David Gordon Speers (born 9 September 1974) is an Australian

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and host of '' Insiders'' on ABC TV. Previously he was political

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

Sky News Australia Sky News Australia is an Australian news channel owned by News Corp Australia. Originally launched on 19 February 1996, it broadcasts rolling news coverage throughout the day, while its prime time lineup is dedicated to opinion-based programs fe ...

, as well as host of '' PM Agenda'', '' The Last Word'' and '' Speers Tonight''.

Career

Speers began his career in

Geelong, Victoria Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

, in the newsroom of radio station K-Rock. He then worked at 2GB,

2UE 2UE is an all-music radio station in Sydney owned by Nine Entertainment and run under a lease agreement by Ace Radio. It currently broadcasts from its studios in Pyrmont, New South Wales. History 1920s 2EU Electrical Utilities applied to the P ...

and 3AW. He has been a member of the National Press Club board since 2005 and is currently a director.

Sky News

In 2000, Speers joined Sky News as a political editor. During his time with Sky News, Speers hosted the channel's flagship '' PM Agenda'' program on Monday to Thursday afternoons. Additionally, he presented political updates and conducts interviews throughout the day on the 24-hour news channel. Speers also previously commuted from his home in Canberra once a week to Sky News' primary studios in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

to host primetime program '' The Nation with David Speers'' before the program ended in 2015. On 28 January 2016, Speers began hosting a new weekly Sky News format '' Speers Tonight'' from Canberra.

ABC News

In June 2019, Speers was appointed as host of the ABC's '' Insiders'' program, replacing Barrie Cassidy from February 2020. Speers regularly appears on ''

ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

'', '' News Breakfast'' and

ABC Local Radio ABC Local Radio is a network of publicly owned radio stations in Australia, operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. ABC Local Radio stations broadcast across the continent using terrestrial transmitters and satellites. Its programm ...

including ''Mornings'' on

ABC Radio Melbourne ABC Radio Melbourne (official List of radio station callsigns in Victoria, callsign: 3LO) is an ABC Local Radio station in Melbourne, Australia. It began transmission on 13 October 1924 and was Melbourne's second licensed radio station after Radi ...

. Speers was also a fill-in presenter for Michael Rowland on '' News Breakfast''. In July 2023, Speers was appointed as ABC national political lead, a new position, following the departure of former political editor Andrew Probyn. In 2024 Speers moved his family back to Canberra, from where he now presents ''Insiders''.

Election coverage

Speers was chosen to moderate the leaders' debate between

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. His eleven-year tenure as prime min ...

and

Kevin Rudd Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian diplomat and former politician who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and June to September 2013. He held office as the Leaders of the Australian Labo ...

for the

2007 Australian federal election The 2007 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 24 November 2007. All 150 seats in the Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives and 40 of the seats in the 76-member Australian Senate, Senate were up for electi ...

and again in the

2010 Australian federal election The 2010 Australian federal election was held on Saturday, 21 August 2010 to elect members of the 43rd Parliament of Australia. The incumbent centre-left Australian Labor Party led by Prime Minister Julia Gillard won a second term against the ...

between

Julia Gillard Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013. She held office as the leader of the Labor Party (ALP), having previously served as the ...

and

Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is an Australian former politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia and was the member of parli ...

, as well as the

2013 Australian federal election The 2013 Australian federal election to elect the members of the 44th Parliament of Australia took place on Saturday, 7 September 2013. The centre-right Coalition (Australia), Liberal/National Coalition Opposition (Australia), opposition led by ...

between Rudd and Abbott. Speers hosted the second leaders' debate on the ABC for the 2025 federal election.In 2025, Speers served as the co-host of the ABC's

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

election night coverage alongside Sarah Ferguson. He also was the co-host of the ABC's coverage of the Voice Referendum in 2023 alongside Bridget Brennan.

Other

In 2020, Speers released the book ''On Mutiny'' () which covered the removal of

Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party an ...

as prime minister. Speers has also written regular articles for financial website Switzer.

Awards

Between 2006 and 2015, Speers has been awarded with an ASTRA Award for "outstanding performance" by a presenter or journalist every year with the exception of 2010. The awards were discontinued after 2015. Speers won a

Walkley Award The annual Walkley Awards are presented in Australia to recognise and reward excellence in journalism. They cover all media including print, television, documentary, radio, photographic and online media. The Gold Walkley is the highest prize and ...

in December 2014 for a notable interview with

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

George Brandis George Henry Brandis (born 22 June 1957) is an Australian former politician. He was a Australian Senate, Senator for Queensland from 2000 to 2018, representing the Liberal Party of Australia, Liberal Party, and was a Cabinet (Australia), cabin ...

, in which Brandis struggled to explain what

metadata Metadata (or metainformation) is "data that provides information about other data", but not the content of the data itself, such as the text of a message or the image itself. There are many distinct types of metadata, including: * Descriptive ...

was despite being the minister in charge of proposed new laws surrounding the storage and police access of metadata. Speers won the same award at the 2015 event (which Speers also hosted) for his notable "The Fixer" interview with Christopher Pyne on ''PM Agenda''. In 2016, Speers was named one of the 50 most powerful people in Australian television by

News Corp Australia News Corp Australia is an Australian media conglomerate and wholly owned subsidiary of News Corp. The group's interests span newspaper and magazine publishing, Internet, market research, DVD and film distribution, and film and television prod ...

. Speers won the Subscription Television Award for Best Male Presenter at the 2017

AACTA Awards The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, known as the AACTA Awards, are presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). The awards recognise excellence in the cinema of Australia, film and ...

Personal life

Speers' parents are Peter Speers and Robyn (née Cowled). He lives in Canberra and is married to Liz, with whom he has two children who were born in 2010 and 2014. Speers plays the

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

and demonstrated this ability while hosting the 2010 ASTRA Awards.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Speers, David Living people Australian television journalists Sky News Australia reporters and presenters 1974 births Journalists from Sydney Australian political journalists Walkley Award winners Australian television newsreaders and news presenters People educated at Normanhurst Boys' High School