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When the federal court lifted a restriction on access to Kyle Sandilands’ full $100m contract it gave us a rare peek into the minutiae of the extraordinary deal between the shock jock and the broadcaster Kiis FM.

The deal lies in tatters, of course, after ARN Media tore it up and alleged that Sandilands had breached his contract by repeatedly berating colleagues including Jackie “O” Henderson and the audience on air. Sandilands is suing to be paid out the remaining $85m after he was taken off air a little more than a year into the 10-year deal.

Highlights of the document marked “confidential exhibit” include that Sandilands demanded a car parking space at the Kiis FM studio in North Sydney but when he was broadcasting from Melbourne he expected airport transfers in a Mercedes Sprinter. Return business air fares and a suite at a five-star hotel were mandatory, on top of a flight allowance of $120,000 a year payable at $10,000 a month.

Sandilands was very particular about news content on The Kyle and Jackie O Show, described as “not a news program”. He would not be made to read news reports, the agreement says, and the company promised not to increase the program’s news content.

But the presenter could “provide his response and opinion on news content aired during the program”.

For an annual payment of $7.4m in cash, a consultancy fee of $200,000 and $500,000 contra air time, Sandilands was required to provide live programs, “best of” programs, 797 live reads, comedy segments, public appearances, pre-recorded commercials and social media posts.

Sandilands had the right to audit the radio station’s books to determine if it owed him bonuses based on performance. If Henderson negotiated an improvement of her terms, Sandilands had to be informed.

ARN insisted he broadcast from the Sydney studio or a location with broadcast-quality sound – he liked to work from home – and had to give the company seven days’ notice of international travel.

If any of the programming was “defective” Sandilands had to redo it; and he had to pre-record 10 “emergency programs” a year in case of illness.

He had to “meet all applicable industry, professional and quality standards” and the company would provide a censor to operate a 30-second dump button. The document was signed before the show once again breached decency rules in 2025 by broadcasting explicit sexual content.

Justice Angus Stewart set a date for a 10-day hearing in October.

Sandilands says new project on way

Sandilands, who loves the limelight – if his theatrical court arrivals in a Rolls-Royce are any indication, teased a new project on Instagram on Thursday. He told fans he was “coming back, bigger than ever” but didn’t give any details about the platform or format.

“Don’t tell anyone, but I’m working on a new project, and all will be revealed soon,” he said.

“Thank you for your prayers – coming back guys, bigger than ever hopefully … actually not fatter.”

Wurd salad

“They have the best titles,” The Australian reported about a wave of books written by women. But when the article was promoted on Instagram with an image of a pile of books by women something went wrong and many of the titles became nonsensical.

“Wurder in Parid” is the only one we can interpret as the letters became hieroglyphics-like.

The post has now been removed.

Seven buries BRS news

Like most media outlets Seven News covered Ben Roberts-Smith’s attendance at an Anzac Day service in Currumbin on Saturday.

The highly decorated soldier has been charged with five counts of the war crime of murder and is on bail awaiting trial.

But Seven, a former employer of Roberts-Smith at its Queensland TV headquarters, went a step further, affording the former Special Air Service corporal the status of a Victoria Cross recipient without the context of his legal status. While The Australian, for example, referred to “accused war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith”, Seven News recorded a special Roberts-Smith “Anzac Day message”.

The 47-year-old looked directly into the Seven News camera and spoke about the meaning of Anzac Day to him.

“I would like to thank all of the servicemen and women, the veterans and their families, and the families of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice,” he said.

The video was posted on YouTube and 7news.com.au without the detail that he was an alleged war criminal.

On the evening bulletin, the Seven presenter Michael Usher said the veteran had “delivered an Anzac message following an appearance at a Gold Coast service. Medals pinned to his chest, the Victoria Cross recipient received support from a crowd of thousands as he joined the nation in paying respect.” Usher did add that Roberts-Smith was released on bail last week “after being charged with five war crime murders. He maintains his innocence.”

The Seven news director, Ray Kuka, was approached for comment.

Nine lays off 20 staff

Channel Nine has announced plans to lay off 20 staff in its TV newsrooms across Sydney, Canberra and its foreign desk after a major upgrade to technology.

Reporters will learn to edit, editors will become camera operators and 100 different jobs will be boiled down to nine.

The company said the streamlining of roles was not due to AI. They were changing because of multi-skilling made possible by cutting-edge equipment.

Nine’s executive director of TV news and current affairs, Fiona Dear, said the “bold and ambitious multi-year transformation” would transform the network’s technology in line with global media organisations such as NBC Universal, GB News and RTL.

‘Booing on the inside’

The Australian wasted no time publishing multiple opinion pieces calling for an end to welcome to country addresses after the widely criticised booing of Indigenous speakers on Anzac Day.

The newspaper has form for leaning into bringing an end to the tradition. During the voice referendum in 2023 the Oz clipped up a comment by the Indigenous scholar professor Marcia Langton and posted it widely on social media.

Janet Albrechtsen asked why Australia should be divided into “our land and your land”?

“Many Australians hate the mere fact they must sit through this kind of mandatory ceremony,” Albrechtsen wrote. “For many of us, the worst thing about WTC is that it stands between us and the footy.”

On Thursday the Sky News host Peta Credlin admitted she herself “boos on the inside”.

“Because your land is my land too and your country is my country just as much as it’s yours,” Credlin wrote. “After all, Credlins have been here for 172 years, worked hard to build this nation and have sent four generations to war to defend it, so being Australian is all we know.”

Louise Clegg, whom the Oz described as having “worked as a barrister specialising in employment law and public law”, said Indigenous Australians who had served should not be commemorated separately.

“But on Anzac Day that service is part of the same story, not a separate one,” she wrote. “The losses are equal. The grief is equal. The remembrance is shared.”

We wondered how many of the Oz’s readers know that Clegg is married to the leader of the opposition, Angus Taylor.

For the record, Taylor said the booing was “un-Australian” but also that welcome to country ceremonies were overused and devalued.