Latest news with #JohnLyons
ABC News
2 days ago
- Politics
- ABC News
Soldiers deployed to quell Los Angeles riots
Woman's voice: ABC Listen, podcasts, radio, news, music and more. Isabella Higgins: Good morning. Welcome to AM. It's Monday the 9th of June. I'm Isabella Higgins coming to you from Gadigal Land in Sydney. Hundreds of soldiers are on the streets of Los Angeles where riot police and demonstrators have clashed after the arrest of suspected illegal immigrants. Trump administration officials say their deployment is necessary to maintain and ensure law and order but California's governor says the move could escalate tensions. America's editor John Lyons is in Washington. John, what's the latest with this deployment? John Lyons: Isabella, at the moment it's relatively calm. President Trump has ordered those 2,000 National Guard into Los Angeles following two days of protests over the illegal immigration rounding up of people allegedly who are overstaying their visas or are in America illegally. Now Pete Hegseth, the Defence Secretary, has said that he has Marines also on standby. There is some sense though from some of the authorities in California that this is much of an overreaction, that this could have been handled by the Los Angeles Police Department but so far while there are crowds and some protests at the moment the National Guard are standing around various places in Los Angeles and things are relatively calm. Isabella Higgins: John, the deployment of the National Guard is rare. How are Americans reacting? John Lyons: Look, I think that those Americans who support President Trump and this was one of his signature election campaign promises of course was illegal immigrants. His base, his supporters think it's excellent. They like to see this sort of tough action. Those who are not supporters of his worry about the civil liberties implications. It's interesting that usually the National Guard are deployed in America at the request of a governor. What makes this particularly different and in a way quite dangerous is that it's believed to be the first time since 1965 when President Lyndon Johnson ordered National Guard into the streets of Alabama that a president has deployed National Guard against the wishes of the governor. The California Governor Gavin Newsom, who President Trump routinely and provocatively calls Gavin New Scum, has said that he doesn't think the National Guard should be deployed, that it is an inflammatory move by the president. Isabella Higgins: John Lyons in Washington. The co-author of a strategic review into Australia's defence capability says the federal government risks angering Donald Trump if he doesn't convince the US it's doing enough to increase the defence budget. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is facing pressure to boost defence spending as he prepares to head to the United States after the Trump administration insisted Australia should lift its spending to 3.5 per cent of its gross domestic product. But the government is pushing back, saying it's doing enough already. Isobel Roe reports. Isobel Roe: Donald Trump claims America's allies rely too much on them and aren't prepared to sufficiently fund their own defence programs. Looking at the numbers, some experts think that point is worth considering. Peter Dean: Pretty much since the end of the Vietnam War there's been a steady trajectory for Australian defence spending going backwards and going down. Isobel Roe: Professor Peter Dean from the United States Studies Centre was the co-lead of the Australian Strategic Defence Review, a document produced in 2023, which recommended the government substantially increase the defence budget. Peter Dean: It's started to rise recently with the investments of the Albanese government and the previous governments but it's still on a very slow trajectory. Isobel Roe: Defence spending is back in the spotlight after the election, following a request from the US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth last week for Australia to increase defence spending to 3.5 per cent of Australia's gross domestic product, or GDP. Anthony Albanese may come face to face with some of that pressure if he meets with US President Donald Trump at the G7 summit next week. On Sky News, Trade Minister Don Farrell maintained the government's line that it won't have its defence policy dictated to it by Washington. Don Farrell: All of our defence capabilities are as strong as they can be and as strong as they need to be. We're focused on what Australia needs to do and we'll make our decisions based on what is in our national interest. Isobel Roe: What Australia spends on defence has emerged as a policy difference between the government and the opposition. Shadow Finance Minister James Paterson told the ABC on Sunday the coalition's election commitment of 3 per cent still stands. James Paterson: In the last five weeks, I don't know about you, but I don't think the world has become a much safer place. So we are committed to reaching that 3 per cent of GDP target. Isobel Roe: And members of the defence establishment here in Australia think 3 per cent of GDP is a price worth paying for defence. One of them is Professor Peter Dean. Peter Dean: I think what 3 per cent is, is a guideline for the amount of money that's needed in an initial investment. The Prime Minister is correct, we should figure out the capabilities we need and fund them appropriately. Isobel Roe: As for the US's demands of 3.5 per cent of GDP on defence, how does Anthony Albanese stand up to Donald Trump while keeping Australia's military alliance with the US strong? Peter Dean: It's become a proxy for allies and partners to make comparisons about that relative investment that each country makes into its own sovereign defence capabilities. Isobel Roe: What does Australia risk by not doing what the US recommends? Peter Dean: The US has long had a bipartisan position going back decades that its allies and partners such as NATO, Australia and others, should spend more money on defence. But I think the risk we have to take into account, that is that Donald Trump's behaviour for instance towards NATO and its European allies may well be replicated towards Australia. Isabella Higgins: United States Studies Centre Professor Peter Dean ending that report from Isobel Roe. A former Prime Minister, a top film director and leaders in science are among the more than 800 Australians being recognised in today's King's Birthday Honours list. Many of the recipients have spent decades of their life working to improve their communities or to help give those less fortunate a leg up. Gavin Coote reports. Scott Morrison: I have always believed in miracles. Gavin Coote: After winning an election he'd been projected to lose, Scott Morrison went on to lead Australia through a generation-defining pandemic and economic downturn. The former Prime Minister is today being appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia, or AC, for eminent service to Australia and Parliament and his leadership of the national COVID-19 response. Scott Morrison: We were hit with pretty much every crisis you could imagine, from natural disasters to a global pandemic once in a hundred years, and of course the threats we faced in our region and a recession caused by that global pandemic. And through all of this Australians were just incredible. Gavin Coote: There's a total of 830 people on the Honours list, including some big names in entertainment and the arts. Movie clip: All you need is love. Love is just a game. Gavin Coote: Baz Luhrmann, the famed director behind the films Moulin Rouge and Strictly Ballroom, and his wife, costume designer Catherine Martin, are both being appointed an AC for eminent service to the arts and the development of artistic talent. Businesswoman and feminist leader Wendy McCarthy is also being appointed an AC and says she's proud of her achievements in advocating for women. Wendy McCarthy: But if I had to pull out the most significant, it would be leading the reproductive rights campaign in New South Wales and to take, with my friends and colleagues, abortion off the criminal code after 80 years is for me one of the most fantastic things to be engaged in. Gavin Coote: Another AC appointee is former broadcaster Phillip Adams, who hosted Late Night Live on Radio National for more than 30 years after a career in film and advertising. Phillip Adams: But I've headed oodles of government bodies like the Australian Film Commission, then of course journalism, books. So, yes, I've been a busy little lad since I left school at 15. Gavin Coote: The honours list includes many who've dedicated their life's work to tackling complex challenges and improving society. Former ABC journalist Matt Peacock, who died in October last year, is being posthumously appointed a Member of the Order of Australia, or AM, for his work in the media, which included decades of reporting on the health impacts of asbestos. And Distinguished Professor Vasso Apostolopoulos is being appointed an AM for her pioneering work in developing treatments for cancer and other diseases. Vasso Apostolopoulos: Over the years I've wondered, you know, what do you have to do to achieve these awards? These people must be amazing that receive these awards and there I am today being named as one of the recipients. So it was very unexpected and it's very exciting. Gavin Coote: Also being appointed an AM is Bronwen Dalton, an academic and the founder of the charity Ruff Sleepers, a service that washes the dogs of homeless people, while also advocating for improved housing options for homeless people with pets. She says it's been a privilege to work right across the not-for-profit sector. Bronwen Dalton: I was working with the sex workers, I've worked with undocumented migrants, Indigenous groups, North Korean women, they're pretty high on the oppressed scale as well. Gavin Coote: And there are more than two dozen recipients who are being honoured for their service in Indigenous communities, including Bangerang-Wiradjuri Elder Aunty Geraldine Atkinson and prominent NT advocate Olga Havnen. Isabella Higgins: Gavin Coote with that report. Israel's Defence Minister has issued a warning to the crew of an aid ship trying to sail to Gaza, turn back now or face the force of the Israeli military. The Madleen set off from Italy a week ago, crewed by humanitarian activists including Greta Thunberg, and is trying to deliver supplies to the war-ravaged territory. Middle East correspondent Matthew Doran is in Jerusalem. Matthew, where is the ship now? Matthew Doran: Isabella, good morning. The ship is off the coast of Egypt in the Mediterranean, about 150 to 170 nautical miles off the coast of Gaza. It's been en route since last week when the ship run by the Freedom Flotilla set off from Sicily. And while the discussion around how Israel would respond to the voyage has been simmering away for a few days now, as it gets closer to Gaza, the rhetoric from Israeli authorities is certainly sharpening. We've heard from Israel Katz, the country's Defence Minister. He's firing a warning shot on social media a couple of hours ago. Alongside a photo of him sitting down with Israeli defence officials, Mr Katz announced he'd instructed the IDF to use whatever means necessary to stop the ship reaching Gaza. And he singled out the activist Greta Thunberg who was on board, labelling her as anti-Semitic, saying she was a Hamas supporter, along with the other members of the crew, and that the ship should turn around. Now, Greta Thunberg has knocked back the claim that she is anti-Semitic. She has returned serve on her own social media accounts, saying that the voyage is not about her, it's not about the crew or the ship. It is, in her own words, about highlighting Israel's genocide in Gaza, an accusation the country has repeatedly rejected. Now, the Freedom Flotilla had charted another ship, which a couple of weeks ago was hit by what the crew said was an Israeli drone attack. Israel hasn't commented on that. But back in 2010, Israeli commandos intercepted another ship bound for Gaza with some aid on board and 10 people died. And that's why there's a lot of focus on what's going on here. We're seeing in the Israeli media reports that the military plans to intercept the ship, take it to Ashdod Port north of Gaza, and then arrest and deport the crew. And earlier today, one of the crew, Brazilian activist Tiago Avila, he posted on his Instagram account a video where he said that Israeli forces were already trying to scramble the ship's GPS signal. Thiago Avila: And we just received some very weird news. That according to our tracker we are no longer 162 nautical miles from Gaza - which is where we are - but according to him that we are at Jordan Airport. And we know what that means, when they start jamming our communication, when they start messing with our devices, it means they are preparing for an interception. Or an attack. Isabella Higgins: That was Tiago Avila on board the aid ship. And Matthew, the aid situation in Gaza is what has prompted this voyage. What's the latest on how the population is accessing supplies? Matthew Doran: Well, Isabella, the situation on the ground remains incredibly dire. There's been another wave of shootings nearby. One of the aid sites in southern Gaza, another four people killed and dozens more injured, according to local health authorities. This follows a series of attacks last week, which has fuelled a sense of chaos around these sites. The IDF blaming Hamas for that, but also conceding firing warning shots at Palestinians approaching some of these aid sites. And then Hamas and Palestinians accessing their aid, accusing Israel of firing upon desperate people just trying to get their hands on some food there. Israel is insisting that enough aid is entering the strip through those distribution sites and also through trucks making deliveries. There are 350 which have crossed the border in the last week or so. But humanitarians say it's just a drop in the ocean compared to what's really required to solve the crisis, Isabella. Isabella Higgins: Matthew Doran in Jerusalem. After a tense weekend in Ukraine, Russia says its forces have made gains in both the east and northeast of the country. In recent days, the Ukrainian cities of Kyiv and Kharkiv have come under intense air attacks, some of the most powerful during the war. Tim Swanston reports from London. Tim Swanston: Following an intense missile and drone barrage in Kharkiv on Saturday, emergency crews worked frantically to clear rubble and find survivors in a nine-storey residential building. The city in eastern Ukraine is being hit regularly as the war escalates. But this weekend's bombing, which killed at least four, has been described by the city's mayor, Ihor Terekhov, as the most powerful attack since the start of the war. Just a day earlier, Russia launched a massive strike on Kyiv and cities in Ukraine's west. Ukrainian officials said more than 400 drones and more than 40 missiles were used in the intense attack. Three first responders were killed. These significant aerial attacks come as Russia makes territorial gains within Ukraine. Moscow says its forces have reached the western frontier of Ukraine's Donetsk region in the country's east and are making gains near Sumy in the northeast, a region Ukraine had reclaimed in 2022. Ukraine's military says Russia's forces are building a position for an attack on an important logistical hub for the Ukrainian army. Professor Vlad Mykhnenko from the University of Oxford says Russia is pushing hard early in a summer offensive. Vlad Mykhnenko: I think the Russian summer offensive will continue until about October. They might have some gains. They will probably occupy one or two settlements in the Donetsk Oblast. Perhaps they will take a few villages in other provinces. They will definitely terrorise Sumy and Kherson and their civilians with large drone attacks. They will definitely terrorise Ukrainian cities with drone attacks. Tim Swanston: According to pro-Ukrainian open source maps, Russia now controls almost one fifth of Ukrainian territory. Talks last week in Istanbul yielded very little, except for an exchange of prisoners of war and bodies. Amid the escalation, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Kyiv is planning more operations, like its strike on Russian airbases last weekend that destroyed part of Moscow's strategic bomber fleet. Volodymyr Zelenskyy: We have to prepare such plans and we are not stopping. We have to prepare such plans because Russia can't, because we don't know, we don't really know if they will stop this war. They don't want, they don't want to stop the war. Tim Swanston: US officials say they believe Russia's retaliation has not begun yet in earnest and will likely be a significant multi-pronged strike. Further peace talks are expected later this month in the shadow of this bloody escalation and likely months of intensified fighting. This is Tim Swanston in London reporting for AM. Queensland's tropical island resorts were once the playgrounds of the rich and famous, but now many are falling into ruin. The state government is moving to take back control from owners who have neglected their valuable tourism assets. National tourism reporter Kristy Sexton-McGrath reports. Kristy Sexton-McGrath: Queensland's island resorts were once the ultimate getaway, jewels in the state's tourism crown, but today many lie crumbling, overgrown and forgotten. Premier David Crisafulli says the decline can't continue. He's issued a stern warning to owners to either invest or lose their leases. David Crisafulli: It's pretty simple. They are assets that belong to the people of Queensland. They're a Queensland asset and I'm just not comfortable that in many cases international corporations come in, buy the rights, sit on it and just see an appreciation in its value without doing anything for Queenslanders. Kristy Sexton-McGrath: At the top of the government's list is Double Island near Cairns, once a celebrity hideaway. Now buildings are collapsing, pools clogged with sludge and weeds have taken over. Last year the Queensland government stripped the Hong Kong owner of the lease, converted the land to freehold and recently launched a lengthy expression of interest process to find the right buyer. The ABC understands more than 30 parties have shown interest, but the government wants someone with the funds and commitment to properly revive the island. Further south, Keswick Island off Mackay has long faced stall development and restricted public access, frustrating residents like Adrian Hayne. Adrian Hayne: This goes back probably more than 20 years. Based on a grand master plan that was released back in the 90s, a lot of people had bought land on the island with the promise that they would develop the island. There was supposed to be a marina, a jetty, resorts. Since then I think we've had four separate head leases take over the island and four failures. Kristy Sexton-McGrath: Island broker Hayley Manville says the interest in Queensland's tropical islands has never been higher. Hayley Manville: Billionaires, multi-millionaires, they're looking for some kind of tourism investment, but then you also have mixed interest from different groups like not-for-profit, be it wellness or a facility for rehabilitation. You get a lot of con artists. Kristy Sexton-McGrath: Businessman Christopher Morris, who's invested tens of millions of dollars reviving run-down resorts in North Queensland, say island ownership is no easy ride. He purchased Orpheus Island and then Pelorus Island off Townsville more than a decade ago and spent tens of millions of dollars redeveloping them. He agrees with the government's crackdown on shonky leaseholders but says not all islands are suited to resort development. Christopher Morris: There's some islands that basically should just stay national parks, right, and people can go and walk there and everything else can't, but there's a limit to how many islands you can support. Isabella Higgins: Businessman Christopher Morris ending that report by Kristy Sexton-McGrath. And that's AM for today. Thanks for your company. I'm Isabella Higgins. Sam Hawley: Hi, it's Sam Hawley here, host of the ABC News Daily podcast. Woodside is on a winning ticket. It's had the life of its massive gas project in Western Australia extended by 40 years. Today, Joe Lauder from the ABC's climate team on why the Albanese government has approved the extension, even though we're meant to be going renewal. Look for the ABC News Daily podcast on the ABC Listen app.
The Advertiser
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Advertiser
Movie star opens up about the accident that nearly killed him
What's new: Adelaide's Georgia Rose Phillips dares to fictionalise the early life of notorious cult leader Anne Hamilton-Byrne, while Australian journalist John Lyons details the "extraordinary efforts of ordinary Ukrainians" trying to save their country. Jeremy Renner. Simon & Schuster. $34.99. On New Year's Day, 2023, actor Jeremy Renner needed to clear mountains of snow from his Nevada driveway to enable his visiting family to go skiing. So the star of The Hurt Locker fired up a snowcat to bulldoze the road. The accident that followed should have killed him. Renner was run over by the six-tonne machine, and his account of the calamity is bloodcurdling. "I can promise you this much at least: The sounds of being crushed are just as terrifying as the visual," he writes. Renner's injuries were catastrophic. This is the story of his survival and recovery. Candice Chung. Allen & Unwin. $34.99. "A meal is a shape. It is a container into which we pour our cravings." At 35, when a 13-year relationship with her first love ends, food journalist Candice Chung must decide if she wants her retired Cantonese parents to join her as she reviews restaurants. Will they eat together in polite silence as the children of immigrants might traditionally expect? Or will this be her opportunity to finally broach the reasons they have drifted so profoundly apart over the years? This tender, intimate but brave memoir has a meditative tone and structure and should delight lovers of food who treasure its sacred place in family and culture. John Lyons. ABC Books. $34.99. Australian journalist John Lyons has made three trips to wartime Ukraine. The first two were on assignment with the ABC. The third was on his holidays, which allowed him to absorb what was happening in the country without the need to file daily news. It was on this trip that he learned the most, doing what regular Ukrainians do and, most importantly, taking the time to talk to everyday people. He found that resourceful civilians from every walk of life are doing their part. This is a story about the "extraordinary efforts ... of ordinary Ukrainians" trying to save their country. Mark Lilla. Hurst Publishers. $44.99. Humans are driven by the need to know, right? We are curious, we want to discover, look around the corner, explore over the horizon. Or do we? Mark Lilla examines the opposite compulsion: "the will not to know, the will to ignorance". This is not about those who are indifferent to learning, who simply don't want to expend the energy. This is about people who have "developed a particular antipathy toward the search for knowledge, whose inner doors are fastened tight against anything that might cast doubt on what they believe they already know". Starting to sound familiar to anyone? Sinead Stubbins. Affirm Press. $34.99. Apparently work doesn't have to define your life and corporate programs to build team bonds and boost employee engagement might not always deliver healthy outcomes - especially for those of us with messy bits in our personalities and our personal lives (you know, the bits that make us individuals). This wicked little satire of white-collar workplace culture follows Edith and a select group of her co-workers at ad agency Winked as they are sent to an elite three-day work retreat in the remote mountains, run by an outfit called Consequi. She hopes to impress her bosses and escape a looming restructure. But so do her, um, work friends. Madeleine Cleary. Affirm Press. $34.99. Inspired by what she has described as her own family's secret, salacious past - "my great-great-great grandmother was a colonial 'common prostitute'" - Melbourne-raised former Canberra diplomat Madeleine Cleary threads fictional mystery and romance into a grim but fascinating chapter of Australia's hardscrabble past, bringing to richly detailed life the women so often overlooked by history. It's 1863 and a serial killer stalks the notorious red-light district of the goldrush-rich city of Melbourne, endangering poor Irishwoman Johanna Callaghan who hopes to make a living at the glamorous Papillon brothel, and respectable journalist Harriett Gardiner who is intent on unmasking the murderer. Cynthia Timoti. Macmillan. $22.99. Think Crazy Rich Asians meets Always Be My Maybe and you'll get the Asian rom-com gist of this sweetly flirty debut novel about Ellie Pang, a young woman fed up with the meddling of her overbearing parents after she is diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Ellie sets out on her own to open her dream bakery - selling sugar-free treats, of course - but needs help to renovate. The man for the job is none other than Alec, the childhood crush who broke her heart - and it just so happens he needs a fake girlfriend to seal a business deal. But can they fake that they're in love? Georgia Rose Phillips. Picador. $34.99. Family is everything to Anne. And Anne demands everything from her family. That's because Anne knows how devastatingly easy it is to lose your family. The debut novel from Adelaide-based Georgia Rose Phillips dares to fictionalise the early life of Anne Hamilton-Byrne, notorious founder and leader of the cult known as The Family. What formative traumas during her 1920s childhood shaped her later abuse of illegally adopted children through the 1960s and '70s at Lake Eildon in Victoria? Where the author's imagined psychological portrait of Hamilton-Byrne and the disturbing facts of The Family diverge may require further reader research. Love books? Us too! Looking for more reads and recommendations? Browse our books page and bookmark it so you can find our latest books content with ease. What's new: Adelaide's Georgia Rose Phillips dares to fictionalise the early life of notorious cult leader Anne Hamilton-Byrne, while Australian journalist John Lyons details the "extraordinary efforts of ordinary Ukrainians" trying to save their country. Jeremy Renner. Simon & Schuster. $34.99. On New Year's Day, 2023, actor Jeremy Renner needed to clear mountains of snow from his Nevada driveway to enable his visiting family to go skiing. So the star of The Hurt Locker fired up a snowcat to bulldoze the road. The accident that followed should have killed him. Renner was run over by the six-tonne machine, and his account of the calamity is bloodcurdling. "I can promise you this much at least: The sounds of being crushed are just as terrifying as the visual," he writes. Renner's injuries were catastrophic. This is the story of his survival and recovery. Candice Chung. Allen & Unwin. $34.99. "A meal is a shape. It is a container into which we pour our cravings." At 35, when a 13-year relationship with her first love ends, food journalist Candice Chung must decide if she wants her retired Cantonese parents to join her as she reviews restaurants. Will they eat together in polite silence as the children of immigrants might traditionally expect? Or will this be her opportunity to finally broach the reasons they have drifted so profoundly apart over the years? This tender, intimate but brave memoir has a meditative tone and structure and should delight lovers of food who treasure its sacred place in family and culture. John Lyons. ABC Books. $34.99. Australian journalist John Lyons has made three trips to wartime Ukraine. The first two were on assignment with the ABC. The third was on his holidays, which allowed him to absorb what was happening in the country without the need to file daily news. It was on this trip that he learned the most, doing what regular Ukrainians do and, most importantly, taking the time to talk to everyday people. He found that resourceful civilians from every walk of life are doing their part. This is a story about the "extraordinary efforts ... of ordinary Ukrainians" trying to save their country. Mark Lilla. Hurst Publishers. $44.99. Humans are driven by the need to know, right? We are curious, we want to discover, look around the corner, explore over the horizon. Or do we? Mark Lilla examines the opposite compulsion: "the will not to know, the will to ignorance". This is not about those who are indifferent to learning, who simply don't want to expend the energy. This is about people who have "developed a particular antipathy toward the search for knowledge, whose inner doors are fastened tight against anything that might cast doubt on what they believe they already know". Starting to sound familiar to anyone? Sinead Stubbins. Affirm Press. $34.99. Apparently work doesn't have to define your life and corporate programs to build team bonds and boost employee engagement might not always deliver healthy outcomes - especially for those of us with messy bits in our personalities and our personal lives (you know, the bits that make us individuals). This wicked little satire of white-collar workplace culture follows Edith and a select group of her co-workers at ad agency Winked as they are sent to an elite three-day work retreat in the remote mountains, run by an outfit called Consequi. She hopes to impress her bosses and escape a looming restructure. But so do her, um, work friends. Madeleine Cleary. Affirm Press. $34.99. Inspired by what she has described as her own family's secret, salacious past - "my great-great-great grandmother was a colonial 'common prostitute'" - Melbourne-raised former Canberra diplomat Madeleine Cleary threads fictional mystery and romance into a grim but fascinating chapter of Australia's hardscrabble past, bringing to richly detailed life the women so often overlooked by history. It's 1863 and a serial killer stalks the notorious red-light district of the goldrush-rich city of Melbourne, endangering poor Irishwoman Johanna Callaghan who hopes to make a living at the glamorous Papillon brothel, and respectable journalist Harriett Gardiner who is intent on unmasking the murderer. Cynthia Timoti. Macmillan. $22.99. Think Crazy Rich Asians meets Always Be My Maybe and you'll get the Asian rom-com gist of this sweetly flirty debut novel about Ellie Pang, a young woman fed up with the meddling of her overbearing parents after she is diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Ellie sets out on her own to open her dream bakery - selling sugar-free treats, of course - but needs help to renovate. The man for the job is none other than Alec, the childhood crush who broke her heart - and it just so happens he needs a fake girlfriend to seal a business deal. But can they fake that they're in love? Georgia Rose Phillips. Picador. $34.99. Family is everything to Anne. And Anne demands everything from her family. That's because Anne knows how devastatingly easy it is to lose your family. The debut novel from Adelaide-based Georgia Rose Phillips dares to fictionalise the early life of Anne Hamilton-Byrne, notorious founder and leader of the cult known as The Family. What formative traumas during her 1920s childhood shaped her later abuse of illegally adopted children through the 1960s and '70s at Lake Eildon in Victoria? Where the author's imagined psychological portrait of Hamilton-Byrne and the disturbing facts of The Family diverge may require further reader research. Love books? Us too! Looking for more reads and recommendations? Browse our books page and bookmark it so you can find our latest books content with ease. What's new: Adelaide's Georgia Rose Phillips dares to fictionalise the early life of notorious cult leader Anne Hamilton-Byrne, while Australian journalist John Lyons details the "extraordinary efforts of ordinary Ukrainians" trying to save their country. Jeremy Renner. Simon & Schuster. $34.99. On New Year's Day, 2023, actor Jeremy Renner needed to clear mountains of snow from his Nevada driveway to enable his visiting family to go skiing. So the star of The Hurt Locker fired up a snowcat to bulldoze the road. The accident that followed should have killed him. Renner was run over by the six-tonne machine, and his account of the calamity is bloodcurdling. "I can promise you this much at least: The sounds of being crushed are just as terrifying as the visual," he writes. Renner's injuries were catastrophic. This is the story of his survival and recovery. Candice Chung. Allen & Unwin. $34.99. "A meal is a shape. It is a container into which we pour our cravings." At 35, when a 13-year relationship with her first love ends, food journalist Candice Chung must decide if she wants her retired Cantonese parents to join her as she reviews restaurants. Will they eat together in polite silence as the children of immigrants might traditionally expect? Or will this be her opportunity to finally broach the reasons they have drifted so profoundly apart over the years? This tender, intimate but brave memoir has a meditative tone and structure and should delight lovers of food who treasure its sacred place in family and culture. John Lyons. ABC Books. $34.99. Australian journalist John Lyons has made three trips to wartime Ukraine. The first two were on assignment with the ABC. The third was on his holidays, which allowed him to absorb what was happening in the country without the need to file daily news. It was on this trip that he learned the most, doing what regular Ukrainians do and, most importantly, taking the time to talk to everyday people. He found that resourceful civilians from every walk of life are doing their part. This is a story about the "extraordinary efforts ... of ordinary Ukrainians" trying to save their country. Mark Lilla. Hurst Publishers. $44.99. Humans are driven by the need to know, right? We are curious, we want to discover, look around the corner, explore over the horizon. Or do we? Mark Lilla examines the opposite compulsion: "the will not to know, the will to ignorance". This is not about those who are indifferent to learning, who simply don't want to expend the energy. This is about people who have "developed a particular antipathy toward the search for knowledge, whose inner doors are fastened tight against anything that might cast doubt on what they believe they already know". Starting to sound familiar to anyone? Sinead Stubbins. Affirm Press. $34.99. Apparently work doesn't have to define your life and corporate programs to build team bonds and boost employee engagement might not always deliver healthy outcomes - especially for those of us with messy bits in our personalities and our personal lives (you know, the bits that make us individuals). This wicked little satire of white-collar workplace culture follows Edith and a select group of her co-workers at ad agency Winked as they are sent to an elite three-day work retreat in the remote mountains, run by an outfit called Consequi. She hopes to impress her bosses and escape a looming restructure. But so do her, um, work friends. Madeleine Cleary. Affirm Press. $34.99. Inspired by what she has described as her own family's secret, salacious past - "my great-great-great grandmother was a colonial 'common prostitute'" - Melbourne-raised former Canberra diplomat Madeleine Cleary threads fictional mystery and romance into a grim but fascinating chapter of Australia's hardscrabble past, bringing to richly detailed life the women so often overlooked by history. It's 1863 and a serial killer stalks the notorious red-light district of the goldrush-rich city of Melbourne, endangering poor Irishwoman Johanna Callaghan who hopes to make a living at the glamorous Papillon brothel, and respectable journalist Harriett Gardiner who is intent on unmasking the murderer. Cynthia Timoti. Macmillan. $22.99. Think Crazy Rich Asians meets Always Be My Maybe and you'll get the Asian rom-com gist of this sweetly flirty debut novel about Ellie Pang, a young woman fed up with the meddling of her overbearing parents after she is diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Ellie sets out on her own to open her dream bakery - selling sugar-free treats, of course - but needs help to renovate. The man for the job is none other than Alec, the childhood crush who broke her heart - and it just so happens he needs a fake girlfriend to seal a business deal. But can they fake that they're in love? Georgia Rose Phillips. Picador. $34.99. Family is everything to Anne. And Anne demands everything from her family. That's because Anne knows how devastatingly easy it is to lose your family. The debut novel from Adelaide-based Georgia Rose Phillips dares to fictionalise the early life of Anne Hamilton-Byrne, notorious founder and leader of the cult known as The Family. What formative traumas during her 1920s childhood shaped her later abuse of illegally adopted children through the 1960s and '70s at Lake Eildon in Victoria? Where the author's imagined psychological portrait of Hamilton-Byrne and the disturbing facts of The Family diverge may require further reader research. Love books? Us too! Looking for more reads and recommendations? Browse our books page and bookmark it so you can find our latest books content with ease. What's new: Adelaide's Georgia Rose Phillips dares to fictionalise the early life of notorious cult leader Anne Hamilton-Byrne, while Australian journalist John Lyons details the "extraordinary efforts of ordinary Ukrainians" trying to save their country. Jeremy Renner. Simon & Schuster. $34.99. On New Year's Day, 2023, actor Jeremy Renner needed to clear mountains of snow from his Nevada driveway to enable his visiting family to go skiing. So the star of The Hurt Locker fired up a snowcat to bulldoze the road. The accident that followed should have killed him. Renner was run over by the six-tonne machine, and his account of the calamity is bloodcurdling. "I can promise you this much at least: The sounds of being crushed are just as terrifying as the visual," he writes. Renner's injuries were catastrophic. This is the story of his survival and recovery. Candice Chung. Allen & Unwin. $34.99. "A meal is a shape. It is a container into which we pour our cravings." At 35, when a 13-year relationship with her first love ends, food journalist Candice Chung must decide if she wants her retired Cantonese parents to join her as she reviews restaurants. Will they eat together in polite silence as the children of immigrants might traditionally expect? Or will this be her opportunity to finally broach the reasons they have drifted so profoundly apart over the years? This tender, intimate but brave memoir has a meditative tone and structure and should delight lovers of food who treasure its sacred place in family and culture. John Lyons. ABC Books. $34.99. Australian journalist John Lyons has made three trips to wartime Ukraine. The first two were on assignment with the ABC. The third was on his holidays, which allowed him to absorb what was happening in the country without the need to file daily news. It was on this trip that he learned the most, doing what regular Ukrainians do and, most importantly, taking the time to talk to everyday people. He found that resourceful civilians from every walk of life are doing their part. This is a story about the "extraordinary efforts ... of ordinary Ukrainians" trying to save their country. Mark Lilla. Hurst Publishers. $44.99. Humans are driven by the need to know, right? We are curious, we want to discover, look around the corner, explore over the horizon. Or do we? Mark Lilla examines the opposite compulsion: "the will not to know, the will to ignorance". This is not about those who are indifferent to learning, who simply don't want to expend the energy. This is about people who have "developed a particular antipathy toward the search for knowledge, whose inner doors are fastened tight against anything that might cast doubt on what they believe they already know". Starting to sound familiar to anyone? Sinead Stubbins. Affirm Press. $34.99. Apparently work doesn't have to define your life and corporate programs to build team bonds and boost employee engagement might not always deliver healthy outcomes - especially for those of us with messy bits in our personalities and our personal lives (you know, the bits that make us individuals). This wicked little satire of white-collar workplace culture follows Edith and a select group of her co-workers at ad agency Winked as they are sent to an elite three-day work retreat in the remote mountains, run by an outfit called Consequi. She hopes to impress her bosses and escape a looming restructure. But so do her, um, work friends. Madeleine Cleary. Affirm Press. $34.99. Inspired by what she has described as her own family's secret, salacious past - "my great-great-great grandmother was a colonial 'common prostitute'" - Melbourne-raised former Canberra diplomat Madeleine Cleary threads fictional mystery and romance into a grim but fascinating chapter of Australia's hardscrabble past, bringing to richly detailed life the women so often overlooked by history. It's 1863 and a serial killer stalks the notorious red-light district of the goldrush-rich city of Melbourne, endangering poor Irishwoman Johanna Callaghan who hopes to make a living at the glamorous Papillon brothel, and respectable journalist Harriett Gardiner who is intent on unmasking the murderer. Cynthia Timoti. Macmillan. $22.99. Think Crazy Rich Asians meets Always Be My Maybe and you'll get the Asian rom-com gist of this sweetly flirty debut novel about Ellie Pang, a young woman fed up with the meddling of her overbearing parents after she is diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Ellie sets out on her own to open her dream bakery - selling sugar-free treats, of course - but needs help to renovate. The man for the job is none other than Alec, the childhood crush who broke her heart - and it just so happens he needs a fake girlfriend to seal a business deal. But can they fake that they're in love? Georgia Rose Phillips. Picador. $34.99. Family is everything to Anne. And Anne demands everything from her family. That's because Anne knows how devastatingly easy it is to lose your family. The debut novel from Adelaide-based Georgia Rose Phillips dares to fictionalise the early life of Anne Hamilton-Byrne, notorious founder and leader of the cult known as The Family. What formative traumas during her 1920s childhood shaped her later abuse of illegally adopted children through the 1960s and '70s at Lake Eildon in Victoria? Where the author's imagined psychological portrait of Hamilton-Byrne and the disturbing facts of The Family diverge may require further reader research. Love books? Us too! Looking for more reads and recommendations? Browse our books page and bookmark it so you can find our latest books content with ease.
Daily Mail
15-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Drama at the ABC as shock favourite emerges out of nowhere to replace Laura Tingle on 7.30
A clear favourite has emerged in the hotly-anticipated race to replace Laura Tingle in one of the national broadcaster's most prestigious positions. Staff at the ABC expect the coveted role of political correspondent for the broadcaster's nightly current affairs program 7.30 will go to the ABC's chief digital political correspondent Jacob Greber, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. Greber is ahead in what was tipped to be a multi-headed race to fill the gap left when Tingle announced earlier this month she would replace John Lyons as the broadcaster's outgoing global affairs editor. Earlier rumblings suggested the role might have gone to any number of Canberra bureau insiders including chief David Lipson, national affairs editor Melissa Clark and Insiders host David Speers. Q+A host Patricia Karvelas and ABC Radio Melbourne host Raf Epstein ruled themselves out of the running when contacted by the Herald. Tingle, a double Walkley-Award-winning political journalist, will start new position mid-year while Lyons packs up to become the ABC's Americas editor. Among the nation's best respected political journalists with more than 40 years experience including six years in her latest post, Tingle leaves big shoes to fill. 'The job was advertised, and I applied for it,' Tingle told The Australian last week. 'It's the best job in journalism, I reckon, other than the one I have already got.' A fellow Financial Review alum, Tingle will spend the next two years travelling the world reporting on events 'that also shape our nation'. Despite publicly advertising its shift away from television towards digital, the flagship promise of former managing director David Anderson's five-year-plan, 7.30 remains the jewel in the broadcaster's crown. Presented by former Four Corners host Sarah Ferguson, the program boasted an average nightly viewership of 756,000 in the 2023-24 financial year according to ABC's annual reporting. A dip from Covid-era highs of the three previous fiscal years, the program nonetheless retained its popularity, despite fears of a fallout following the 2022 departure of the inaugural presenter Leigh Sales. Despite being lesser known than Karvelas or Speers, Greber would bring decades of broadcast and print experience and some cachet as a reliable face on News Breakfast, Insiders, Afternoon Briefing, Weekend Breakfast and, of course, 7.30. The more front-facing role brings with it a greater possibility for controversy of the brand Tingle has found herself mired in in recent years. Last year, she was accused of dropping the veil of journalistic impartiality when she accused then Opposition Leader Peter Dutton of stoking racism by raising immigration caps as a possible salve for the housing crisis. She said Mr Dutton's rhetoric had sent a 'terrible chill running through me' before, at the same Sydney Writers Festival event, describing Australia as 'a racist country'. ABC news director Justin Stevens later said Tingle's comments, albeit not made in a work capacity, had prompted the broadcaster to remind her of the 'application' of her 'conversational' rhetoric to 'external events'. Before Tingle's six-year stint on 7.30, the coveted role was something of a hot potato having passed through the hands of four presenters in the six years between 2012 and 2018. She replaced Andrew Probyn who was more recently made redundant as the broadcaster's political editor in 2023. Internal ABC documents reportedly said the move was part of a calculated efforts to reform the Canberra bureau's 'outdated, top-heavy structure still largely focused on linear television broadcast'. Greber's appointment to the newly-minted role of chief digital political correspondent was widely considered a de facto planting of the flag in the broadcaster's 'digital-first' strategy. Whether he will be picked for the plum nightly news role is not year clear but could suggest the digital transition has yet to unseat the prestige of broadcast television.
ABC News
12-05-2025
- Business
- ABC News
US, China agree to cut tariffs by 115pc in trade truce
Americas editor John Lyons says Beijing played a 'smart game' and 'did not blink' at the face of tariff threats from Washington.
Sky News AU
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Media Watch Dog: ABC's Sarah Ferguson has her own 'what would your mother say' moment berating Jacinta Price, glass-jawed Niki Savva needs a new crystal ball
It's become oh-so-boring and predictable when individuals say how 'EXCITED' they are about taking up a new position. So, it was refreshing to hear ABC 7.30 political correspondent Laura Tingle say that she is 'EXCEPTIONALLY EXCITED' to be appointed to the position of ABC's Global Affairs Editor. La Tingle will fill in the position vacated by John Lyons when he was appointed Americas Editor in February 2025. As avid Media Watch Dog readers know, Comrade Lyons said on ABC TV News Breakfast on 18 March that his role was to 'translate the Trump presidency to an Australian audience.' Somewhat pompous, don't you think? Especially since the comments implied that the ABC's three-person strong Washington D.C. bureau was not up to the translation task. Now, Laura Tingle has also thrown the switch to condescension. In her 'I'm exceptionally excited' statement, Tingle also declared: It's so important that the national public broadcaster has Australian eyes on the world, putting the significance of major global events into context for local audiences. ABC Director of News Justin Stevens supported Tingle's case, declaring she has 'experience, knowledge and skills to help audiences make sense of the extraordinary times we're living in'. It may well be that Australia really needs the likes of John Lyons and Laura Tingle travelling around the world telling us mere mortals what's going on. Or it may be that these appointments are convenient for ABC management. Writing in The Daily Telegraph on 31 May 2024, former ABC board member Joe Gersh had this to say about Lyons' role as ABC Global Affairs Editor: Has the ABC passed the test of impartiality? Take the case of its Global Affairs Editor, John Lyons, the ABC's lead on this issue. Lyons is an experienced and knowledgeable journalist, but also the author of a book highly critical of Israel and a long essay expressing contempt for the leadership of the Jewish community [in Australia] and its advocacy groups. How can he possibly be suitable to lead the ABC's Israel-Gaza coverage requiring, as its charter does, impartiality on the issue? Laura Tingle is on record as accusing the Coalition government, when led by Scott Morrison, of 'ideological bastardry'. She was an antagonist with respect to the Liberal Party when it was led by Tony Abbott, Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton. Moreover, at the 2024 Sydney Writers' Festival, Tingle declared that Australia is a 'racist country'. At the time, Justin Stevens had this to say: Laura Tingle's remarks at the Sydney Writers' Festival at the weekend lacked the context, balance and supporting information of her work for the ABC and would not have met the ABC's editorial standards. Although the remarks were conversational, and not made in her work capacity, the ABC and its employees have unique obligations in the Australian media. Today she has explained her remarks in more detail to ensure there is a factual record of the relevant context and detail. The ABC's editorial standards serve a vital role. Laura has been reminded of their application at external events as well as in her work and I have counselled her over the remarks. So, there you have it. John Lyons, the vehement opponent of Israel, got the prize Americas Editor job. And Laura Tingle, the vehement critic of Australia's (alleged) racism, got the prized Global Affairs Editor position. All this suggests that, at Australia's taxpayer funded Conservative Free Zone, leftists-behaving-badly get the best appointments. ABC BRANDS SENATOR PRICE A FIREBRAND On ABC Radio News on the morning of Friday 9 May, Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price was referred to as a 'firebrand'. This is not news – it is opinion. The term 'Firebrand' was also used by Jacob Greber and Olivia Caisley in their column about the Liberal Party on ABC News Online. Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has a full name and a title. Neither contains the word Firebrand. EDITORIAL KEY OVERSEAS POSTINGS AT THE ABC & NINE NEWSPAPERS GO TO LEFT-OF-CENTRE TYPES As mentioned above, at the ABC, Laura Tingle has become Global Affairs Editor replacing John Lyons – who is now the Americas Editor based in Washington DC. Two left wing journalists who have been rewarded with great gigs at the taxpayer funded public broadcaster. Meanwhile, Nine's overseas-based reporters are also left-of-centre types. David Crowe is off to London to be European Correspondent for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald (re which see Can You Bear It?) Meanwhile, the able Michael Koziol, another left-of-centre inner city type, is Nine's North America Correspondent for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald . What's more, the word is that Nine's Australian Financial Review is sending its deputy editor news Jessica Gardner to Washington DC. Not a political conservative among this lot – who have, or are about to get, plum overseas postings – replete with generous allowances, lots of travel, housing assistance and so on. It would seem that at the ABC and Nine such gigs go to left-wing types. This sends a message to young journalists and those in mid-career positions that if you want to get on at the ABC or Nine, it helps to be on the left. CAN YOU BEAR IT? SARAH FERGUSON'S VERY OWN 'WHAT WOULD YOUR MOTHER SAY?' MOMENT WHEN BERATING SENATOR JACINTA NAMPIJINPA PRICE Perhaps the most dramatic media event of the May 2025 election campaign occurred when ABC TV 7.30 presenter Sarah Ferguson asked Liberal Party frontbencher Michael Sukkar: 'What would your mother say hearing you [Sukkar] interrupt her [Clare O'Neil]? Comrade Ferguson was berating Sukkar for interrupting Labor's Housing Minister Clare O'Neil. In fact, Ferguson interrupted Sukkar 16 times but only interrupted O'Neil on 8 occasions. Moreover, O'Neil interrupted Sukkar more than Sukkar interrupted O'Neil. How times change. Move forward to the night of 3 May election when Sarah Ferguson interviewed Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price – the Opposition's Shadow Minister for Indigenous Affairs. Let's go to the transcript: Sarah Ferguson: Peter Dutton tonight has lost his seat. With your embrace of Donald Trump 'Make Australia Great Again' are you part of that loss? Jacinta Nampijinpa Price: Oh, that's a big call, don't you think? I mean, you sling enough mud in an election it sticks. And we did see a prime minster who absolutely misled the Australian people all the way through and was rarely called out for his conduct and I think that's absolutely deceitful – Sarah Ferguson: [interjecting] But Jacinta, let's just talk about this seriously. At a time when Donald Trump was sending shock waves around the world – Jacinta Nampijinpa Price: [interjecting] I'm talking about it seriously – Sarah Ferguson: [interjecting] Well, it's not a smear campaign. I want you to address it seriously Jacinta. At a time that Donald Trump was sending shock waves around world, disturbing – disturbing – Jacinta Nampijinpa Price: [interjecting] Ok so if you don't think – if you don't think that I'm addressing this seriously, I am addressing this deadly seriously… Which raises the question. What would Sarah Ferguson's (late) mother say hearing her daughter interrupt Senator Price? And what would the late Mrs Ferguson think about Sarah Ferguson's evident aggressive condescension in implying, on two occasions, that Senator Price's answers were not serious? Comrade Ferguson's double standard in handling a Labor minister and a Coalition shadow minister raises the question: How unprofessional was that? And here's another question: Can You Bear It? DAVID MARR CALLS A YOUNGER MAN (ALEXANDER DOWNER) 'RATHER AGED' As Media Watch Dog readers are well aware, Ellie's (male) co-owner invariably walks the said canine on her Late Night Walk listening to David Marr presenting Late Night Live (aka Late Night Left) on ABC Radio National from 10.05 pm. Comrade Marr and his team invariably provide great copy for Hendo. And so, it came to pass on Monday 5 May – some 48 hours after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese claimed victory for the Australian Labor Party in the 3 May election. As usual for a Monday, your man Marr spoke with ABC TV 7.30 political correspondent Laura Tingle. However, last Monday the segment was extended by around 20 minutes to over 40 minutes – presumably to accommodate a second commentator. Enter The Age and Sydney Morning Herald columnist Niki Savva – who is also a panellist on ABC TV's Insiders program. What do Comrades Marr, Tingle and Savva have in common? Well, they are all vehement critics of the contemporary Liberal Party of Australia and all are antagonists of former Liberal leader Peter Dutton. This session was (yet) another example of the taxpayer funded public broadcaster's lack of viewpoint diversity. As would be expected in a Conservative Free Zone. Now it's accurate to say that, as Opposition leader Peter Dutton conducted a poor election campaign. This was also true of Scott Morrison in 2022 and Malcolm Turnbull in 2016. However, Morrison did win in 2019 and three years later the Coalition was attempting to win a fourth term in office. MWD just loved it when Marr, Tingle and Savva did a pile-on against The Australian and Sky News Australia – tinged with lotsa ageism. For example, La Tingle (ABC TV's 7.30 political correspondent) referred to News Corporation appealing to 'old people in grey cardigans'. As distinct from contemporary ABC audiences, apparently. Soon after, Tingle mocked 'old white men in general'. Then there was this with respect to The Australian columnists: David Marr: Well, they tend to be white men, and they tend to be rather aged, but some of them can write terrific rhetoric, Laura. And you mustn't, you mustn't disparage them for that. I mean, there was Alexander Downer condemning the fantasy of changing the weather…. Fancy that. David Marr (born 1947) regards former Liberal Party leader Alexander Downer (born 1951) as 'rather aged'. Laura Tingle (born 1961) was the LNL 'youth' on Late Night Live that night. As to Niki Savva – her age appears to be a state secret. But Hendo recalls first meeting Ms Savva in 1976 in Old Parliament House – i.e. half a century ago. As to David Marr's comment that The Australian 's columnists tend to be 'white men' – this would suggest that he doesn't read what such women as Janet Albrechtsen, Peta Credlin, Judith Sloan, Gemma Tognini and Caroline Overington have to say. How sexist can a 77-year-old bloke get? In fact, MWD's estimated average age of the Marr/Tingle/Savva trio is circa 74 years of age – that is, older than the 'rather aged' Mr Downer. Can You Bear It? [Interesting. Does David Marr really believe that Australia can change the weather? – MWD Editor.] DAVID CROWE THROWS THE SWITCH TO SELF-INDULGENCE At the end of ABC TV's Insiders each Sunday, the three panellists are invited to make a comment. It's usually about Australian national politics. However, on Sunday 4 May, the morning after the election, David Crowe, the chief political correspondent for Nine's The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, spoke primarily about the topic he knows best. Himself. Let's go to the transcript. David Crowe: I'll see if I can say all this quickly. On Trump, it's interesting, he loves winners and so that could hold Anthony Albanese in good stead when that visit to Washington DC comes. But my main point was going to be a self-indulgent one. I'm leaving Canberra after 20 years. I've got a new gig at the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age . So, I want to say thank you – David Speers: Tell us the new gig. David Crowe: It'll be in Europe. Covering mayhem there. Instead of mayhem in Canberra. And it's sad to leave this this set up here, but I hope that you'll have me back in a couple of years. And on that note, I also wanted to acknowledge that all the people who campaigned and all the people who fought to hold their seats – there are so many good people in politics. We're very conscious sometimes of the narcissists and the awful people. And by the way, wasn't it a shame that Clive Palmer didn't do all that well? But there are so many good people, and they will be a loss. We saw that with Keith Wolahan's remarks, and I wish them well. David Speers: Yeah, really well said David… Talk about self-declared self-indulgence. Do viewers of Insiders really care about whether or not Comrade Crowe is being sent to Europe for a couple of years to be Nine's Europe Correspondent based in London? And did anyone need to hear Comrade Crowe's best wishes to 'all the people who campaigned in the election and all the people who fought to hold their seats'? That's usually the role of political leaders. As to Clive Palmer of the Trumpet of Patriots Party, Nine's chief political correspondent tried his hand at irony/humour. Without success. Well, for all his faults, Palmer spent an estimated $60 million on campaign advertising. Quite a lot of which went to Nine Entertainment – Crowe's employer. And Comrade Crowe condemned narcissists – after having engaged in a bout of self-indulgence. Can You Bear It? IN WHICH QUENTIN DEMPSTER ADVISES PREFERENTIAL VOTING A CENTURY AFTER IT WAS INTRODUCED IN AUSTRALIA Lots of thanks to the avid Mumbai reader who drew the attention of Ellie's (male) co-owner to this post on X by former ABC journalist Quentin Dempster: How about that? Preferential voting for the Commonwealth House of Representatives election began a century ago. And Comrade Dempster feels the need to declare – at 11.36 on a Thursday morning - that to prevent any defeat by preferences, a candidate must win 50 per cent of the primary vote. You don't say. [Yes he did. MWD Editor] It would seem that your man Dempster is somewhat puzzled that the Liberal Party candidate Steph Hunt polled 19 per cent and recommended that her voters preference the Labor Party ahead of the Greens – thus defeating Greens' leader Adam Bandt. MWD does not recall Comrade Dempster being upset when Adam Bandt won the seat of Melbourne in 2010 on, yes, Liberal Party preferences. Can You Bear It? BENJAMIN LAW SEEMS TO BELIEVE THAT POLITICS IS A RELIGION Did anyone read Zoe Daniel's interview with Benjamin Law in his 'Dicey Topics' column in The Good Weekend ? The date was 19 April 2025. Comrade Law is a leftist type and he invariably interviews those of similar ideological disposition. For those who don't follow Law, his clever trick is to roll a dice and choose three topics out of six. Namely, Death, Money, Sex, Religion, Politics and Bodies. Comrade Daniel's dice landed on Death, Religion and Bodies. The interviewee is expected to answer questions on the three topics. Law's first question in the Religion segment was: 'What do you tick on the Census under Religion?' The answer was 'agnostic'. No surprise there. But the second question was this: Benjamin Law: You and fellow-independent, 'teal' MPs, represent a shift in federal Australian politics. Do you feel the country has lost its faith in the two-party system? Zoe Daniel: I do. It's not just opinion: it's borne out in the statistics… Can you believe it? Comrade Law reckons that Australian national politics is a religion. As to Zoe Daniel, she told Good Weekend that she has a 'potty mouth'. And here's another question: Can You Bear It? MAIN PICTURE – FORMER ABC JOURNALIST ZOE DANIEL, WHO BECAME A TEAL MP IN 2022, PICTURED BY THE ABC DANCING WHEN SHE BELIEVED ON SATURDAY NIGHT THAT SHE HAD BEEN RETURNED AS THE MP FOR GOLDSTEIN SMALL PICTURE – HOW THE DAILY TELEGRAPH BROKE THE NEWS TO ITS READERS WITH A FRONT-PAGE DINKUS ON WEDNESDAY 7 MAY THAT COMRADE DANIEL HAD BEEN DEFEATED A NIKI SAVVA MOMENT NIKI SAVVA TEXTS ABC TV'S INSIDERS IN AN ATTEMPT TO DISTRACT ATTENTION FROM HER LATE 2024 CLAIM THAT PM ALBANESE SHOULD STEP DOWN WHETHER OR NOT LABOR WON THE 2025 ELECTION There is one thing which many journalists have in common. Namely, what in boxing parlance, is called a glass jaw. In this instance – an inability to accept criticism. This was evident in the ABC TV Insiders program on Sunday 4 May – the morning after the (election) night before. David Speers was in the presenter's chair and the panel comprised David Crowe (Nine Newspapers), Jacob Greber ( ABC ) and Samantha Maiden ( ). In discussing Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's stunning success in leading the Labor Party to a large majority in the House of Representatives – reference was made to Nine columnist Niki Savva (who happens to be a regular panellist on the Insiders' couch). Let's go to the transcript: David Speers: I seem to recall was it Niki Savva who wrote that win or lose he'd [Albanese] will be gone in this term. I'm not so sure. I think Anthony Albanese – David Crowe: [interjecting]. No, I don't think it was Niki. But there was that idea that Anthony Albanese would have to move on in the second term and that was a judgment maybe six months ago by a commentator. I better not freewheel and try and name that commentator. Turn it up. Comrade Speers was correct. On 5 December 2024, Niki Savva's column in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald was titled 'If Albanese wins the next election he should celebrate, then step aside'. This is how Comrade Savva's column commenced: If Anthony Albanese wins the next election to govern either in majority or minority, he should, after a decent interval, retire so Labor can regenerate. Albanese succeeded brilliantly, certainly beyond his wildest imaginings and that of his friends, to become leader then prime minister. He should count his blessings, then gracefully relinquish the job. This is a benign view. The more drastic, which has been bubbling away inside the wider Labor family, is that he has lost his mojo, his judgment has deserted him and if he can't summon the discipline to shape up, he should ship out before the election to allow someone else to take on a rampant Peter Dutton… As avid readers well know, Media Watch Dog follows the maxim that it is unwise to make predictions – especially about the future. Niki Savva's claim that Anthony Albanese should step down as prime minister 'after a decent interval' even if Labor won the 2025 election was foolish. Right now, Anthony Albanese stands as one of Labor's most successful leaders – Bob Hawke won four elections, Gough Whitlam won two and Anthony Albanese has now won two as well. Moreover, he is the only prime minister to increase a government's majority in the House of Representatives at its second election. And what about glass jaws and all that? – MWD hears avid readers cry. Well, this is what happened towards the end of the program – apparently after Comrade Savva texted David Speers or Insiders' executive producer Samuel Clark – when Comrade Speers had this to say: David Speers: Niki Savva – mentioned earlier her forecast [that] the Prime Minister wouldn't see out this coming term. She did, however, forecast the other day that Peter Dutton and Keith Wolahan would be in real trouble of losing their seats. Samantha Maiden: [interjecting] Do not mess with Nikki. She's coming for you now. Look out. How sensitive can an abrasive Nine columnist get? Comrade Savva's December 2024 assessment of the Prime Minister's political abilities was hopelessly wrong. Rather than accepting the reality of her false prophecy, Savva wanted Insiders' viewers to know that she had written on 1 May that Peter Dutton (in Dickson) and Keith Wolahan (in Menzies) could lose their seats. So what? Dutton was on a margin of 1.7 per cent and Wolahan was on 0.5 per cent. When Savva wrote this on May Day, two days before the election, Labor was well ahead of the Coalition in virtually all opinion polls. It was hardly a bold prediction. In any event, David Speers felt it necessary to state Savva's case while David Crowe remained silent concerning his earlier denial. And so it came to pass that Niki Savva did not acknowledge her misjudgement about Prime Minister Albanese and pointed instead to an obvious statement that she had made about Messrs Dutton and Wolahan. At the time Savva wrote about Dickson and Menzies – Anthony Albanese was saying out loud that Labor would win both seats. [Interesting. I wonder why Niki Savva doesn't junk her crystal ball. In December 2024, she wrote that Anthony Albanese should give away politics after the 2025 election – win or lose. And in 2019 Comrade Savva had a book ready to go to the publisher after the 2019 election. It was titled Highway to Hell: The Coup that destroyed Malcolm Turnbull and left the Liberals in Ruins. As MWD readers know, the problem was that Scott Morrison led the Liberal Party to victory in May 2019. So the Savva book needed a new conclusion – as well as a new title. It was renamed Plots and Prayers: Malcolm Turnbull's demise and Scott Morrison's ascension. And yet, The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, along with the ABC, regard Comrade Savva as one of Australia's top political commentators. Come to think of it, perhaps this item should have gone in your (hugely popular) Can You Bear It? segment. – MWD Editor.] AN ABC UPDATE MWD 'EXCLUSIVE'. MONICA DOUMIT WAS PRE-INTERVIEWED FOR COMPASS PROGRAM ON POPE FRANCIS BUT WAS 'CANCELLED' DUE TO NOT FITTING INTO THE ABC'S CONSERVATIVE FREE ZONE There was enormous interest in last week's Media Watch Dog segment titled 'ABC's Compass Demonstrates Lack of Viewpoint Diversity in Coverage of Pope Francis . ' The reference was to the Compass program Pope Francis: The Disruptor, which aired on Monday 21 April. Compass producer Noel Debien put together a group of eight contributors for the program – which was presided over by Geraldine Doogue. They discussed Pope Francis' legacy. MWD had this to say: There was not a Catholic conservative among this lot – as befits the taxpayer funded public broadcaster as a Conservative Free Zone. Everyone on the program – including Geraldine Doogue – was a progressive Catholic. Especially those who had most to say, i.e. Geraldine Doogue herself, Paul Collins, Bishop Mackinlay and Francis Sullivan – along with producer Noel Debien. No surprise, then, that the Compass program was very much a Case for the Progressive Catholic Prosecution. The views expressed by Geraldine Doogue along with those of Paul Collins and Bishop Shane Mackinlay of Sandhurst were of considerable interest. However, it is not clear how Francis Sullivan has suddenly become an 'expert' on the Catholic Church in Australia – or elsewhere. Unlike Doogue, Collins and Mackinlay. …The three Australians who were interviewed at length – Paul Collins, Shane Mackinlay and Francis Sullivan – were all progressives. A conservative voice would have added some balance to the discussion. The likes of Monica Doumit or Philippa Martyr come immediately to mind as conservatives who might have had something useful – and different – to say. But then, as the saying goes, the ABC is a Conservative Free Zone which is virtually devoid of viewpoint diversity. Lotsa thanks to the avid Perth reader who drew the attention of Ellie's (male) co-owner that Philippa Martyr had commented on the Compass program on Facebook. In reply, Monica Doumit had this to say: "LOL! I was actually pre-interviewed for this program. I spent about 90 minutes on the phone talking to the researcher but never got a call back. ðŸ¤' How about that? The Compass researcher spoke to Monica Doumit for an hour and a half. But Compass did not interview her for the program. Preferring to talk only to progressive Catholics – including Francis Sullivan, who, unlike Doumit, has never written about theology or Church history. All this is further proof that the ABC is a Conservative Free Zone which is almost devoid of viewpoint diversity. And so it came to pass that Paul Collins essentially agreed with Shane Mackinlay who essentially agreed with Francis Sullivan who essentially agreed with Geraldine Doogue who essentially agreed with herself. A familiar story about the taxpayer funded public broadcaster. THE ABC's ELECTION COVERAGE BY A SPECIAL MWD CORRESPONDENT The ABC's panel covering the night of the 2025 election chaired by Sarah Ferguson and David Speers featured Laura Tingle, Patricia Karvelas, Annabel Crabb plus Bridget Brennan. Antony Green was covering his last election before retirement, and Jeremy Fernandez and Casey Briggs made somewhat brief appearances. Also on the panel were Liberal National Party Queensland senator James McGrath and Treasurer Jim Chalmers. Redbridge Group pollsters Kos Samaras and Tony Barry provided additional analysis. With such a large group, you'd expect some comprehensive analysis. Not so. As reported by the Sydney Morning Herald CBD column on 4 May , despite being a part of it, Tony Barry took to Facebook afterwards to slam the ABC's election coverage. Barry posted that the ABC's coverage was 'beyond woeful', 'just 6 hours of shallow analysis,' and 'unwatchable drivel'. He also suggested that 'they should burn the ABC down to the ground and then salt the earth under it.' Ferguson and Tingle dominated the panel, often grilling James McGrath. At one point Tingle questioned McGrath about how a hypothetical Liberal government would boost growth – long after the Coalition had clearly lost the election. McGrath was sneered at for bringing up pre-poll and postal votes. However, although they couldn't win the election for the Liberal Party, pre-poll and postal votes have made a difference in close seats. Most notable in Goldstein where ex-ABC journalist Zoe Daniel lost to the Liberal Party's Tim Wilson. Bridget Brennan's notable contribution was to bring up the failed Voice referendum to Jim Chalmers, asking twice if Labor is considering legislating a Voice to Parliament. Brennan has a history of unhelpful contributions to the Voice debate – avid readers will recall that when appearing on the ABC TV Insiders panel on 31 July 2022, Brennan said the Voice 'does need to have teeth, it does need to be feared and revered'. In response to criticism of its coverage, the ABC pointed out that they outrated the competition. One wonders how many of those viewers tuned in to see the soon-to-be-retired Antony Green, versus the rantings of Sarah Ferguson and pointless comments from Annabel Crabb. Meanwhile, over at Sky News, Tom Connell proved he has become the most accomplished psephologist in the Australian media. [I think you were a bit tough on Ms Crabb. After all, she showed style in presenting a bunch of flowers to Mr Green at the end of the broadcast – only for your man Green to advise that he didn't have a vase. Oh well. Perhaps he can put the flowers in the bath. – MWD Editor. ] YOU MUST REMEMBER THIS 'You Must Remember This' is based on the chorus line in the song As Time Goes By which was popularised by the film Casablanca . It is devoted to reminding the usual suspects (living or dead) of what they and/or those they supported once wrote or said or did. Or, indeed, what they failed to write or say. HOW THE LATE JOHN PILGER DID A BUNK OUT OF SAIGON IN APRIL 1975 RATHER THAN AWAIT THE ARRIVAL OF THE COMMUNIST FORCES HE HAD SUPPORTED DURING THE VIETNAM WAR As Media Watch Dog readers know, 30 April 2025 was the 50th Anniversary of the fall of Saigon, the capital of (then) non-communist South Vietnam, to the armed forces of the communist North Vietnam dictatorship. In his column in The Weekend Australian on 3-4 May, Gerard Henderson wrote about the refugees from Vietnam who sought asylum in Australia in 1975 and after. See here. The leftist Australian journalist John Pilger (1939-2023) was based in Saigon when the city fell to the North Vietnamese Army on 30 April 1975. Comrade Pilger had two options. Stay in Saigon and witness the so-called 'liberation' of South Vietnam by North Vietnam (which received substantial military support from the communist rulers of the Soviet Union in Moscow). Or do a bunk with the so-called United States 'imperialists'. He chose the latter course – to what Pilger subsequently described as his 'shame'. It's just that he had no evident 'shame' at the time. The story is told in Chapter 17 of John Pilger's book Heroes (1986) titled 'The Last Days'. As the North Vietnamese Army marched on the South Vietnam capital in late April 1975, Comrade Pilger sought refuge in the US Embassy in Saigon. He described himself struggling 'through the crowd, pushing and using my strength in order to get my free ride away from the war' – adding 'I felt only shame'. But, shame or no shame, Comrade Pilger sought to be rescued by what the left used to call the US Military Industrial Complex. At around 6.16 pm on 30 April 1975, Pilger got a seat on a US helicopter, he called it a 'Jolly Green Giant' – which had landed on, and then departed from, the roof of the US Embassy. He was taken to the USS Blue Ridge, the flagship of the US Seventh Fleet, where he shared space with Tom Polgar – the last CIA station chief in Saigon. In his book, Pilger acknowledged that 'many' Vietnamese attempting to flee the communist forces at the time 'would not get out because there were not enough seats' on US planes and helicopters. So how about that? Given the chance to stay in 'liberated' Saigon and mix with communist forces – the anti-imperialist John Pilger managed to get a seat on a US military helicopter and sought the protection of Uncle Sam, per courtesy of the US taxpayer. You Must Remember This. Gerard Henderson is an Australian columnist, political commentator and the Executive Director of The Sydney Institute. His column Media Watch Dog is republished by each Saturday morning. He started the blog in April 1988, before the ABC TV's program of the same name commenced.
