David Speers Biography
David Speers is an Australian media personality serving as the host of Insiders on ABC TV. He is also ABC’s national political lead. He was appointed ABC’s national political lead in 2023 following the departure of former political editor Andrew Probyn. Previously, he was a political editor for Sky News Australia.
David Speers Age
Speers is 49 years old as of 2023. He was born on 9 September 1974 in Sydney, Australia.
David Speers Height
He is tall. However, his exact height is unknown.
David Speers Nationality
He holds an Australian nationality.
David Speers Education
He went to Normanhurst Boys High School and Turramurra High School. The details of his college education are not disclosed to the media.
David Speers Parents
David’s parents are Peter Speers (father) and Robyn (née Cowled) (mother). However, there is no information on whether he has siblings or not.
David Speers Wife
David lives in Canberra and is married to Liz Taggart-Speers, with whom he has two children, Matilda, born in 2010, and Olive, born in 2014.
On May 8, 2016, David’s daughter Olive was airlifted from his home in Canberra to the Randwick Children’s Hospital in Sydney. Olive was placed on life support as her kidneys failed as a result of Croup – a viral infection that starts in the throat. The two-year-old was fighting the life-threatening failure of her kidneys on the same day the federal election was announced. She spent nine days on life support as she battled the condition, with veteran broadcaster David camping out by her bedside as she fought her way back from the brink of death.
Speaking to dailymail.co.uk, David only took a break from her once to host the Sky News Leaders Debate at the Windsor RSL in western Sydney.
David Speers ABC News
Speers is the host of Insiders on ABC TV and the podcast Insiders – Back to You. In 2023, Speers was appointed as ABC’s national political lead, a new position, following the departure of former political editor Andrew Probyn. The promotion of Speers, who anchors ABC’s political coverage alongside 7.30’s chief political correspondent, Laura Tingle, came two weeks after ABC removed the role of national political editor and made Andrew Probyn redundant.
Speers began his career in Geelong, Victoria in the newsroom of radio station K-Rock. He then worked at 2GB, 2UE and 3AW. Speers has been a member of the National Press Club board since 2005 and is currently a director.
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 Monday to Thursday afternoons. Additionally, he presented political updates and conducted interviews throughout the day on the 24-hour news channel. He also previously commuted from his home in Canberra once a week to Sky News’ primary studios in Sydney 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.
In June 2019, Speers was appointed as host of ABC’s Insiders, replacing Barrie Cassidy from February 2020. Speers regularly appears on ABC News, News Breakfast, and ABC Local Radio including Mornings with Virginia Trioli on ABC Radio Melbourne. Speers is also a fill-in presenter for Michael Rowland on News Breakfast.
David Speers Books
In 2020, Speers released the book On Mutiny (ISBN 9780733644146) which covered the removal of Malcolm Turnbull as prime minister. He has also written regular articles for the financial website Switzer.
David Speers Awards
Between 2006 and 2015, Speers has been awarded with an ASTRA Award for “outstanding performance” by a presenter or journalist every year except for 2010. The awards were discontinued after 2015.
Speers won a Walkley Award in December 2014 for a notable interview with Attorney General George Brandis, in which Brandis struggled to explain what metadata was despite being the minister in charge of proposed new laws surrounding the storage and police access of metadata. Speers also won the same award at the 2015 event (which he 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. Speers also won the Subscription Television Award for Best Male Presenter at the 2017 AACTA Awards.
David Speers Salary
He earns an average annual salary ranging between $250,000 to $500,000 as the host of Insiders on ABC TV.
David Speers Net Worth
He has an estimated net worth of $4 million as of 2023 which he has mainly accumulated through his successful journalism career.
