McLeod’s Daughters actor Marshall Napier has died aged 70, after a short battle with brain cancer.
The New Zealand-born thespian, who has starred in a string of Australian TV shows and films over the years, passed away on Sunday surrounded by family.
His daughter, fellow McLeod’s Daughters star Jessica Napier, announced the sad news on social media.
“It is with great sadness that I share the passing of my beautiful dad Marshall Napier. After a short and intense battle with brain cancer he left us this morning. He was peaceful and surrounded by family,” Jessica wrote on Instagram.
“Dad you are one of a kind and I can’t even understand what the world will be like without you in it. Your charisma and charm was second to none. Your creativity and intellect was my inspiration. I love you so much and feel completely lost without you. I’m glad that you can dream free of the pain and confusion.”
Napier played Harry Ryan on the beloved Australian TV drama from for five years from 2001.
Prior to that, Napier had roles in All Saints, Water Rats and Police Rescue. Napier also had a sprawling film resume, having starred in Babe Down Under and Little Monsters.
Fellow Australian showbiz stars have paid tribute to the actor.
Napier’s McLeod’s co-star Rodger Corser wrote on Jessica’s post, “What a commanding presence he was on a screen and stage. He always loved working with your Dad, a drier wit you could not find. ”
Another co-star from the hit TV drama, Charlie Clausen, said he was “so sorry”. “I loved working your dad. He was so generous with his time when I was just starting out in my career. He also had such a great sense of humour.”
Packed to the Rafters actress Rebecca Gibney said, “So sorry for your loss Jess. Marshall was such a beautiful man and a wonderful actor”, while fellow rafters star Erik Thomson added, “What a man. This is big. He was such an inspiration to so many.”
Director Nash Edgerton added, “So sorry to hear. Much love.” While Patrick Brammall wrote, “I’m so sad to hear it. He was such a beautiful man.”
Over on Twitter, more figures from the entertainment industry have also expressed their sadness over the news:
Napier, a father of three, was born in New Zealand before moving to Australia with his wife and children in the late ’80s.
He initially worked as a worker, before successfully transitioning to acting after moving to Australia.
While he is most recognizable from his TV work, Napier was a regular figure in local theater productions, and in 2017 starred alongside Cate Blanchett for The Sydney Theater Company’s production of The Present.
The Essendon hierarchy will “rue” the decision not to pursue four-time premiership coach Alastair Clarkson, Fox Footy’s David King has warned as the Bombers hit a new low on Sunday.
Players were booed by their own fans as they left Marvel Stadium after the 84-point loss to fellow non-finals contender Port Adelaide.
King said questions needed to be asked of the decision to implement the Ben Rutten handover from John Worsfold back in 2020.
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“For six months, if not 12 months, Alastair Clarkson has been sitting idle ready to be grabbed by a football club,” King said on First Crack.
“Why haven’t Essendon taken that step?
“Right now they lack system, they lack motivation and they lack standards as a footy club and I reckon the Essendon faithful are sick of it.
“Why are they gambling on a coach that is still developing when the absolute finished product is there?
“OK you’ve got to jump through a lot of hoops to get over the line, but if (Clarkson) signs at North Melbourne this week and Essendon could have got him with the list they’ve got right now, I think it’s a mistake they will rule for years.”
Essendon Press Conference | 03:59
Rutten remains contracted until the end of 2023, but has managed just seven wins this season.
The loss to Port Adelaide is their worst for 2022, and both the worst defeat and the most points conceded under Rutten.
King said matches late in a season showed the faith in a coach and the set up at a club when there was nothing but pride to play for.
“It’s very hard to get motivated and that’s when you find out what sort of football club you’ve got,” he said.
“That’s when you find out, can your coach continue to drive standards and continue to enforce non-negotiables?
“I’m looking at the Essendon hierarchy – are they ruthless enough from the top down?
“The 2020 Worsfold handover year, six and a half wins – Rutten was in charge of the tactical side of the game then. They won 11 games last year, they’ve won six this year.”
King showed vision from the second quarter when Bombers players were walking and allowing their opponents to get forward of the ball.
“This is Essendon in a nutshell,” King lamented.
Port Adelaide Press Conference | 03:57
“How lax is this? Have a look at them just standing around, ambling around. This is the forward 50. There’s 10 players within arms reach of this stoppage. That (game style) is going nowhere.
“I can’t understand what they look at when they review games at the moment if that is the output of a weekend.
“We can only judge the actions they put in front of us – that is not AFL standard.”
King said now was the time for “honest conversations” at the club after 2021’s surprising finals finish.
“I’m not just talking about the captain and vice-captain, I mean the whole football club,” he said.
“These guys have signed Ben Rutten – if they have to assess their own role in the football club and move on well so be it.
“When was the last time Essendon were genuinely ruthless as a football club? It was a long time ago.”
Speaking after the shocking loss, Rutten apologized to the club’s fans for the lack of effort on Sunday.
“It was the sort of game that our members and supporters who came to the game or were watching on TV… it’s not the sort of thing they should have to watch,” he said.
“It was an embarrassing effort from our guys. It’s not something we want to stand for and not something our members and supporters should have to watch at any stage.”
NSW Labor frontbencher Walt Secord is stepping down from the shadow ministry after being accused of bullying by past and current colleagues.
Key points:
Walt Secord says he asked to stand aside following a “long reflection”
Several past and present colleagues have accused Mr Secord of bullying
It follows the release of the Broderick review into NSW parliament
Mr Secord, who held several shadow portfolios, said he had asked Opposition Leader Chris Minns to “let me stand aside” after a “long reflection.”
It follows the release of the Broderick review into the culture of the NSW parliament, which exposed a “toxic” environment of bullying and sexual harassment.
Mr Secord has spent more than 30 years in the Labor Party and was serving as the opposition spokesman for police, counter terrorism, arts and heritage and the north coast.
He issued an apology last week after an ABC investigation uncovered allegations against him by several unnamed people.
“Chris [Minns]myself, and the NSW Labor Party have committed to adopting the recommendations of the Broderick review and working across party lines to make the NSW Parliament and NSW politics a workplace we can all be proud of,” he said in a statement.
“I fully support the Broderick review and the change it will hopefully lead to. But my remaining in the shadow ministry at this time has become a distraction from these major revelations and the important work that needs to be done.
“I will be making no further comment.”
Mr Secord is the first NSW politician to step down following the review conducted by former sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick.
Last week, Premier Dominic Perrottet said the findings were “sobering, confronting and unacceptable”.
“If parliamentarians cannot lead and provide an environment where the workplace is safe, what hope do we have for other workplaces across our great state?”
On Friday, Mr Secord apologized for his conduct in office, acknowledging he could be “too blunt and too direct” in the high-pressure environment.
“If any parliamentary staff members feel that my conduct in the workplace was unprofessional and caused offense or distress and was unacceptable, I unreservedly apologize,” he said.
The senior Labor figure said he wanted to be part of “repairing the culture in state parliament, and addressing my behavior as part of that”.
Mr Minns has called a press conference for later this morning.
Popular Aussie bedding and homewares company, Koala, has laid off 30 local staff due to unstable economic conditions.
The company shot up in popularity, particularly during the 2020 and 2021 lockdown periods, due to its competitive pricing, being all online and offering four hour delivery to metro areas.
However, just like many other companies, supply chain issues, inflation and surging interest rates have all taken their toll.
A Koala spokeswoman told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age that uncertain economic conditions had resulted in 30 Australian staff members being made redundant last week.
Describing the former staff as “amazingly talented”, she said the company was supporting them with an outplacement service and professional connections.
According to the company’s website, Koala has “more than 200” employees.
The company also confirmed it had consolidated its offices in the inner-city Sydney suburb of Alexandria after previously also having employees located in the CBD.
News.com.au has contacted Koala for comment.
But it isn’t just the Australian staff that have been impacted, with 10 roles also being made redundant in South Korea following an expansion to the region last year.
The spokeswoman again told the publications “economic uncertainty” was behind the move, along with the need to “reduce our start-up cost in the market”.
“For the near term, our operations in Korea continue as we explore more efficient ways to serve the market,” she said.
The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age also cited claims from multiple industry sources that Koala had explored the possibility of listing on the Australian stockmarket, before abandoning the plan amid the recent the recent technology downturn.
The spokeswoman for the company strongly denied these claims.
“Like any private company with proven success as a market leader in our categories and markets, we are fortunate enough to receive countless inbound introductions from potential investors,” she said.
“They see the opportunity for Koala to continue to disrupt the global furniture market.”
She did not offer specific figures, but said Koala’s margins were double those of some of its competitors, adding that the decision to offer furniture and other homewares has led to “incredible growth” in non-mattress sales.
“We will continue to invest in our operations across Australia and Asia,” the spokeswoman said.
In October 2020, Koala copped significant backlash after announcing it would cease manufacturing its mattresses domestically and make them in China instead.
Staunch supporter of Australian-made products, Harvey Norman executive chairman Gerry Harvey, previously slammed Koala’s move, saying the name of the company implies the product is made domestically.
“Anyone selling imported mattresses are doing it because they can make more money,” Mr Harvey said.
“The marketing is dishonest… they are pretending they are Australian.”
The retail giant’s co-founder said overseas imports made it harder for local companies to compete in bedding and furniture.
Mr Harvey said his store predominantly sold made-in-Australia bedding, supporting local companies such as Sealy, SleepMaker and AH Beard.
When it was established in 2015, Koala marketed itself as a retailer of Australian-made furniture with a strong focus on sustainability.
However, most of its manufacturing has now moved to China and Europe, with the company deregistering itself in 2019 from using the Australian Made trademark.
“The decision to cease production of mattresses in Australia will provide significant innovation and quality improvements to help drive our continued growth across Asia-Pacific,” a company spokeswoman said at the time.
Koala said the move offshore would mean it would have greater influence in cultivating “sustainable behaviours” in its manufacturing and supply chain.
“We are always in search of the best manufacturers, suppliers, and makers around the world who meet or exceed our environmental and sustainability standards and conduct assessments to support this,” a spokeswoman said.
The Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro are old news and in Google’s rear view mirror. For now, the Pixel 6a is getting its 15 minutes to shine before the Pixel 7 phones inevitably push them aside, too. It’s just the way things go. But it might also be prime time to go a-huntin’ for some terrific Pixel deals… except in this case, you’d have to do it in the real world.
Threads on the r/GooglePixel subreddit (via 9to5Google) have popped up with people penning posts telling the good people online about their stroke of luck coming across a 128GB Pixel 6 Pro in Stormy Black on final markdown, snagging it for 70% off. That brings it down from an MSRP of $900 to an boost buy-level of $270. So far, such clearance stickers have been found in Florida, Georgia, and Massachusetts.
ANDROID POLICE VIDEO OF THE DAY
But don’t go thinking you’ll just find them in any Target because the situation definitely depends on the particular store. One redditor claiming to be an employee says the chain has four markdown tiers — 15%, 30%, 50%, and 70% off — and that the only reason they could think of for marking down stock is because the store wasn’t ” supposed to have it in the first place.” They also say not to call their store to ask about their Pixel 6 Pro inventory. Another self-identified employee says not every store has the same stock. Their store carried the Pixel 6, but not the 6 Pro.
People have been advising bargain seekers to check inventory scanner site BrickSeek to see if they have stores with low inventory (usually two units or one unit) before heading out. Low stock is not a guarantee of a low price, it’s just an indicator. If you do take the effort to visit a Target, remember to be polite and kind to the sales associates.
Still, we’re not surprised to hear about retailers emptying shelves for the upcoming Pixel 7. There have been suggestions from some of the cheekier folk on the threads that those who can snag a bargain here can trade up nicely to the newer phone come release day. We don’t officially recommend that, obviously.
It’s been a massive first week on The Block with teams racing to finish their main bathroom in time for the first Room Reveal of the season.
And the stakes are higher than ever, with the biggest prize in block history up for grabs for the winning team.
Stream the latest episodes of The Block for free on 9Now.
The ‘tools down’ deadline is looming, and with 15 hours to go drama unfolds in House 3 after Foremen Keith and Dan call Ankur and Sharon’s tiling a disgrace.
“The tile quality’s a bit off and we feel the design’s not quite right either,” Dan says, before Keith calls it “disgusting.”
After hearing that Sharon feels defeated and admits she doesn’t think they have a winning bathroom.
Over in House 1 Tom and Sarah-Jane are frantically trying to get a plasterer on-site after Keith and Dan tell the couple they should re-do the plaster and painting in the room during a routine defect inspection.
With defects addressed and finishing the touches on the main bathroom complete, the teams head to the block headquarters to hear host Scott Cam deliver the judges’ feedback.
Tom and Sarah-Jane
“Wow” is the first thing Neale says when he walks into Tom and Sarah-Jane’s main bathroom.
“This is quite a debut. This is a pretty stunning welcome to The Block,” he adds.
Darren is blown away by the ceiling rose and height, and is particularly impressed with their nod to the home’s history by restoring a chandelier they found in the house.
Tom and Sarah-Jane are praised for their use of a refurbished chandelier. (Nine)
Shaynna points out their use of bold color statements, which she’s a fan of.
“In this environment I want to see bold colors, because there’s a lot to work with, there’s a lot of natural light and it can take it,” she says.
While she calls it a functional and well-thought-out bathroom, Darren points out the lack of storage.
Overall, the judges are impressed by the look and feel of the room with Neale calling it “contemporary” but “appropriate” for the location.
See their full room and judges’ comments in the gallery below:
In Pictures
Tom and Sarah-Jane’s Main Bathroom
“Stunning debut” with bold pops of colour.
ViewGallery
Rachel and Ryan
The judges first notice how “massive” the bathroom is and they appreciate how Rachel and Ryan turned their bathroom around in a few days. But Shaynna and Neale think it’s not appropriate for the country setting.
“To me it doesn’t speak to country at all, it feels like a very urban bathroom. But that’s not a major problem to me at this early stage,” Neale points out.
However Darren disagrees and says it “fits the brief” in his opinion.
See their full room and judges’ comments in the gallery below:
In Pictures
Rachel and Ryan’s Main Bathroom
Judges praise room but voice two concerns.
ViewGallery
Ankur and Sharon
There’s mixed feelings from the judges as they step into Ankur and Sharon’s bathroom.
The room is a complete surprise to Shaynna, who seems rather annoyed by its lack of heritage.
There’s mixed feelings coming from the judges in Ankur and Sharon’s Bathroom. (Nine)
“I’ve come into a blue-stone bathroom that we’ve seen many times in a contemporary environment,” she says.
“Just because you add that type of tap and bath, it doesn’t make it feel heritage at all. If any house could get me angry, it’s doing this to that beautiful house we’ve walked through.”
Shaynna is left fuming after seeing Ankur and Sharon’s Main Bathroom. (Nine)(Nine)
As she makes her way around the room, she only gets more frustrated as she notices elements that don’t match the traditional home.
“Are you going to treat her like this? Because if you’re going to treat her like this, you’re going to have to deal with me,” she smokes.
Neale finds the space to be very theatrical, while Darren is a fan of the “moody, sultry feeling” in there.
However Darren has two substantial issues with the room – the wall tiles and nib wall – which he describes as “too expensive” to change.
Despite some negative feedback, the judges have high praise for the quality of the finishes, the overall cleanliness of the room and the execution.
See their full room and judges’ comments in the gallery below:
In Pictures
Ankur and Sharon’s Main Bathroom
“I don’t feel good in here.”
ViewGallery
Dylan and Jenny
The judges instantly fall in love with Dylan and Jenny’s main bathroom. They all agree that it feels and looks very fresh, vast, and welcoming.
“It still feels contemporary but it feels respectful to the heritage of the house,” Neale says.
The judges are blown away by Dylan and Jenny’s Main Bathroom. (Nine)
Darren is particularly impressed by the arches and the cornices in the room.
“It’s really lovely repetition, they give you a sense of rhythm. It’s really important to be fundamental and they’ve just nailed that,” he says.
Shaynna calls the attention to detail and execution “almost perfect”.
The only thing the judges didn’t like was the length of the shower screen because it is shorter than the tile line.
See their full room and judges’ comments in the gallery below:
In Pictures
Dylan and Jenny’s Main Bathroom
One detail leaves Shaynna Blaze unimpressed.
ViewGallery
Omar and Oz
The judges are instantly surprised when they walk into Omar and Oz’s bathroom.
“You beauty,” Neale says.
Shaynna can’t believe that this room is Omar and Oz’s after what they saw from their Challenge Room.
“This is all neutral, all textures… traditional, contemporary. This is that palette done exactly how it should be done,” she says.
The judges are shocked by Omar and Oz’s beautiful space. (Nine)
Neale also loves the room.
“What’s blowing me away is that these are all elements that shouldn’t work together but they do,” he says.
“The way they’ve used these tiles to create this stunning 90-degree herringbone effect and put it with this decorative tile on the floor, it’s beautiful and it works.”
Darren agrees and loves the scale and layout of the wall and how everything flows so well.
The judges believe the boys have run with their advice and presented something “quite exquisite”.
Shaynna, Darren and Neale feel like they are standing in a “pretty perfect” bathroom until they notice product stickers still left on some of the windows and the toilet. But overall, they are “very impressed” with the quality of the room Omar and Oz present.
See their full room and judges’ comments in the gallery below:
In Pictures
Omar and Oz’s Main Bathroom
Judges wowed by the “beautiful” room’s features.
ViewGallery
Main Bathroom scores
Back at HQ, Scotty tallies up the judges’ scores, revealing a surprise result.
Tom and Sarah-Jane: 25.5
Rachel and Ryan: 23.5
Ankur and Sharon: 20.5
Dylan and Jenny: 25.5
Omar and Oz: 26
Omar and Oz are the winners, which is quite the turnaround after coming last in the House Decider challenge. They took home $10,000 from Ford and a $250,000 kitchen upgrade from Winning Appliances.
While Omar and Oz are celebrating their victory, the judges’ feedback has Sharon in tears.
“It just feels like I got it completely wrong, again. I’m over it and it’s week one,” she says.
Sharon feels deflated after hearing the judges’ feedback. (Nine)
Ankur and Sharon have the chance to turn things around, with the Guest Bedroom the next space to complete.
The Block airs Sunday at 7.00pm and Monday to Wednesday at 7.30pm on Nine. Catch up on all thelatest episodes on 9Now.
Wests Tigers hope to use a new $78 million center of excellence as a launchpad for a long-overdue era of dominance on the field.
As the club gave 9News an exclusive look into the Concord mega-centre on Sunday, a training field, NRL and NRLW dressing rooms, a gym, a swimming pool, a sauna and a steam room were shown off.
But there’s more.
The club now also has its own barber.
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Wests Tigers have opened their new $78 million Concord master-hub — and it comes with one bizarre feature. (GettyImages)
The master-hub, inspired by the New York Jets and Los Angeles Dodgers, is a far cry from the shabby venues in which the Tigers ran a high-performance rugby league program for more than 20 years.
It’s fitting that the center of excellence has opened just in time for the start of the Tim Sheens-Benji Marshall succession plan, as the club attempts to move beyond a decade void of finals football.
“To have one ground where it’s a one-stop shop, (where) we can do all our things from here — I think it’s going to be a massive boost for the players,” Wests Tigers forward Alex Twal told 9News.
“When you’re coming to a new club and you see these sort of facilities and these sort of opportunities to work in and around this new space — I think it’s definitely going to be something that people and players would look forward to.”
Stream the NRL premiership 2022 live and free on9Now.
During Sheens’ tenure as head coach between 2003 and 2012, he oversaw a weights program out of shipping containers.
Life at Wests Tigers is now much easier as Sheens, the club’s director of football, prepares for his second stint as head coach of the joint venture.
Sheens, the man who led Wests Tigers to the 2005 NRL premiership, will steer the club in the 2023 and 2024 seasons, before Marshall — then a 20-year-old wonderkid in the title-winning team — takes over on a three-year contract.
Wests Tigers icons Tim Sheens and Benji Marshall pictured in 2007. (Craig Golding)
Marshall, now 37, will serve as Sheens’ assistant for two years before jumping into the hot seat.
Wests Tigers chief executive Justin Pascoe is rapt with the center of excellence, but he warns the glamorous digs don’t guarantee a return to the glory days.
“We’re not silly enough to think that just because we’re going into a world-class facility that automatically defines a change in results,” Pascoe said.
“In the end it comes down to the culture and the people and the standards, and we’re very firm on that.”
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Paul Green’s life in pictures: From Sharks prodigy to premiership-winning coach
Llast week an acquaintance who owns a secondhand Japanese electric car, brought to Australia as part of a bulk purchase by the Good Car Company, posted a quiet boast. His wife of him had put their Nissan Leaf in for its annual service of her. No major problems were found – just an underinflated tire. The total bill? $120.
Reading that sent me to the mess of my glovebox to work out how much I had paid mechanics to keep my Subaru Outback running over the past year. It added up to more than $700.
I don’t have the time or the inclination to estimate what I’ve spent on petrol over the same period, but I know I coughed up $115 – nearly as much as for the annual service on the Leaf – just to fill the tank last Monday.
If this sounds like a prelude to making a case that the time for an EV expansion is well overdue – and that there is a unique political opportunity in the months ahead – it is.
Last year, about 2% of new cars sold in Australia were electric. It was a jump from 0.8% in 2020 but still thousands behind many other countries. Across the globe, the average in the final quarter last year was 13%, with Europe and China leading the pack.
This isn’t surprising when you consider there are about 450 EV models available on the global market, but fewer than 10 can be bought in Australia for less than $60,000 and buyers may have to wait months for their car to be delivered.
Data from 2018 shows the average greenhouse gas released per kilometer by a new passenger car in Australia was about 30% higher than in the US, 40% higher than in the EU and nearly 50% higher than in Japan.
Not coincidentally, greenhouse gas emissions from transport in Australia surged by more than 20% between 2005 and when Covid-19 hit in 2020. They fell a bit during the lockdown years but are expected to jump back to pre-pandemic heights this year.
Official projections last year showed little change was expected in Australia’s transport emissions before 2030. Again, this isn’t surprising. There is no national policy to reduce them.
The lack of policy is not due to a lack of policy ideas. Among the most popular is the introduction of mandatory vehicle fuel efficiency standards. They would set an emissions target for manufacturers, measured in grams of COtwo released per kilometer and averaged across all the new cars they sell. The target would be gradually reduced to zero, when it would effectively become a ban on new fossil fuel cars.
While Australia has resisted, fuel efficiency standards are common elsewhere – they cover about 80% of the global light vehicle market.
why? There are arguments relating to climate impact, energy security and supporting manufacturing industries. Car companies themselves want fuel efficiency standards, arguing there won’t be an adequate supply of EVs into the country until a decent policy is in place.
And the evidence says efficiency standards make economic sense – they reduce fuel costs.
According to a recent report by the Australia Institute’s Audrey Quicke, if Australia had introduced fuel efficiency standards six years ago, the country’s drivers would have saved $5.9bn. A ministerial forum on vehicle emissions standards in 2016 found the net benefit across the country by 2040 could be nearly $14bn.
MPs from what was then the Coalition government were persuaded. Josh Frydenberg, then the minister for energy and the environment, famously compared the rise of EVs to the iPhone and predicted people who mocked the technology would one day be using it.
weekend app
Despite this, the Coalition shelved its plan for mandatory standards in the face of resistance internally and from the auto industry. It abandoned it completely during the 2019 election campaign, when Scott Morrison claimed a Labor policy based on the forum’s recommendation would “end the weekend”.
Unreleased polling suggests the attack set back community support for EVs. And, of course, the Coalition won that election.
Labor responded by winding back its commitments. Its pledge on EVs before this year’s election was that it would reduce tariffs and taxes, require 75% of commonwealth fleet purchases and leases to be low-emissions vehicles – a step that should help create a second-hand market – and increase spending on charging infrastructure. It would then develop a broader national strategy if it won power.
That brings us to this week.
An invitation-only national EV summit will be held in Canberra on Friday bringing together car company executives, infrastructure bosses and senior MPs from across the country to discuss the best path ahead.
Its main subject will be how to design fuel efficiency standards. There is a growing expectation that it is now a matter of when, not if, they are introduced. The evidence in favor is overwhelming and the biggest roadblock – the federal Coalition government – has been removed.
The summit has been instigated in part by Boundless, a new not-for-profit created by the tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes and his wife, Annie. Led by Eytan Lenko, the former chair of the thinktank Beyond Zero Emissions, Boundless aims to accelerate climate solutions needed for Australia to become a renewable energy superpower by 2030, with an initial focus on EVs.
No one should underestimate the scale of transformation needed to get the country’s vehicle fleet to zero emissions in just 28 years. Given the average life of a car on Australian roads is about 10 years, the sale of new fossil fuel cars would have to end by about 2035. Any policy that doesn’t set the country on that path is not a policy for net zero.
But the Albanese government has a freedom on EV policy that it has not granted itself in other climate-related areas. By ruling nothing out before the election, it starts with a clean slate – and the resistance from the auto industry, while not nonexistent, is less powerful than in other parts of the economy.
The climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, has so far responded to questions about fuel efficiency standards by acknowledging that “everything is on the table”. A final policy is still some way off, but he is expected to use his keynote address to the summit to start to flesh out just what the road ahead will look like.
“The story of the M3 is everlasting,” said van Meel. “Every time we change the story of the engine, from four-cylinder to six-cylinder to eight-cylinder to six-cylinder and a turbocharger, the story continues.
“Maybe it will go electric – but if it does, it will always be an M3. Whatever the powertrain, you should always be able to drive our cars and know they are M cars. We have stood the test of time for 50 years and will continue to do so.”
Intriguingly, he added: “I would love to see electrified Ms in the future – hybrid and pure-electric, but if we bring them, they will be so groundbreaking that you will say: ‘This is crazy, I didn’t see that coming.’”
His comments suggest BMW bosses are not concerned about the appeal of its high-performance products wanting as they go electric, Neither, it seems, are its customers. “We’ve just been talking to customers and the feedback is that 90-95% don’t care what direction we take on powertrain. They just want an M car. Yes, some say that if we don’t do V8s, they’re out but that’s okay: I respect that,” said van Meel.
The current M3 was launched in 2020 as a highly bespoke and far more potent take on the G20-generation 3 Series, which has just been updated and is expected to remain on sale until around 2025. Whether the M3’s life cycle will follow that timeline has yet to be confirmed, but van Meel’s hint at an electrified future for the super-saloon raises the possibility of a hot version of the radical new ‘NK1’ saloon due to arrive in 2025.
The latest London derby between Chelsea and Tottenham was a thriller that ended in a 2-2 draw because of a goal deep into stoppage time by Harry Kane, but that ended up as an afterthought.
Key points:
Former Chelsea manager Antonio Conte got into a scuffle with Thomas Tuchel after the Blues-Spurs derby
Tuchel took issue with Conte not looking at him in the eye when they shook hands
Both managers said they “enjoyed” the clash and played it down
The managers stole the spotlight after an explosive end to the game at Stamford Bridge, just like there was in 2016 when Tottenham’s title challenge ended with a 2-2 draw against Chelsea and both sets of players and coaches clashed repeatedly on and off the field.
Six years on, Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel and Tottenham boss Antonio Conte shook hands on the field after the final whistle, but Tuchel seemed to not let go of his grip and intimated that Conte look him in the eye.
They squared up and shouted in each others’ faces, before players and coaches from both teams piled in, pushing and shoving.
Thomas Tuchel (left) says both managers were “fighting for [their] teams”.(Getty Images: Marc Atkins)
Tuchel and Conte were then shown straight red cards and there is the potential for a further ban.
The pair had clashed during the match, too, when Conte celebrated Tottenham’s first equalizer by Pierre-Emile Højbjerg in the 68th minute.
Conte went up to Tuchel and barged into his chest, sparking a melee among the coaching staff and substitutes as Tuchel pointed to Conte and told him to stay in his part of the technical area.
Then, after Reece James put Chelsea back in front in the 77th, Tuchel set off on a sprint past Conte and down the touchline, clenching his fist in delight.
“I thought when we shake hands you looked in each other eyes, but Antonio had a different opinion,” Tuchel said of the post-match clash with former Blues manager Conte.
Conte (right) says next time he will make sure he looks his opposing manager in the eyes when shaking hands.(Getty Images: Marc Atkins)
“He was happy when they equalized and it got a bit heated, but nothing big… I think it was not necessary but a lot of things were not necessary.”
Conte said the referee “didn’t understand the dynamic of what happened … it would be a pity if, for this situation, we miss the next game.”
The Italian manager said he would “pay more attention” next time when he shakes hands with his German counterpart, but both managers said they “enjoyed” the clash.
Thomas Tuchel (left) holds on a bit longer than Antonio Conte (right) may have liked when the pair shake hands after the game.(Getty Images: Marc Atkins)
“I think that, for what happened we did enjoy it,” Conte said, agreeing with an earlier statement from Tuchel.
“Next time we’ll pay more attention, just shake the hand and solve the problem. I’ll stay on my bench, he’ll stay on his bench.”
Tuchel also played down the clash, saying they were simply “fighting for our teams.”
“Nobody got insulted, nobody got hurt, we didn’t have a fist fight or something,” he said.
“For me, it’s not a big deal. It was part of it today and it boiled of course and it featured us. Both nothing bad.”
