Day four at The Daily Telegraph

To say it was a bit of a wild day is glib.

NSW Opposition and Labor Leader Luke Foley resigned at 5.30pm in the wake of allegations of sexual misconduct towards an ABC journalist in 2016. His resignation was later than expected, and in a statement shorter than expected. He also announced he was launching defamation action against the ABC.

When he made the announcement the whole newsroom stopped and was silent, letting out a collective “oooh” when he announced his suit against the ABC. It was not what any of us were expecting.

I began research on candidates to replace Foley. Candidates were Daley, Minns and McKay so I was looking for things they had said that might be newsworthy. McKay had made a speech against sexual harassment earlier in the year that may be of interest if she were to run for Labor leader.

Some of our journos were searching for where Foley had gone after the announcement; he apparently did not return home. The ABC journo was also sought for comment.

I was also looking on social media to see if any MP’s had anything to say. They were mostly silent, ScoMo and Shorten made quick statements. David Elliot, the man who first made the accusations under parliamentary privilege was silent.

Malcolm Turnbull’s appearance on QandA at 8pm was overshadowed by the Foley story but I was tasked with its transcription, which proved difficult but I got most of the good quotes. He was not asked about anything to do with Foley but I found a good quote about women’s treatment in parliament that might link to the Foley story. Turnbull’s appearance wasn’t exactly great news.

The Ballina Shark attack from the day before required add pars as a video had emerged of the survivor talking about his experience. We did not break the story so I learnt not to make the attribution front and centre and wrote about the trauma and emotion he displayed.

I also wrote a story from a police report on a drug bust on the Central Coast.

The alleged offenders names we received but could not publish because it would have been in contempt of court.

On her way out the door for the evening, Rowan said something to me like:

“What a whirlwind of a day.”

Enough said.

What a week to get an internship at the Telegraph. Melbourne Cup, political scandals, Remembrance Day, big crime stories.

Bring on tomorrow.