In this week’s On Background, Sharri Markson dances to her own tune on One Nation, pollies forget about SBS, the numbers behind gambling advertising reform and Guardian Australia’s royal visit.
A very royal visit to the Guardian
Guardian Australia editor Lenore Taylor’s decision to step down this week after almost 10 years in the job wasn’t a shock. But the timing sure was.
Announcing it at 5.30pm on a Tuesday? Leaving the business the following day? And staff hearing the news via email (or a story from this masthead) rather than hearing the news from Taylor herself directly?
It all smelled a little funny, or at the very least, less than perfect co-ordination between the local operation and the British media group’s mothership. Staff were taken aback by how it all played out, and now the rumour mill has gone into overdrive.
As it turns out, global editor in chief Katharine Viner, who jetted in from old Blighty for a tearful send-off for Taylor in the Sydney office on Wednesday afternoon, wasn’t even due to arrive until next week for what is known internally as one of her “royal visits”.
That was hurriedly pushed forward when Taylor’s resignation arrived.
With all the changed schedules and the sudden departure, some staff are asking if Taylor jumped before she was pushed. But there was nothing but goodwill publicly this week, with Taylor saying she was at peace with the decision and Viner heaping praise on her leadership.
“It’s time to pass the baton and I have a brilliant, brilliant team and so they have choices [for my successor],” a relieved-sounding Taylor said on Tuesday.
Viner arrived with one of her senior staff, David Munk, in tow to steady the ship as acting editor. He’ll be the third Brit in four Guardian Australia editors.
But by the sounds of it, having been deputy editor for the Australian operations in the past, Munk is reasonably well liked.
He’d be a decent shot of getting the gig permanently, if he’s interested. And while it’s early days, local deputy editor Gabrielle Jackson and national news editor Jo Tovey are emerging as leading contenders.
No luck at 8pm
One Nation and Sky are enjoying a love-in that rivals the hard right party’s rise in the polls. But its fearless leader Pauline Hanson just can’t crack the 8pm prime time slot, home to the eponymous show hosted by Sharri Markson.
Hanson has found time to appear on the network’s mid-week opinion programming an astonishing 22 times since the start of October, according to a tabulation of the daily briefing emails the network sends out. That spans the time when One Nation breached double digits on various polls for the first time. But Hanson has only appeared on Sharri once, which was on the day she walked into the Senate wearing a burqa (again)! In fact, that’s the only time Markson has hosted anyone from One Nation in the past three months at all.
During that period, the shows either side of her, The Bolt Report at 7pm and Paul Murray Live, have welcomed One Nation guests 21 and 25 times each. That includes Hanson’s chief of staff James Ashby, who leads the way in appearances, new recruit Barnaby Joyce, and Hanson’s daughter and former Tasmanian Senate candidate Lee Hanson. Embattled Opposition Leader (at the time of writing) Sussan Ley has barely been on the channel, by contrast.
It’s not a groundbreaking development that One Nation is getting so much airtime on what is doubtless the party’s favourite broadcaster. But it’s noteworthy that Markson is more or less alone in its star roster not to fall in behind One Nation while its historical ally, the Liberal Party, is falling apart.
At least you can’t blame Joyce for not jumping on Markson’s show, considering she won a Walkley in 2018 for her Bundle of Joyce scoop, revealing he was having a child with former staffer, now-wife Vikki Campion. Still, Barnaby has a standing invite to The Bolt Report every Thursday, while Hanson is a weekly guest on Chris Kenny’s show.
Markson and One Nation were contacted for comment.
Anybody watching?
After a long day haranguing the ABC at Senate estimates, Liberal senator Sarah Henderson clearly needed a KitKat.
Just before SBS’s executives were released from the virtual hearing, Henderson asked those on the call: “Can I just understand why the managing director is not appearing this evening?”
To which acting boss Jane Palfreyman responded: “Senator, I am the managing director, acting managing director at the moment. James Taylor, our previous managing director, left the business late last year.”
“I didn’t realise that,” Henderson said, before a long, awkward exchange about whether Palfreyman is applying for the top job on a full-time basis.
Not only did Taylor leave last year, his LinkedIn shows he’s been running ASX listed outdoor media company oOh!media since December. Palfreyman, for her part, has been acting boss since August 29.
While you’d expect a member of the communications Senate committee to be across who is leading one of two public media organisations, Henderson could be forgiven for her slip.
It has been six months since Taylor announced his exit, and we’re still none the wiser as to who is getting his job. That’s partly because that appointment is made by the board, and it has been seven months since chair George Savvides left SBS. Savvides served the maximum two terms on the board, so it wasn’t exactly as though the departure crept up on the government!
With Communications Minister Anika Wells the lucky one tasked with picking a chair, On Background has to wonder what’s holding her up.
Henderson was approached for comment, while Wells’ office had no update on the hiring process.
171 million reasons against gambling advertising reform
Staying in the capital, we got a bit of an insight into what it takes to get Wells out of her summer in witness protection. This week she addressed a star-studded crowd at a Foxtel lobbying event in Parliament House.
Wells had been in deep hibernation, resisting the temptation of free tickets to the Ashes and Australian Open over the summer after her travel expenses saga marred the rollout of the government’s teen social media ban in December.
The purpose of Monday’s event? Foxtel telling the nation’s politicians how much it spends on the local industry, and arguing its business is over-regulated. The company, now owned by British-American billionaire Sir Leonard Blavatnik, brought in the big guns such as AFL and NRL bosses Andrew Dillon and Andrew Abdo, as well as a host of sports stars. And it goes without saying it’s a major beneficiary of gambling advertising, as are other media companies including Nine, the owner of this masthead.
In a feat of timing, the next morning, public servants from Wells’ department fronted up to Senate estimates, revealing that there has been a grand total of zero drafting of fresh legislation commissioned by her, or her predecessor, to crack down on gambling advertising.
“In terms of gambling advertising, there was no draft legislation or instructions for legislation agreed or signed off by the previous minister?” Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young asked Communications assistant secretary Margaret Lopez.
“No, Senator. It hadn’t progressed to that point,” Lopez responded.
It is approaching three years since the late Labor MP Peta Murphy issued a report recommending a phased out, full ban on advertising from gambling companies.
There’s been plenty of cash sloshing around since then, despite some self-regulation. New data from analytics firm Nielsen this week showed the gambling industry spent $171 million advertising their brands across all media platforms across 2025.
That is only a minor dip on the $187.75 million spent in 2024 and a further drop on the $239m in 2023 when Murphy’s report was released.
But still, $171 million remains a more than significant amount amid evidence 72 per cent of Australians want the ads gone, according to 2024 research from polling firm Redbridge Group.
Last week, data from the Australian Electoral Commission showed that in the 2025 financial year alone, combined donations to Labor from Sportsbet, Tabcorp and Responsible Wagering Australia (lobbyists for Bet365, PointsBet, Sportsbet, Picklebet and others) totalled $166,500.
A spokesperson said the government continues to do the work to address the harms of online gambling.
Odds on gambling advertising reform making its way back onto the menu this year? We won’t take that bet.
