Basil Zempilas 'hot mic': Perth mayor denies calling Australian Open women's final the 'reserves game' after video goes viral
Perth mayor and former Weekend Sunrise presenter Basil Zempilas has responded to accusations he called the Australian Open women's final the “reserves game” as he announced his move into state politics.
In what many initially thought was a “career-ending” blunder, Mr. Zempilas was heard asking 9News reporter Michael Genovese if there was tennis tonight.
When Genovese said it was the women's final, many on social media claimed they heard the mayor's response: “It's a reserve match then.”
The footage was broadcast by Perth online news organization WAMN News and sparked an immediate backlash.
“How to end your career in 10 seconds,” one person tweeted in response.
However, Mr Zempilas has since clarified in a lengthy tweet that he was referring to Mr Genovese's news bulletins as “the reserves” for tennis.
Perth Mayor Basil Zempilas appeared to let slip that he considers the Australian Open women's final a 'reserve match'; however, he has since clarified that this was not the intended meaning
“Before today's press conference, Michael and I were talking about how presenting the news while a major sporting event is happening at the same time means a small audience will be watching the news,” he tweeted just before 6 p.m. on Saturday.
'I then say the following words to Michael: 'Are you reading the news tonight?' He says yes and I say, “The tennis is on tonight, isn't it?”
'Then he says: 'The women's final.' And I then say, referring to reading the news against that broadcast, “it's just like the reserves then.”
'Reading the news against tennis was what I meant by 'the reserves are'. Not the tennis. I cannot make that clearer or more emphatic.
“To suggest otherwise is completely disingenuous and downright wrong, and I don't want to be accused of saying something I didn't say.”
Mr Genovese similarly tweeted: “This conversation has been completely taken out of context. Basil Zempilas was referring to the fact that tennis and news meet.'
Zempilas announced on Saturday he would enter state politics and seek to be selected as the Liberal candidate for the seat of Churchlands in Perth.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Mr Zempilas' office for comment.
Mr Zempilas has worked as a tennis commentator at the Australian Open and also hosted Channel Seven's Weekend Sunrise (pictured with Monique Wright)
The near-blunder at the press conference came on the heels of a gushing front-page headline on The West Australian that trumpeted 'Baz' making a long-awaited move into state politics
Mr Zempilas worked as a commentator for Channel Seven's coverage of the Australian Open during his long stint at the network, which ran from 1994 to 2022.
During that time he was part of AFL and Olympic broadcasts and also became a weekend anchor for the breakfast TV program Weekend Sunrise.
He was elected mayor of Perth in 2020 and re-elected this year after only relinquishing all media roles in 2022.