A week on, the fallout from Lisa Wilkinson’s Logies speech has continued.
Sources close to Wilkinson confirmed to Diary on Sunday that she will take no further part in The Project’s on-air panel until mid-July at the earliest. We’ve learnt that Wilkinson will take a minimum break of three weeks from hosting The Project. The sources tell us that her absence is largely due to the “toll” from the events of the last week, with the added benefit that she won’t have to address the Logies controversy in a public forum while the media storm subsides.
However, Wilkinson won’t be sitting at home twiddling her thumbs. Diary is told she will be continuing to work on some “investigative” and “human interest” stories that she has already started while she pauses her on-air role.
Still, the timing of her sudden period of leave is slightly difficult from the perspective of Ten and The Project. Wilkinson’s absence means that The Project’s two regular female presenters, Wilkinson and Carrie Bickmore (who’s been on extended leave in the UK), will both be off air at the same time – leaving a temporary void on the show. It will mean that regular hosts Waleed Aly, Peter Helliar and Hamish Macdonald will hold the fort in the meantime.
Meanwhile, Diary understands the most likely stand-in for Wilkinson will be Georgie Tunny, who has already been capably filling much of Bickmore’s role – along with Chrissie Swan – during the regular weeknight presenter’s extended break. Swan could also do some more hosting given the program’s current female void, while The Project’s regular Wednesday panellist, Sydney radio host Rachel Corbett, could also be in line for some more Sunday shifts.
-
‘We’re about to get a sermon’: Nine’s Lisa groan
It’s been well-chronicled that there’s no love lost between Lisa Wilkinson and her former employer, the Nine Network. But there was no more public illustration of the naked enmity at Nine towards Wilkinson than in the Logies room itself on the Gold Coast.
Diary has learnt that a clear measure of the antagonism still lingering at Nine towards Wilkinson came at the very moment she was announced as the winner of the “Most Outstanding News Coverage” Logie, ahead of the likes of Nine’s own “Nazis Next Door” story on 60 Minutes by Nick McKenzie, and Chris Reason’s reporting on Seven about the war in Ukraine.
Reliable witnesses present have told us that there was an audible groan from key members of the Nine contingent as soon as Wilkinson was announced as the award’s winner. Indeed, we’re told that one prominent Nine personality was heard to remark sardonically: “We’re about to get a sermon.”
In the days since, there have been other clear signs that Nine is keen to delete Wilkinson from its corporate memory. There was no better metaphor for this than the decision, which we learnt was taken last Wednesday, to delete Wilkinson’s speech from all future versions of the Logies that it makes available to the public. The decision means that from now on, viewers wishing to watch the Logies on Nine’s digital platform, 9Now, will no longer be able to see Wilkinson’s speech, which has been erased from the full version of the awards show.
It hasn’t exactly been hard to track the build-up of tensions between Nine and Wilkinson. Ever since she left the Today show to join The Project in 2017, Nine and Wilkinson have had a famously rocky relationship. It started with a public war of words between then Nine chief executive Hugh Marksand Wilkinson over the alleged “gender pay gap” between herself and her long-time Today co-host Karl Stefanovic. Things only got worse last year, after Wilkinson’s controversial autobiography gave some blunt assessments of a number of her former Nine colleagues – most notably, Stefanovic himself.
Once the controversy of Wilkinson’s speech hit the media last week, it was hard to find much support for her within Nine, despite the fact her husband and most vocal supporter, Peter FitzSimons, continues to work for the Nine papers.
A number of Nine’s most senior editorial figures – including Wilkinson’s own former boss during her days on the Today show, Neil Breen (who has since moved on to become breakfast radio host at Nine’s 4BC), 3AW morning king Neil Mitchell and The Australian Financial Review’s political editor, Phil Coorey – all taking aim.
Breen dubbed Wilkinson’s speech “disgraceful” in an on-air editorial. Mitchell brutally told his listeners that Wilkinson had “wide experience in magazines like Dolly and Cleo, not daily newspapers, and that experience clearly has not created an understanding of some of the basic laws affecting journalism”. And Coorey took a none-too-subtle swipe when he lashed out at “media poseurs” who made the “story about themselves”.
–
Sales v Sales amid ABC’s ‘Festival of Leigh’
As she prepares to finally sign off on Thursday night after 12 years as host of the ABC’s 7.30, there are plans this week for a veritable “Festival of Leigh Sales”.
Diary hears this week’s most notable private event will be a gathering of past and present ABC glitterati at the Dot Strong Terrace – named after the public broadcaster’s very last tea lady – at the ABC’s Ultimo headquarters to mark her final episode on Thursday night. We’re told the event, to be emceed by her great friend Annabel Crabb, will be attended by at least two ABC managing directors: current boss David Anderson and ex-chief Mark Scott, now vice-chancellor and principal of Sydney University.
But that’s just the start of the guest list, with former ABC news bosses Gaven Morris and Kate Torney to be in attendance along with current news chief Justin Stevens and plenty of on- and off-air ABC colleagues.
However, Sales is determined to make the function not be solely a work affair, with her ex-partner Phil Willis and their two sons also to be present. ABC chief Anderson will deliver a speech for Sales at the function, which will start at 6pm on Thursday night, allowing attendees to watch Sales’s last live show as 7.30 presenter as a group.
The early start time will ensure as many attendees as possible will be present to clap Sales into the function when her final live appearance on the ABC’s flagship nightly current affairs show finishes shortly after 8pm.
There will also be a half-hour special, Farewell To Leigh Sales, to screen in her familiar 7.30 slot, but in the unfamiliar territory of Friday night, where she is even set to displace Gardening Australia.
But this week’s events are just part of her victory lap.
The departing 7.30 host took to print last week to conduct a novel Q&A with her “toughest” subject – allegedly, none other than Leigh Sales herself – in the Nine papers. She also made a memorable cameo as “Ice Cream Lady” in an episode of international children’s TV smash Bluey a few days back.
Meanwhile, Sales spent the weekend setting the stage for a more relaxed future after 7.30, getting into character as pop star Madonna during sold-out Chat 10 Looks 3 shows with Crabb on Friday and Saturday nights at Sydney’s Enmore Theatre.
–
Team Dan dismissive of Mitchell’s ‘old’ audience
We noted a week ago that Melbourne’s best-known shock jock, 3AW’s Neil Mitchell, had beseeched “decent people” in Daniel Andrews’ cabinet to “stand up” against “the worst Premier in our history”.
“I know the decent ones,” he said. “Stand up. Please look around you and stand up for decency. Stand up for honesty in government. Stand up for the people of Victoria before it’s too late.”
A few days later, two of the ministers Mitchell named as the “decent people” in Andrews’ cabinet – Police Minister Lisa Neville and Tourism, Sport and Major Events Minister Martin Pakula – were among four to resign in one day.
Did the timing of the departures have anything to do with Mitchell’s scathing assessment of Andrews?
Mitchell plays down his influence, telling Diary: “I’d like to claim it, but I don’t think I can.”
Sources close to the government have claimed the ministerial departures are part of a “renewal’ process”, and are not a sign of decay in the Andrews regime. They are also disdainful of any suggestion Mitchell, and his huge Melbourne audience, has had any power over the Victorian government – even throwing the additional barb that he skews too old to have any influence.
One government insider dismisses Mitchell’s influence, claiming his audience is made up of “the biggest catchment of old people in Australian radio”, born “in the 1950s and early 1960s”.
“Putting a political lens on it, he (Mitchell) campaigns against (Andrews) every day and it doesn’t connect in the suburbs,” the insider said.
When Diary put this critique to Mitchell, he claimed to know the Andrews regime dismisses his listeners.
“I would just say this: older people think, and they vote,” Mitchell said. “I don‘t care how old or young my audience is. I work for all of them: kids, tradies in their 20s, and people approaching 100.
“I have easily the biggest audience in my timeslot in Melbourne, but the government is finding excuses to avoid me, because it dodges accountability.
“They largely adopt a social media strategy, because, conveniently for them, it avoids detail and it avoids questioning.”
–
Anna’s ‘red carpet’ denial … from the red carpet
Two weeks ago, Diary was first to note that Annastacia Palaszczuk was being dubbed the “Red Carpet Premier” in political circles, for her love of attending virtually any event involving celebrities. That column started a wildfire in the Queensland media, in particular, with everyone from shock jocks to TV news bulletins, Brisbane’s Courier Mail and The Australian following up by noting that even colleagues saw her as being more interested in red carpet snaps with stars than dealing with the humdrum reality of developing crises afflicting the state in energy, hospitals and integrity.
Our original piece noted Palaszczuk had built an exhausting social calendar, full of movie premieres with the likes of Tom Hanks and Baz Luhrmann, VIP horse racing marquees and French champagne-sponsored functions. After it appeared, a glut of prominent headlines dubbed her everything from “PART-TIME PREMIER” to “RED CARPET ANNA”, as even Labor predecessor Peter Beattie and disgruntled unnamed Labor backbenchers questioned her ongoing commitment after seven years in the job.
Diary has confirmed that every time a photo is published showing Palaszczuk on the red carpet with a celebrity, several Queensland Labor backbenchers become nervous about the impact it will have on their long-term re-election prospects.
But as we correctly predicted a fortnight back, absolutely nothing was going to stop Palaszczuk and her laparoscopic surgeon boyfriend Reza Adib from making yet another appearance among her favourite tribe, celebrities.
This time, it was rubbing shoulders with the biggest names in Australian TV at the Logies – and not even a front-page splash from the Sunday Mail that very morning which lashed her obsession with the red carpet would deter her.
Things reached a new height of surrealism when Palaszczuk was left fielding questions from one game Gold Coast reporter about spending too much time on the red carpet – from where else but the Logies red carpet. Talk about swallowing the media grenade!
Even Palaszczuk’s routinely grumpy chief spin doctor Shane Doherty abandoned his regular refrain of “Gotta go!” during Palaszczuk press conferences to generously allow questions on the red carpet.
He should have known better. Taking full advantage of this was Seven’s Gold Coast reporter Carly Madsen, who didn’t waste an opportunity to ask the Premier about her partying ways.
Suddenly, the new relaxed Premier wasn’t so relaxed anymore. “I work seven days a week,” a visibly offended Palaszczuk replied. “I’ll be back at my desk first thing tomorrow morning … most of the events (I attend) are on weekends!”
Seven couldn’t believe its luck getting time with Palaszczuk about the story of the day, with the Logies host broadcaster Nine nowhere in sight. Seven quickly turned the interview into an “exclusive” lead story for its flagship Sunday night 6pm bulletin in Brisbane just before the Logies started.
The Premier’s red carpet performance on Seven quickly circulated around Queensland, and the following morning editors, columnists, cartoonists, Brisbane talkback radio and popular online news sites had a field day with the Palaszczuk’s rebuttal from her new favourite place: the red carpet.
–
Labor ministers beef up Sky presence
Soon after he first became the-then federal opposition leader in 2019, Anthony Albanese made a fascinating address at David Speers’ farewell to Sky News just before he moved on to host the ABC’s Insiders.
Apart from farewelling Speers, Albanese’s other main subject surprised many present: his theory on why Labor politicians needed to front up for interviews on Sky. His philosophy of accepting requests from Sky was the polar opposite of his predecessor, Bill Shorten, who had refused to appear there because he saw it as a bastion of TV conservatism.
But Diary was reliably informed at the time that Albo surprised the gathered throng that night in October 2019, notably including several of his then-shadow ministers present, by urging them to go on Sky: “I often get a lot of criticism for doing Sky interviews. The truth is that it was (once) a niche thing, but it’s not now. It’s a way for us to communicate, for us to get our ideas out.
“One of the reasons why I do Sky interviews isn’t just for the people who are watching: it is then what’s then translated out there. It plays a really important role in this building (Parliament House) and in national politics. And it is a good thing that it exists.”
Three years on, with Albo now the PM, it’s clear that Labor has listened to its leader and significantly expanded its presence on Sky.
Research produced for Diary by media monitoring agency Streem analysed the first month of the senior Albanese ministry on Sky, from May 22 until June 22 in terms of mentions, including on-screen appearances and spoken references. The Streem data shows that Sky, once out-of-bounds under Shorten, is becoming an indispensable home for some of Labor’s most senior ministers.
Albo himself has very much practised what he preached back in 2019 with his post-election Sky presence, clocking up a colossal 5816 mentions and already agreeing to three interviews with the network as PM since May 21.
The PM aside, the award for the Labor minister most mentioned on Sky goes to the new federal Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, with 1623 mentions in the first month since the election. Chalmers only just pipped new Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen, whose Sky presence was heavily raised because of the energy crisis, with just over 1500 mentions – six times the number he had received on Sky during the entire election campaign.
Deputy PM and Defence Minister Richard Marles – long a Sky tragic after having his own five-year Sky show, Pyne and Marles, with Christopher Pyne – was a close fourth, with 1285 mentions, followed by Penny Wong (1118 mentions) in fifth after her charm offensive in the Pacific Islands. The Labor big five cleared out from the rest of the ministerial pack, including Jason Clare, Mark Butler, Tanya Plibersek and Mark Dreyfus.
–
Eddie vs Neil: battle of the egos
The Melbourne airwaves were lit up on Thursday by an explosive argument for nearly 30 minutes between Eddie McGuire and Neil Mitchell, on Mitchell’s 3AW show. Long-time observers in the southern capital described the confrontation as “one of the biggest fights” on Melbourne radio in recent years.
Adding spice to the fight is that McGuire is a fortnightly guest on Mitchell’s 3AW show. The angry war of words, which appeared to start over the misbehaviour of some footballers from McGuire’s beloved Collingwood Football Club in the AFL, didn’t end with apologies from either side. The stoush was memorably highlighted by Mitchell calling McGuire a “nasty bastard”. Meanwhile, McGuire accused Mitchell of using his microphone as a “sledgehammer” and of being able to dish out criticism – but unable to take it. “Toughen up,” he told the 3AW host at one point.
Some enjoyed the uninhibited exchange between the pair. One prominent radio executive described it as “great radio”.
Meanwhile, there were few signs of tensions being dialled down when Diary reached the high-profile pair on Sunday. When we spoke to Mitchell, he said: “People ask me if I’m going to sack Eddie from the show now. But if I only had people on air that I agree with, I wouldn’t have many people on air. Of course he’ll keep doing it – maybe it’ll just add an extra bit of spice.”
But Mitchell’s mention of the word “sacking” only seemed to lure McGuire into taking another shot at him: “It would be a bit hard for Neil to sack me – given that he asked me to come on the show and I do it for free,” McGuire told Diary. “I even brought him a sponsor – the mighty Lexus of Blackburn.”
-
Making the news
More Coverage
Join the conversation
‘Time for a rest’: John Laws calls time on radio career
Broadcaster John Laws, 89, has announced that he will pull the plug on his extraordinary 71-year media career next month.
Read more
Tight NRL finale draws strong TV audience
The ratings for the closely-fought match between the Panthers and the Melbourne Storm were up on last year’s NRL centrepiece but were easily outstripped by the TV audience for the lopsided AFL Grand Final a week earlier.
Read more