A major news anchor in Australia is leaving her show after over a decade. Leigh Sales is leaving the Australian Broadcasting Company’s flagship nightly show 7.30, with her last episode set to air in late June. She will remain at ABC though and plans to lead the broadcaster’s coverage of Australia’s federal elections in May.
“I feel a strong sense of it being time to pass the baton to the next runner in the race and to take a break. The end of an election cycle feels like a good time to move onto something new at the ABC,” Sales, 48, announced during the Feb. 10 broadcast. “I’ve always approached this job with one goal and that is to ask frank questions of people in power, without fear or favour, that a fair-minded, reasonable person with some common sense watching at home might like to ask if they were sitting in my position.”
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Sales went on to praise the “unparalleled” team at 7.30 and thanked them for their hard work. “It is an incredibly important program, there is no other show that does what 7.30 does night after night,” she said. “I know the program is going to keep going from strength to strength, as it always has.”
Sales took over ABC News’ 7:30 p.m. program in December 2010 and was the anchor when ABC News changed the show’s name to simply 7.30. She joined ABC in Brisbane in 1995 and served as the network’s correspondent in Washington, D.C. from 2001 to 2005. Sales has also written a handful of books, including Any Ordinary Day: Blindsided, Resilience, and What Happens After the Worst Day of Your Life in 2018. In 2019, she was honored as a Member of the Order of Australia for her service to media. Sales also won several industry awards in Australia, including two Walkley Awards and the George Munster Award for Independent Journalism.
“Leigh’s integrity, intellect, and courage are evident in everything she does,” ABC Managing Director Gavin Fang said in a statement. “Our audiences have always seen Leigh as a journalist and broadcaster who challenges her subjects and asks the questions we all want answers to. I’m really looking forward to the next stage of her career here at the ABC.”
“For almost 12 years Leigh has anchored the ABC’s nightly flagship program. Her fairness, integrity, work ethic, and journalistic rigour have shone through,” John Lyons, ABC’s Head of Investigative and In-Depth Journalism, added. “Leigh is without question one of the fairest and most decent people in journalism. Her editorial leadership has inspired both her colleagues and the millions of Australians who have watched both 7.30 and the ABC’s federal election coverage over those years.”
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