By JAMILA RIZVI
If there was an Oscar for Best Performance By A Political Interviewer in 2012/2013, Leigh Sales would win it.
As host of the ABC’s preeminent news and current affairs program, 7:30, Sales has done all the heavy lifting during this election campaign and the three years leading up to it.
She was the one asking the questions when Tony Abbott was brought undone in late 2012.
She was the one providing minute-by-minute live updates and insightful commentary as Julia Gillard’s prime ministership came to an end, anchoring hours of rolling coverage.
And she was the one who deftly and intelligently interrogated Kevin Rudd upon his return to the top job.
So what will she be doing on election night? Nothing.
To widespread astonishment, the ABC has confirmed that their election night coverage will not feature the host of their flagship news program. Instead, Sales’ predecessor at the 7.30 Report, Kerry O’Brien, will be returning to the chair.
O’Brien, who hosted the 7.30 Report for the fifteen years prior to his retirement in 2011, will be joined by a panel of journalists including Q&A host Tony Jones, election analyst Antony Green, ABC News Breakfast‘s Joe O’Brien and Kitchen Cabinet‘s Annabel Crabb. But O’Brien will be the main event; the voice of political wisdom and experience.