{"id":929785,"date":"2026-10-16T03:08:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T03:08:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/929785\/"},"modified":"2026-10-16T03:08:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T03:08:13","slug":"this-time-its-personal-sneering-nepo-baby-insults-fly-as-afr-and-mail-columnists-go-to-war-caitlin-cassidy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/929785\/","title":{"rendered":"This time it\u2019s personal: \u2018sneering nepo baby\u2019 insults fly as AFR and Mail columnists go to war | Caitlin Cassidy"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Nine columnist learned an alarming lesson this week. If you come for Peter van Onselen, or his family, you\u2019d better bargain for an 800-word rebuke<\/a> in response.<\/p>\n

The political and economics editor of the Daily Mail Australia was not amused by last week\u2019s Rear Window column<\/a> in the Australian Financial Review, which referred to his wife, Ainslie van Onselen, who is the head of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand.<\/p>\n

The column, written by Hannah Wootton, claimed Ainslie van Onselen had handed KPMG a \u201cfree pass\u201d when the industry body released its quality practice review of the firm after whistleblower scandals<\/a> over alleged misconduct and misuse of confidential client data<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo call the resulting report a whitewash is an insult to fences,\u201d Wootton wrote. \u201cChartered Accountants found the firm \u2018actively promotes a culture of confidentiality\u2019, has adequate compliance processes, and boasts leaders with a sterling commitment to ethical behaviour.\u201d<\/p>\n

The column got quite personal, describing Ainslie van Onselen as \u201cpublicity-happy\u201d and claiming it couldn\u2019t \u201cbe cheap\u201d for her to maintain \u201cthe $3.4 million Vaucluse mansion she shares with her media personality husband Peter van Onselen\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially given the hefty bills he clocked up unsuccessfully suing his former employer Network 10 in 2023.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peter van Onselen objected to Hannah Wootton\u2019s reference to the cost of the Vaucluse mansion owned by he and his wife, Ainslie van Onselen (pictured). Photograph: Hilary Wardhaugh\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The story was later corrected to clarify that Network 10 sued Van Onselen, not the other way round. Van Onselen reasonably pointed out this error in his own column, released five days later, which ran under the blistering headline: \u201cA sneering nepo baby with a home paid for by the bank of mum and dad \u2026 the AFR\u2019s Hannah Wootton ought to know what her colleagues really think of her before coming after me.\u201d<\/p>\n

In what read like a very long Burn Book, Van Onselen went into Wootton\u2019s affluent family background in great depth, including Land Registry and Asic records showing she had acquired a property from her parents. The relevance of this?<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving invited readers to inspect our household finances, she can hardly object when the inspection moves on to hers,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

Van Onselen was annoyed at Wootton\u2019s reference to the cost of his and his wife\u2019s Vaucluse mansion. This was inaccurate, he wrote, because \u201cthat was the pre-reno purchase price back in 2011, and we bought it with a mortgage\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf she knows where local \u2018mansions\u2019 sell for that today, I\u2019d appreciate the tip.\u201d<\/p>\n

What a stitch-up. Not only did Wootton think Van Onselen had attempted to sue instead of getting sued himself, she also grossly underestimated his home value.<\/p>\n

Your mum<\/p>\n

Another day, another stuff-up at News24<\/a>. This time, bizarrely claiming Pauline Hanson and Sarah Hanson-Young are related.<\/p>\n

The rebranded Sky News Australia was quick to cut up a digital article and YouTube clip based on last Sunday\u2019s Outsiders program<\/a>, in which the host, James Macpherson, nominated his \u201cwally of the week\u201d \u2013 a recurring segment where the network singles out public figures for making embarrassing or stupid decisions.<\/p>\n

Mum\u2019s not quite the word on this News24 story. Photograph: News24<\/p>\n

Macpherson picked the Greens senator, claiming she had decided to focus on One Nation after losing her bid for the party leadership. OK, sure. Then somewhere along the line, things got a little confused.<\/p>\n

The News24 article based on his comments, headlined \u201cSarah Hanson-Young ridiculed for turning on Pauline Hanson after Greens loss\u201d, inserted this fairly significant error into its copy:<\/p>\n

\u201cNews24 host James Macpherson mocked Senator Sarah Hanson-Young for criticising her mother, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, and her campaign,\u201d its summary read, which was also pasted into a clip uploaded to YouTube.<\/p>\n

Honestly, we had never noticed the family resemblance!<\/p>\n

According to News24, the mistake was due to a copy-editing error in the online video caption which was swiftly removed. The article and YouTube clip were taken down, but the false claim still appeared in Google searches as of Thursday.<\/p>\n

Guardian Australia\u2019s wally of the week goes to \u2026 ? Well, you can guess.<\/p>\n

Journalists back in union chiefABC head of news, Simon Robinson, told MEAA federal president and award-winning journalist Michael Slezak\u00a0(pictured) he had breached ABC policy after writing an opinion piece in the Australian Financial Review. Photograph: Dean Lewins\/AAP<\/p>\n

More than 400 ABC journalists have publicly supported the union office-holder and award-winning climate reporter Michael Slezak after he was threatened with disciplinary action<\/a> for writing an opinion piece<\/a> in the Australian Financial Review.<\/p>\n

Slezak wrote the article, published last Monday, in his capacity as head of the ABC\u2019s house committee and federal president of media at the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA).<\/p>\n

Last Wednesday, Slezak was called into a disciplinary meeting with the new ABC director of news, Simon Robinson<\/a>, and the head of digital and national news, Lee Glendinning, where he was advised he could face disciplinary action, including dismissal, over the ABC\u2019s external work policy and code of conduct.<\/p>\n

The union says Slezak did not need to seek approval for the article because he has an agreement with the ABC which permits him to engage in public comment on behalf of journalists in his MEAA role.<\/p>\n

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Before a union meeting held the following Tuesday, which was attended by about 200 staff, Robinson advised Slezak that disciplinary action was off the table, but maintained he was in breach of the ABC\u2019s policies, and said the public broadcaster wanted to revisit the agreement that had been made.<\/p>\n

Nine house committees, including those of Guardian Australia, News Corp, Seven and Nine, have put out statements of solidarity with Slezak, and more than 400 ABC journalists have signed an open letter<\/a> calling on Robinson to recommit to the agreement with Slezak and respect the rights of ABC journalists to \u201cunionise without hindrance\u201d.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the public broadcaster said \u201cthe guidelines for external work and public comment are important and protect the reputation of the ABC\u201d. They said the director of news would meet staff \u201cto ensure there is a clear and consistent understanding of how the guidelines should be applied and upheld\u201d.<\/p>\n

Weekly Beast understands staff had not been informed of any such meeting as of Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Editor very much at large<\/p>\n

For several months now<\/a> the Daily Telegraph\u2019s editor, Ben English, has embraced a new trend: filming social media videos of himself spruiking the paper\u2019s front page.<\/p>\n

For a disturbingly long period, many of these videos took place from his car, where he sat with a broad grin and unblinking eyes<\/a>. But in recent weeks, English has made a strange and, some may say, ill-advised pivot.<\/p>\n

Pretty vacant \u2026 The Daily Telegraph editor, Ben English, filming a social media video from the sparsely occupied newsroom. Photograph: Daily Telegraph<\/p>\n

Instead of remaining seated, either at his desk or inside his vehicle, English has taken to filming from a chair and then immediately jumping up<\/a> to walk through the Tele\u2019s newsroom, all the while maintaining laser-like eye contact with the viewer.<\/p>\n

English\u2019s seeming inability to blink aside, the videos also inadvertently highlight how profoundly empty the Tele\u2019s newsroom looks. Is it due to News Corp\u2019s years of budget cuts and restructures? Is it filmed very early in the morning? Or are people simply afraid to be around for his performances? It\u2019s hard to say.<\/p>\n

Unexpected appearance<\/p>\n

The Australian is rarely shy about giving space on its pages to Josh Frydenberg, who has been promoting his new book<\/a> while pointedly refusing to rule out trying to rejoin the parliament. In Wednesday\u2019s national broadsheet alone we counted five photos of the former Liberal treasurer.<\/p>\n

But on Friday the digital version of the print edition outdid itself, erroneously including two photos of Frydenberg in a collage about the paper\u2019s extensive reporting on the murders of three Indigenous children in Western Australia (the images did not find their way into the second edition of the actual print product seen by Weekly Beast).<\/p>\n

Page six of The Australian\u2019s digital edition on Friday.<\/p>\n

One photo has Frydenberg with a swastika on his forehead, from an incident in the 2022 federal election campaign when his electoral signs were defaced with antisemitic imagery. Another has him photoshopped into an SS uniform, also from 2022, when it was reportedly posted on a Labor branch Facebook page<\/a>. Images of the businessman Simon Holmes \u00e0 Court, the MP Monique Ryan and an incongruous headless teddy were thrown in for good measure.<\/p>\n

The Australian was contacted for comment.<\/p>\n

Alan Kohler bids final farewell<\/p>\n

After three decades with the ABC, finance presenter Alan Kohler has delivered his final 7pm news bulletin. On Wednesday evening, Kohler proclaimed \u201cfor the 4,035th and final time\u201d his iconic line: \u201cAnd that\u2019s finance.\u201d<\/p>\n

His last package included a slide show of what he believed were some of the most important graphs during his time at the public broadcaster, including falling productivity growth, rising median house prices and associated debt, global heating and, for \u201csomething a bit happier\u201d, total superannuation assets.<\/p>\n

\u2018And that\u2019s finance\u2019 \u2026 Alan Kohler signs off after three decades with the ABC. Photograph: ABC<\/p>\n

Announcing his resignation<\/a> late last month, the 74-year-old said he was ready to spend more time with his family, including six grandchildren. Next up for Kohler will be a podcast with his son, Chris.<\/p>\n

The ABC\u2019s managing director, Hugh Marks, said Kohler had made an \u201cextraordinary contribution\u201d to the nation. \u201cFor decades, he has helped Australians make sense of complex issues with insight, clarity and a uniquely engaging style, always delivered with warmth, humour and that trademark cheeky grin,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He will be succeeded by finance reporter David Chau<\/a>.<\/p>\n