Presumably, Lane Calcutt (who seems to do most of the day to day reporting on Federal Politics for Nine these days) will become Nine’s Federal Political Editor once Laurie steps down?
Laurie Oakes is probably the best Federal Political reporter on Australian TV and will be missed. But after such a long and rewarding media career, he’s earned his retirement! 
I rank Laurie Oakes just ahead of Paul Bongiorno and Kerry O’Brien as the best federal political reporter on Australian TV.
Yes he has certainly earned his retirement, but one thinks he will still be part of Nine’s federal election night coverage in 2018 or 2019.
I would expect a special news program to commemorate his time with the network, or at least a lengthy news report. And yes, most likely he’ll be back for election coverage… (federal only?)
Sorry to see Laurie go. I hope his health is good enough for him to enjoy his retirement. He seems to have been around for my entire lifetime. I have memories of watching him on Seven back in the 1970s.
Nine needs to look to the next generation of gun political reporters to fill the considerable void this will create. Surely the big bucks required to lure the likes of Kieran Gilbert and David Speers to Nine is worth the investment considering superior coverage of politics and national affairs earns trust, credibility and respect for network news.
Knowing Nine, I think it’s all but guaranteed that tonight’s 6pm bulletins will mention Laurie Oakes’ retirement in some form or another.
I loved watching him doing live crosses on Today 
Melbourne Afternoon News had breaking news about Laurie’s retirement with more details at 6pm and an interview with Laurie.
Lane seems like the logical (daresay only) choice for Nine, and as you mentioned, Laurie doesn’t do a lot of on air work nightly so it will be rather seamless. Of course, it will be sad to seem him go, certainly a political icon.
On the political front, Nine still haven’t replaced Lauren Gianoli in Canberra, 3 months since she joined Nine Gold Coast News.
I’m sure one of the biggest highlights of Laurie’s career would surely have to be this right? 
Other than that, I agree that Oakes is one of the best reporters in this country who truly deserves his retirement after such a decorated career.
I think Fiona Willian might’ve replaced Lauren Gianoli when she moved up to the Gold Coast.
That was hilarious! 
Yes Fiona is now a political reporter not actually sure how long she has been in this role.
About two weeks.
Peter Overton will talk to Laurie about his decision to retire on 6pm News tonight.
Edit - On Melbourne News we had a report from Lane Calcutt about Laurie’s career.
Then Peter Hitchener spoke to Laurie in Canberra during a live cross.
Laurie told ABC Radio Melbourne he was retiring as he was “disillusioned” with the state of politics, and could not saddle up for another leadership coup in the Liberal Party.
The way Peter Overton congratulated Laurie on the news tonight made me think he was retiring almost immediately.
Considering he said he couldn’t handle another Leadership Coup, he probably is.
Seems Nine took advantage of the fact that two Peters present their bulletins, with Sydney and Melbourne taking the same feed from Canberra.
Good job catching that little bit of TV trickery!
Same script, two different crosses. The last few seconds for example, he says “thanks mate, good on you” to Peter Overton but just “thanks mate” to Peter Hitchener. There’s also a moment just after 3:30 on both videos where he fumbles his words in the Melbourne bulletin but not the Sydney one.
