica (18 June 2018). "Annabel Crabb Reveals One Thing Men Can Do To Help Women At Work". With her in mind. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
40. "The question some dads can't answer that says everything: Annabel Crabb on Men at Work". Women's Agenda. 9 September 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
41. McIlroy, Tom (22 March 2018). "Meet SA's new centrist independent senator Tim Storer". The Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
42. "Thank you for all the messages about baby Kate! And a big thank you to midwives Fiona and Marijana and all at the superb RPA birth centre". Twitter. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
43. . 2009 Walkley Winners. The Walkley Foundation. Archived from the original on 18 September 2010. Retrieved 13 September 2010.
44. . Eisenhower Fellowships. Archived from the original on 15 March 2012. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
45. "Special Guest - Annabel Crabb and Wendy Sharpe - 9781760631949 - Murdoch books". www.murdochbooks.com.au. Retrieved 15 November 2018.

External links

• The Sydney Morning Herald Blogs: News Blog / Annabel Crabb Archives
• ABC News Online Profile
• Annabel Crabb Twitter
• Annabel Crabb's Kitchen Cabinet Webpage
• Chat 10 Looks 3 podcast