Anthony Albanese leads nation’s charge to Australian Open centre court

From politicians to business magnates and Hollywood actors, there was no shortage of big names in the corporate suites and courtside seats at Rod Laver Arena.

Anthony Albanese and former treasurer of Australia peter Costello at the Australian Open women’s singles final. Picture: Tennis Australia/Aaron Francis

While crowd favourite Rafael Nadal made an early exit to Tullamarine and hometown hero Nick Kyrgios didn’t even hit a ball – or anything else – in anger at this year’s Australian Open, there was no shortage of big names in the corporate suites and courtside seats at Rod Laver Arena.

The nation’s top seed, ­Anthony “Tennis Albo” Albanese, enjoyed a front row view for Friday’s men’s semi-final between Serbian Novak Djokovic and American Tommy Paul, and in what may have been a first for an Australian prime minister at a major sporting event, he wasn’t even booed when he was introduced to the crowd. Clearly, the PM’s honeymoon period rolls on, although tennis crowds do have a reputation for being excessively polite.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and partner Jodie Haydon. Picture: Getty

Albanese, with partner Jodie Haydon by his side, was seen in deep conversation with various acquaintances during his three-hour courtside stay on Friday, most notably the US ambassador to Australia, Caroline Kennedy, who arrived late but proudly clutched, waved and unfurled the Stars and Stripes as she urged her countryman Paul to rally against Djokovic. No luck there for the US ambo, but at least she didn’t get in any trouble for posing with a flag, which is more than could be said for the Djoker’s dad, Srdjan.

Josh Frydenberg with wife Amie and Seven Group CEO Ryan Stokes with wife Claire. Picture: Tennis Australia/Aaron Francis

The PM was back at Rod Laver on Saturday night for the women’s final between Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina, and enjoyed – or appeared to enjoy – the company of Nine chairman and former treasurer Peter Costello, with the duo simultaneously eating ice creams, thus avoiding any awkward ­silences. Nine chief executive Mike Sneesby, whose network holds the broadcast rights to the event, was nearby.

Bill Gates was seen at Rod Laver Arena several times over the past fortnight, and was there again for Sunday night’s men’s final.

REA chairman and Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan was also there over he weekend, while a few rows back on Saturday night – but still very much in the VIP section – were former treasurer, one-time professional tennis couldabeen, and current Goldman Sachs banker Josh Frydenberg and his wife Amie, who took Seven Group chief executive Ryan Stokes and his wife Claire along for the night.

Russell Crowe with his girlfriend Britney Theriot. Picture: Tennis Australia/Aaron Francis

Sky News Australia chief executive Paul “Boris” Whittaker – a keen tennis fan, as his nickname suggests – was there as well, as was Russell Crowe with partner Britney Theriot, new Vogue Australia editor Christine Centenera and actor Olivia DeJonge. Steve Waugh took his dad, Rodger.

And while Melbourne boy Mark Philippoussis never made it to the final at his home grand slam tournament, he was prominent whenever Stefanos Tsitsipas took to the court, as a key member of the Greek player’s ­entourage. It’s been a great fortnight for The Poo, not just ­because of his involvement with Tsitsipas, but also for the unveiling of his hitherto unknown comic timing, showcased in the Uber Eats ads that have screened during breaks in the tennis over the past two weeks.

SMH says sorry, again

When The Sydney Morning Herald’s star gossip columnist ­Andrew Hornery copped a barrage of bad press last June for pressuring actor Rebel Wilson for details about her same-sex relationship – which she had not yet publicly disclosed – the veteran journalist eventually recognised his mistake. “(It) was not fair and I apologise,” Hornery said about his offensive story, three days after it was published. The fallout from the Wilson gossip piece became much bigger than the original story itself, with SMH editor Bevan Shields also offering a grovelling public apology to the actor and to the masthead’s readers.

Seven months down the track, Hornery and the SMH’s sister Sunday paper, The Sun-Herald, have again become embroiled in one of the biggest celebrity stories in recent memory, and again, not in a good way.

Andrew Hornery. Picture: Twitter

While The Daily Telegraph ­enjoyed all the kudos for breaking the story (complete with video) about Michael Clarke’s public bust-up with his partner Jade Yarbrough, the SMH has been forced to apologise for its misreporting about some of those present at the incident in Noosa on January 10.

On January 22, Hornery wrote an article in The Sun-Herald about the involvement of Clarke and his close friend, “celebrity ­accountant” Anthony Bell, in “Sydney’s most intriguing boys’ club”.

Bell – who just happened to be a bystander to the now-infamous Noosa stoush involving the ex-cricketer, Yarbrough, her sister Jasmine Stefanovic, and her husband Karl Stefanovic – was ­described by Hornery as the “founder” of the club.

The column detailed the romantic histories of Clarke and Bell, listing the relationships with various high-profile women, their top-tier real estate deals, and their passion for expensive yachts.

Hornery took aim and fired squarely at the “glitzy brand of midlife machismo” of the blokey gang, “where face creams go hand-in-hand with beers and a day at the footy”.

As far as journalistic hit-jobs go, it was pretty brutal. And as it turns out, largely untrue.

On Saturday evening, the SMH online published an “unreserved” apology to Bell. It was also published at the top of Hornery’s column in The Sun-Herald on Sunday, and it was a doozy.

“An article by Andrew Hornery in last weekend’s The Sun-Herald, “Michael Clarke, Anthony Bell and Sydney’s most intriguing boys’ club” made allegations about Anthony Bell and the Loyal Foundation Charity that were not true.

“The Sun-Herald acknowledges the outstanding and distinguished contribution Mr Bell’s charity, the Loyal Foundation, has made for over a decade to purchasing lifesaving children’s medical equipment in over 100 hospitals around Australia. The Sun-Herald regrets any suggestion Mr Bell is the founder of a “boys club” and does not have appropriate family values. The Sun-Herald also acknowledges that Mr Bell was a bystander to the incident in Noosa referred to in the article and was in no way part of the dispute.”

“The Sun-Herald apologises unreservedly to Mr Bell for the hurt and suffering the article has caused him, his family and friends.”

But there was no apology to readers, whom the Nine-owned newspapers have again dudded by publishing error-strewn celebrity guff.

Diary asked Nine if it continues to stand by its star gossip columnist following his latest error – which is understood to have resulted in a financial settlement with Bell – but was told that the company had “nothing to add”.

Paramount’s pep talk

Troubled-plagued Network Ten was certainly trying to give its staff a new year’s rev-up in its first monthly sales meeting of the year dubbed, HOP, which if you didn’t guess, stands for House of Paramount.

In an address to staff last Wednesday, led by chief sales officer Rod Prosser, one of the hot topics of discussion was the fallout from Paramount’s failed bid for the cricket rights at the end of last year.

Spies told Diary that its bid for cricket rights was well and truly played down at the in-house meeting, with staff assured the US-owned media giant never ­actually made a “binding bid” for the sports rights, so it was no big deal anyway.

Sarah Harris. Picture: Getty Images

The cricket rights ended up being snared by Foxtel (65 per cent owned by News Corp, publisher of The Australian) and Seven, for an additional seven years through until 2031.

The pep talk came as Ten’s dramatic overhaul of its on-air line-up on The Project has been met with a lukewarm response from viewers. At the end of last year, Carrie Bickmore, Lisa Wilkinson and Peter Helliar departed,and new host Sarah Harris was installed alongside the show’s stayer, Waleed Aly.

Three weeks in and the ratings are already flagging, with the network’s 5pm news bulletin last week beating The Project’s 7pm slot four nights in a row, from Tuesday through to Friday.

It’s bad news for Ten which ­relies on The Project to lure viewers to the network before the prime time 7.30pm slot.

This Monday night is a big ­occasion for the free-to-air commercial stations, with the launch of some of the biggest “tentpole” shows of the year, including Seven’s Australian Idol, Nine’s Married At First Sight and Ten’s Australian Survivor.

Folau still on the bench

Ten weeks and counting – but still no sign of the ABC’s highly-anticipated documentary on former Wallabies star Israel Folau.

Despite being heavily promoted in the lead up to its on-air date of November 21, it was pulled at the last minute. Although assurances were given at the time that the delay was due to some production hold-ups – not editorial issues – the doco appears to be gathering a fair bit of dust on Aunty’s shelf.

Israel Folau. Picture: Getty Images

Folau, a committed Christian, was sacked by Rugby Australia in 2019 after he shared his views on social media that gay people would go to “hell” unless they ­“repent”. The fallout prompted heated debate about freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

Plugged as a documentary that “unravels threads on culture, faith, sexuality, politics and sports”, an ABC spokesman denied there were any editorial concerns within the national broadcaster about the program.

“We’re working on a new transmission date which we hope to announce soon,” the spokesman said. “The Folau documentary has not been delayed due to any legal or defamation issues.”

The ABC’s executive producer of digital and programs, Patrick Stack, said in an interview published online in November that he’d watched the series ahead of its original release date.

“We’ve had a look at it, it’s a cracker, it covers his relationship with family, religion and sport,” Stack said.

The documentary’s director Nel Minchin said last year that the footballer was approached to be interviewed for the program, but declined.

“We did approach him to be interviewed and he wasn’t interested in that,” she said.

“It sounds like he was very burnt … by that year and the media, and a lot of people actually declined to talk to us who were burnt by the year.”

Great innings

One of Australia’s longest-serving sports television broadcasters has hung up his boots.

After a 47-year career covering cricket, football, golf, motor sports, horse racing and several summer and Winter Olympic Games, Pat Welsh delivered his final sports bulletin on 7NEWS Brisbane on Saturday night.

He was farewelled with a 10-minute on-air tribute that traced his journey with the network, which began when Welsh fronted up to Seven’s Brisbane studios in 1975, fresh out of high school.

Pat Welsh. Picture: Twitter

Welsh became a household name among Australian sports fans in the 1980s, when he would talk under his breath while following golfers – most notable Greg Norman – down the fairways during big tournaments, earning him the nickname “Whispering Pat”.

He nominated his post-race ­interview with Cathy Freeman after her gold-medal winning race at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 as his most treasured career ­moment, just ahead of his scoop in breaking the news of Allan Border’s retirement in 1994

“I started this job in the mid-70s as a raw young reporter with one ambition – to tell sports stories and hopefully tell them in a way that you, the viewers, wanted to watch. I leave hoping in some small way that I’ve done that.”

Well played, Pat.

Where’s Wally going?

Down the road at 9NEWS Brisbane, its sports presenter is also moving on.

Rugby league legend Wally Lewis last week announced that he was stepping down from his role “effective immediately”, due to health reasons.

Lewis, who has worked for Nine since 1999, has for many years spoken publicly about his struggle with epilepsy.

“My health has made decisions for me in the past so it’s my turn to make decisions for my health,” he said last week.

“While I’ll take more of a backseat role in the studio, 9NEWS viewers can still expect me to keep them up-to-date on the highs and lows of local and international sport, and of course share my weekly NRL tips.”

Despite some industry chatter that suggested Lewis resisted the idea of being moved off Nine’s newsdesk, a spokesman for the network told Diary: “It was a joint decision as Wally manages a few health issues.

“He will be a part of Nine’s NRL coverage, 9NEWS and a number of State of Origin specials each year.”

Lewis is contracted to Nine until the end of 2025.