He didn’t return to the Point Piper palace of late Chief JusticeSir Laurence Street,where CBD he’d been hanging out over the weekend. And on Tuesday,the organisation behind the Presumption of Innocence Conference,hosted by men’s rights activistBettina Arndt,announced that Lehrmann would no longer be headlining the $100-a-ticket event.
Bruce Lehrmann departs court after losing his defamation case against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson.Wolter Peeters
“He is being subject to extremely aggressive pursuit by media and is concerned his participation may jeopardise this important event and distract from its main purpose,” Arndt’s organisation Mothers of Sons posted on Facebook.
When we reached out to Arndt for comment,she sent us back that same statement. But before Monday’s judgment,she launched a stinging defence of the conference,accusing the Herald’s chief investigative reporterKate McClymontof “ending her career with a stream of nasty tabloid gotcha moments and anti-male bile which has nothing to do with proper journalism” for having the temerity to write about the event.
Bruce Lehrmann has pulled out of a conference that promotes the idea that men are treated unfairly in rape trials,following the loss of his defamation case against Network 10.
The conference has raised nearly $7000 in donations and will be streamed on far-right radio station TNT Radio,where disgraced former broadcasterChris Smith is a presenter.
Maybe Bruce has a future there. As for the more immediate term,on Monday afternoon,Lehrmann turned up at Gosford police station,where officers helped him escape gathered media through a back door. A NSW police spokesperson told us that a report was made at the station,but no further information was available as the matter is not subject of a criminal investigation.
MEDIA WATCH WATCH
On Monday night,the ABC’sMedia Watch hostPaul Barrybegan his weekly sermon to the show’s remaining loyalists with a piece on the horrific Bondi Junction attack and the misinformation that swirled in the moments that followed.
Turning to the tragic story of Sydney womanAshlee Good,who was stabbed while protecting her baby,Barry accused Sky’sLaura Jayesof “setting reporters on the trail”,subsequently rinsing media outlets who revealed the victim’s details while she was fighting for life.
The package then cut to a clip of Jayes,a friend of the victim,holding back tears while talking about Good. But Jayes,who showed admirable poise on camera,never once gave away details about her friend,something Barry addressed with a weak,half-hearted Twitter apology on Tuesday morning.
“ was very careful to protect her friend Ashlee Good’s privacy in that emotional live cross from. She didn’t ‘kick it off’,My mistake. Sorry. PB.”
Oops,sorry,my bad. We gave Barry a shout to see whether he had more to say,but he was uncharacteristically quiet. The original clip remains on Media Watch’s Twitter account and iview. We asked the broadcaster if it would be taking it down or issuing an apology,but were told it had nothing further to add beyond Barry’s tweet.
Guess it’s ok then.
CHINA MATTERS NO MORE
The COVID years were particularly fertile for foreign policy think tanks,with the whole pandemic blame game,the Morrison government’s red scare approach to China’s wolf warriors and the never-endingDonald Trump soap opera.
But it looks like times are a-changing. On Tuesday,China Matters,a policy initiative created in 2015 to inject “nuance and realism” into discussion of Sino-Australian affairs,wrote to supporters announcing it would be winding down,with its remaining funds put into an initiative to help budding China analysts.
China Matters attracted some pretty serious political and diplomatic types. Former Liberal MPPeter Hendy,whose Queanbeyan home was the site of plotting to depose former PMTony Abbott,was on the board. So was former top China advisorStephen Fitzgeraldand the late leading foreign policy expertAllan Gyngell.
But in 2020,the think tank fell heavily out of favour with a more hawkish Morrison government,who scrapped its federal funding,as Liberal MPs and News Corp reporters painted the think tank as “pro-Beijing” – a claim China Matters has always strenuously denied. The writing’s been on the wall since.
China Matters founderLinda Jakobson,who is returning to her native Finland,addressed all that rather pointedly in her final missive to supporters on Tuesday.
“Our supporters – anonymous ones but also vocal ones – not only kept encouraging us when we were on top and respected in Canberra,but also in 2020 when we attracted the ire of those in government who wanted to muzzle us and who sought to have our voice removed from the China debate in Australia,” she said.
MCWILLIAM WEDS
Last week,the extraordinary of Seven’s departing corporate svengaliBruce McWilliamwere disinfected by a good dose of media sunlight in this masthead.
True to form,McWilliam followed up theHerald’s report by tellingThe Australianmedia editorJames Maddenhe was “a piece of shit” in texts which were very much not off the record.
But McWilliam was in a better mood over the weekend when his son,Hugo McWilliam,tied the knot with Fox Sports presenterIsabella Leembruggen,niece ofReal Housewife of SydneyKrissy Marsh who,in true influencer fashion,Instagrammed the peak eastern suburbs affair in excruciating detail.
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