{"id":579938,"date":"2026-04-02T03:55:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T03:55:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/579938\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T03:55:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T03:55:21","slug":"anthony-albanese-announces-australian-gambling-reform-gambling-ad-ban-in-stadiums-on-jerseys-pm-speaks-on-australia-petrol-prices-iran-war-after-address-to-nation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/579938\/","title":{"rendered":"Anthony Albanese announces Australian gambling reform, gambling ad ban in stadiums, on jerseys; PM speaks on Australia petrol prices, Iran war after address to nation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Andrew Hirst will quit as federal director of the Liberal Party following May\u2019s Farrer byelection after nearly nine years in the role, marking the end of a tenure that spanned multiple election campaigns and leadership changes.<\/p>\n<p>Hirst, who previously advised several Liberal leaders, including Tony Abbott during his time as prime minister, said he had informed the party\u2019s federal president of his decision to step aside ahead of the next election.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The Liberals\u2019 federal director, Andrew Hirst.\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/a0bb0332b183dcb433c160624d34b525fa99fdaa.jpeg\"  class=\"sc-d34e428-1 ldCIuB\"\/>The Liberals\u2019 federal director, Andrew Hirst.Alex Ellinghausen<\/p>\n<p>He described the role as \u201can enormous honour\u201d but added \u201cnow is the right time to hand over to new organisational leadership and allow for a seamless transition ahead of the next federal election\u201d. <\/p>\n<p>Hirst also paid tribute to leaders he served under, including Malcolm Turnbull, Scott Morrison, Peter Dutton, Sussan Ley and Angus Taylor, saying history would \u201cjudge Scott well\u201d for steering the country through difficult times.<\/p>\n<p>He said despite setbacks, the party had delivered key organisational reforms, including eliminating debt, strengthening fundraising and modernising digital operations, but warned \u201csignificant challenges\u201d remained that would require \u201crenewed energy and determination\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Federal president John Olsen thanked Hirst for his \u201ccommitment, loyalty, professionalism and dedicated service\u201d, saying his tenure was marked by \u201ccalm, clear thinking\u201d and a strategic approach, as Hirst confirmed he would formally conclude in June after the next federal council meeting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Andrew Hirst will quit as federal director of the Liberal Party following May\u2019s Farrer byelection after nearly nine&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":579939,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-579938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=579938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579938\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/579939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=579938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=579938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=579938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}