Laurie Oakes is the most influential political journalist in Australia - if he says something has happened, the rest of the media (especially the Canberra Press Gallery) believe him and report it as news. He is respected by both political insiders and the wider public. He has worked in Canberra as a political reporter for 39 years and reported on 19 federal elections. He regularly finds the big story way ahead of everyone else. Currently the national political editor for the Nine Network he is the man who interviews all the big names. From 1987 to December 2007 he wrote a weekly column for the Bulletin and since its demise he has been writing a column for the Saturday Daily Telegraph in Sydney and the Herald Sun in Melbourne. POWER PLAYS is a selection of 150 of the very best and most timeless of Laurie Oakes' columns.