Month: August 2022

Categories
Sports

Tennis news 2022: Nick Kyrgios defeats compatriot Alex de Minaur in straight sets

Tennis news 2022: Nick Kyrgios defeats compatriot Alex de Minaur in straight sets

Nick Kyrgios’ stunning purple patch has continued, with the Wimbledon runner-up comprehensively defeating compatriot Alex de Minaur in the Montreal Masters on Friday morning (AEST).

The Australian, currently sitting at No. 37 on the ATP rankings, topped his Davis Cup teammate in straight sets 6-2 6-3, securing victory in just 62 minutes.

Kyrgios was at his absolute best during the entertaining round of 16 contest, registering 22 winners and only nine unforced errors in front of a packed-out stadium.

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However, he carried on with constant backchat towards his players box, giving almost a running commentary of his state of mind on the court in a display that seems second nature to him.

Minaur’s World No. 21 hardly won a point in the opening four games, fighting back in the second set by breaking Kyrgios twice, but struggling to hold serve himself.

It was the first time Kyrgios and de Minaur had met in an ATP event.

“After yesterday’s big high, today was really hard mentally for me to go out and play Alex,” Kyrgios said.

“We’re such good friends, he’s been having such a good career and carrying the Australian flag for so long. It was just tough mentally, it’s never easy to play a friend like that especially if they’re an Australian so I just got out here and got the job done.

“I played the way I had to play — he’s a hell of a player. If you play to his strengths he’s one of the best players from the back (of the court) in the game and he’s so fast, he’s going to have a hell of a career.

Kyrgios will next face Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter-finals. The pair faced off two months ago on grass, with Hurkacz the victor on that occasion.

This Montreal Masters campaign will give Kyrgios an important rankings boost ahead of the US Open, which gets underway on Monday August 29.

He is expected to climb 10 spots in the ATP rankings, and could crack the top 15 if he wins the Canadian tournament.

Fresh from winning the Citi Open title in Washington, Kyrgios came back from a set down to top world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev 6-7 6-4 6-2 on Thursday.

It’s the second time in his career he’s beaten a world No. 1 and he now boasts a 3-1 head-to-head record against Medvedev, the 2021 US Open champion.

Since landing in the United States for the American hard court swing a couple of weeks ago, Kyrgios is 16-0 across singles and doubles.

He has now won 15 of his past 16 singles matches, stretching back to his run into the Wimbledon final, which he lost to 21-time grand slam champion Novak Djokovic.

“It’s rewarding to beat the world No. 1,” Kyrgios told The Tennis Channel after the victory over Medvedev.

“It’s a reflection of all the hard work I’ve done in Sydney.

“After Washington I could easily come here and be content with what I did last week, but I wanted to empty the tank these two weeks.

“Obviously my ranking’s not where I want it to be, not getting those points at Wimbledon, but I’ve got to capitalize on this little window.”

Read related topics:Nick Kyrgios

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Categories
Australia

John Barilaro pulls out of parliamentary inquiry into US trade job

a profile shot of a man looking

Former NSW deputy premier John Barilaro has pulled out of today’s parliamentary inquiry, citing mental health reasons.

The upper house inquiry has been investigating Mr Barilaro’s appointment as senior trade and investment commissioner to the Americas.

He was scheduled to give his second day of evidence today, after first facing the inquiry on Monday.

“John Barilaro has informed the committee that due to mental health reasons he is unable to attend today’s hearing,” a statement from the inquiry said.

Mr Barilaro was due to face questions about what his girlfriend, Jennifer Lugsdin, knew about the lucrative US trade job he was awarded earlier this year.

Ms Lugsdin worked for Investment NSW — the body responsible for hiring people for overseas trade roles — when the Americas job was advertised.

Last December she was copied in on discussions about a media release calling for applications for the trade envoy position.

Before taking the role with Investment NSW, Ms Lugsdin was the senior media advisor for Mr Barilaro between 2019 and 2021.

A woman smiling
Jennifer Lugsdin was awarded a short-term role with Investment NSW in August 2021. (Supplied: Linkedin)

On Monday, Mr Barilaro expressed frustration about facing questions about his personal life.

Labor’s Penny Sharpe said she did not enjoy asking “uncomfortable” questions, but said it was necessary.

“Someone you were in a relationship with… was clearly aware of the various processes associated with the advertising and the nature of [the US trade] position,” she told the hearing on Monday.

Mr Barilaro withdrew from the New York-based trade role in June, saying intense media scrutiny made his appointment “untenable”.

The controversy surrounding his selection is now the subject of two inquiries and it led to the resignation of trade minister Stuart Ayres last week.

Although Mr Ayres is adamant he did nothing wrong, an inquiry by Graeme Head raised concerns he might have breached the ministerial code of conduct.

The upper house inquiry has heard Mr Ayres was not at “arm’s length” from the selection process.

Mr Barilaro resigned as deputy premier in October 2021, saying the pressure of public life had “taken a toll”.

He took a month off for his mental health in 2020 and said he thought he would never come back to politics.

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Categories
US

Flooding rainstorm that hit DC area Wednesday evening was extreme

Flooding rainstorm that hit DC area Wednesday evening was extreme

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The deluge in the DC area Wednesday night flooded roads and triggered traffic gridlock, with high water levels even stranding motorists — some needing rescue — and entering homes and businesses. Many areas saw an extreme of between 1 and 3 inches of rain in an hour.

The most exceptional rainfall reports concentrated in the zone around Bladensburg and New Carrollton in Prince George’s County, where about 3 inches poured down in an hour.

That hourly rainfall has a return interval of around 100 years according to National Weather Service data. In other words, that amount of rain has a 1 percent chance of happening in that area any given year. Another way to think about it is that such a 100-year rainstorm has a slightly greater than 1-in-4 chance of occurring within the term of a 30-year mortgage.

The concept of a thousand-year rainstorm is legitimate but limited. Here’s what you should understand about it.

It’s not a coincidence that there were multiple reports of flooding in the zone where these extreme rainfall rates occurred.

Near Bladensburg, the Weather Service reported that the northeast branch of the Anacostia River rose more than 7.5 feet in an hour. Along Kenilworth Avenue at Riverdale Road, a number of lanes were blocked by high water.

Just to the east, closer to New Carrollton, the Weather Service reported multiple water rescues were required between Lanham and Glenn Dale.

Storms sweep region, causing floods and delays

Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department tweeted Thursday that it responded to 71 water rescue calls during the storm. Eleven county school buildings were affected by minor flooding according to district spokeswoman Meghan Gebreselassie. Building services staff from the school district responded and cleared standing water from all the areas, she said.

All told, the Weather Service received more than two dozen reports of flooding.

Prince George’s County was hardest hit, but substantial flooding also affected other areas. In Virginia, high water flooded roads between Vienna and Reston as well as in Alexandria — especially around Old Town.

Flooding was also reported in eastern portions of the District. Video went viral of water several feet high up against the door of District Dogs, a pet day-care center, along Rhode Island Avenue in Northeast Washington.

The downpour in the DC area Wednesday joins several other notable rain events in the last two weeks. Even more extreme, thousand-year rainstorms occurred in St. Louis, eastern Kentucky, southern Illinois and Death Valley, Calif. There was also an exceptional and deadly flooding event this week in Seoul.

The torrents in the Washington region were set off by a slow-moving cold front as it clashed with a very hot, humid air mass. Precipitable water, an indicator of atmospheric moisture, was estimated up to 2.25 and 2.65 inches Wednesday evening between Alexandria and central Prince George’s County. Such levels are near records for the time of year.

Now that the front has passed, much cooler and drier air is settling into the DC region.

The most intense precipitation events around the world are increasing because of human-caused climate change. A warmer atmosphere is capable of holding more moisture and producing heavier rainfall.

The US government’s National Climate Assessment documented a 55 percent increase in the heaviest precipitation events in the Northeast between 1958 and 2016.

Heavy rain swept through the DC area on Aug. 10, causing manhole explosions and blocked roads. (Video: Washington Post)

Nicole Asbury contributed to this report.

Categories
Technology

Apex Legends Shatters Records As Players Urges Fans To Stop Playing Apex Legends

Apex Legends Shatters Records As Players Urge Fans To Stop Playing Apex Legends

It’s not a universal maxim, but in many cases, there’s no surer sign a game is alive and well than when waves of players start calling it a “dead game.” The most recent example is apex legendswhich just set an all-time player count record amid a coordinated — I use that word generously — social media campaign urging players to fall off the game for a month.

apex legendsa free-to-play first-person shooter some people still call Why Aren’t You Titanfall 3?, launched three years ago amid the industry’s battle royale boom. Though it initially seemed experimental, a fun if ephemeral multiplayer pitstop between developer Respawn’s blockbusters (like titan fall and Jedi: Fallen Order), Apex quickly adopted a seasonal model. It’s been riding the live service train ever since and is now on its 14th season. This brings us to #NoApexAugust, a community effort to highlight various issues fans have with the game.

#NoApexAugust has mostly organized around a hashtag on Twitter, though the genesis can be traced back to a Reddit post from last month. Initially, one player suggested a single-day strike against apex legends. The post blew up. Complaints about apex legends poured in (the initial post has more than 1,000 responses), and it eventually morphed into the idea that the community would take a whole month off from the game.

The idea of ​​#NoApexAugust was to spur Respawn and publisher EA into action, addressing what players see as issues with the game: the high-ping servers…or the lack of cross-progression…or the overpriced cosmetics…or the lack or interesting cosmetics …or the slew of specific items some say are too powerful…or, look, players have a bunch of nonsense issues, many of which seem minor in isolation but coalesce into a larger “please fix game” rallying cry.

Right out of the gate, #NoApexAugust sputtered. Some people pointed out that the player base actually increased (if only marginally) over the first two days of the month, immediately after the campaign kicked off. And just yesterday — again, while #NoApexAugust was supposedly in full swing — apex legends set its all-time record number of players on Steam: 510,286 players, according to stat-tracking database Steamcharts. (The previous record of 411,183 was set in May. These figures don’t account for players on consoles, however.)

Some dead game.

Clearly, #NoApexAugust has failed spectacularly at its intended goal of getting players to abstain from playing apex legends. Due to the obvious irony, you are allowed at least one (1) chuckle. Still, that a social campaign — messy execution aside — was merited here in the first place calls attention to very real issues players have with the game. Those shouldn’t be ignored, even if players are coming out in record numbers.

Representatives for EA, which publishes apex legendsdid not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

Categories
Entertainment

Julie Bishop wows at David Jones fashion show wearing sexy ‘revenge dress’

Julie Bishop wows at David Jones fashion show wearing sexy 'revenge dress'

Julie Bishop has turned heads at a David Jones fashion show, wowing onlookers in a figure-hugging designer frock some have already dubbed her “revenge dress”.

Bishop wore a figure-hugging black Balmain minidress, worth around $3750, to David Jones’ spring-summer 2022 “Wonderland” runway show on Wednesday night.

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The metallic jacquard dress was paired with hoop earrings, a black clutch bag, black stockings and elegant black heels.

When photographs of Bishop emerged online, social media users went wild.

Julie Bishop poses during the David Jones SS22 Launch at David Jones Elizabeth Street Store on August 10, 2022 in Sydney. Credit: don arnold/Wire Image
Julie Bishop at the David Jones fashion show. Credit: don arnold/Wire Image

The mining industry advisor and ANU chancellor recently split from her partner of eight years, David Panton, who reportedly broke up with her over dinner at a Sydney restaurant on July 1.

Fans of Bishop liked Wednesday night’s sexy outfit to Princess Diana’s famous “revenge dress” – a short black cocktail dress she wore at her first public event after splitting from Prince Charles.

Bishop’s dress wasn’t quite as revealing – Diana’s dress, designed by Christina Stambolian, revealed her decolletage, while Bishop’s Balmain number was high-necked.

Princess Diana’s famous ‘revenge dress.’ Credit: Getty

But it did show off her fit and fabulous figure, prompting former Sunrise entertainment reporter Nelson Aspen to comment after she posted a picture on her Instagram page: “Va va va voom!!”

Pip Edwards, of Australian activewear brand PE Nation, added: “You stunner!”

“Is that like Diana’s revenge dress?” one follower wrote.

“So chic,” hair and makeup artist Max May wrote.

“A goddess,” wrote another follower.

Bishop also posted a group shot from the evening, underneath which actor Hugh Sheridan dropped four “on fire” emojis.

‘Wowsers Julie’

“Wow wow wow!,” designer Margot McKinney enthused.

Wow Julie!! You look absolutely stunning. Glamorous, elegance and class,” another follower wrote.

At the time of Bishop’s split with Panton, he told a Sydney newspaper that he would be “focused on living in Manly and Melbourne for the foreseeable future”.

“I wish Julie all the best in her ongoing stellar career.”

Julie Bishop and David Panton are seen at the Crown IMG Tennis party at Crown in Melbourne, January 2019. Credit: JULIAN SMITH/AAPIMAGE

Bishop and Panton are believed to have begun dating around 2014 and they maintained a long-distance relationship for years – with Bishop based in Perth while Panton was in Sydney.

The couple had been pictured dining in London with Prince Charles just six days before the news broke of their split.

Bishop regularly attends fashion events and is known for her immaculate style and love of designer labels.

This was department store David Jones’ first seasonal runway show since before the COVID pandemic, showcasing the latest collections from its stable of fashion designers.

Other celebrities spotted at the Sydney show included singer Vera Blue, actress Magnolia Maymuru, Channel 7 presenter Erin Holland, model Victoria Lee and influencer Tara Whiteman.

For more engaging celebrity content, visit 7Life on Facebook.

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Categories
Sports

Tampa Bay QB Tom Brady taking 11-day break from Bucs for personal reasons

Tom Brady was excused from training camp, the first day of what Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles said was a planned, 11-day absence from the team to address “personal things.”

Bowles said the 45-year-old quarterback’s break from practice was arranged before camp began, adding that Brady won’t return until after the Bucs’ preseason game at Tennessee on Aug. 20.

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“Tom has been excused today. … He’s going to deal with some personal things. This is something we talked about before training camp started. We allotted this time because he wanted to get in and get chemistry with the guys with two weeks of training camp, knowing he wasn’t going to play the first two (preseason) games,” Bowles said after the Bucs concluded two days of controlled scrimmages against the Miami Dolphins.

Tampa Bay opens the preseason Saturday night against the Dolphins. The Bucs will also travel to Nashville for two days of practice ahead of their game against the Titans.

Backup quarterbacks Blaine Gabbert, Kyle Trask and Ryan Griffin will share snaps during Brady’s absence.

“He didn’t want to take away reps from Blaine, Kyle, as well as Griff, as far as going into these next two games. That’s something he can handle,” Bowles said. “We trust him. We talked about it. It was scheduled way before training camp.”

Brady, who retired in February only to change his mind six weeks later, was also excused from practice for personal reasons last Friday — two days after getting a scheduled day off for his 45th birthday.

Bowles said his confidence level is “pretty high” that Brady will be in the lineup for next month’s regular-season opener at Dallas.

“Per our conversation, I’m not worried,” Bowles said.

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Categories
Australia

Police issue warning about hoax as dozens of victims are identified

Victorian Police say they’ve identified “at least” 25 victims of the “Hi Mum” mobile phone scamissuing a warning about the hoax that’s designed to “pull on the heartstrings”.

Detectives are now investigating the scam, believed to have originated from Europe.

It involves a scammer sending a text message from an unknown mobile phone number to a victim, claiming to be their son or daughter.

As the conversation develops they will say they’ve lost their phone, before making a request for emergency money – generally they’ll say they’ve been locked out of online banking.

An example of the ‘Hi Mum’ mobile phone scam that is targeting Australian parents. (Supplied)

Once one transfer has been made, the offender will frequently request another sum of money, police say.

Detectives say they’ve found “at least” 25 victims of the scam believed to be linked to a series of offending dating back to January.

Detective Sergeant John Cheyne, Cybercrime Squad said police believe the true amount of victims are underreported.

The ‘Hi mum’ scam has resulted in more than $2 million stolen from Aussies. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

“A scam like this really pulls on the heartstrings – a child telling you they’ve lost or broken their phone and are in need of financial support is understandably a situation where parents would react without a second thought,” he says.

“Often, matters of this nature are under reported and that can be for a range of reasons, including fear or embarrassment, and sometimes feeling unsure if an offense has occurred.

“We encourage anyone who has been subjected to a scam such as this to speak to police.”

Cheyne urges anyone who receives request for money from an unknown number to ask “for some kind of verification.”

If you're browsing second-hand sites and see a deal that's too good to be true, think twice. Scamwatch has issued a warning on social media, posting a fake ad selling a $10 'antique piano' to illustrate.

Aussies warned about fresh scam on second-hand sites

“Give the number a call and ask them to prove who they say they are, or call the original number you have saved in your contacts for the person,” he said.

“Alternatively, you could ask them to send a voice note to verify who they are.

“If they can’t prove who they are or aren’t willing to, don’t transfer the money.

“If you’ve been a victim to this scam, call your bank immediately and let them know, before reporting the matter via ReportCyber.

People who have lost money to a scam should contact their bank or financial institution as soon as possible and report the matter to police or online forums such as ReportCyber ​​and the ESafety Commissioner.

For more advice on how to avoid scams, visit the scam watch website.

Anyone with information about cybercrimes and scams should contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000.

Categories
Business

Collection House owes Charles Goode-backed Flagship Partners $1.3m

Collection House owes Charles Goode-backed Flagship Partners $1.3m

This is corporate titling in the style of Spinal Tap, where lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel was second to, er, no one except co-lead guitarist David St Hubbins. We eagerly await Flagstaff’s reworking of Spinal Tap’s 1982 special Smell the Glove.

Flagstaff found itself out of pocket after working on deals for Collection House as the ASX-listed debt collector attempted, ultimately unsuccessfully, to remain afloat by flogging enough assets for scrap.

Website spiels show Flagstaff advised on Collection House’s recapitalization and debt ledger sale to rival collection agency Credit Corp, deals worth $220 million in December 2020. Flagstaff also helped another Collection House asset sale in February.

Despite this, Collection House suffered the ignominy of appointing administrators from FTI Consulting in June. The tallied debts, according to FTI’s missives to creditors, included $1.97 million owed to the Commonwealth Bank and $10.85 million to Westpac. At least that’s one league table where peter king‘s bank outranks matt comyn‘s.

Another $5.63 million is owed to a further 95 unsecured creditors, whose identities were detailed in a filing with regulators. That led us to Flagstaff’s $1.265 million (although it remains unclear what jobs were done for this cash in the “we’ll pay you later” bucket).

Fingers crossed Flagstaff and all creditors recover a good whack of cents in the dollars they are owed. It’ll all depend on what administrators can sell the business for. Not that the rate of returns to creditors is typically good in many insolvencies.

Heck, if a debt collector can’t pay out its debts, who can?

Categories
Technology

Unity Signs New Deal To Help US Army, Government

Unity Signs New Deal To Help US Army, Government

A screenshot shows the Unity logo in white on a blue and black grid background.

picture: Kotaku / Unity

Popular video game engine Unity has had a lot of bad press over the last year, the result of things like large-scale layoffs and some really terrible comments from its CEO. Today the trend continues, as it was recently announced that the company has signed a new multi-million dollar, three-year deal with a technology company that will see it become the “preferred real-time 3D platform” provider for the US government and its various defense agencies and militaries.

Unity is a widely used video game engine that is often cited as being lightweight, easy to work with, and flexible, allowing indie devs and large studios to create games that can scale across multiple platforms, like Xbox, PC, and Switch. The engine powers numerous gameslike Among Us, V Rising, Call of Duty Mobile, and Cuphead. But this flexibility and power have also attracted the attention of folks outside of the game industry, including companies that help build simulations and other systems for the US government and military.

As announced earlier this weekUnity is parenting with CACI International on what the company calls an “exciting” three-year, multi-million dollar deal that will help it become the “preferred real-time 3D platform for future systems design and simulation programs across the US Government.”

If you, like most folks reading this, don’t know what CACI is, here’s how the company describes itself on its own website:

CACI is a $6 billion company whose mission and enterprise technology and expertise play a vital role in our national security, safeguarding our troops, and enabling our government to deliver cost-effective and high-quality support for all Americans.

This sounds a lot like Unity is once again cutting deals to help the US government and military in developing technology that could aid soldiers and the country’s ability to fight wars overseas. And while some might not mind working on such tech, as we saw last year, many staff members at Unity did indeed have an issue with how the company was handling these deals. There were reports that some employees were working on parts of the engine that would benefit Unity’s government and military contracts, yet the devs had no idea.

Kotaku has contacted Unity about this latest contract and how it plans to keep its game engine devs separate from or informed about its military and government contract work with CACI.

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Categories
Entertainment

Robbie Williams chills in his back garden wearing just a pair of Calvin Klein pants

Cheeky: Robbie Williams looked happy and relaxed as he kicked back in the garden, wearing just a miniscule pair of Calvin Klein underpants on Tuesday

He’s known for his upbeat and cheeky persona.

And Robbie Williams looked happy and relaxed as he kicked back in the garden, wearing just a miniscule pair of Calvin Klein underpants on Tuesday.

Appearing on his wife Ayda Field’s Instagram Stories, the former Take That star, 48, smiled widely as she captioned the snaps: ‘Happy face.’

Cheeky: Robbie Williams looked happy and relaxed as he kicked back in the garden, wearing just a miniscule pair of Calvin Klein underpants on Tuesday

Cheeky: Robbie Williams looked happy and relaxed as he kicked back in the garden, wearing just a miniscule pair of Calvin Klein underpants on Tuesday

Ayda, 43, went on to upload another shot of her husband with an over expressive pout, which she captioned: ‘Sad face.’

Robbie looked incredibly chilled as he sat on his garden chair shirtless.

The Angels crooner showed off his impressive selection of tattoos, while layering several statement piece necklaces around his neck.

Going without styling his platinum gray hair, Robbie looked relaxed and carefree for the social media snaps.

'Sad face': Appearing on his wife Ayda Field's Instagram Stories, the former Take That star, 48, pulled a variety of facial expressions

‘Sad face’: Appearing on his wife Ayda Field’s Instagram Stories, the former Take That star, 48, pulled a variety of facial expressions

Robbie has been married to Ayda since 2010 and the couple have four children together; Theodora ‘Teddy’, nine, Charlton ‘Charlie’, seven, Colette ‘Coco’, three, and Beau, two.

Ayda shared a sweet moment between Robbie and their youngest Beau on Wednesday, as her husband danced with the toddler while behing a DJ booth.

‘DJ Dad ❤️ #fatherandson Beau-tifulmoment’ the proud mum captioned the post.

Doting dad: Ayda shared a sweet moment between Robbie and their youngest Beau on Wednesday, as her husband danced with the toddler while behing a DJ booth

Doting dad: Ayda shared a sweet moment between Robbie and their youngest Beau on Wednesday, as her husband danced with the toddler while behing a DJ booth

Making the most of his down time, Robbie’s schedule looks to be getting a lot busier in the near future as his new album XXV is coming out on September 9, while a biopic about his life is currently being filmed in Australia.

The biopic, titled Better Man, will cover his incredible rise to fame from boy band heart-throb to stadium superstar.

Production has begun on the big budget film – billed as ‘a musical fantasy’ – which is being made in Melbourne by Australian filmmaker Michael Gracey who directed the box-office smash The Greatest Showman.

British actor Jonno Davies, 29, best known for the Amazon Prime series Hunters, will play Robbie as a younger man.

Happy couple: Robbie has been married to Ayda since 2010 and the couple have four children; Theodora 'Teddy', nine, Charlton 'Charlie', seven, Colette 'Coco', three, and Beau, two

Happy couple: Robbie has been married to Ayda since 2010 and the couple have four children; Theodora ‘Teddy’, nine, Charlton ‘Charlie’, seven, Colette ‘Coco’, three, and Beau, two

Other members of the cast include Australian actors Kate Mulvany (The Great Gatsby), Damon Herriman (Mr InBetween), and filmmaker-actor Anthony Hayes, whose feature film Gold is currently streaming on Stan.

Robbie first rose to fame in the all boy band Take That, before launching a successful solo career in 1996, with a string of UK hit singles and albums following.

In 2006 Robbie made it into the Guinness Book of World Records after he sold 1.6million concert tickets in a single day.

The filmmakers have been careful to avoid comparisons to recent musical biopics like the Queen film Bohemian Rhapsody, and the Elton John story, Rocketman.

Iconic: Robbie rose to fame with Take That and went on to achieve 12 number one singles on the UK Singles Chart along with eight number one albums (pictured in 1994)

Iconic: Robbie rose to fame with Take That and went on to achieve 12 number one singles on the UK Singles Chart along with eight number one albums (pictured in 1994)

In an official statement, the production said the film was ‘a satirical musical based on the life of a pop star’.

The film will feature ‘re-imaginings’ of Robbie’s hit songs, and stunning visual effects in order to explore the ‘inner demons’ the super star has had to battle both on stage and off.

‘To tell Robbie William’s beautiful, distinct story, back home, in my own city, is a dream come true,’ Gracey said in a statement.

‘There is a creative energy that burns across the Melbourne film industry, and I know this movie will thrive here.’

He went on to describe Robbie as an ‘everyman’ who has an ‘incredibly relatable story’ about following your dreams.

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