Unaired Spotlight tapes reveal what Jock Zonfrillo’s widow REALLY said about his cause of death. Plus, fresh magland leak exposes shocking truth about ‘real-life’ titles: INSIDE MAIL

In our must-read Mail+ column, Steve Jackson and Peter van Onselen reveal what’s REALLY going on in the worlds of media and politics each week.

Mamamia’s PR offensive 

Talk about bad timing. Earlier this month, News Corp gossip columnist Annette Sharp published a story about Mia Freedman’s son Luca Lavigne earning $300,000 a year as Mamamia’s chief operating officer.

It caused quite a stir among the website’s overworked, underpaid staff who wanted to know why their founder’s twentysomething son was on such an eye-watering salary.

Now we hear there was a little miscommunication at Holt St over the story, given that Stellar magazine, News Corp’s Sunday pull-out, had just locked in a fawning interview with Freedman and her daughter-in-law (and Luca’s wife) Jessie Stephens.

It turns out that just before salarygate erupted, Freedman and Stephens had recorded an episode of Stellar’s ‘Something to Talk About’ podcast where they discussed all manner of things, including Stephens’ marriage to her boss’ son.

While the interview was arranged before Sharp’s story was published, its publication so soon after the storm over Luca’s pay has caused anxiety among Mamamia veterans who fear it looks like ‘PR spin’.

Mia Freedman… PR spin? Surely not!

A glowing interview between Mamamia founder Mia Freedman (centre) and her daughter-in-law Jessie Stephens (right) was published by Stellar magazine weeks after News Corp scribe Annette Sharp penned an unflattering gossip column about her son Luca Lavigne’s (left) salary

Disquiet at Nine over new hire

There are rumblings over at Nine News over the decision to poach a star reporter from a rival network. Some are calling it a coup, but not everyone is pleased.

Inside Mail can reveal the network is about to replace its long-serving Brisbane news anchor Andrew Lofthouse with a young journo from Seven whose latest dodgy dispatch on the benefits of ‘miracle water’ drew the ire of Media Watch. 

In a move that has stunned the Mount Coot-tha newsroom, we hear Nine’s newly minted Queensland news boss Brendan Hocking has just made a ‘captain’s pick’ and appointed roving Seven reporter Joel Dry to the station’s top job.

Rumour has it the appointment has been in the works for months. Now it’s a done deal and word is ripping through the Queensland bureau like wildfire. 

Dry, who cut his teeth in journalism at Nova’s FIVEaa talkback station in Adelaide back in 2008, went on to spend almost nine years plying his trade in Nine’s Brisbane office before defecting to Channel Seven in 2018.

He has spent the past year and a half filing freelance reports from London where his wife Jess Millward works as Nine’s Europe correspondent.

The couple, who have a son together, are expected to return to Australia as a family eventually. Millward will need to do a little negotiating of her own, though, if she wants to fly home straight away because she is contracted to stay in Europe until the end of the year.

In a move that’s stunned Nine’s Mount Coot-tha newsroom, we hear newly minted Queensland news boss Brendan Hocking has poached Seven’s Joel Dry (pictured) for the station’s top job

Dry has spent the past year and a half filing freelance reports from London where his wife Jess Millward (right) works as Nine’s Europe correspondent. The couple, who have a son together, are expected to return to Australia as a family eventually. But we hear Millward may not be flying home straight away because she is contracted to stay in Europe until the end of the year

Word of Dry’s appointment had our phones blowing up on Wednesday as newsroom insiders railed against Hocko’s decision to parachute Dry into the prized anchor role alongside Melissa Downes for the city’s prime-time 6pm bulletin.

‘He quit Nine seven years ago to go to Seven and has been freelancing for the past 18 months since moving to London,’ one Nine News staffer told us. 

‘How do you then get the top job in our newsroom?

‘Everyone is up in arms about it – there are so many good journos already working at Nine and we go and “poach” one that turned their back on us.’

We hear some Nine newsroom staffers believe experienced reporters Josh Bavas and Tim Davies were unfairly overlooked for the role.

Also much discussed around the water cooler was the fact one of Dry’s latest reports – spruiking the success of an oxygenated water company – attracted a five-and-a-half-minute takedown by Linton Besser on Media Watch less than a month ago.

(For their part, Seven offered an equally scathing response, telling the ABC to find something better to report on in the middle of a federal election campaign).

Nine sports anchor Jonathan Uptin (pictured) had long been considered the heir apparent to Lofthouse, but his ascendency was scotched by complaints of his allegedly erratic behaviour

Inside Mail is not suggesting Dry is unqualified for the role as Brisbane news anchor, only that his appointment has caused some disquiet in the newsroom given the other internal candidates that were passed over and the fact Dry had previously left Nine for Seven.

The signing comes after we revealed in March that Nine News sports anchor Jonathan Uptin had long been considered the heir apparent to Lofthouse, who quit in January due to ill health after almost two decades in the job, only to have his chances dashed last year. 

Uptin’s ascendency was scotched following a number of complaints about his allegedly erratic behaviour. 

The accusations were so concerning that Nine’s Queensland managing director Kylie Blucher requested Uptin undergo a workplace urine test, which he voluntarily agreed to do and ultimately passed.

After a stretch on the sidelines, the drama was resolved last year with Uptin retaining his $230,000 gig on the 6pm sports desk along with the network’s full support. 

Death, ratings and clickbait 

There are few things more depressing as a television viewer than watching endless promos for a ‘tell-all interview’ that ends up not telling you very much at all.

So, unless you’re a sucker for disappointment, don’t bother tuning in for Liz Hayes‘ guest debut on Seven’s Spotlight in which she sits down for a much-hyped interview with Lauren Fried, the widow of late MasterChef star Jock Zonfrillo.

The network has been heavily promoting the former 60 Minutes presenter’s candid sit-down with the Gruen panellist all week, dubbing it ‘one of the most powerful interviews of the year’. And, in Spotlight’s defence, that may well be true – thanks to the pair’s shared history, difficult subject matter and Hayes’ compelling style.

But the network couldn’t help but take things too far by releasing a tear-jerking trailer boasting that the hour-long episode is Fried’s ‘first public interview’ and teasing that she will finally reveal the celebrity chef’s cause of death in a Melbourne hotel room in May 2023. 

‘People want to know why he died, and how he died,’ Hayes tells Fried in the final moments of the promo. Fried then takes a deep breath, presumably as she prepares to answer the ‘confronting’ question, before the clip ends on a cliffhanger. 

Zonfrillo’s cause of death has certainly been a matter of widespread speculation, given the coroner who oversaw the 16-month investigation into it ruled the details would remain secret – unless his family chose to disclose the finding. 

And the advertisement garnered the desired effect by attracting a wealth of publicity about the upcoming special, with outlets such as news.com.au dutifully reporting that ‘Lauren has sat down for her first interview since Jock’s death’ and ‘may offer an answer to the biggest mystery surrounding her husband’s death almost two years ago: Exactly how he died.’

There are few things more depressing as a TV viewer than watching endless promos for a ‘tell-all interview’ that ends up not telling you very much at all. Case in point, Liz Hayes’ upcoming (right) sit-down with Jock Zonfrillo’s widow Lauren Fried (left)

The only problem? Both those claims are total bulls***. 

Seven knows full well that Fried politely declines to answer the question – and sources who have seen the finished story tell us that Hayes even explains to viewers in a piece-to-camera that she respects her decision to keep those details private. 

Oh, and it’s not even Fried’s first interview. She did one with Lauren Sams in the Australian Financial Review just last week.

Indeed, in it, Sams states emphatically that Fried ‘still feels married to Jock and is deeply protective of him and his memory. She doesn’t trade in details of his death.’

Perhaps the eagle-eyed Spotlight crew missed it? After all, Sams’ article was only a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it 2,500 words long! 

The promo teases answers for Zonfrillo’s never-disclosed cause of death. Does the interview deliver on those promises? Of course not!

What happened on the night Jock died alone in a Melbourne hotel room will likely remain secret unless his family chooses to disclose the coroner’s findings. He is pictured with wife Lauren

The practice of pushing deliberately deceptive promos like this has long been banned at Seven and derided as ‘anticippointment’ – working audiences up into anticipating a massive revelation only to disappoint them on the night – not least because it has a habit of leading to long-term slumps in ratings as viewers get wise to the ruse.

We know what you’re thinking: Is Spotlight really that desperate for short-term ratings success that it has now resorted to clickbait promos?

Well, we asked Seven whether they thought the clip was intentionally misleading but for some reason we’re still waiting to hear back.

Zonfrillo: The lost tapes 

Now, with all that said, we hear there has been plenty of drama surrounding the production of the Zonfrillo story – though not all of it has been captured on camera. 

Indeed, that’s half the problem.

Rumour has it the veteran cameraman tasked with filming the big-ticket interview between Hayes and Fried forgot to back up all his memory cards after the emotional sit-down… and accidentally taped over one of the camera angles while filming additional sequences the next day.

Talk about a bad day at the office (and, trust us, plenty of people are talking about it). 

Fortunately, the missing angle was only the tight reverse shot on Hayes and there was a second wide-angle capturing the presenter asking all her questions. 

So while it’s a little frustrating for the editors to lose a key shot, nothing has actually been lost as the interview was more than adequately covered from at least four other angles. 

Still, that hasn’t stopped one of the show’s producers from telling anyone who cares to listen (and more than a few people who don’t) that the respected camo in question has now been blacklisted from the program. 

A little harsh, but we expect Hayes will come to bat for him. She’s good like that. 

Spotlight scooped… again 

Lastly, speaking of Spotlight, we expect 60 Minutes executive producer Kirsty Thomson will be feeling a slight case of déjà vu while watching the program this year. 

Most obviously, the line-up of presenters – Hayes, Liam Bartlett and Michael Usher – will be giving her flashbacks to 2016 when she managed them all as chief-of-staff and then EP at Sixty before Usher was the first to defect to Seven.

But forget the interviewers. We hear Spotlight will also be dusting off some of 60 Minutes’ former interview subjects in the months ahead – starting with the talent who appeared on a Sixty story about ‘the deadly dangers of dating apps’ just last year.

We guess everything old is new again at Seven.

We just hope the viewers agree… because rumour has it Spotlight just dropped a considerable sum sending reporter Denham Hitchcock to Japan to document Donna Nelson‘s story as part of their upcoming dangers-of-online-dating story.

Nelson, a grandmother from Perth, is serving six years behind bars in the land of the rising sun after falling victim to a drug-smuggling romance scam. 

It’s an amazing story – so amazing, in fact, that it has already been told by Nelson’s own daughters on ABC’s Australian Story just this week. 

Scooped again! Talk about embarrassing.

Either way, we’ll be tuning in to 60 Minutes this week… if only to get a preview of what Spotlight will have on later in the year.

And we won’t be the only ones. Sixty is rolling out a powerful special this Sunday after locking in interviews with not only the family of murdered teen Audrey Griffin but her killer’s estranged wife, too. 

Should be quite the battle for eyeballs.  

Real-life mags enter the uncanny valley 

Say what you will about the fanciful ‘as told to’ exclusives contained within the pages of our real-life magazines – but at least the pictures are real… right?

Well, not anymore!

Ever since Inside Mail revealed the nation’s biggest mag publisher, Are Media, had started making editors redundant earlier this month, the company’s famed Park St headquarters has sprung more leaks than a size eight sieve.

But even we were shocked by the latest details to hit our inbox – because it’s not just the hard-working journos working on the mags who are being made redundant… but the smiling models who feature on the front covers, too. 

We hear the cash-strapped company’s two real-life titles, Take 5 and That’s Life, have sneakily started replacing the stock photo models who appear on the front page with AI-generated women. 

Surely… not?

We didn’t want to believe it, but we can confirm the rumour is indeed true.

We hear Are Media’s two real-life titles, Take 5 and That’s Life, have sneakily started replacing the stock photo models who appear on the front page with AI-generated women. Two examples are shown here

A quick reverse image search reveals the models who appeared on the covers of the October 24, 2024, edition of That’s Life, and the March 20, 2025, edition of Take 5 were both AI-generated Adobe Stock images rather than real women.

Here they are – see them for yourself. 

Magland insiders tell us it’s just the start of AI-driven corner-cutting at Park St.

‘Honestly, it’s not a massive expense, but paying for models to have their hair and makeup done and photographed does cost money and management seem hell-bent on saving every cent,’ one senior Are Media source revealed.

‘So first they started putting out requests for staff to be models – you know, to cut back on modelling fees. You wouldn’t get paid but you’d get your hair and makeup taken care of and being on the cover is kind of cool.

‘But now, they’re cutting back on even that and introducing AI models on the covers.

‘We’re talking about Take 5 and That’s Life, mags that sell themselves as being about “real life” and “real Australians” and they’re putting fake women on the front.

‘The worst part is, apparently both those issues sold quite well. And it has everyone wondering what will be next – first the pictures are fake, how long until to the copy is too?’

Given Adobe stipulates that editorial use of the AI-generated stock images ‘must not be misleading or deceptive’, we decided to do a few checks of our own. 

We asked Are Media whether they considered using them for their covers was either of those things, or if they had disclosed to readers that their cover models were fake.

But sadly, we didn’t even receive as much as an AI-generated reply in response. 

Magland’s ‘year of mud’ 

Speaking of Are Media, our regular readers have been baffled by the company’s plans to quietly transform their household-name brand names like Woman’s Day and New Idea into dystopian-sounding ‘omnichannels’.

The problem is, no one on Earth, not a living soul, knows what an omnichannel is.

So we asked around and found out (though, sadly wished we hadn’t).

It turns out, the struggling publishing business is trying to turn their empire of glossy mags into a one-stop shopping catalogue – with varying degrees of success. 

And this is where things get muddy, or so we are told. 

‘We keep being fed this narrative about how the business is in a foundation-building “year of mud” but will soon emerge into sunshine – or that we need to learn to stay afloat before we can start swimming,’ a magland insider told us. 

‘The problem is we’ve been fed this same trope for years and the outlook just gets bleaker and the future muddier and muddier.

‘There’s this on-repeat mantra to the content teams that “every piece of content must be shoppable” – i.e. used to flog products to the brands’ dwindling readerships. 

‘Management has zero interest in discussing the dilemma this approach might pose for, say, a feature writer on Marie Claire doing a story on domestic violence or honour killings in India. How to you “shop” that?

‘Worse yet, Are Media paid millions to buy the Hard to Find digital marketplace, bragging that we did so for the “tech stack”. 

‘Slight problem: the tech was outdated and clunky, and the only person that could really use it was the random guy who built it, who now lives in Bali. 

‘Needless to say, it was not capable of being embedded into our websites properly, nor could it work with the other tech tools in our business, and it wasn’t even a little bit suitable for a scalable marketplace strategy.

‘That costly f***-up resulted in three experienced senior staffers being axed as sacrificial lambs. 

‘Weeks later, the company quietly shuttered both marketplaces and Hard to Find, leaving the exhausted marketing and content teams who had been made to work tirelessly on them for months in addition to their day jobs utterly dejected.’

Indeed, a quick search of Hard to Find’s website reveals the project was quietly shuttered over the summer.

‘Unfortunately, in light of the current economic climate, we have made the difficult decision to pause operations on all our marketplaces for the foreseeable future including Hard to Find, [Australian] Women’s Weekly & Home Beautiful,’ it confirms.

‘While we are closing our doors for now, we remain hopeful that this is not goodbye forever. Thank you for being part of this journey with us.’ 

As if that wasn’t bad enough, numerous staff tell us they are too scared to speak out about the troubling direction their once-loved titles are lurching in… all the while continuing to compare life at Park St these days to some sort of dystopian hellhole in which their every move is tracked by their omniscient corporate overloads. 

‘Management appears to spend their days creating spreadsheets to track everything from leave applications to courier deliveries, to when staff enter and leave the building, their personal social media activity and when they log on and off of the many questionable tech tools the company has invested in to be more “omni”,’ one well-placed source said.

‘Some savvy staffers have taken to logging into various tools and leaving them running so they don’t get “reported” up the chain and put on management’s “kill” list.’

We asked Are Media about Hard to Find’s quiet closure and the concerns about staff surveillance, but they didn’t want to answer our questions about these topics either. 

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again – what an absolute omnishambles.

Which Teal’s on Grindr?

Guess who’s advertising on Grindr? None other than teal MP for Wentworth, Allegra Spender.

It’s the world’s largest LGBTQ+ social app, boasting about 13.5 million monthly active users, and to say some of the pictures that get exchanged on it are more than a little edgy would be an understatement. 

Even PVO, who intends to vote for Allegra Spender at this election, was surprised when someone sent him a screenshot of one of her political ads… running on dating app Grindr

While we realise that politicians will spruik for votes any which way they can, we were a little surprised to see Spender’s beaming face appear on the app when a screenshot was sent our way.

Yes, for the record, none of us at Inside Mail are Grindr users – not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Allegra clearly didn’t want her political ad to be mistaken for membership either, starting with the clear-cut statement: ‘She’s not on Grindr… but she’s got your back’.

Now, PVO has always been a bit of a fan of Allegra’s politics, especially her advocacy of tax reform – and he doesn’t even mind violating the underpinnings of the secret ballot to admit he intends to vote for her at this election.

But even he was shocked by her decision to advertise on Grindr, while simultaneously stressing he first advocated for same-sex marriage in a column way back in 2003.

Concerned the ad might have been some sort of deepfake, we checked in with the Member of Wentworth just to double check that it was real… which indeed it is.

Penny’s bold claim on SSM 

On the subject, someone who has absolutely no right to take credit for Australia finally legislating same-sex marriage is Labor’s Senate leader Penny Wong.

Despite being openly gay throughout her parliamentary career, she did nothing to make it happen during the entire time she sat around the cabinet table.

But that didn’t stop her claiming credit in a recent podcast in which she also claimed an Indigenous Voice to Parliament was an inevitability, contradicting the PM’s pledge the issue was done and dusted after the defeated referendum.

Albo was out in force soon after her remarks went public, not only clarifying his position but denying Wong ever said the words that she did… even though they were recorded for all to hear.

We suppose that’s not as ridiculous as it sounds given that the PM also denied falling off a stage when the collapse was captured on video earlier in the campaign.

Albo clearly struggles with the truth, even when incontrovertible evidence contradicts his denials. It’s no wonder he’s had such a successful career in politics. 

From freedom fighter to Queen of Cringe

Say what you like about Antoinette Lattouf, she knows how to reinvent herself.

She used to be a humble TV reporter. Then she became a breezy lifestyle columnist. Then she became an advocate for Palestine.

Then she filled in on ABC Radio and, er, well, we all know what happened next.

Anyway, as Lattouf waits for a judge to decide whether she was unlawfully dumped by the ABC for sharing social media posts about the war in Gaza, she has decided it’s time to reinvent herself once again… as a wellness influencer.

Her Instagram followers woke up on Wednesday to a gallery of photos quite different from her usual fare.

Antoinette Lattouf reinvented herself as a wellness influencer this week. Apparently it’s a ruse to outsmart the AI censors at Meta ‘shadowbanning’ her account for posting about Gaza

Instead of spruiking her podcast, discussing her trial or posting about international conflict, she shared snaps of herself in swimwear wistfully gazing into the distance.

It was quite a handbrake turn for someone who considers themselves a shining light in journalism.

But… there’s a twist.

It’s all a ruse, you see, to outsmart what Lattouf suspects are the AI censors at Meta ‘shadowbanning’ her account for posting about Gaza.

By reinventing her account as a hashtag-happy wellness warrior promoting a philosophy of #SlayAllDay, #RiseAndAlign and #HotGirlHealing, she hopes the tech overlords will let her out of the naughty corner and her reach will improve.

Look, it’s worth a shot.

She isn’t the first person to notice that posting about the Israel-Gaza war can lead to a sharp decline in views. Meanwhile, Meta does appear to be pushing a lot of positivity bulls*** on Instagram these days.

As Lattouf herself admits, ‘Stop hiding my content – I shaved my legs for this.’

The breakout star of the leaders’ debates 

Who knew watching two old blokes arguing about the price of eggs would end up being one of the most compelling pieces of television of the month? Even if they were Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition leader Peter Dutton. 

The leaders conducted live debates with all three of the major free-to-air networks – the ABC, Nine and Seven – and they consistently rated among the most-watched programs of the night as we prepare to go to the polls this weekend. 

Nine attracted the biggest audience for their debate on Tuesday last week, with 1,097,000 people tuning in on average across the country. That broadcast ranked third on the night, only trailing behind the Seven and Nine news bulletins.

The ABC’s offering, on Wednesday, April 16, also finished third on the night, pulling in 1,013,000 viewers on average nationwide. The final face-off on Seven on Sunday night captured an average national audience of 973,000 – which wasn’t a bad effort given it was a long weekend and was beset with tech issues.

Numbers aside, Inside Mail reckons the most entertaining tête-à-têtes throughout the campaign actually came between the party leaders and The West Australian’s editor-in-chief Christopher Dore during their respective trips to Perth to woo WA voters.

The West Australian’s editor-in-chief Christopher Dore didn’t pull his punches during the leaders’ flying visits to WA during the election campaign

Dore, who rarely struggles to tell people what he really thinks, gave both Albo and Dutton the sort of quick character assessment (or should that be character assassination?) only he could while introducing them at the city’s Leadership Matters breakfasts.

‘I [have previously] pointed out that you are conducting a masterful campaign, a masterclass really built on the Graham Richardson whatever-it-takes approach to victory,’ he told Albo while ‘welcoming’ him to the stage last Thursday. 

‘Dabbling in deceit. Recycling spin. Unrelenting, uncompromising – at times utterly outrageous. But brilliant campaigning. You didn’t invent it. But you are perfecting it.

‘On the other side… you are confident – so much so that you let Chris Bowen speak publicly. And you are shameless. You want to win. And you are acting like it.’

Did we mention Dore is also available for weddings, birthdays and Bar Mitzvahs?

To be fair, and Dore most certainly was, he gave Dutton an equally amusing dressing-down. 

‘[Voters] may not know what they like, but they know wat they don’t like. And, according to research, that’s best captured in five simple words: Peter Dutton and Anthony Albanese,’ he said while ‘welcoming’ the Opposition leader a week earlier. 

‘In fairness, most Australians don’t really have a clue who Peter Dutton is at this point [but] Peter Dutton has had three years to rehearse for this campaign, to prepare for these 33 odd days [and] frankly, Peter Dutton has at times looked a bit punch-drunk.

‘We are skeptical at the best of times about east-coast imposters. Any love in WA for Albanese is tepid. But Peter Dutton has so far failed to inspire this state to turn against the first-term PM.

‘Maybe we will, maybe we won’t. If he is to become PM, he must turn this state back to blue. In the words of the great ’90s philosopher Kurt Cobain, Mr Dutton: Here we are now, entertain us.’

Unlike Albo, though, Dutton was unafraid to fire back.

‘Thank you very much for your remarks and your introduction, Chris. Of course, I know Chris well – although I knew the Chris from Sydney,’ he smiled. 

‘It’s like being a reformed smoker, now being lectured about being from the east coast and coming to WA – so, Dorey, it’s great to be with you.

‘Given I have spent at least as many nights in WA over the past two years as you, I feel we are blood brothers in this cause!’

Perhaps, Seven should just hand Dore the keys to their election night coverage? He certainly isn’t afraid to have a crack. 

Ooh, someone’s leaving! 

Few things put the cat among the pigeons like the unexpected announcement that a highly regarded media boss has quit their job. 

And revelations Cathy O’Connor had resigned as oOh!media chief exec certainly had a flock of the courier pigeons homing in on Inside Mail’s loft early this week. 

In an announcement to the ASX, the company’s chair, Tony Faure, confirmed O’Connor believed the ‘time was right’ to move on after more than four years in charge and would be exiting the outfit in the second half of the year.

Okay, okay. But where will she be landing? That’s what everyone wants to know. 

The red-hot rumour is… Seven West Media’s board. Watch this space.

Tanya’s purple prose 

Tanya Plibersek, Albo’s closest frenemy in the parliamentary Labor Party and his nearest neighbour in Sydney electorally, has chosen to use the official colour of the Australian Electoral Commission – purple – in her campaign materials.

Well, maybe not exactly the same shade, but close enough.

That’s a big no-no because you simply can’t have advertising that in any way resembles material by our fiercely independent electoral commission. Everyone knows this.

There have been plenty of instances in the past where candidates have received slaps over the knuckles for doing so. Frankly, Plibersek should know better as one of the most senior and longest-serving MPs.

Albo’s closest frenemy Tanya Plibersek has chosen to use the official colours of the Australian Electoral Commission in her campaign materials. Well, maybe not exactly the same, but close

The AEC has a monopoly on the colour purple and candidates are prohibited from using it, lest it confuse voters. (Examples of AEC material are shown here)

According to the Commonwealth Electoral Act, it is an offence to produce material that is likely to mislead a voter in relation to the casting of a vote. You be the judge if Plibersek crossed the line…

For her part, she told me she makes no apologies.

‘I’ve used purple in my materials since at least 2001. It’s a great colour that stands out. People in Sydney know me, they know I use purple,’ Plibersek said.

Anthony Green signs off, and I tune out 

This Saturday’s election will be the last you’ll see ABC analyst Antony Green front and centre as part of the public broadcaster’s election night coverage. The 65-year-old announced his plans to retire before the campaign started.

That means it’s also the last time Inside Mail will have to watch the ABC’s otherwise bland and boring coverage, because without the ever-reliable Green crunching the numbers there will be no point.

He’s been the heart and soul of ABC election analysis for decades, with his seat-by-seat modelling of results arguably the best in the business, especially when coupled with his knowledge of booth-by-booth comparisons that allows him to provide real facts when his predictive modelling goes astray.

This Saturday’s election will be the last you’ll see ABC analyst Antony Green (pictured) front and centre as part of the public broadcaster’s election night coverage 

Without Green on hand – including the fun of watching him whinge his way through the broadcast when he’s not happy about all manner of things that can go wrong in live television – all that’s left is a cast of thousands offering their largely uneducated and always boring thoughts.

Having pollster Tony Barry join the coverage has ameliorated this to some extent, but not nearly enough to put up with all the ABC lifers droning on. (Speaking of which, the ABC doesn’t even have a political editor anymore – don’t forget that!)

So farewell to Antony, and congratulations on a stellar contribution to elections over so many years. Tom Connell on Sky News, here we come!

Albo fumbles the numbers… again 

We know from the last election campaign that numbers aren’t Albo’s strong suit.

Who could forget his failure to recall the cash rate when asked by his now press secretary Stela Todorovic during her time as a political reporter?

Stela Todorovic, the journo who stumped Albo on the cash rate during the 2022 campaign trail, is now his press secretary. She should perhaps have a word with him about his dodgy number-crunching

Well, he was at it again this week, proving he’s innumerate when fronting a media conference to declare: ‘People who used to be… a [secretary] of the department, earning… $200,000 for a senior role. Now they’re working half the time, getting paid double the amount.’

The PM was complaining about what consultants get paid as part of his ongoing war against the big firms. The only problem is that double $200k is $400k, unless we’re mistaken… and according to the most recent Remuneration Tribunal determination, departmental secretaries are paid a starting salary of $752,000 up to a staggering $940,000 for the top public servant in Albo’s own department.

While facts often don’t matter when a politician talks out of their proverbial, Albo wasn’t even close with his mangled numbers.

Was he called out by his fawning parliamentary press gang followers? Of course not… perhaps Stela had a word with him afterwards?

Political candidate, Uber driver… landlord

Alex Dyson, the former Triple J host running as an independent for the seat of Wannon in Victoria’s south west, has been doing everything he can to burnish his ‘man of the people’ credentials.

Take, for example, the 36-year-old’s recent admission in a SBS puff piece that he has taken to driving for Uber as a ‘side hustle’ to help pay the bills.

‘I don’t get paid to do this – it’s all volunteer work, so I do have to keep up my part-time podcasting job,’ he told the broadcaster.

‘But I’ve also started Uber driving in Warrnambool, and you’re the first person I’ve talked to about that.’

There’s certainly no shame taking up a second job: plenty of Aussie battlers are in a similar position as the cost-of-living crisis refuses to abate.

Alex Dyson, the former Triple J host running as an independent for the seat of Wannon in Victoria’s south west, recently spoke of his side hustle as an Uber driver

But, as Dyson explains, his Uber side hustle is a win-win because it allows him to meet real people ‘that may not necessarily be into politics for good reason and have a chat’.

Pity his poor customers! They are no doubt subjected to earnest policy discussions when they are just trying to get from A to B in peace.

But what Dyson probably doesn’t mention when trying to secure their vote is that he is something of a property mogul.

‘I moved to Sydney and the property prices were out of control, right? This was 2010, and you’re like, “Jeez, I don’t think I’ll afford a house here.” But then I’m thinking maybe I’ll move back to Warrnambool,’ he told the left-leaning Punter’s Politics podcast recently.

Dyson (pictured with his girlfriend) recently spoke to Punter’s Politics about how he’s a ‘mogul’ with five properties under his belt

‘I looked back at Warrnambool and [thought] property prices are a bit more decent here. So I bought a two-bedroom unit in Warrnambool, in my home town, which is very nice.’

Dyson went on to relate how an accountant opened his eyes to how ‘buying houses you don’t live in, like tax-wise, is so different’.

‘So I own five properties now. I’m a mogul,’ he added. The independent hopeful also revealed he owns a comedy club in Melbourne.

‘It’s getting to a point now where I could probably trade them in for a single house in a capital city,’ he said.

Dyson has received almost $500,000 in funding from the Simon Holmes à Court-funded Climate 200 campaign.

This election marks the third time he has tried to unseat Liberal incumbent Dan Tehan.

And, you know what, we wish him luck.

‘I’m really looking forward to being the first politician to vote against their own interests,’ he insisted.

We’ll certainly be holding him to that if he wins.

Brutal shifts lead to Today exodus 

Inside Mail last week revealed a behind-the-scenes war was brewing at Nine’s Today show over who gets free breakfast delivered to the studio.

Things got so heated there was an exodus among the program’s news producers. 

Indeed, more than half the team has already quit, with three more considering their options amid concerns – at least by some – that they were being treated like second-class citizens on the show.

One of the key points of contention was that Today bought their own dedicated producers breakfast during their shift while the news producers, who fall under the news department rather than Today, were forced to buy their own.

Nothing kills morale like a brutal rota, and Today show insiders warn even more resignations are on the way. (Pictured: Today hosts Karl Stefanovic and Sarah Abo)

This is despite the fact both sets of producers work the same gruelling hours (1am to 9am) and sit just metres apart in the same newsroom.

Still, we’re reliably informed, the smashed avo altercation isn’t the only factor driving staff out the door.

We hear that all of Nine’s junior producers had previously cycled through two-week stints on Today before being rostered back on for regular day shifts. 

The constant turnover not only rewarded producers for their hard work on the graveyard shift by giving them the opportunity to work on lead 6pm stories, but also countered the growing ‘us-versus-them’ mentality that has been fermenting on Today.

However, the fortnightly rota was apparently killed off last year with those working the midnight-to-dawn shift now stuck there permanently and feeling increasingly like there is no way out of the vicious cycle other than heading for the door.

Nothing kills morale like a punishing rota, and insiders warn even more resignations are on the way, and that the disquiet is now spreading to the prime-time 6pm bulletin.

Thanks for nothing!

Finally, a big thank-you to Albo on behalf of all of our readers for declining our request for a pre-election interview.

While it wouldn’t have been a back rub like some other publications he’s spoken to on the campaign trail, as one of the highest-rating online news sites in the country, it would certainly have been well-read.

Or would it? Let’s face it, while the PM is set to win this election comfortably, he’s not exactly the most riveting person in the room.

And getting anything interesting out of him would have been a stretch. 

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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk