At last year’s World Cup in France,Rugby Australia’s top brass,including now-ousted chairHamish McLennan,hosted swanky soirees in Paris well after the Wallabies had bombed out in the group stage. Win or lose,we’re sure they’re looking forward to their next French adventure.
NEW REPUBLIC
It’s been a brutal few years for the Australian Republic Movement. When long-term chairPeter FitzSimonsstepped down shortly after Queen Elizabeth II’s death in 2022,there was much optimism about Australia breaking from the monarchy in the near future. Labor even madeMatt Thistlethwaitethe assistant minister for the republic,and the government was bullish about a second-term referendum,once the Indigenous Voice to parliament had succeeded,of course.
Well,we all know how that went,and the spectacular failure of last year’s referendum has cooled the government’s appetite for a republic push any time soon.
Things only got worse for the ARM when its two high-profile co-chairs,former Socceroo turned human rights advocateCraig Fosterand ex-Olympian and Labor senatorNova Perisleft in quick succession earlier this year amid division between the pair over the war in Gaza.
The ARM called snap elections for the national committee,and the results indicate that the organisation has struggled to get anyone with the star power of Fitz,Foz or Peris in the mix.
Among the highest-profile of the new faces is youth advocateYasmin Poole,who was one of a select few Australians,alongside football starSam Kerrand balladeerNick Cave,to get a seat at King Charles III’s coronation last year. She was elected youth convenor.
Also new is Business Council of Australia chief economistStephen Walters,University of Melbourne academicPeter BotsmanandEsther Anatolitis,editor of literary journalMeanjin. ABC personalityAdam Spencerand one-time Australian Sex Party senate candidateMeredith Doigwere both-re-elected.
As for the top jobs vacated by Foster and Peris,the National Committee will be meeting to elect new co-chairs early next week. And with no disrespect to those elected,it still looks we’ll be saddled with the monarchy for a few more years yet.
BANK BUDS
In its much-needed post-Phil Lowe reshuffle,the Reserve Bank of Australia did something unprecedented in drafting inAndrew Hauser,a Pom,to take the role of deputy governor. It’s a job that is often a stepping stone to the governorship – Hauser was picked to replaceMichele Bullock,who was promoted to Lowe’s old gig leading the central bank.
But as a foreigner,Hauser has needed to gain a bit of local intelligence on the state of the economy,which might explain his May sit-down dinner with renowned Australian point-headed economist types who picked up the bill at Melbourne French eatery Bistrot d’Orsay. Famed Hawke-era economic advisor and ambassador to ChinaRoss Garnaut,Melbourne University economics professorJeff Borlandand former Victoria University vice-chancellorPeter Dawkinsmade up the new deputy’s dining companions,revealed recently in the RBA’s gift register.
More recently,Hauser was in theAustralian Financial Reviewtalking about how Aussies still don’t know quite how prosperous they are. Compared to the rest of the world,he’s got a point,even if your average punter struggling with RBA-induced mortgage stress might disagree. But it’s certainly a perspective that’s easy to land on over plates of prime rib-eye.
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