Updated June 10, 2026 — 8:46am,first published 5:00amOne of the nation’s best-known young stars has landed the high-profile role as host of Australian TV’s biggest night.Just weeks after the popular Channel Ten reality show I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, that he co-hosted with Julia Morris, was axed, Robert Irwin has been named as host of this year’s Logie Awards on Channel 7.Robert Irwin will host the 2026 Logie Awards.Getty Images for SiriusXMIt’s a massive gig for Irwin who, thanks to I’m A Celebrity, his win in the US version of Dancing With The Stars and a viral Bonds campaign, has become one of Australia’s favourite sons. Irwin, is of course, the son of wildlife warrior Steve Irwin, who passed away in 2006 after an encounter with a stingray.“Hosting the TV Week Logie Awards is one of the most exciting things I’ve been asked to do,” Irwin said.“Throughout my life, my goal has been to spread an important message, not only through our work at Australia Zoo, but also on the screen. I grew up watching the Logies with my family, so this is certainly an honour.“Australian television has given so much to so many people. To be part of the biggest night in Aussie TV is something I don’t take lightly. I cannot wait.”Robert Irwin and Julia Morris co-hosted I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! Channel Ten While Irwin’s appointment may come as a surprise to many, here at CBD we suspected that he had the gig.When a teaser for the pending announcement of the new host dropped online on Tuesday, CBD immediately went into sleuth mode.The song playing over the footage of a contract being signed on the TV Week Instagram page was Sam Sparro’s hit Black & Gold.That was the song that Robert Irwin and Witney Carson danced to in the finale of Dancing With The Stars in America last year. They achieved a perfect score for the performance and were crowned winners of the show.It appeared to be a hint that Irwin was going to be victorious again and land the Logies role – and so it turned out to be.The Australian TV industry’s big night of back-slapping will take place in Sydney on August 16. The awards required a new host after Sam Pang, who has helmed the evening to great acclaim over the past three years, pulled the pin for the 2026 edition.Royal Melbourne Show’s chief showbag spruiker to step downAfter almost seven years as Melbourne’s chief showbags spruiker, Brad Jenkins is stepping down as chief executive of Melbourne Royal.Melbourne Royal chief executive Brad Jenkins will step down after nearly seven years.Jenkins joined Melbourne Royal, the trading name of the Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria – which runs the Royal Melbourne Show, manages the Melbourne Showgrounds and runs a suite of events that celebrate agriculture, food and drinks – in 2008 and took on the chief executive role in November 2019.He will finish his tenure as the ringmaster of the organisation on August 31.“The iconic Melbourne Royal Show brings so much joy and happiness to the community and to be CEO of the organisation that runs the event has been an enormous privilege,” Jenkins told CBD.“My job as CEO is best described as being a cultivator of happiness and it has been very rewarding and lots of fun curating events that put smiles on faces of people of all ages.“After careful consideration and consultation with my wife and daughter, I have decided it is time for me to transition into semi-retirement.“I am deeply grateful for the support, trust and collaboration I have received from everyone involved and affiliated with Melbourne Royal.”No word yet on who will follow in Jenkins’ footsteps, but they better be ready to hit the ground running. This year’s Melbourne Show kicks off on September 24.Bligh’s next actIn another executive shuffle, no doubt former Queensland premier Anna Bligh will have enjoyed a bit of downtime over the past 12 months, after standing down as chief executive of the Australian Banking Association last June.Former Queensland premier Anna Bligh.Oscar ColmanSafe to say, though, her next gig won’t hit her quite like the “wall of fire” she described walking into when she took over representing the nation’s biggest lenders, including Commonwealth Bank and Westpac, at a time of public fury over being ripped off by the nation’s banks.Quite the opposite, we’d imagine. Bligh, in her latest act, has taken on a new gig as chair of the board of Unicef Australia, following the retirement of QUT chancellor and NAB board member Ann Sherry, after eight years in the role. In an announcement on Tuesday, the children’s charity made only glancing mention of Bligh’s more than eight-year stint at the ABA, with much of the focus instead on her tenure as Queensland premier.After the Australian banking bin fire, our guess is drumming up support for children will be a walk in the park. Unicef Australia chief executive Tony Stuart must be thrilled.Clive Palmer goes to court (again)Here we go again. Palmer Leisure Coolum, one of the entities controlled by serial litigant, Clive Palmer, has pleaded guilty to breaching takeover law in the Brisbane Magistrates’ Court, in only the latest development in the billionaire’s years-long skirmish with the corporate regulator.Clive Palmer at Parliament House in Canberra in March.Alex EllinghausenThe Australian Securities and Investment Commission announced the plea in a notice on Monday, which relates to a 2012 takeover proposal for The President’s Club and set off a years-long legal fight between Palmer and ASIC which, through a detour or two, went all the way to the High Court.It was only in March that, regular readers may recall, the High Court knocked back Palmer’s efforts to sue the corporate regulator.In its notice, the corporate regulator said Palmer Leisure Coolum had been committed for sentencing in the District Court of Queensland on a date yet to be set. A representative of Palmer declined to comment.The protracted saga can be traced back to an ASIC announcement dated April 6, 2018, when the regulator announced that Palmer had been charged with breaching takeover law following an investigation. Over the intervening years, the matter has had some 93 editor’s notes. And something tells us that Monday’s won’t be the last.Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.Fiona Byrne is the CBD columnist for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.John Buckley is a CBD columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via email.From our partners