ABC's Annabel Crabb sparks fierce debate over bold election night fashion statement alongside Antony Green: 'What is she wearing?'
During the evening's coverage of 'Australia Votes', Crabb joined a panel of pundits on Saturday evening as the polling centres closed along the east coast.
But some viewers were less concerned with exit poll results, taking to social media to comment on the journalist's choice of attire, namely her strange tie.
The formal suit was paired with a large pink tie that created a ripple shape and, on camera, looked to be made of a material similar to leather.
'What's going on with Annabel Crabb's tie? Is it made of leather?' someone asked on X, zooming in on the item of clothing.
This was echoed by another: 'What the f*** is Annabel Crabb wearing around her neck?'
One viewer compared the offending garment to an 'ox tongue' while another joked: 'Must be very cold in the ABC studios.'
'Annabel Crabb is forced to wear a hot water bottle across her chest.'
Australians are anxiously waiting to hear who will lead the nation for the next three years, with polls closed on the east coast, South Australia and the Northern Territory.
The first official exit poll has already indicated that Labor is on track for another three years in office.
But independents and Greens' preferences could push it in Labor's favour in some keys seats.
But one Queensland senator, James McGrath, has claimed he doesn't think Australia will know who the PM is during the night.
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The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Ken Henry is right to be a bit worked up – he has a solid reform plan ready to go for an emboldened Labor
Ken Henry, the former Treasury boss, slipped up during his address to the National Press Club this week. Speaking in his capacity as chair of the Australian Climate and Biodiversity Foundation, Henry was asked about his landmark review of the nation's tax system, handed to the Rudd government back in 2010. Its official title was Australia's Future Tax System Review. Famously, Labor sat on the report and most of its 140 recommendations for bringing the taxation system into the 21st century, with a 40% mining super profits tax the only major element taken up by the government. It sparked a huge lobbying backlash and was quickly consumed by Labor's bitter civil war. But, with tax reform back on the agenda ahead of next month's productivity roundtable, the more than 1,070-page report has returned to the headlines. 'Every recommendation of the Henry review remains valid,' the reform campaigner said, giving a thumbs up to the crowded club, before catching himself. 'Actually, that's the first time I've ever called it the Henry review. You must have got me excited.' Henry clarified some of the ideas could benefit from 'sharpening up' but said the suite of measures he recommended then was broadly ready to go for any government prepared to match his excitement for making the system better. Henry was right to be a bit worked up. He has a lot of the answers to the biggest challenges facing the emboldened Labor government this term. Since he handed his tax report to then treasurer, Wayne Swan, Henry faced criticism in the banking royal commission. He was forced to quit as chairman of National Australia Bank after the commission's report said he and the then chief executive had not learned the lessons from past failures at the bank, including $100m in fees charged to customers without any service being provided. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Years later, Henry is fed up with the delay on overhauling Australia's broken environmental laws. Known for his advocacy for threatened species – especially the northern hairy-nosed wombat – he used his speech to endorse Graeme Samuel's review of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act. At stake is the foundation of all life on earth, Henry warned, pointing to threats to food systems, clean air and water, and vulnerable animal and plant species. 'We have turned nature against us,' Henry said. 'Our destruction of the natural environment now poses an existential threat to everything we value.' He said Labor should consider the inclusion of a climate trigger in its looming redesign of the nature positive package, requiring approvals for major projects to at least consider any effect on global warming. He suggested Labor should make the case for a new carbon tax, exasperated that the policy had ever been ditched by Tony Abbott's Coalition and describing it as 'the world's best carbon policy'. Less helpful to the government was Henry's blunt words about the toxic algal bloom now wreaking havoc with the waters off South Australia, an ecological disaster being fuelled by ocean warming. For Henry, the massive destruction of marine life washing up on Adelaide's beaches does not represent an early signal of things to come. He said it was a 'late warning' on the threat to oceans from the actions of humans on land. Federal Labor is under increasing pressure to act, amid concerns beaches will have to be closed over summer and permanent damage wrought to sea life. Some kind of federal intervention is looking likely in the next few days, potentially from the top levels of the government. Henry cast changes to the EPBC Act as critical to boosting productivity. The creation of a federal environmental protection agency was delayed before the election over fears of a backlash in resource-rich Western Australia, with Albanese moving to scuttle a deal with the Greens and push the issue into the new term. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion The calibre of the audience for the speech was a strong indication of how important the reforms will be. Among those served Lancashire hotpot was the former Reserve Bank deputy governor, Guy Debelle, now a board member of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation. A few seats away was David Parker, the chair of the Clean Energy Regulator, and a senior member of environment minister Murray Watt's staff. A table of parliamentarians nearby included the independent David Pocock, the Greens' Sarah Hanson-Young, and Labor MPs Alicia Payne and Karen Grogan, the chair of the Senate environment committee. Henry will have a seat at the table at Jim Chalmers' cabinet room summit in August, as well as at an unofficial preview to the talks set to be hosted by the Wentworth MP, Allegra Spender, next week. That meeting follows the independent's work on tax reform in the last parliament. Henry noted Australian workers have forfeited as much as $500,000 in lost earnings in the past quarter of a century because of policy paralysis and shoddy productivity. He put road user levies on electric vehicles and moves to scale back the cost of franking credits to shareholders as ideas to help fund a cut to the corporate tax rate. It's not yet clear just how far Labor is prepared to go on fixing the outdated environmental laws or changing the tax system. The answer could lie somewhere between the politically cautious Albanese and the more ambitious Chalmers. Treasurers and prime ministers can have different objectives, but an effective pairing is a prerequisite for lasting change. Albanese and Watt look eager to involve business in the redesign of the environmental plan, making sure to have broad buy-in for the changes and force the opposition to the fringes. That approach could guide future work as Albanese seeks to marginalise Sussan Ley and the Coalition to deliver at last the Labor government he has spent decades imagining. On Friday, speaking from the G20 finance ministers meeting in South Africa, Chalmers endorsed Henry's message and said he viewed proper environmental law reform as part of the solution to Australia's productivity challenge. It is good the government, MPs across the parliament, the bureaucracy and decision-makers in the community are prepared to listen to informed voices like Henry. Even if he is is reluctant to use his own name in the branding, he has a solid reform plan ready to go for Albanese, just in the period where his legacy will made or broken. Tom McIlroy is Guardian Australia's chief political correspondent
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Tasmanians decide today if they can fix their political mess. Here's what you need to know
The 19 July Tasmanian election is the state's fourth in seven years, and comes just 16 months after the last poll, making it the shortest gap between elections in an Australian state or territory since 1957. Here's what you need to know. The parliament passed a no confidence motion in the Liberal premier, Jeremy Rockliff, over the spiralling state of the budget and the bungled management of new Spirit of Tasmania ferries. It wasn't named in the motion moved by the Labor leader Dean Winter, but the Greens and some independents also cited Rockliff's divisive plan to fund a new AFL stadium on the Hobart waterfront. Winter declared he would not entertain the possibility of a confidence deal with the Greens while the Liberals decided they did maintain confidence in Rockliff and wouldn't replace him. With no one able or willing to lead the state, the governor, Barbara Baker, agreed to a snap election that no one was prepared for and nearly everyone said shouldn't be happening. A relatively low energy winter campaign followed, with few big spending commitments and only a couple of substantial new policies. The few available polls agree on one thing: the state is headed for another parliament in which no party has a majority of seats. The Liberals are seeking a fifth straight term in power, and go into the election with 14 out of 35 lower house seats. If the polls are correct, they may again have the largest share of the vote. A YouGov poll of 931 voters released late on Friday had the Liberals on a primary vote of 31% and Labor on 30%. An aggregate of recent polls compiled by psephologist Kevin Bonham put the Liberals on 34.1% and Labor 30.7%. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Translating this into an accurate estimate of seats under Tasmania's Hare-Clark system is challenging. The state has five multi-member seats – Bass, Braddon, Clark, Franklin and Lyons – and elects seven MPs in each of them. It could take days, if not weeks, to determine who wins the sixth and seventh seat in some electorates. The general expectation based is that the Liberals could claim between 12 and 14 seats, and Labor between its current total of 10 and 12. The only certainty is that whoever leads the next government will need to work more effectively with minor party and independent MPs than in the recent past to make parliament work. YouGov suggested non-major parties candidates could win 39% of the vote – a record if it happens – with the Greens under leader Rosalie Woodruff on 16% and independents 20%. Neither major party have explained in detail how they would address what some Liberal supporters described as the worst budget they have seen, with structural issues unaddressed and debt projected to rise to $13bn by 2027-28. Rockliff's big pledge was to drop a plan to consider privatising some public agencies and instead promise a new one: TasInsure. He says it would offer coverage for home and contents, small businesses and events, and save people hundreds of dollars a year. He did not explain how it would operate, or how the government would underwrite the potentially massive cost of a major disaster. Labor focused on the significant failures of the state's health system. Winter promised to resign as premier if did not create 10 'TassieDoc' publicly funded GP clinics in two years. Sceptics wondered where the GPs would come from. The Greens and several prominent independent candidates ran on their opposition to the highly contentious plan to build a roofed football stadium at Macquarie Point at a cost that could balloon beyond $1bn. The stadium has the backing of both major parties, and the AFL maintains it must be built if the Tasmania Devils, a long-promised new club, is to enter the national competition in 2028. Polls suggest most Tasmanians oppose the stadium, but overwhelmingly want a team – a scenario that the crossbench largely backs, but is not on offer. The Greens and some independents, including Kristie Johnston in Clark and Peter George in Franklin, oppose the state's salmon farming industry and native forestry logging. The major parties have been more or less united in rejecting this and backing 'traditional industries'. The election campaign has seen the resurrection of former federal MPs as state candidates. Liberals Bridget Archer and Gavin Pearce – once sharp opponents within the party – and Labor's Brian Mitchell are considered decent chances to get elected, possibly at the expense of sitting MPs from their own parties. Most political watchers believe Peter George, an ex-journalist turned anti-salmon farming campaigner and federal candidate who is backed by campaign funders Climate 200, will join the crossbench. It is unlikely the result will be clear on Saturday. There have been a record number of pre-poll votes and six out of 15 voting centres will not start counting these until Sunday. Postal votes will not be counted until the second half of next week. Working out who might form government is made more challenging by the major parties' attitude to the Greens, who go into the election with five seats and are expected to roughly hold their position in holding the balance of power. Winter has stressed he would not do a deal with, or offer concessions to, the Greens as he was at odds with them on logging, salmon farming, mining and energy. Rockliff has gone further, pledging to not deal with the Greens or lead a government that relied on them for confidence. Neither major party released an environment or climate change policy. The last parliament had six other crossbenchers and many are expected to be returned. Winter has said he would be willing to work with 'sensible independents that will work with a Labor government agenda'. Rockliff has described some independents – David O'Byrne, a former Labor leader who supports the stadium, and ex-Jacqui Lambie Network MP Rebekah Pentland – as constructive, but argued others were 'destructive left-wing radicals' who were 'even more dangerous than the Greens'. Most of the expected crossbench leans progressive. Despite the Liberals' slight ascendancy in the polls, and the paper-thin difference between the major parties on some high-profile issues, observers believe Labor may be better positioned to form government if the seat count is close. The YouGov poll found a majority of Tasmanians would favour this, with 55% preferring Winter over Rockliff if there was no clear winner and they were forced to choose. But YouGov's director of public data, Paul Smith, said there was little enthusiasm for either potential premier. Both had negative satisfaction ratings. Smith said it suggested voters would 'somewhat reluctantly' prefer a Labor premier. 'I think there was a mood for change, but Labor has not caught that wind,' he said. The underlying message may be that there will be no place for triumphalism whatever the result, and that the goal must be making parliament work for the state. And, in Smith's words, this should be the 'last state election where the major parties continue to believe that Tasmanians will give them a majority government'. 'The data that tells us what people think – and the electoral system – keeps saying otherwise,' he said. 'How many times does the non-major party vote have to increase for people to get the message?'
Daily Mail
20 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Terry Moran doubles down on Trump comments
Former ABC News star Terry Moran meant what he said about Donald Trump and Homeland Security aide Stephen Miller last month - even if it got him fired. While Moran quickly deleted the original post slamming the president and his top adviser as 'hate mongers', and subsequently tip-toed around the late-night diatribe, the axed anchor double-downed on the criticism for the first time. 'I wrote it because it's true,' Moran, 65, wrote on X Thursday, referring to the post slamming Trump as a 'world class hater' and Miller as full of 'bile.' He made the proclamation in reply to a Wednesday post from podcaster and former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau, who had called Miller 'a sociopath.' 'Wild that ABC fired @TerryMoran for simply stating that this person is a world-class hater,' the Pod Saves America host added, sharing a clip of a teenage Miller discussing the hypothetical torture of Iraqi soldiers in 2003. In the clip, Miller - then 17 and seen sitting on a school bus - is seen ranting on the subject as his classmates laugh in response. 'The goal of war is to kill as few people as possible,' Miller says at one point. 'But as for Saddam Hussein and his henchmen, I think the ideal solution would be to cut off their fingers. 'I don't think it's necessary to kill them entirely - we're not a barbaric people. We respect life,' he continues with a smile. 'Therefore, torture is the way to go. Because tortured people can live. Torture is a celebration of human life and dignity.' The remarks were enough for Moran to finally weigh in on what got him fired, with the veteran correspondent standing by his comments. 'Miller is a man who is richly endowed with the capacity for hatred. He's a world class hater,' Moran wrote just after midnight on June 8. 'You can see this just by looking at him because you can see that his hatreds are his spiritual nourishment. He eats his hate,' the anchor continued. 'Trump is a world-class hater. But his hatred only a means to an end, and that end his own glorification.' The next day, ABC issued a statement saying Moran had been suspended 'pending further evaluation.' Two days later, a spokesperson for the network confirmed Moran's firing, specifically citing his late night post as being a 'clear violation' of ABC's policy. 'We are at the end of our agreement with Terry Moran and based on his recent post – which was a clear violation of ABC News policies – we have made the decision to not renew,' the statement sent to Daily Mail at the time read. 'At ABC News, we hold all of our reporters to the highest standards of objectivity, fairness and professionalism, and we remain committed to delivering straightforward, trusted journalism.' The rep reiterated how the post did not reflect the views of ABC News, months after it was forced to fork over a $15 million libel settlement to Trump over erroneous on-air comments from Moran's longtime colleague George Stephanopoulos last year. 'We [expletive] took it seriously and dealt with it pretty [expletive] quickly,' a source at ABC News further told Fox News. Miller - one of the men behind Trump's mass deportation agenda - responded to the comments directly. 'The most important fact about Terry's full public meltdown is what it shows about the corporate press in America,' Miller wrote. 'For decades, the privileged anchors and reporters narrating and gatekeeping our society have been radicals adopting a journalist's pose. Terry pulled off his mask.' Vice President JD Vance, meanwhile, called Moran's comments a 'vile smear.' 'ABC should apologize to Stephen,' Vance wrote. 'What Terry posted is disgraceful.' The attention came with sizable social media scrutiny and seemingly forced ABC's hand. Moran, at 65, was the network's senior national correspondent for several years and previously as its Chief Foreign Correspondent - holding the position from 2013 to 2018. Before that, he had co-anchored the network's newsmagazine Nightline for nearly a decade. He was also ABC News' Chief White Correspondent from 1999 to 2005. He notably sat down with the president in April, for an exclusive interview in the Oval Office a few weeks before the tweet that upended his nearly 28-year ABC career.
