Australia news live: Karl Stefanovic to leave Nine immediately, network confirms

Karl Stefanovic to leave Nine immediately, Karl Stefanovic is leaving Nine immediately, the network said in a statement this morning. It follows days of controversy in which the highly paid Today presenter used his independent podcast series to interview British far-right activist Tommy Robinson. “Nine Entertainment and Stefanovic have agreed that it is no longer possible for him to continue hosting Today at the same time as his independent podcast,” a Nine Entertainment spokesperson said. “While Karl and Nine had previously agreed he would leave Today at the end of this year, they have subsequently decided he will leave the network immediately. Share Updated at 21.44 BST Key events Performance issues in the defence department have been found to be more widespread than expected with “congested” decision making, as Labor undertakes the biggest overhaul in five decades, Australian Associated Press reports. The federal government in December announced an independent delivery agency would be set up to tackle cost blowouts and project delays, as Labor pours billions of extra dollars into defence over the decade. Defence industry minister, Pat Conroy , said inaccurate cost estimation and a lack of discipline in project management were behind lacklustre delivery. “The analysis we commissioned found that the problems were more widespread than I thought,” he told AAP. …