In our must-read Mail+ column, Steve Jackson and Peter van Onselen reveal what’s REALLY going on in the worlds of media and politics each week.
Budget’s over… time for the pub
Forget the spreadsheets and calculators… as every journo, lobbyist, pollie and Canberra bartender knows, the biggest call at the Federal Budget each year is where to kick on afterwards.
After being wooed by Treasurer Jim Chalmers in the press gallery office during the day, the troops from Nine and News Corps cracked open few brewskis in their respective Parliament House bureaus while telling each other what an amazing job they’d done.
(By the way… Chalmers couldn’t be bothered dropping by our suite – even though it was directly between the other outlets’ two offices – but, hey, we’ve only got 8.68 million readers – keep living in the past there, Jim.)
The contingent from The Australian then headed out for dinner at the recently reopened Canberra institution known as Ottoman.
Surprisingly, they were joined by Sky News Australia host Sharri Markson, who invited herself along to the knees-up despite some argy-bargy with the paper the previous night.
Their dispute in a nutshell? Markson had offered to share the copy for her Nick McKenzie exposé with her former colleagues at The Oz, who were thrilled. But when Markson checked with Sky News CEO Paul Whittaker if that was okay, he said no.
Sky News Australia anchor Sharri Markson (centre with political editor Andrew Clennell, left, and business presenter Ross Greenwood, right) invited herself along to a post-Budget knees-up for journos from The Australian. It was a little awkward because, just hours earlier, there had been some contention over whether Sky News would share Markson’s copy with the paper
Markson (left, with Laura Jayes) had offered to share her copy with her former colleagues at The Australian, who were thrilled. But then Markson checked with her boss and he said no
Fortunately, there was no resentment among the rank-and-file, and the Oz’s rising star Rhiannon Down was happy to chauffeur her to the restaurant.
The rest of the News Corp FIFO news team went to the rival post-Budget nosh-shop of choice, Bambusa.
The two camps were soon reunited, however, when those keen for ‘just one more beer’ found their way to Hotel Realm’s packed bar for the Budget’s unofficial afterparty.
Minister for Veteran Affairs Matt Keogh was the first to lob. In fact he was so keen to celebrate the Budget he turned up a whole day early – and we spotted him knocking the top off a frothy at Realm on Monday night.
Sky News host Andrew Clennell was also spotted holding court early on (though he at least waited until Chalmers had released the Budget on Tuesday), while former Daily Tele scribe and one-time Scott Morrison spinner Andrew Carswell was seen giving the Treasurer’s wife, Laura Chalmers, a run for her money in the dressing-down stakes. Despite being surrounded by a sea of suits, the modern-day lobbyist was more than comfortable being out and about in a light green T-shirt and jeans (Zara, he tells us… ‘and the guns are homemade’).
Former NSW premier and current Transport Heritage NSW chair Nathan Rees was also there (but made a relatively early exit), as was former trade minister Andrew Robb and one-time Queensland Labor MP-turned-political strategist Evan Moorehead.
Nestled in another corner of the bar, South Australia premier Peter Malinauskas‘ brother Rob was seen chatting with former Seven News reporter and current Transurban government relations chief Alex Hart.
U.S. Ambassador Kevin Rudd‘s former son-in-law, investment banker Albert Tse, (who split with Jessica, what, five years ago now?) was spotted having a few cold ones with a mate, while aged care minister Anika Wells‘ husband, Suncorp exec Finn McCarthy, was seen in deep conversation throughout the evening.
ABC’s Insiders host David Speers made at least one enemy at Hotel Realm’s packed bar by jostling in front of another reporter who was overheard loudly complaining he’d ‘pushed in!’
ABC’s Insiders host David Speers did a stand-up job ferrying four beers at a time to his pals, but made at least one enemy at the bar by jostling in front of another reporter who was overheard loudly complaining he’d ‘pushed in!’
Nine finance guru Effie Zahos also made an appearance at the bar but, between a late-night cross after the Budget was released on Tuesday and an early morning Today show appearance on Wednesday, she had only the briefest of moments to let her hair down.
As the night wore on and the numbers dropped off, Daily Mail Australia’s federal political reporter Max Aitchison and fellow Glaswegian Richard Ferguson, the ACT bureau chief for The Australian, were observed trading state secrets (we think… given their indecipherable accents, it was hard to tell what either was saying).
Indeed, there were so many pollies, reporters and government hangers-on at Realm, there was still a queue of 40-odd taxpayer-funded, chauffeur-driven Comcars lined up outside at 12.30am.
But it was the lads from Nine who proved once again they are the great (if somewhat sartorially reductive) stayers, with a blue-suit-clad Charles Croucher, a blue-suit-clad Chris Kohler and their coterie of blue-suit-clad companions closing out the bar.
Channel 10: Help wanted!
Which Channel 10 producer spent an inordinate amount of time in Nine’s parliamentary gallery office trying to understand the Budget?
Now, Ten isn’t exactly known for its extensive Budget coverage, which isn’t surprising for a network that until relatively recently pre-recorded a number of its state nightly news bulletins from somewhere other than the state they were broadcast to.
We asked a source at Nine what they thought of sharing Budget story ideas with a rival network, only to be told that given how 10 News First rates, they aren’t really considered a rival.
Determined to get to the bottom of this matter, we asked Inside Mail’s other half, Peter van Onselen, who used to be Ten’s political editor, whether it was common for the network to seek guidance from other outlets during Budget week.
His blunt response was: ‘I know how to read a budget, so no.’
And what does he think about it happening since his departure? ‘I signed a non-disparagement clause when I left, so I only have positive things to say about the joint. Sorry.’
‘The new Karl’ hits a hurdle
Remember the old adage that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas? Well, veteran Nine News sports anchor Jonathan Uptin is learning the hard way that that isn’t always the case.
The Brisbane-based autocue reader first found himself on management’s radar for all the wrong reasons after complaints were made about his ‘erratic behaviour’ during the network’s annual staff engagement surveys in 2023.
Things got worse after he flew into Sin City to cover the NRL‘s showpiece U.S. match a year ago and Nine execs received even more complaints about his alleged conduct.
Suffice to say the accusations were so concerning that Nine’s Queensland managing director Kylie Blucher requested Uptin undergo a workplace urine test – which he voluntarily agreed to do.
Nine News sports anchor Jonathan Uptin, once touted as a potential replacement for Karl Stefanovic on Today, has a tough couple of months at work after claims of ‘erratic behaviour’ were levelled against him
Uptin remained off work from late June to October 14 last year as Nine rigorously reviewed all the claims and counter-claims being strewn about the newsroom like confetti.
The ugly allegations even derailed Uptin’s planned inclusion in Nine’s team heading to Paris to cover the Olympics last July, with the presenter pulled from the line-up just days out from the opening ceremony.
Nine’s erstwhile Brisbane news anchor Andrew Lofthouse was instead dispatched at the last minute to fill the void.
Uptin was ultimately completely cleared of any wrongdoing by the internal review, while the drug test found there was absolutely nothing untoward in his system (little wonder he had no problem with the request to take one).
Still, some of his River City colleagues were left wondering if some of the mud may have stuck after newly minted Queensland new boss Brendan Hocking announced a newsroom reshuffle earlier this month.
And while Uptin’s LinkedIn account still proudly proclaims he is the network’s ‘Sports Editor and Sport Newsreader’, he has lost the former half of that title with highly regarded reporter Adam Jackson replacing him as sports ed.
Now to be fair, Uptin – who was once touted as a potential replacement for Karl Stefanovic on the Today show and remains on a $230,000 deal with the network – will continue to present the 6pm sports bulletin.
But we heard nasty rumours emanating from Nine that it was sign some of Uptin’s loftier ambitions (such as replacing the recently retired Lofthouse as lead anchor alongside Melissa Downes) were now well and truly out of contention.
So we did what we always do in such circumstances – we asked Nine. And we were assured the sports editor switch had nothing to do with the unsubstantiated claims and that Jono retained the network’s full support.
As for Lofthouse’s replacement? Although two months have passed since the news veteran farewelled viewers for the last time in January, the powers-that-be at Nine are in no rush to fill his shoes.
And with Downes killing it in the ratings, why would they be?
Budget backstabbing
Is the prime minister gaslighting his treasurer?
A pattern is emerging of Anthony Albanese deliberately stepping on Jim Chalmers‘ toes and stealing headlines usually reserved for the treasurer in Budget week.
It started on Sunday when Jim had his planned Sunday morning pre-budget interview on ABC Insiders all locked in, only for Albo to call a media conference to get in first and discuss the $150 energy rebate which was supposed to be Jim’s breaking news.
A carefully crafted embargoed media release ensured the Sunday newspapers ran the story, teeing it up perfectly for Jim’s grabs to follow.
But then, without warning, a media alert popped up in journalists’ inboxes just as Jim was choosing which suit to wear for his showdown with David Speers.
Albo would be addressing the media at 7:45am sharp, well in advance of Jim’s 9am interview.
Albo, therefore, managed to get himself on all the commercial networks, talking about what ‘my government’ is doing. He even got a run on the ABC while Jim was forced to sit in the green room waiting for his turn.
A pattern is emerging of Anthony Albanese (left) deliberately stepping on Jim Chalmers’ (centre) toes and stealing headlines usually reserved for the treasurer
Then on Budget day, Albo was stealing Jim’s thunder again with a series of morning interviews before himself entering the lockup, which is usually the treasurer’s circus.
In fact, Albo arrived to do the rounds in the lockup just 10 minutes before Jim was due to hold his lockup media conference. Some journos didn’t even bother to attend, preferring to hang back and chat with Albo.
The morning after Jim’s Budget was handed down, Albo was at it again, matching the treasurer interview for interview.
You don’t have to be Nostradamus to envisage this relationship only going one way after their mutual benefit of winning the election is achieved.
Congratulations, you played yourself
You need to hand it to the Germans – they really do have a word for everything.
Take ‘fremdschämen’, for example. It perfectly encapsulates that feeling when you get embarrassed for someone else.
Like when we watched supposed Melbourne funnyman Lewis Spears‘ backslapping guffaw-fest ‘I stopped Australia’s biggest scammer getting $500,000’.
In the rambling 25-minute YouTube video, Spears boasted he ‘tricked’ the media into run a fake story about Belle Gibson working in a suburban supermarket deli section.
Now, we don’t usually care for such time-wasters who like to boast of getting one over the ‘MSM’, but to be perfectly fair he had managed to do fool some sections of the media fraternity.
Lewis Spears released a YouTube video boasting of how he ‘owned’ a Daily Mail journalist. The only problem is the person he was stitching up was neither a journalist nor works for Daily Mail
Spears was very excited and proud of himself for somehow convincing tabloid magazine and dentist waiting room mainstay Woman’s Day to write a gossipy story about his fictitious ‘facts’.
Wah-wah-we-wah!
If the silver-tongued Lewis can fool a bastion of integrity like Woman’s Day into running a yarn like that next to their usual Pulitzer prize-winning fare, who is safe from his beguiling lies?
Now, other outlets (including us) did follow up the Woman’s Day story, but only for a bit of fun and to cast some light-hearted doubt on the veracity of the mag’s tall tale.
(We reached out to the WD’s appointed editor, Katherine Chatfield, to ask how the story managed to find its way onto the cover. We are still waiting to hear back).
Still, that’s not what really captured our attention about Spears’ video.
No… it was the more than five minutes he dedicated to his interactions with a ‘journalist’ from Daily Mail Australia, who was supposedly trying to cut him in on a $500,000 interview deal for Gibson.
Umm… say what now? Half a million big ones? Daily Mail Australia? That’s a bit rich.
So we did a bit of digging… and it took us all of three minutes to discover the ‘journalist’ Spears claimed he was talking to from Daily Mail Australia was neither a journalist nor one of our colleagues.
Now, don’t even say it! Could it be…? Had Spears, the show-boating blowhard who was bagging journos for failing to check their facts and publishing a load of gibber… failed to check his facts and published a load of gibber?
Spoiler alert: Yes, he had.
Fremdschämen, indeed. Even we’re blushing.
Georgia Lowden lists herself as a media advisor to Senator Dave Sharma on LinkedIn
Young Liberal boss paints the town red
There’s a quote often misattributed to Winston Churchill that goes, ‘If you’re not left-wing when you’re 25, you have no heart. If you’re not a conservative by the time you’re 35, you have no brain.’
There’s a certain truth to that, even if the British wartime PM never actually said it.
I was reminded of that quote this week when we received a tip-off about a high-profile Young Liberals state president who, at first glance, seems to be having second thoughts about spending her youth as a cheerleader for the political right.
Georgia Lowden, a law student and president of NSW Young Liberals, raised eyebrows in Liberal HQ when she was pictured wearing a Labor T-shirt at a recent house party.
Ms Lowden, who lists herself as a media advisor to Senator Dave Sharma on LinkedIn, was pictured grinning in a ‘Jared Turkington for Pittwater’ Labor shirt in front of a tray of fluorescent green shots.
Ms Lowden, a law student and president of NSW Young Liberals, raised eyebrows in Liberal HQ when she was pictured wearing a Labor T-shirt at a recent house party
Another series of photos, which were captioned ‘moments before disaster’, showed Ms Lowden climbing into a shopping trolley before being pushed around by friends
Indeed, Liberal party elders may be questioning where Ms Lowden’s allegiances lie, given she was pictured in Washington, D.C., last November in a ‘Harris 2024: Save Democracy’ T-shirt
‘The amount of jelly shot content in this is wild,’ one friend commented, to which the rising Liberals star responded: ‘It had to be done.’
Another series of photos, which were captioned ‘moments before disaster’, showed Ms Lowden climbing into a shopping trolley before being pushed around by friends.
Now, Inside Mail enjoys a good time and a good gag as much as the next person. In fact, we are glad to have come of age in an era before ubiquitous smart phones captured every little youthful indiscretion.
But it is perhaps not the best look for a senior media spinner to don a Labor tee with a tightly fought election looming.
Indeed, Liberal party elders may be questioning where Ms Lowden’s allegiances lie, given she was also pictured gallivanting around Washington, D.C., last November wearing a ‘Harris 2024: Save Democracy’ T-shirt.
Could she be a Cold War-style sleeper agent sent in from Labor to disrupt the enemy? If so, she’s not being subtle about it. We expect it’s all just student hijinks, but to be sure we contacted Ms Lowden for comment.
She told us: ‘Jared Turkington, Labor’s Pittwater candidate in 2019, is a friend of mine and gave me that T-shirt as a tongue-in-cheek birthday gift.
‘We all thought it was very funny, and I briefly wore it for a bit of a laugh.
‘Anyone who knows me knows I have friends across the political spectrum and value a good debate. They also know I’m a Liberal through and through, and my vote and campaign efforts are fully dedicated to delivering a Liberal government for Australia.’
Glad to clear that one up.
Tele exodus is no Guardian 2.0
They reckon, sometimes in life, if you don’t laugh, you’ll cry…
And the weekend editor of Sydney’s Telegraph, Anna Caldwell, certainly wasn’t laughing when her three most senior newsroom staffers all quit the legacy outlet in quick succession this month.
Her deputy editor Joshua Whittington, chief of staff Lisa Wachsmuth and senior writer Cydonee Mardon, all handed in their resignation last week.
They’re all top-shelf journos, and it would be devastating to lose one of them, let alone all three. We’re even tearing up a bit at the thought.
Was it something she said? Well, no.
Unlike the exodus at the Guardian’s Canberra bureau under Karen ‘Middle Management’ Middleton, there are no high-noon HR duels playing out at News Corp’s Holt St headquarters.
Instead, Whittington has tired of trudging up to Tele HQ on level three and has signed on with The Australian, where he will be the national broadsheet’s new news editor… and definitely NOT their new national chief of staff, no matter what anyone says (even though he is).
Mardon is reuniting with two former Sunday Tele colleagues, editor Mick Carroll and columnist Annette Sharp, over at the lazily named news.com.au website, where she will do ostensibly the same thing she does now but for more than seven readers… at least until its looming, partial paywall hits later this year.
And Wachsmuth has been lured away by the sweet sirens of the state’s ambulance service, where she’ll be responsible for telling other journos how sweet their sirens are. Wow-wow!
Spotlight’s alternative facts
One of the biggest challenges Seven Spotlight faces is the fact that large chunks of the population regularly confuse the program with the discount haberdashery store.
Oh, and the fact no one really watches their program. Just don’t tell them that!
The show’s staffers worked themselves into a bit of a tizzy last week after we noted the snooze and current affairs program hadn’t won in the ratings… and that we’d been told they were more worried about making budget than top-shelf television.
Indeed, they even got one of the network’s spinners to fire us a snarky email.
‘Your claim that Spotlight “hasn’t won the ratings in almost a year” is simply not true,’ they wailed.
‘You of all people would know this because I know how closely you used to track the ratings.
‘To straighten out the facts, across 2024, when the two programs went head-to-head, Spotlight won four episodes to 60 [Minutes]’ two.’
Used to track the ratings? How dare you! We still do track them!
But perhaps we forgot to carry a remainder somewhere along the line… so we redid our maths homework and went through every single ratings report for the past year.
And the last time we could see Seven’s ‘flagship’ show out performing 60 Minutes was on May 12 last year, when it aired a story on screen addiction by award-winning producer Sandra Odorisio.
Which is 10 months… two weeks… one day… and, depending on when you’re reading this, about 12 or so hours…
Or, as we like to describe it ‘almost a year’. And certainly not once since their youthful executive producer, Gemma Williams, took the reigns last July.
And it got walloped once again on Sunday when the show made its long-awaited season return after months off air… only to cop an absolute drubbing from Kirsty Thomson‘s team at 60 Minutes.
But hey, who’s keeping count?! Oh that’s right – we are.
Always keen to ‘straighten out the facts’, we replied to their bizarre email – twice – and asked them to point us in the direction of all these amazing wins we had somehow missed… only to be met with radio silence on both occasions.
(To be fair, they eventually came back four days later… only to suggest their thumping on Sunday night had somehow been some sort of amazing success).
Still, undeterred, we turned to rival Nine show 60 Minutes and asked if they could help us solve the mystery – and they were as baffled as us.
‘Spotlight has a win or two here and there,’ they said, democratically.
’60 Minutes wins its timeslot the overwhelming majority of the time.’
But what does it really matter? As we revealed last week, the powers-that-be at Seven told us they’ve given up trying to beat 60 Minutes. They’re simply happy to fill airtime.
Besides, haven’t you heard? They’re on track to make budget! Their handful of viewers must be thrilled! Perhaps the Kennedys should start handing out participation awards.
Seven fumbles top journo
Speaking of Sandra Odorisio, it seems the one-time A Current Affair reporter and former long-serving 60 Minutes producer has quietly parted ways with Seven.
We couldn’t help but notice the revered news veteran had one of her stories splashed across the front page (and two inside pages) of The Australian over the weekend.
The in-depth article revealed ‘the unbearable reality of living with a dementia-affected ex-footballer’ as Sandra Crow invited Odorisio to document her life with her former league hardman husband Trevor Crow.
The powerful story featured some of the most confronting and compelling vision you’ll ever see – all courageously shared by Mrs Crow in her battle to tackle the scourge of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
Evidently, it just wasn’t confronting and compelling enough for Seven… but, hey, they’ve got ratings to lose.
Little wonder we hear Odorisio has defected and is already back making stories at Sixty.
News veteran’s ‘mystery’ new project
One-time Sunday Night star Steve Pennells must have tired of winning Walkleys… because it sounds like he’s chasing a far more exciting Emmy with the latest production he has in the pipeline.
Apparently the five-time Walkley winner (including a gold) has ditched real-life reporting and has instead turned his hand to something a little more dramatic.
Industry rumour is rife Pennells, the creative and content director at Deadset Pictures these days, has been working on a big-budget murder-mystery series set to star an ensemble cast of some of the biggest names in the Australian TV industry.
We hear the six-part series revolves around the cast of a prime-time ’90s soap opera who have been reunited for a reboot… only for one of them to wind up dead.
Our industry spies tells as the script is still being polished but has been described as ‘Big Little Lies meets The White Lotus meets Feud meets Killing Eve’.
We’re not sure what that means exactly… but with so many top-shelf shows being introduced to each other, it’s little wonder everyone is talking about the project and clambering to get on board.
Naturally, we wondered if there’d be a part for us too – so we gave Pennells a bell and learned he was quite insistent on sticking to the ‘mystery’ part of the equation.
‘Funny you call,’ he laughed. ‘I’ve been working on a comedy drama for a while now and we’ve just been speaking to actors – and the response has been phenomenal.
‘I don’t want to give too much away yet but it’s starting to blow up and it’s very exciting.’
Yes, yes, yes… but that part for us? What is it?
‘Hmmm… well, we do need someone to play the corpse,’ he said.
Deadset.
The Golden Bachelor shuttle bus
When The Beatles sang about ‘the long and winding road’, who knew they were talking about the driveway leading to the Golden Bachelor mansion?
Last week, we revealed Channel Nine’s senior citizens dating show, hosted by human headline Sam Armytage, has already been beset by problems after its producers had to recast the eponymous ‘golden bachelor’ at the last minute.
At first we heard it was because the original candidate, er, died. But fortunately we were able to hose down that grim rumour.
Now, we hear the production schedule has been further delayed because there is nowhere for the scores of producers, camos and soundos to park at the eastern suburbs pile they’ve hired for the show’s set.
Instead, the whole lot of them are losing precious filming hours each day as they are ferried in and out of the rambling manor and to a nearby car park by bus.
The delay has had some frustrated crew members complaining they are missing out on precious ‘golden light’ each day and suggesting whoever booked the mansion – and its inadequate parking lot – should get a ‘golden handshake’.
But seriously, how would TV producers fill their day if they weren’t listening to camos grumbling about the set?
Cullen’s lifeline at Seven
The Nightly marked a year of its existence as the country’s favourite pdf newspaper with a star-studded soiree at the Sydney Opera House last Thursday.
And editor-in-chief Christopher Dore had plenty to celebrate, with his start-up news website now attracting more readers than his former masthead The Daily Telegraph.
And yes, we told you that would happen earlier this year after comparing the outlets’ respective splashes.
A host of heavy hitters turned up to the The Nightly’s ‘election forum’ to listen to Dore pat himself – and his team – on the back and wax lyrical about the looming federal poll alongside his fellow panellists, Roy Morgan chief Michele Levine and ThinkNewsBrands boss Vanessa Lyons.
Former Australian Workers’ Union national secretary-turned-KPMG tsar Paul Howes was among the big names spotted listening intently, along with former Rudd spinner Lachlan Harris, Senator Jane Hume, former NSW Libs president and federal MP Jason Falinski, one-time Malcolm Turnbull chief of staff and editor of The Australian Clive Mathieson, lately of Cato and Clive fame, and the national broadsheet’s boss Nicholas Gray.
We were tempted to ask fellow attendee Justice Michael Lee how he judged the evening… only to find ourselves distracted by reports recently axed Today show sports presenter Alex Cullen was in the house.
Could the one-time Seven reporter be looking to rejoin Seven West Media (owners of The Nightly) following his recent fall from grace at Nine?
We asked the usually loquacious Dore – several times – but he wouldn’t say. Still, we reckon Cullen will be making a comeback fairly soon.
And fair enough. While we gave him a hard time for selling out to that Melbourne raffle-ticket seller earlier this year, the talented sportscaster has spent enough time on the bench and deserves an another run.
Liz’s next move… it’s news to me
And finally, before we go…
There’s been a lot of interest in where the lovely Liz Hayes will pop up next.
A gossip columnist last week reported 60 Minutes’ erstwhile leading lady had been offered a gig hosting Ten’s reboot of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, only to turn it down.
(Surely that gig has to go to the network’s only star, Sarah Harris?)
Then there was talk she was about to feature in a dramatic new podcast series. Could that be where we will at least hear (if not see) the TV icon next?
Well, if it is, it’s certainly news to Hayes – because we asked her and she reckoned she hadn’t heard about either project.
All we know for sure is that Hayes has agreed to host wellness outfit Wanderlust’s True North forum with Hollywood icon Jane Fonda in Melbourne and Sydney in June.
