Anthony Albanese has called on Labor to reconnect with aspirational Australians who rejected the party at the federal election, declaring that voters have "conflict fatigue" over political arguments that pit one part of the community against the other.

Mr Albanese, who is set to become Labor leader within days, said the party needed to end some of the "us and them" rhetoric that shaped its failed election campaign.

"People are looking for solutions rather than arguments, and they’re looking for what unites the community rather than what divides it," he said.

"I think we have to emphasise that. That doesn't mean that we shy away from the issue of inequality. It means, though, that we need to do that in a way that acknowledges the fact that the business community and the private sector create jobs for people."

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Shattered by the election loss to Prime Minister Scott Morrison, senior Labor figures have thrown open a debate on every major policy, including a rethink on franking credits, negative gearing and whether to propose a market mechanism to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The policy review will follow the formal deadline of 10am on Monday for caucus members to stand for the leadership, although Mr Albanese is widely expected to gain the position unchallenged after finance spokesman Jim Chalmers withdrew from the contest on Thursday.

Acknowledging the way suburban and regional voters turned away from Labor last Saturday, Mr Albanese said many Australians wanted a stronger message from Labor about economic growth.

"You need to treat people with respect. I think one of the issues that we had was being seen to be talking about the sharing of wealth when we also needed to talk about the creation of wealth," he said.

"One of the things about the suburbs is the issue of aspiration. People do aspire to improve their living standards, their wages, and they do want more opportunities for their kids."

Mr Albanese, a senior member of Labor's left faction and the deputy prime minister during Kevin Rudd's second period as prime minister, said he was a "proud supporter" of the unions but believed working with business was critical to success.

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"People have got conflict fatigue," he said in an interview. "They see politicians yelling at each other, they see a lot of conflict, and what they want is for people to come up with practical solutions that improve their lives.

"They want things that improve their living standards and improve their quality of life.

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"And we need to listen to those people and engage with them."

Mr Albanese made no criticism of former leader Bill Shorten but set out his approach to the leadership in the wake of Labor's shock election loss, leaving it with a likely 67 seats compared to the Coalition's 78.

The race is now on for the position of Labor deputy leader, with a three-way contest in the party's  right faction threatening to split its Queensland and Victorian branches after Mr Chalmers, Clare O'Neil and Richard Marles said they would consider replacing high-profile Sydney MP Tanya Plibersek.

In a sharp shift away from the Shorten era, Labor is now also canvassing a new climate change stance that calls for action to reduce emissions but drops a market-based solution to reach the target.

Labor's environment spokesman, Tony Burke, said the science had been compromised by the mechanism and it was now time to consider a direct-action model, as advocated by the Coalition, to avoid an "unthinkable" 15 years without action.

Labor's policy would force businesses that exceeded their emissions cap to buy credits from other businesses through a market-based scheme.

"The principle that we base targets depending on the science, we must not shift on," Mr Burke told the ABC. "If there is going to be any room for compromise, the compromise has to be in what the method is."

Mr Albanese told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age that the key decision was about outcomes on climate change rather than the mechanism but that the first decision was for the government to propose a better policy after its disunity over the National Energy Guarantee.

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"We need to take action on climate change, we need to listen to the science, but we need to do it in a way so that the transition in the economy is in the interests of working people and job creation," he said.

Labor is also grappling with its position on the $158 billion in income tax cuts the Coalition took to the election. The government is looking to ram the cuts through Parliament as soon as it returns to deliver a $1000 boost for many workers, but is refusing to split its seven-year package. The full package will also see tax cuts of up to $11,000 delivered to workers earning more than $200,000 a year by 2024.

Mr Albanese said Labor was prepared to support only the first stage of the package for low- and middle-income earners – potentially delaying tax relief for workers beyond the end of this financial year.

He said the government should not try to legislate changes that would come into effect years after the new Parliament.

"If the government plays politics with this by trying to introduce policies that have an effect on future parliaments, then I think that's hubris on behalf of the government," he said.

Labor MPs are furious at the impact of the party's franking credit policy and the confused message on the Adani coal mine in Queensland, which they say cost them the crucial northern seat of Herbert.

"We equivocated and sent all the wrong messages, not only to coal miners but working class people right across the country," Labor's agriculture spokesman, Joel Fitzgibbon, said.

Outgoing Labor senator Doug Cameron warned Mr Albanese not to abandon the "class warfare" that had characterised Mr Shorten's time as leader.

"The Labor left must not be diverted from critical analysis of inequality, climate change and the power and privilege of the big end of town," he said.

Mr Albanese and shadow treasurer Chris Bowen, have also urged the party to speak more to people of faith, who "no longer feel that progressive politics cares about them".

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It’s a somewhat sad reflection on sport that Minjee Lee might hit No.1 in the world before she so much as turns a head in the street at home. Call her the Invisible Champion of Australia.

She can’t even pick up an Australian sponsor. The top-ranked golfer in this country is at No.2 on the world rankings, and she plays plastered in the corporate logos of a string of overseas companies, right down to the Hana on her cap, endorsing the big Korean bank.

The Koreans have not been shy about celebrating her heritage as the daughter of two immigrants, Soonam and Clara Lee, who moved to Perth from South Korea a couple of decades ago and had two children – Minjee and brother Min Woo, now 20 and also a rising professional golfer.

Is it the media's lack of interest in women's golf? The fact that she plays overseas? Or is it the awful notion that people don't realise that she's an Australian, despite being born in Perth and representing her country at various levels right up to the 2016 Olympic Games?

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Lee declined the fairly common Asian notion of anglicising her first name for western consumption, saying it reflected her heritage.

“My grandpa gave me that name, so we decided to keep it,” she said this week. “It comes back to my roots. I’m Australian, but my parentage is Korean, so it’s nice to have some part of that, even through my name.’’

Whatever the reasons for her lack of exposure here, Perth's Lee, just 22, is getting better all the time. If she wins this weekend in Virginia, or next week at the US Women's Open in Charleston, she will become the first Australian woman to reach No.1 in the world.

Not even the great Karrie Webb was officially No.1 (although this is a moot point, since the rankings only started in 2006, after Webb’s most dominant period in the game).

Lee has been in the top 10 for the last year after a stellar 2018 when she won once and logged an astonishing 13 top-10s on the LPGA Tour, and she vaulted to No.2 after winning in Los Angeles recently.

Not inclined to whinge about lack of support from home, she just gets on with the job with her jaunty walk and her bright clothes and easy smile.

“If you think about it, all the successful Australian players, I don’t think any of them have Australian sponsors,” she said. “I guess it’s pretty poor in that sense.’’

Lee became the first woman to win the Greg Norman Medal as Australia’s top golfer last year, continuing the upward curve. Hailing from Royal Fremantle Golf Club, she had won the state title at just 10, the United States junior in 2013 and was No.1 on the world amateur rankings by the time she won the 2014 Vic Open at 17, beating the pros.

As a professional she has already won five times on the LPGA Tour, but when she was left off a comprehensive list of Australia’s top sports women last year, her coach Ritchie Smith was gobsmacked. “It really gives me the ‘irrits’,’’ said Smith, who has coached Lee since she was 12. “This is a truly international sport, not cricket or footy.”

Lee’s ball-striking is pure; a flusher, they call her. She’s not long by comparison with some of the other superstars – Sung Hyun Park of South Korea and Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand, for instance – but she’s getting longer, adding 10 metres to her driving distance this year alone.

Smith recalls this being an issue when he first saw her in Perth at 12. “We’re talking about a little girl and she’s operating against a much higher level and trying to compete with these kids and beating them, but swinging quite inefficiently in order to do so. We took quite a while to fix that.’’

Lee’s mother was a teaching professional at the driving range near the family home in Winthrop, in Perth’s southern suburbs, and her father was a single-figure player, too. Her brother took an immediate shine to the game, but she took her time coming around.

“I was learning how to play piano, I was in the school choir. I don’t think anybody knew that, but I was doing lots of things, even dancing. Golf was just another one of the things that I did when I was younger.”

Clara Lee gave her Post-It notes so that she could set her goals, sticking them on her desk at home, and her parents moved her in year 11 (from MLC College to Corpus Christi) so that she was closer to Royal Fremantle for her long practice sessions. “Driven,” is how Smith describes her.

Her mother still travels with her most of the time when they are not in Perth or the home Lee bought in Dallas, Texas, as a base. “Clara’s influence is massive,” said Smith. “Clara puts the structure in place and the stability and the support.’’

Lee likes having her mother around. “Obviously you’re going to butt heads at some point in your life, but I guess we’ve had a good run so far. I mean I could probably do all the things that she does, but it’s just nice to have the company.’’

At the golf course, she is a solitary figure with a remarkable work ethic, known to lift as much weight in the gym as the young male players when she entered the elite amateur programs. She's unlike Min Woo, who is gregarious, and also her greatest fan. "We describe it as: ‘I’m a squiggly line, and she’s a very straight line, trying to get to a destination'," he said.

While Webb has been a mentor, she likes to practise by herself most of the time. “She doesn’t need anyone pissing in her pocket,’’ said Smith. “She’s going to do it by herself, and she’s going to do it to the best of her ability.’’

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No.1 in the world? It has a nice ring to it, not that she’s holding her breath.

“I feel like I don’t get caught up in anything, really,” she said. “For all my career I’ve never been the type to do that or to think about the rankings too much. I’m always working around my game; not around the end result.

"If you’re working on your game and improving that, it will come. It’s a process that you have to go through for that to happen.’’

Chris Waller knows what works when it comes to the Brisbane carnival and, rather than chasing the black type available up north on Saturday, JJ Atkins favourite Reloaded and Queensland Derby top pick Nobu will be at Randwick.

Reloaded, a smart winner on debut on Anzac day, is following the path two of Waller’s Atkins winners Press Statement and The Autumn Sun took to Brisbane by staying in Sydney a fortnight out and running over 1400 metres.

“When you have done it before like we have with Press Statement and The Autumn Sun, it gives you that confidence,’’ Waller said. “You seem to follow trends as a trainer, as I am sure most coaches would when preparing for grand finals and things like that.

“I see Saturday’s race as a better stepping stone rather than throwing a horse into the Sires' Produce [up in Queensland].

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“I think if he was third up it is a different story. By then he would have had a run at Randwick, run over 1400m and his ability over a mile will get him out of trouble.

“You need ability plus race awareness to win a 1400m race so that is the reason [we are staying in Sydney].”

Waller will certainly know where his team stands for Queensland's biggest day of racing and beyond after Saturday with Nobu looking to back up a 4-1/4 length demolition job over 1800m stepping up to 2000m

Kolding, which is unbeaten since being gelded, is pressing his Queensland Guineas hopes, while Noire starts her path to next month’s Tatts Tiara.

Nobu has already been through a New Zealand Derby preparation and it is the reason Waller opted to keep him in the Sydney stable.

“He’s a good horse and his win the other day was good,” Waller said.

“We’ve kept him back in Sydney because he had a trip to New Zealand so we kept everything as easy as we could before heading up to the Gold Coast on Sunday and he’s a genuine Queensland Derby horse.

“He’ll be hard to beat and he’s got a bit of weight but he won with so much in hand the other day so I wouldn’t expect it to be too much of a problem.”

Waller is excited about Kolding, which has become a racehorse since the operation. He has wins at 1300m and 1250m and steps out in distance two weeks from the Guineas.

“I don’t know (where the ceiling is). I hope I haven’t gone up in distance too quick. It’s 1500m,” Waller said.

“His sectional times were good last start and we’d like to take him to the Queensland Guineas. That’s the reason why we’ve stepped him up in trip.

“I don’t want to turn all our horses into milers but he looks like a genuine Queensland Guineas horse and Epsom horse.”

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Finally, Noire has topweight as she returns from a freshen-up following her third in the Emancipation Stakes in March. She is already a group 2 winner and has only been a couple of lengths away in group 1 company.

Waller has long held her in high regard and decided to target Brisbane after a frustrating autumn.

“It was just the barrier draws [in the autumn] and the big weight she had in the Coolmore that didn't help,” he said “This is her type of race.

“We’re obviously trying to get her to Queensland for the Tatt’s Tiara as well.”

Samsung has announced that its Galaxy S10 5G smartphone will go on sale next Tuesday, May 28, making it the first 5G smartphone available in Australia.

The device will be exclusive to Telstra at launch, and in addition to compatibility with next gen mobile networks it features a larger screen, more cameras and a bigger battery than the existing Galaxy S10+. Australians who have already bought that phone through Telstra will be able to upgrade to the S10 5G at no extra cost.

Samsung has not announced pricing for the S10 5G, but is expected to do so shortly before the device hits store shelves. In the US the phone starts at $US1299 ($1888).

"This is the most anticipated device Samsung has ever launched in Australia as it combines additions to our amazing Galaxy range but also opens the door to the opportunities that 5G experiences will bring people in future", said Samsung Australia's VP of IT and Mobile, Garry McGregor, in a release.

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“With this upcoming launch, we are delivering on years of collaboration with Telstra to help break new ground in device and network performance.”

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The Galaxy S10 5G is bigger, thicker and heavier than the S10+, weighing in at 198g. It features a 6.7-inch curved OLED screen and four rear-facing cameras — a telephoto 12MP, wide 12MP, ultra-wide 16MP and 3D depth — as a 10MP shooter and 3D depth camera on the front. It comes with either 256GB or 512GB of storage, has Dolby Atmos stereo speakers and a 4500mAh battery that can be charged faster than the S10+ thanks to Power Delivery 3.0.

The phone was originally announced in February, alongside the flexible Galaxy Fold which was recently delayed indefinitely after faults were reported with its screen and hinge mechanism.

Telstra's 5G plans

Today Telstra also announced the availability of its first 5G mobile hotspot device, the HTC 5G Hub, which will also launch on Tuesday.

Compatibility with 5G will give phones and devices access to unprecedented download speeds when connected to a next gen network, and in the future will allow for high bandwidth, low latency applications like game streaming. But currently Telstra's 5G network is only operational in very specific areas of the capital city CBDs (excluding Darwin) as well as the Gold Coast, Launceston and Toowoomba. When 5G is not available, devices will fall back to 4G.

The telco said that, starting on June 30, it will debut new plans that take 5G into account. For 12 months from that date all Telstra customers with a 5G-compatible device will be able to access 5G speeds, but after that you'll need to have one of the two most expensive plans or pay an additional fee ($15 per month) for access.

Telstra said that anybody who buy a 5G device before June 30, including those that trade up for free from a Galaxy S10+, will get 5G access at no additional cost for the life of their plan.

You can see a map of what Telstra’s coverage is expected to look like at June 30 here.

Detectives have released security camera footage showing slain Brisbane man Jason Guise on the day he disappeared before his body was found in a sewage tank this month.

The CCTV vision captured Mr Guise, 45, at a Wynnum service station on the afternoon of April 21, the day he was last seen, and later walking through the Woolworths Wynnum Central car park on Florence Street just after 6.30pm that day.

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He was last seen on Charlotte Street in Wynnum on April 21 when he visited a Rosie's food truck about 7pm and spoke to friends there. He was later reported missing by his sister after not contacting family or friends since.

Investigators suspect his body was in the tank at the Wynnum pump plant for days before it was found by council maintenance workers about after noon on May 8 at the Granada Street facility.

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Detective Inspector Owen Elloy said police conducted "exhaustive investigations" into Facebook posts from the victim and they were still part of ongoing inquiries.

In the social media posts, Mr Guise claimed his possessions were stolen or sold while he was in jail and he had attacked those he believed were responsible.

"I can't stop thinking about all my stuff that got sold – my car, bikes, TV, clothes, pictures of my kids," one post read.

In a later post, Mr Guise appeared to have used violence when questioning people about his missing possessions.

"It's funny when you catch someone you [have] been looking for and they s— themselves," he said.

"Funny how a punch in the face and all of [a] sudden they remember things. They tell you the truth.

"So you lying grubs, I now know the truth, you can't hide now, you know who I mean use [sic] two."

Inspector Elloy said the Wynnum community was "fantastic" in supplying police with footage from their homes and businesses, including the latest batch of vision released on Friday.

"Service stations and the like, they have fairly good quality electronic equipment and we can rely fairly heavily on it for the identification of different persons," he said.

Inspector Elloy said police were not able to narrow down when Mr Guise died and could not discuss a possible cause of death, but a dozen detectives, including the homicide squad, were involved in the case.

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"Difficult is a good word, it is a protracted, convoluted investigation … we’re running a homicide crew here with our detectives and they’re certainly earning their money," he said.

"It’s very difficult in these types of cases to secure any type of evidence regarding the timing of demise."

Officers initially identified the body as that of Mr Guise through tattoos and told his family of their suspicions.

Four trucks were needed to empty the four-by-six-metre tank and retrieve the body.

Investigators appealed for anyone who saw Mr Guise to come forward and hoped the release of extra footage on Friday would jog potential witnesses' memories.

"I dare say there is somewhere out there who has some footage that could be useful to us," Inspector Elloy said.

"On the information we have, Mr Guise went to The Benevolent Society on Charlotte Street and picked up some groceries on the night of the 21st and took them back to his Wynnum address."

Inspector Elloy said it was "an understatement" to say it was a grim crime scene and the maintenance crew, who check the tank every 10-14 days, were "certainly shocked" by the discovery.

Police continue to appeal for witnesses and dashcam vision from Wynnum on April 21, particularly around Charlotte Street.

Detectives were also interested in hearing from anyone who saw suspicious activity near the Wynnum sewage facility between April 21 and May 8.

Anyone with information should contact Policelink on 13 14 44 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

While parcel postage may not seem like a popular late-night activity, in the race to win e-commerce businesses in the on-demand economy, timing is everything.

"It’s all about convenience and it’s all about choice. We've been testing our drop-off locations and have seen amazing traction with the 24/7 ones at BP," Sendle founder James Chin Moody says.

The delivery challenger raised a fresh $20 million in January to "set our sights bigger" and now Sendle wants to have more parcel drop-off sites than Australia Post's post office network by 2020.

"We are all about choice in a market where there hadn't been any choice before," Chin Moody says.

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Roll out begins

The company has been targeting new business customers through the expansion of delivery sites which it has expanded in a partnership with logistics company Hubbed.

The startup says it now has 600 places across Australia where business customers can drop orders at all hours of the day and night for delivery.

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Sendle says it will have 1,000 sites active in a few months' time. It still has thousands more sites to rollout before it beats Australia Post, though: the national post carrier has 4,356 post offices, according to its 2018 annual report.

Australia Post also has more than 350 parcel lockers available 24/7 and in 2018 highlighted a $1.2 billion investment in its post office network, which helps deliver 1.3 million parcels a day.

An Australia Post spokesperson said its business customers received services like flexible returns and parcel pickups in metro areas for up to 50 parcels at a time.

"We continue to invest in new innovative ways to help our customers access their deliveries faster, including through our fulfilment start-up service Fulfilio," the spokesperson said.

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Fulfilio is another option aimed at processing parcel orders as fast as possible, allowing businesses to sign up to have their stock stored in warehouses connected to Australia Post.

While Sendle seeks to grow its drop-off network by thousands, other on-demand drop off options are also turning their minds to out-of-hours. Officeworks offers its Mailman drop-off service for business clients, while CouriersPlease says it has 750 delivery points across Australia, including 24/7 options at 7-Eleven stores.

Chin Moody says Sendle's competitive advantage is clear: while many larger businesses may use traditional parcel delivery, smaller operators want national flat postage rates and delivery points open when they want them, as close by as possible.

"Parcel delivery is becoming a key differentiator."

"Just pop down"

Vikki Guerreiro has avoided using traditional post in favour of challengers like Sendle because of the appeal of not having to wait to organise parcel delivery.

"It was something that was just simple where I could do it at my own convenience…and just having it all ready to just pop down to the local newsagency," she says.

The co-founder of Portuguese products business The Canned Company has small order volumes at the moment, with the company turning over around $20,000.

At this stage taking orders to a single drop-off point suits the business best given it's easier to drop parcels than spending money waiting for courier pickups.

"If we do bigger amounts, it’s obviously going to change a few things," Guerreiro says.

For smaller parcel volumes, challengers are providing a more affordable deal than the traditional options, she believes.

"We factor in price a lot, because it takes it away from the [margin] on actual goods."

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It is the saddest thing in sport – the one-time champion who loses his way once the carnival is over, the cheering stops, and there is no longer a clear direction by which to steer his life. (And yes, it is mostly a male phenomenon.) Without the pressing need to win the game next weekend and the premiership at the end of the season, where do you go, what do you do?

What makes the situation of Greg Inglis so troubling however – the news broke yesterday that he has been admitted to a Sydney rehab clinic – is that it has all happened so quickly. Less than a year ago he was named as Australian captain, just before being arrested on a bad drink-driving charge. By all accounts, his life was already a little off the rails at that time, and has rapidly spiralled since. There is only one upside. At least what has happened to him is at a time when the stigma of mental health is gone. At least it is at a time when we know that just as people get successful treatments for muscle tears, so, too, are there treatments for mental tears and it is fine to be equally open about both scenarios.

There are, however, a few more questions to be asked. Do the professional codes do enough to prepare all their players for life after football? Do they have a duty of care to do so, and is it sufficiently observed? Inglis is one of the most famous players in the game and will be looked after – the NRL knows we are watching – but what of all the other players, more anonymous than a wrong number, once their days are done?

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We all hear stories from time to time on how badly they struggle, including in the rugby union ranks, and perhaps there could be a cross-code compact to look at ways their athletes could learn skills beyond the football field. For every Paul Vautin and Matty Johns who move effortlessly into the media world, for every Phil Gould and Craig Bellamy who make it as coaches, there are hundreds for whom no such avenues open up. I say there is a duty of care, and it must start before they retire. Over to you, Peter Beattie, Cameron Clyne, et al.

Peak sport

The what?
Click Here: The Cricket World Cup starts on Thursday? Gee, I wish we’d been told. And they could have mentioned that the climax of the US PGA – one of golf’s majors – was held last weekend, too. But just as the PGA seemed to pass by substantially without comment these days, so, too, has much of the build-up to the World Cup. Oh yes, and they played the final of the FA Cup last Saturday night, too. And the finals of our own A-League. You didn’t know?

Twenty or thirty years ago, it seems to me, there would be a countdown to such major events, with the punters literally whittling down the days. These days, the hardcore might still be doing exactly that – you qualify as “hardcore” if you know Australia’s first game of the Cricket World Cup is on June 1 against Afghanistan in Bristol – but the more common thing is even big events just seems to creep up on you, and some right by without you even knowing. In the cricket, even with Steve Smith and David Warner making their returns after year-long suspensions for the sandpaper affair, there seems to be little hoopla, and comment around the traps.

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Why is it so? I think it is because a couple of decades ago, such events were peaks in the world of sport, and we had to travel through the valleys – usually long and empty ones – to get to them.
But right now the world of pay television, for starters, means we are spoiled for choice. What is more, thanks to YouTube and websites displaying content, we can watch them on our phones, our tablets, our wristwatches whenever we want, even while in faraway corners of the world every second of the day, and can simply skip from one peak to the next. Time and again on Twitter I notice that the top trends are overseas sporting events that no Australian team, or individual, has any involvement in, and they’re often small peaks – US basketball games and English soccer games – rather than large ones.

What a contrast with the way it was. When the Australian basketball great Andrew Gaze was growing up in Melbourne, he loved the first Wednesday of every month, because that was the day a particular basketball magazine arrived at the Gaze household, which he would devour for news of the NBA. These days, everyone interested can watch every NBA playoff game, every EPL game they’re interested in, in real time.

What does it all mean?

Beyond the fact we skip from peak to peak to peak in the international sporting world, it probably makes the specifically Australian sporting peaks feel lower, yes? And with there being only so many hours in a week that Australians can watch sport, does it not mean less eyeballs on just Australian sport than ever, less passion, less turnstiles swinging here at home in the long haul? Does that help explain the generally lower numbers for the cricket ratings, attendances at rugby league, rugby union and soccer matches?

And yes the AFL is the exception, but that is always the case, and we all know the reason why. Berko AFL followers put something in the milk of their children when babies, which makes them berko AFL followers for life, too, and the globalisation of sport has made barely a scratch on that.

Modest start worth it

And the hell with it, this US basketball yarn also caught my attention – the very attention, to reprise a theme, I might have applied to the build-up of the cricket World Cup.

See, last week the 38-year-old Utah Jazz player Kyle Korver gave a commencement speech at his Omaha alma mater, Creighton University, reflecting on his own less-than-glamorous beginnings in the professional league, way back in 2003. “The 51st pick, to the New Jersey Nets,” he mused. “I found out shortly afterwards that I had been traded to Philly. I’m not sure if traded is the right word. I was more or less sold for an undisclosed amount of money. I later found out (the Nets) used that money to pay for the entry fee for their summer league team, and with the leftover money, they bought a copy machine.”

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And he was serious. “But it’s OK,” he followed up. “Because a couple of years ago, that copy machine broke. And I’m still playing.”

Yup. Sixteen years on, he is still going and is about $80 million to the good, was an All-Star in 2015, and twice made it to the NBA Finals. He is fourth on the list of all-time shooters for three-pointers, with 2351 to his credit.

Team of the week

Cooper Cronk. Announced his retirement at the end of this season.

Brooks Koepka. Won the PGA Championship, his fourth major. Odd then, that you and I have barely heard of him. Has he risen without trace, or is it a reflection of the fact that you and I only really get into it when it is the Masters, British Open or US Open.

Tiger Woods. After winning the Masters in his last time at bat, missed the cut at the PGA Championship.

Tolu Latu. Stood down by the Waratahs on drink-driving charge. Presumably, according to one former Waratah, he will also be eventually heading for hell. (Think “drunks, adulterers, gays,” etc etc.)

Sydney FC. Champions for the fourth time. I know, it is really only we football nutters that know about it. The news seemed to barely penetrate beyond football circles.

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Kevin Muscat. Stalwart of Melbourne Victory as captain and coach leaving the team.

Geoff Stooke OAM. After more than 900 games of rugby, including 700 for Associates in Perth, the former chairman of RugbyWA and director of the ARU is hanging up his boots at the ripe old age of 71. Well played, Geoff.

What they said

Aaron Finch on having Ricky Ponting around the Australian team: “Everyone wants to impress Punter, you should see them – it’s like eight-year-old girls around Justin Bieber when Punter’s around the change room.”

Three-time world Formula One champion Niki Lauda to TFF in 1992, on his near-death experience back in 1976 when engulfed in a fiery inferno: “It was like falling into a big hole, and I just wanted to let go, to be sucked into this hole and just let go, let go. It was so nice. It was only when I realised this was what dying was that I shook it off and tried to wake up.” Lauda died this week aged 70.

Ian Darling, director of Adam Goodes doco The Final Quarter: “When you see the three years unfolding, we can now see this is what racism looks like and what it sounds like. And from the Indigenous perspective, this is what it feels like … One of our greatest footballers, who happened to be Indigenous and a proud Australian of the Year, was literally booed out of the game.” It’s being launched on June 7.

Peter Beattie on the Jack de Belin verdict, which vindicated the policy he championed to stand down players charged with serious crimes: “This is not a time for celebration, this is a time for us to move on.”

Orlando’s Seth Curry sledging his brother Steph Curry in the NBA play-offs while Curry the Elder was trying to make free throws: “I said ‘That’s 70 in a row’. I was trying to get in his head and jinx him. He looked over at me and said, ‘OK, now it’s gonna be 72’.” He should have tried the line Michael Voss of the Brisbane Lions used when his own younger brother Brett was lining up a critical goal for St Kilda: “My dad’s slept with your mum.” Brett missed.

Wayne Bennett on James Maloney and Nathan Cleary: “I’ll say what no one else wants to say, they cannot pick the halfback and five-eighth from last year.”

Victorious Sydney FC coach Steve Corica channelling Frank Sinatra: “I obviously believe in myself. I did it my way. I can only do it that way. All I can say is, I did it my way . . .” He did it his way.

Ian Botham dismisses the very idea the Aussie bowlers weren’t aware of #Sandpapergate: “As a bowler you know everything about the ball and what shape it is in. There is not a chance in the world that the bowlers in that team wouldn’t have known there had been sandpaper rubbed on that ball.”

David Pfieffer believes he has found the perfect partner for Kingsford-Smith Cup hopeful I Am Excited in Blake Shinn.

The partnership has only been together on five occasions for three wins and a second, which Shinn still finds hard to fathom two years on. For Pfieffer, it was the final part of a journey to make his I Am Invincible mare his first group 1 winner.

“Blake just suits her. I have had other jockeys on her that have her too close and don’t trust her,” Pfieffer said. “Every time Blake is on her, he gets her in  the right spot and we have seen the results.

“In the Victory Stakes last time, I so confident a long way from home, even though she was back in the field, because I could see Blake had her going sweetly. She travels better for him than anyone else. That’s what you get when you have a really top jockey.”

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I Am Excited appreciated the pressure in the Victory Stakes and charged over the top of dual Everest winner Redzel for her biggest win. Another success on Saturday at Eagle Farm would have the explosive mare in Everest considerations herself.

Shinn knows there there is only one way to ride I Am Excited: let her find her feet and have her ready to hit her top in the straight. It is the reason Pfieffer didn’t run in the Doomben 10,000.

“She needs that little bit of time to get going, and the tight track wouldn’t suit her,” Pfieffer said. “We decided before we came up here that she would only run at Eagle Farm, and this is the race we targeted.”

Shinn was impressed the first time he rode I Am Excited in trackwork and still finds it hard to work out how Jorda beat her down the Flemington straight during the 2017 Melbourne Cup carnival.

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“She has group 1 acceleration,” Shinn said. “I rode her work before that race and thought she was special. I still can’t work out how she got beaten that day.

“The most important thing with her is you can’t use her early in the race because she loses her acceleration, which is her biggest weapon, along with the ability to hold a long sprint.”

Shinn admits the capacity field in the Kingsford-Smith Cup could pose problems for I Am Excited given her racing style.

“I know where I’m going to be, so traffic is always a concern,” Shinn said. "She just need to get a run at the right time to let rip."

I Am Excited is one of three horses under double-figures quotes in the open group 1 at $9.  Godolphin sprinter Trekking is the $6.50 favourite and Doomben 10,000 winner The Bostonian is at $8.

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Saturday's Andrew Ramsden Stakes at Flemington is a strategic manoeuvre to get Anzacs back into the Melbourne Cup in place of foreign raiders, while Outback Barbie, with owners wide of Dingo in North Queensland, will take on the might of Godolphin in the Kingsford-Smith Cup at Eagle Farm.

Perhaps Surprise Baby, one of the top contenders in the Ramsden, is New Zealand bred, but has a strong local influence being by Shocking, a Melbourne Cup winner, and trained by Paul Preusker at Horsham in Victoria, but Eastender, a $22,000 yearling from Tasmania, is true blue in the Aussie, and not Godolphin, sense.

The Ramsden this year is a $400,000 weight-for-age test run over 2800m and restricted to three, four and five-year-old stayers. The winner qualifies for the Big One, which has become more of an international race with the local influence diminishing.

Yes, seven acceptors were bred in the northern hemisphere, but they are prepared here and not the fly-in-without-racing-prior category that has played a major, if negative, role in recent years.

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The upside with Surprise Baby, a four-year-old, is that from his seven starts he has notched four wins, including the 3200m Adelaide Cup on March 11.

At his first start for seven weeks recently Surprise Baby, handled by Dean Holland, was beaten under a half-length humping 60kg by Steel Prince (54kg), a rival today. However the gelding struck severe interference from a fallen horse. Holland is a flag waver regarding his potential.

“He’ll stay 3200m but he’ll quicken up at the 800 like a 1200m horse,” the jockey commented. “You don’t get stayers like that, and that’s why I think he’s something special.”

Surprise Baby has drawn 18 and the Irish-bred Steel Prince launches from three under Damian Oliver. With Eastender coming from nine with  Craig Newitt aboard, a battle of tactics in the early stages is ensured in what promises to be a gripping contest.

Newitt is tipping improvement from Eastender on his last start mainland effort.

“When I saw him in the mounting yard, he had sweated up badly, which he doesn’t normally do and it will be interesting to see how he parades this week,” Newitt explained.

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“He carried on going to the gates and raced the first half with his mouth open, which he never does, so he might not have travelled over that well last time.”

Of course Cross Counter, Godolphin’s northern hemisphere four-year-old, proved too good under only 51kg, regarded by some as a gift assessment, in the Melbourne Cup last year.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s blue army has three strong chances –Trekking, Home Of The Brave and Encryption – in a very competitive Kingsford-Smith Cup in which Outback Barbie brings  a genuine home-grown flavour.

The filly is owned by Allan and Jennifer Acton of Wilpeena, a property near Dingo (population 100), 250km west of Rockhampton.

According to Jennifer, Outback Barbie honours the bygone generation of Wilpeena women who did so well in testing conditions for over a century.

“Outback Barbie’s determination is much similar to those women,” she declared on ABC News Radio’s Hoof On the Till.

The Barbie title came from seeing her granddaughter in a pink Akubra heading for a camp draft. Now they take Barbie dolls to the races for good luck.

A three-year-old filly, Outback Barbie should have ended closer when downed less than two lengths in the 1200m Doomben 10,000 last start.

Alas, she drew 16 today, but negatives don’t deter Jennifer Acton, who will make the trip by car and aircraft to Eagle Farm.

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The Stradbroke looks a better target for Barbie Doll, and I can’t get her in front of The Bostonian, Trekking and I Am Excited, but the Kingsford-Smith is a demanding sprint where positive navigation, not luck in running, will win the day.

And Jennifer figures attributes of Outback Barbie, epitomised by our country and western warbler, Lee Kernaghan, will take her a long way: “Don’t back down and don’t give up."

Theresa May has announced her resignation after failing to sell her Brexit plan to Parliament, the nation, or even her own party.

She is the second successive Conservative leader brought down by her party's deep divisions over Europe.

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In a speech outside Downing Street on Friday, the British Prime Minister said she left with "deep regret" at having failed to deliver Brexit, but "no ill will and enormous and enduring gratitude" for the honour of serving in the job.

Her voice cracking with emotion at the end of her speech, May said she had been "the second female prime minister but certainly not the last".

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And May called for a spirit of compromise in politics, warning that her successor would have to find the consensus on Brexit that had eluded her.

Her resignation will take effect on 7 June, but she will serve as acting Prime Minister until her successor is chosen.

May had been trying to hang on to give her Brexit plan one more vote in the House of Commons, where it has been defeated three times already, in early June.

But it had become increasingly clear the plan does not have the support of much of her own party or the opposition.

It is unclear if the choice of date means she will be given that last chance.

Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson is now the favourite to win his party’s leadership, in a process expected to culminate in a vote of Conservative party members in July.

However the Tories have a habit of not giving the job to the favourite, and there is a crowded field of contenders.

After the speech, colleagues praised her dignified exit.

Johnson said: "Thank you for your stoical service to our country and the Conservative Party. It is now time to follow her urgings: to come together and deliver Brexit."

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Another potential leadership candidate Michael Gove said the Prime Minister "deserves our respect and gratitude".

Her chief of staff Gavin Barwell said he had "seen at first-hand her commitment to public service and her incredible resilience as she has confronted the biggest challenge any British government has faced since the Second World War."

But May has not proven a success at the ballot box. At her first general election in 2017 the government lost its majority and had to limp on with the support of the Northern Irish DUP – which proved a major factor in the problem of delivering a compromise Brexit.

In recent council elections more than 1300 Tory councillors lost their seats.

And in the country's European Parliament elections, which took place on Thursday but whose results will not be known until Sunday, the Conservatives were expected to be deserted in droves by voters flocking to Nigel Farage's Brexit Party.

The choice of departure date means May is assured of outlasting Gordon Brown to claim the title of only the fourth shortest-serving post-war prime minister.

May's successor has until October 31 – the current Brexit deadline – to come up with a new plan.

The European Union has indicated its refusal to reopen the divorce deal that was signed late last year with May, governing the terms of the UK's departure from the EU and including the controversial Irish "backstop".

However it has said it would consider reopening the "political declaration" accompanying the deal, which sets out the aims and parameters of the UK's future trade and customs relationship with Europe.

The Labour opposition is likely to push for a general election, challenging any new leader's legitimacy and mandate.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: "“The Prime Minister is right to have resigned. She has now accepted what the country has known for months: she cannot govern, and nor can her divided and disintegrating party."

And the DUP will have a strong voice in the government's future, as they would renegotiate their deal with the next Conservative leader to deliver a majority in Parliament.