Devine worked for the Boston Herald as a reporter and feature writer. In 1989, Devine joined The Daily Telegraph as assistant editor, police reporter and columnist after returning to Australia to live in Sydney. She had also previously worked at British tabloid the Sun and Sunday Times in London. Most recently, Devine's columns, focused on United States politics, are published by the New York Post and she makes appearances promoting her articles on local media outlets. Devine lives in Sydney with her husband and two sons.
Commentary
Devine is noted for her conservative stance on a range of social and political issues, including Catholicism, and this approach has proved controversial at times. She has been critical of some conservative politicians, such as former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, and in April 2016 she coined the term "delcon" to describe some of his uncritical diehard supporters.
Race
In 2002, Devine opined in the Sydney Morning Herald that the racial element of the Sydney gang rapes had been "airbrushed" out of the media coverage of the events. She stated that the victims alleged that prosecutors had intentionally "censored" their official statements to remove any mention of racially sensitive material. Devine has also been accused by the Guardian and the Sydney Morning Herald of promoting the white genocide conspiracy theory and described as pivotal in popularising the concept within Australian politics. Referring to white South African refugees as "oppressed white, Christian, industrious, rugby and cricket-playing Commonwealth cousins", she has claimed they would "integrate seamlessly" with European Australians.
Environment
Devine suggested in 2009 that conservationists were to blame for the poor management of forested areas and national parks, and consequently for the deaths during the Black Saturday bushfires event. This rhetoric was revived during the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season, but promptly rejected by the scientific and firefighting community. In 2017, she claimed that shared bicycle schemes were a terror threat. Devine is also a climate change denier, advocating for the continuation of coal-fired electricity production and she has repeatedly stating that climate change is a political conspiracy.
Motherhood
In 2011, Devine used the news of Australian federal government minister Penny Wong's decision to parent a child with her female partner as the basis of a column in which she argued that the 2011 riots in England were the result of a "fatherless society". Devine sparked further controversy in 2015 after claiming that "women abusing welfare" were the main cause of domestic violence. According to Devine, "If you want to break the cycle of violence, end the welfare incentive for unsuitable women to keep having children to a string of feckless men".
In 2019, Devine defended George Pell, at the time facing charges of which he was ultimately acquitted related to the sexual assault of two 13-year-old boys, claiming that the victim's "accusations are implausible" and that "Victoria police chiefGraham Ashton desperate for a distraction from the crime epidemic he’s incapable of stopping".
