So we’re delighted to seeRebekah Brooks – the chief executive of the Murdoch family-owned News UK who resigned at the time of the hacking scandal at theNews of the World – on these shores and still a shining light at the court of new emperorLachlan Murdoch,who is also in Sydney this week.
Rebekah Brooks.Bloomberg
Brooks,for the record,said in a 2011 statement about the hacking that occurred when she was editor of the now-defunct paper:“I feel a deep sense of responsibility for the people we have hurt and I want to reiterate how sorry I am for what we now know to have taken place.” She was acquitted of criminal charges arising from the affair.
So anyway,Rebekah and Lachlan have been ensconced in News Corp’s local headquarters in Sydney’s Surry Hills,where an announcement of mass sackings is expected as they chop $65 million in costs from the Australian operation.
It’ll be some comfort to the company’s foot soldiers,who have good reason to fear for their jobs,with News’ downmarket tabloids reportedly in the gun,that Murdoch family favourites will live their best lives come what may.
We gave News Corp reps a shout on Thursday,who referred us to their colleagues in the UK,but no on-the-record comment about Brooks was forthcoming.
DIVINE RIGHT
Former prime ministerScott Morrison,busy promoting his new book in the US,is also having a grand old time hanging withDonald Trump,and having a book launch with former Trump vice presidentMike Penceand TrumpitesKellyanne ConwayandMike Pompeo.
We’ve also been keeping an eye on ScoMo’s media appearances. As well as a photo-op with TV personalityDr Phil in Dallas,the former PM spruiked his book on a podcast with Fox News hostShannon Bream,and delivered a unique perspective on his 2018 ascension to the prime ministership.
Australian observers might recall the deposing ofMalcolm Turnbull as a grubby old affair,but in Scotty’s recollection,the outcome was divinely ordained.
Donald Trump and Scott Morrison at Trump Tower in Manhattan last week.Supplied
“The members of your caucus,if you like,can change who the leader is any given Tuesday. And that happened,and this was not what we’d anticipated,and you find yourself thrust into this role,” Morrison told Bream.
“You don’t get to choose the time at which you’re called on to lead. It sort of chooses you,and you decide whether to step up or step off,and I chose the former” he said.
“When I say ‘called’,what I mean is,in that moment,I just felt I needed to be obedient.” If only everyone else could see the light.
POETIC JUSTICE
When a grassroots protest gets to the stage where it expresses its goals in poetry,CBD’s experience is that it’s time for the authorities to start panicking.
And now that the insurgent members of Melbourne’s posh Kooyong Tennis Club,who are clamouring for regime change over the disastrous $2.4 million loss at the catering operation there,have found themselves a laureate,the writing must surely be on the wall for the current hierarchy at Glenferrie Road.
Space constraints prevent us from bringing you a major new work –The Great Kooyong Tennis Racket by an anonymous member of the dissident group – in its entirety,but the editor has been kind enough to let us tease a stanza,in a world exclusive,ahead of wider distribution.
Here we go:
Until the board read their reports filled with doom and dread,
When they realised the club’s financials were sadly in the red.
Surely the figures were inaccurate,the numbers did not tally,
Like a bad line call at set point after a hard-fought rally.
And on it goes.
Stylistically,Racket can’t be pigeonholed,but if pushed,we’d say the work has strains of the greatBanjo Paterson.
We should also note that a bit of poetic licence is being exercised there,because we are certainly not suggesting that anyone associated with the club has engaged in a “racket”.
But the poem does look set to be deployed by the rebels in their campaign to unseat the club’s board,who have mostly indicated that they are going nowhere,as the insurgents gather the 100 signatures needed to force a spill.
We asked club presidentDarren O’Loughlin on Thursday if a spill was on the cards. Silence was the deafening response.
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