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Details: Written by Grant Broadcasters; Category: Received; Published: 11 April 2022; Hits: 97

Anthony Albanese has owned up to not knowing critical economic figures during a press conference, saying that everyone makes mistakes.

On the first full day of campaigning for the election, Mr Albanese was asked at a press conference in Launceston what the official interest rate and unemployment rate was.

After first attempting to avoid the question, he got the figure wrong and admitted to not knowing the figure.

"The national unemployment rate at the moment is, I think it's 5.4 (per cent), sorry, I'm not sure what it is," he told reporters in Launceston.

The latest unemployment figure is four per cent, while the official interest rate is 0.1 per cent and has not changed since November 2020.

With the government pouncing on the error, Mr Albanese said he accepted responsibility for the gaffe.

"People make mistakes. That happened. I've faced up to it," he told Sky News on Monday.

"I accept it, I own up to it, I'm not blaming anyone else. I'm accepting responsibility, that's what leaders do."

Labor's campaign spokesman Jason Clare said the acknowledgement of the mistake was the sign of leadership.

"What you saw today was a leader of this country being honest, Australians haven't seen the leader of their country be honest in a long, long time," he told reporters in Sydney.

"Politics is not a pop quiz, leadership is not a pop quiz."

Mr Albanese was campaigning in Bass in northern Tasmania, which is held by the Liberals on the razor-thin margin of 0.4 per cent.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison was able to state what both economic figures were when he was asked at a press conference while campaigning in the seat of Gilmore on the NSW south coast.

"0.1 per cent is the cash rate, it's been there for some time. The unemployment rate, I'm happy to say is four per cent, falling to a 50-year low," he said.

"It came down from 5.7 per cent when we were first elected."

Liberal campaign spokesman Simon Birmingham pounced on the slip-up by Mr Albanese.

"If you don't know what the interest rate is, you can't be trusted to put the right policies in place to keep them low," he said.

"If you don't know what the unemployment rate is, you can't be trusted to keep Australians in jobs."

Mr Morrison spent the day campaigning in Gilmore on the NSW south coast alongside Liberal candidate and former NSW transport minister Andrew Constance.

The prime minister confirmed embattled MP Alan Tudge would return to the frontbench should the coalition win the federal election.

Despite the prime minister indicating last month Mr Tudge would not make a comeback to cabinet, Mr Morrison said he had a place on the frontbench should he wish to return.

Mr Tudge stood down last year amid allegations of an abusive relationship with a former staffer.

He has strenuously denied the allegations, with both parties maintaining that their affair was consensual.

While the coalition remains behind in the polls, Mr Morrison sought to emphasise his party's economic record.

"This election on May 21 is all about a choice, elections are always about choices," he said.

"It's a choice between the strong economic management and the strong financial management that has ensured Australia has been able to come through this pandemic ... that contrasts to a Labor opposition who Australians know can't be trusted to manage money."

Details: Written by Grant Broadcasters; Category: Received; Published: 11 April 2022; Hits: 182

The Australian music industry is paying tribute to Chris Bailey, the lead singer of seminal Australian punk rock band The Saints, following his death aged 65.

"It is with great pain in our hearts that we have to inform you about the passing of Chris Bailey, singer and songwriter of The Saints, on April the 9th 2022," the band's Facebook post said on Monday.

"Chris lived a life of poetry and music and stranded on a Saturday night."

Cold Chisel lead signer Jimmy Barnes said Bailey was one of the greatest songwriters Australia had ever produced.

"His band The Saints were punks before punk," Barnes wrote on Twitter.

"He was a master of words and helped tell our story. RIP Chris Bailey."

Actor Magda Szubanski said she was saddened to hear of Bailey's death.

"Genius musician," she wrote.

"As Bob Geldof said, 'Rock music in the seventies was changed by three bands -- the Sex Pistols, the Ramones and the Saints'."

Bailey was born in 1957 in Kenya to Irish parents and migrated to Brisbane from Belfast when he was seven.

He co-founded the band with his school friends Ed Kuepper and Ivor Hay in Brisbane in 1973.

Keupper tweeted he was "very sad to confirm the news about Chris Bailey dying on the weekend".

"Chris and I met when we were about 14 during detention at Oxley High School and became close friends which later developed into what I always thought was an extremely strong artistic partnership," he wrote.

The Saints formed their own label, Fatal Records in 1976, and independently released punk song I'm Stranded to radio stations in Australia and the UK in 1976 before it was picked up and released in the UK.

They were then signed by record label EMI for a three-album contract.

They recorded the I'm Stranded LP in 1977 and achieved some chart success in the UK, their release preceding a wave of groundbreaking punk rock debut albums including the Sex Pistols and The Clash.

But The Saints were less successful in Australia at the time.

Police attended the band's Brisbane shows and arrested audience members and musicians, leading to their bookings evaporating.

The State Library of Queensland acquired a split 7" vinyl single of (I'm) Stranded / No Time into its treasured John Oxley collection in 2016, commemorating the 40th anniversary of its release.

"The 7" vinyl single featured represents a piece of music history, influencing generations of bands around the world," the library said.

"Released in September 1976, months ahead of the Sex Pistols' and The Clash's debuts, the unknown band The Saints' single (I'm) Stranded / No Time propelled the Brisbane boyhood friends to the forefront of a new underground punk music movement."

Duff McKagan of Guns N Roses tweeted lyrics from The Saints song Know Your Product, on Monday.

"Rest In Peace Chris Bailey. 21 years is a long, long time-to be in this prison when there ain't no crime. Saints forever!," McKagan wrote.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk also shared a photo and tweeted commemorating Bailey's life, calling the single I'm Stranded a "debut hit".

Details: Written by Grant Broadcasters; Category: Received; Published: 11 April 2022; Hits: 90

Johnny Depp's multimillion-dollar US defamation lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard is due to begin at a Virginia courthouse.

The former Hollywood power couple are both expected to give evidence in person at the trial, and high-profile figures including James Franco, Paul Bettany and Elon Musk are scheduled to give testimony.

Mr Depp is suing his former partner for libel over a 2018 article she wrote in the Washington Post, in which she discussed her alleged experiences of domestic abuse.

The actor's lawyers say the article falsely implies Ms Heard, 35, was physically and sexually abused by Depp when they were married.

Mr Depp, 58, has said the accusations have made it difficult for him to get the sorts of roles he once did.

The article does not mention Mr Depp by name.

Ms Heard's lawyers are expected to argue she should be immune from the libel suit because of a Virginia law known as an anti-Slapp provision (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation).

The provision is designed to protect people from nuisance lawsuits when they speak about matters of public concern.

Ms Heard's lawyer, Elaine Bredehoft, has argued the article addresses a very serious issue of public concern: preventing domestic violence.

The actress has also filed a counterclaim for defamation against Mr Depp because of statements Mr Depp's lawyer made about her.

The case is being brought in Virginia, rather than in California where the actors reside, because the Washington Post's online editions are published through servers located in Fairfax County.

Mr Depp's lawyers say one of the reasons they brought the case in Virginia is because the state's anti-Slapp law is not as broad as the one in California.

The lawsuit, taking place at the Fairfax County District Courthouse, seeks $US50 million ($A67 million) in damages.

It comes after Depp lost a similar defamation case in the UK, which he brought against the publishers of The Sun newspaper, News Group Newspapers.

An article also written in 2018 by The Sun's executive editor Dan Wootton referred to Mr Depp as a "wife-beater" in the headline.

Following a 16-day trial in July 2021, a judge found the content of the article to be "substantially true".

Mr Depp is refused permission to appeal against the decision at the Court Of Appeal.

Details: Written by Grant Broadcasters; Category: Received; Published: 11 April 2022; Hits: 92

Chris Bailey, the lead singer of seminal Australian punk rock band The Saints, has died.

The musician's death on Saturday was announced on social media by the band.

"It is with great pain in our hearts that we have to inform you about the passing of Chris Bailey, singer and songwriter of The Saints, on April the 9th 2022," the Facebook post said on Monday.