Albrechtsen defends Latham, Carr praises Hadley, Jones lobbies for Packer

Ray Hadley celebrates 30 years in radio, Janet Albrechtsen dusts off The Latham Diaries, Alan Jones spruiks for his buddy James Packer. Here's what Australia's most powerful Megaphones have been up to over the past week.

Janet Albrechtsen

You can't accuse Janet Albrechtsen of bearing a grudge. Ten years ago, Mark Latham slammed her under parliamentary privilege as a "skanky ho who will die in a ditch to defend the Liberal Party". Today, she defends Latham as a man of "courageous honesty" and "one of the nation's most honest and piercing political commentators". It was 2005's The Latham Diaries, Albrechtsen writes, which first revealed Rudd's disloyalty, leaking and addiction to the media.

Albrechtsen is furious that, until last week, other Labor figures, including Julia Gillard and Wayne Swan haven't been so honest.

"To stop us asking why Labor lied to us, the only option is for the Labor Party to send Rudd far, far away from our television screens," she writes. "Let's go through his skill set again. Autocratic. Chaotic. Doesn't get things done. Surely K Rudd's next home must be the United Nations."

Ray Hadley

Everybody loves Raymond. Well, at least yesterday they did. The 2GB mornings host got an ego-boost – as if he needed one – when a bevy of big names called in to congratulate him on his 30 years in radio. Former NSW premier and sparring partner Bob Carr praised him as a "hard worker" and "great professional"; John Howard lauded him for taking on "political correctness in all its insidious forms". 2GB owner John Singleton, colleague Alan Jones, police Commissioner Andrew Scipione and NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell also joined the love-fest. No sign, however, from his former mentor John Laws. Hadley overtook the "golden tonsils" in the ratings in March 2003 and the pair has been brawling (on air) ever since.

Alan Jones

Not to be outdone, the parrot scored an exclusive interview this week with James Packer. The gambling baron wants to plonk a 10-star hotel/casino at Sydney's Barangaroo, and Jonesy is backing his close mate all the way. He thundered that Melbourne's Southbank was a "derelict slum" and a "pigsty" before the arrival of Crown Casino and that Sydney will never draw in the Asian tourist dollar until it boosts its gambling cred.

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell is open to the idea; not so Barangaroo visionary Paul Keating. The former PM opposes Packer's plan to build the complex on an area reserved for public space – as does Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore.

Paul Henry

Last week, we welcomed controversial Kiwi Paul Henry to the Megaphones Watch club. Henry is hosting Breakfast, which launched four days early last Thursday. Channel Ten didn't want to miss out on the Labor leadership spill and, indeed: where would we have been without their stellar coverage starring Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard impersonators? The program's debut ratings were modest: 51,000 viewers nationally compared to Seven's Sunrise 399,000 and Nine's Today with 348,000.