Yes, I agree, the ABC is making use of Kath’s talents …and I do appreciate as you have pointed out that she has a lot of flexibility, although this can be a double-edged sword when you are not sure when you will be called in. Kath is at her journalistic best when she is interviewing which mostly occurs in the first hour of a 3/4 hour session and I think she enjoys this challenge.
I also think a woman of her talent needs a show of her own … she has spent 10 years at the ABC mainly reading the news, and needs some meaningful job satisfaction as a presenter/journalist. The money is very much secondary (it is the ABC!), particularly as her husband would be on a very substantial package with Channel 7, although she is a modern woman and wants to achieve.
And not being mentioned on a presenters list … yeah, probably being too precious about that!
Kath was well into her THIRD year as presenter of The Business when she was unceremoniously dumped in May last year, precipitated by the shake-up of the presenters on the afternoon NC, with Kirsten Aitken then taking Kath’s role.
As for The Drum, Kath had been rotating with Julia Baird and Ellen Fanning and others for a number of years …from at least 2018. True, when Julia had long stints away because of her recurring cancer, Kath was used much more, and she became third in line. Being 8 years younger than both Ellen and Julia, she was clearly seen as the next main presenter of the program, particularly as Ellen was wanting to get back to Queensland and Julia’s cancer bouts were mitigating against her participation. And it was clear to anyone who watched this program that Kath loved this role with it’s variety and challenges. So she would have been gutted when it was axed at the end of last year.
Just to clear up some misnomers!
Sorry to freak some of you out but I have a list of ALL daytime NC presenters …only 3 each day! I can assure you I am not creepy …eccentric maybe? When the presenters patterns on NC started breaking down, I was just interested to see who was actually working over a period of time. I was a Maths teacher for 30 years, with a sub-major in statistics … analysing is in the blood! And it revealed that Kath works more than anyone.
I did start doing the same thing with the Victorian 7pm news and News Breakfast, but there were too many moving parts and resignations, so I gave up!
