'Show about nothing': PM taunted over US tariffs
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The Australian
12 hours ago
- The Australian
Nine reporter Tim Arvier quits Channel 9 for a top Crisafulli government job
They reckon you shouldn't believe everything you read ... unless, of course, you read it in the Media Diary. After all, we've been warning for months now that Nine's best Brisbane newsbreaker, Tim Arvier, was likely on the move and, indeed, he is. Diary can reveal the network's award-winning state political reporter has been headhunted by Queensland Premier David Crisafulli's government to head up its crisis communications network – where he will be tasked with, among other things, containing political scandals rather than exposing them. We hear the veteran news hound struggled with making the decision to leave the network where he first began his career as a cadet reporter in 2004, but ultimately decided he was ready for a new challenge and the fancy deputy director-general title that apparently comes along with it. Of course, the pay doesn't sound too bad either. When we first revealed the network's gun state political reporter might be eyeing off the exit at its Mt Coot-Tha studios back in May, and that if the news bosses at rival Seven rummage around down the back of the coach for about $300,000 a year, they might be able to convince him to change channels. Although we hear Seven did make some furtive inquiries about procuring Arvier's services, unfortunately they couldn't find quite enough spare change under the sofa cushions. Their loss was Crisafulli's gain, though, with the execs in at George Street happy to pass a hat around and come up with the desired result. Arvier is expected to spend the next couple of weeks working with young up-and-coming reporters at Nine before wrapping up at the network at the end of the month. Although he leaves on amicable terms, his departure will leave a massive void in the newsroom. Not only a popular member of staff, Arvier was Nine's most consistent newsbreaker and often cited as one of the key reasons people opted to tune in to Nine over Seven at 6pm. He was also its most experienced journo, having spent lengthy stints reporting for A Current Affair and as the network's European and then North American correspondent during his 20-year career at Nine. Indeed, Arvier was working in Minneapolis in the US when he was named Journalist of the Year at Queensland's Clarion media awards, while also picking up gongs for best broadcast interview and best TV news report for his coverage as civil unrest spread across the city in the wake of George Floyd's death. Nine's Queensland news boss, Brendan Hockings, told Diary he was disappointed to lose a journo and a mate of Arvier's calibre, but was confident he had enough rising stars in his newsroom to keep him on his toes in his new job. 'Tim and I started in the industry together around 20 years ago, and I've seen first hand how much he's poured into his journalism career,' he said when we tracked him down on Wednesday. 'We've spoken about this at length, so I know how Tim has agonised over leaving a profession and place he loves but, in the end, he feels the time is right to take on this new role. He leaves with our thanks and best wishes. 'Nine is Queensland's No.1 television news thanks to the strength of our team across the board. 'We have a very healthy stable of newsbreakers and I'm excited to watch them take up the challenge of holding the government to account.' And to be fair (and we always try to be), Hocko's not wrong – with the Brisbane newsroom thriving under him since he was made news director in January, the station's prime-time 6pm news bulletin ratings are up 21 per cent year on year for the first six months of 2025. Arvier confirmed the move not long after we first broke the news, saying after two decades at Nine, it was time for 'a bit of a change'. 'I'll be moving away from the day to day shenanigans of Queensland politics and heading to government department land for some new responsibilities, including heading up the Queensland Crisis Communications Network to oversee events like floods, cyclones and major police/emergency incidents,' he said on social media. 'I will miss working at Nine. It's a great place full of great people and I've made many lifelong friends amongst the camera teams, producers and editors. The newsroom is in great hands and I know it will continue to thrive.' Free-to-air rich list: the top 35 salaries in TV Read related topics: Nine Entertainment Steve Jackson is The Australian's media diarist. He has spent more than two decades working across the most-read mastheads and most-watched television current affairs programs in Australia and the United Kingdom. Wealth The Australian is launching Wealth, a dedicated digital-first section to help more Australians make smarter money choices. World A former Israeli prime minister has accused The New York Times of 'blood libel' after the NYT admitted a child in Gaza whom the masthead and other media outlets claimed was suffering 'severe malnutrition' had been diagnosed with pre-existing health conditions.
Canberra Times
16 hours ago
- Canberra Times
'Show about nothing': PM taunted over US tariffs
"We want to get the best deal for our citizens - that's what our government is working towards every day," she told Seven's Sunrise program on Wednesday.
Perth Now
17 hours ago
- Perth Now
'Show about nothing': PM taunted over US tariffs
Anthony Albanese has been accused of being a "Seinfeld prime minister" as the opposition ramps up its rhetoric over the US tariffs issue. The prime minister has been compared the famous 1990s "show about nothing", amid dwindling hopes Australia can secure a total tariff exemption. US President Donald Trump's deals with other nations have laid bare the limits of trade negotiations, with no countries receiving a better deal than Australia's 10 per cent baseline tariff. And now Australian exporters could see the impost set on goods sent to the US doubled, after Mr Trump delivered an ominous warning on Tuesday. He implied the base rate, which applies to the goods of many countries including Australia, could rise to 15-20 per cent. Mr Trump said his administration would soon notify about 200 countries of their new "world tariff" rate. "I would say it'll be somewhere in the 15-to-20 per cent range," he said. "Probably one of those two numbers." Senior Labor government minister Clare O'Neil said Australia was continuing to argue to the US that it deserves beneficial treatment, given the two countries' long running alliance. "We want to get the best deal for our citizens - that's what our government is working towards every day," she told Seven's Sunrise program on Wednesday. But opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Michaelia Cash said the government's approach had been a failure so far, given Mr Albanese was yet to secure a face-to-face meeting with Mr Trump. "The prime minister of Australia, Mr Albanese, is becoming the Seinfeld prime minister - he's a show about nothing," she told Seven. "Other countries ... they are successfully negotiating trade deals that benefit their countries. "We now hear it could go 15 per cent, it could go 20 per cent. "I just remind the Australian people that when the coalition was last in government, we successfully negotiated a zero per cent tariff." Senator Cash was referencing the Seinfeld episode The Pitch, when characters Jerry and George pitched an idea for a "show about nothing" to TV executives - recreating how creators Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David came up with the show's concept. During Mr Trump's first stint in office, Australia under former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and several other countries secured tariff exemptions from the White House. No countries have secured total exemptions this time. The government resolved one of Mr Trump's grievances with Australia last week by lifting an effective ban on US beef imports. Canada on Wednesday morning, AEST, announced Australia also reopened market access for Canadian beef, ending a 22-year-old ban imposed following the discovery of mad cow disease.
