Pauline Hanson may have been vague on policy detail, costings and sources, but according to a bunch of News Corp Australia commentators, she gave a “tour de force performance” at the National Press Club on Wednesday. The One Nation leader was hailed as “a politician ready to rule” by news.com.au and “a joy to watch” by the Herald Sun’s Andrew Bolt. Jai Bednall, news.com.au’s head of growth, said it was “clear we have a new unofficial opposition leader” who “looks and sounds sharp”.
The Australian’s associate editor Jenna Clarke hailed Hanson as a Thatcher from Queensland. “Critics and commentators were expecting a lecture from a Karen, instead she put on a show akin to late British PM Margaret Thatcher, if Marg ever spent any time in a Townsville pub,” Clarke wrote.
Sandilands v Fordham
Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce are “very inspirational”, according to shock jock Kyle Sandilands, who has claimed he helped the One Nation leaders with their “messaging” and introduced them to “upper society”. In his first interview since settling his $85m federal court case, Sandilands said a major driver in accepting the “miserable amount” of $12m from ARN Media was mounting legal fees, which have already reached $1m. Sandilands, who is launching his own independent podcast, also used the interview to say fellow shock jock Ben Fordham “deserves a slap”. Fordham responded on his 2GB show, disputing Sandilands’ version and saying his former breakfast radio rival never threatened to slap him.
Grogs told to jog on
Some of the questions at Hanson’s press club appearance raised eyebrows. Greg Jericho, the Australia Institute’s chief economist and a regular Guardian Australia columnist, criticised questions from the Age and Sydney Morning Herald correspondent James Massola and the Canberra Times’ Dana Daniel. Jericho reacted with a post on BlueSky saying: “This gallery has had a decade of watching Trump and 30 yrs of Hanson and they walked in the press club like it was first day on the job.” An hour later, the press gallery committee president Jane Norman emailed to say Jericho no longer qualified to hold his pass, citing his primary job as chief economist. Jericho told Weekly Beast his pass was being cancelled, though Norman said it wasn’t cancelled but asked him to arrange a lobbyist pass.
An English editor in France
The Daily Telegraph editor Ben English posted a video from Toulouse, France, on the Tele’s Instagram page, gushing about Qantas’s new Airbus A350-1000ULR and its nonstop Sydney to London flights, set to start in October 2027. There was no indication on the post that he had travelled courtesy of Qantas. The aviation writer Robyn Ironside, also on the junket, disclosed the arrangement in her stories. The Daily Telegraph has been contacted for comment.
New line of work
Matthew Hooton, a former National party strategist, has been appointed editor-in-chief of the Post and the Sunday Star-Times by Stuff Group, despite never having trained as or been a journalist. Stuff Group owner Sinead Boucher said Hooton understands power in New Zealand better than most. The appointment was described as a “bombshell” and a “WTF moment”.
Cup overflows
SBS’s broadcast of the World Cup has reached 9.76 million Australians. SBS has raised concerns with media organisations over their use of footage, including animated gifs or looped MP4s, which are not ordinarily permitted under fair dealing. The Courier-Mail and the Daily Telegraph ran an eight-second gif of Lionel Messi’s goal for Argentina against Algeria. SBS said non-rightsholders may only use content in accordance with fair dealing under the Copyright Act.
Zero insight
A Clive Palmer ad for the United Australia party appeared in the Advertiser, with the headline “Zero immigration”, placed below stories about Nestory Irankunda’s family and Adelaide Socceroos fans celebrating his World Cup performance.
