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The on-air bust-up between Kyle Sandilands and Jackie “O” Henderson and ensuing fallout has offered no shortage of fodder for media observers and countless others captivated at each and every turn.
So it was little surprise to learn that media coverage of the former radio co-hosts has also tickled the most senior ranks of the nation’s media watchdog.
In a bundle of documents obtained by CBD under freedom of information laws was one particularly interesting email exchange between Nerida O’Loughlin, chair of the Australian Communications and Media Authority; her deputy chair Adam Suckling; and regulatory colleague Carolyn Lidgerwood.
The three exchanged notes of amusement and praise about The Daily Telegraph’s March 4 front page: “KIIS OFF”, which the regulator’s digital media monitoring service didn’t appear to catch.
“We miss so much – particularly the glorious work of sub-editors – when we don’t see hard copies!!” O’Loughlin wrote in response to an email from Suckling alerting his boss and Lidgerwood to “ye olde version of the DT”.
Five minutes later, Lidgerwood wrote back in furious agreement. The Tele has “the best sub-editors!”, she wrote, and suggested the regulator get copies of the front page for their “file”, before weighing in on the substantive issue.
“I bet there’s some cake being had over at the Jase & Lauren Show on Nova today (they’re the breakie [sic] hosts who got sacked by KIIS to make way for Kyle & Jackie O – then Nova picked them up in a deft move),” Lidgerwood wrote.
“Karma and all that.”
An ACMA spokesman, seemingly confused about receiving a request for comment on the documents, said the regulator had nothing further to say.
At the time of the exchange, of course, McLoughlin and her colleagues were probably putting the finishing touches on a regulatory response to Kyle and Jackie O’s former employer, KIIS FM owner ARN Media.
Two weeks after these emails were dashed off, ACMA slapped additional conditions on ARN’s radio licence in response to repeated regulatory breaches by The Kyle & Jackie O Show. The media watchdog warned, as this masthead reported at the time, that ARN could face fines or even lose its radio licence if it breached the conditions.
Last year, an ACMA investigation into The Kyle & Jackie O Show found nine breaches of decency provisions in the regulator’s Code of Practice. At least we now know O’Loughlin and co have been enjoying themselves.
“PPS Meant to say the Herald Sun also has the same photo with the headline ‘Kyle and Jackie Woe’,” Lidgerwood wrote to her colleagues later in the day on March 4. “Also good.”
Joe Hockey criticises budget while waiting for the physio
Few would be surprised to hear former federal treasurer Joe Hockey didn’t like what he saw on budget night.
While he was waiting for a physio appointment, for which we hear he’d mixed up his dates, Hockey told our colleagues seeking reactions to the Albanese government’s changes to the capital gains tax and trusts that what the government was doing is “stupid”.
More interesting is how much time the former member for North Sydney seems to be spending in his old electorate these days. Early last month, a CBD spy spotted Hockey on an early morning walk in North Sydney, sporting a notably trimmer frame. Hopefully he was able to get that physio appointment sorted.
Tim Wilson chews the budget fat with former UAP anti-vaxxer
Shadow treasurer Tim Wilson has already proven he can claim a Labor economic reform scalp if he really puts his mind to it.
So in his pursuit of another, we were intrigued to see the Liberal Party firebrand so quick to mix it up with, er, a former United Australia Party anti-vaxxer as part of his wall-to-wall criticism of the Albanese government’s 2026 federal budget.
The former UAP candidate in question is Julian Fayad, who Wilson appeared beside during a doorstep interview on Monday, and who has previously expressed opposition to mandatory vaccinations, mandatory lockdowns, and compared vaccine requirements to “segregation”. Who would’ve thought capital gains tax reform would prove such a uniting force?
“It doesn’t matter what anyone’s political views, every self-starter is targeted by the Albanese and their active inflation agenda,” a spokesman for Wilson told CBD on Wednesday.
“Mr Wilson will stand with any self-starter or small business against Labor’s wrecking ball budget, and for a freer and more prosperous nation.”
Fayad, who is the founder and CEO of the AI loan comparison platform LoanOptions, said it was “hilarious” that people were trying to politicise his appearance alongside Wilson.
Fayad said he is not a member of any political party, but stands by all of his previous comments, including a proposal for a 15 per cent export licence on iron ore, which formed the basis of one of his 2022 election ads. He said the idea seems “even better now” than it did then.
“Our government has chosen to continue to tax the Australian people and small businesses into oblivion but largely leaves our natural resources to be exploited,” Fayad told CBD.
“I never supported lockdowns, or mandatory vaccinations. Vaccine passports were not based in science and I have since been vindicated. I believe that it should be people’s choice to take a medical intervention under the ‘informed consent’ model that was previously in place.”
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John Buckley is a CBD columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via email.From our partners
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