Lisa Wilkinson better than Karl Stefanovic, says Mike Munro
TV presenter Mike Munro says Lisa Wilkinson deserved to be paid “the same, if not more” than her former Today co-host Karl Stefanovic.
Confidential
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TV presenter Mike Munro says Lisa Wilkinson deserved to be paid “the same, if not more” than her former Today co-host Karl Stefanovic.
Munro, the tough journalist and presenter who made his name on Willessee, 60 Minutes and A Current Affair, said Channel Nine is “really gonna feel” Wilkinson’s move to Channel 10.
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“I don’t care whether she’s male, female, transgender or whatever. Parity is parity,” Munro told Confidential.
“Lisa is absolutely equal to Karl’s journalism, if not a little better. Why she wasn’t paid the same, if not more, in the first place, I will never know. Nine are really gonna feel this,” Munro said.
“I thought: ‘Good on you Lisa, you played it like a gem’.”
Munro’s comments follow Wilkinson’s defection to Ten after pay talks with Nine broke down.
Wilkinson, reportedly paid $1.1 million at Nine, is understood to have been asking for a deal worth $2.3 million. Stefanovic, who also does occasional stories for 60 Minutes and fronts a reality show This Time Next Year, is reportedly paid $2 million.
It is understood Wilkinson’s deal with Ten is worth $2 million. She will join news show The Project in 2018.
Munro, in Melbourne to promote Lawless — The Real Bushranger, a four part doco for Foxtel, said he felt “disillusioned” about commercial television.
“I’ve spent the last 18 months trying to get (Lawless — The Real Bushrangers) up, but I walked away, first from (Seven’s) Sunday Night because the program wasn’t as serious as I thought it could have been.
“I read news at Channel Ten, but two months in, they fired 150 kids from the newsroom,” Munro said.
“I’ve had a fantastic career. I’ve lived through the golden years. But I was prepared to walk away and not doing anything again.”
The plot twist in the Lawless — The Real Bushrangers story is deeply personal to Munro.
“I’m related to the last bushrangers in Australian history. My great uncles were Patrick and James Kenniff,” Munro said.
“They were horse and cattle thieves. They murdered a policeman and a station manager in 1902. They incinerated the bodies, broke them up, and left them in police saddle bags to find four days later. They were on the run for three months and were finally captured.”
After being found guilty of the murders, Patrick was hanged in 1903. James had his sentence reduced to life imprisonment. He died a recluse and an opal farmer in 1941.
Munro’s grandfather, also named Patrick Kenniff, was so ashamed of the link, he “overnight and illegally” changed the family name.
“It was a family secret for 80 years. No-one was allowed to talk about it, at all. I didn’t know until I was in my early 30s. I was at 60 Minutes, my father was dying, and he said: ‘I’ve got to tell you this story’.’”
Since then, it became a personal crusade for Munro to tell their story.
“I’ve been trying to get this story up at Channel Nine, Seven and Ten for the past 25 years.”
At Foxtel, the project became a four-part series covering the Kenniff brothers, Ned Kelly, Ben Hall, and Captain Moonlite.
Munro said the show’s production team, Genepool, was concerned about uncovering new details about Kelly.
“The producers said: ‘We’re going to upset a lot of people with the Ned Kelly information we’ve discovered’. I said: ‘As long as it’s fair and accurate, I am absolutely your man. I’ve spent a career upsetting people. That’s what we do.
“Then they said: ‘What if find we find the Kenniffs, your great uncles, guilty?’”
Munro replied: “I know they’re guilty and it goes to my credibility if we say they’re guilty. Bring it on.”
Lawless — The Real Bushrangers premiere on Foxtel’s History channel on October 24.
Originally published as Lisa Wilkinson better than Karl Stefanovic, says Mike Munro