Harwin managed to claw things back,and when state directorRichard Shieldssigned off on the results on Saturday,he had 369 votes to Bailie’s 368. But with three or four votes in dispute because delegates used ticks and crosses instead of numbers,there’s already chatter about appealing,although at the time of writing it was just that.
While all eyes were on the big vote,Harwin’s factional comrades struggled further in the race for the two vice-presidential spots. Corrs Chambers Westgarth lawyerJames Wallace,who does numbers for former NSW treasurerMatt Kean,finished behind the right’s candidatePeter O’Hanlon,a relative nobody involved in anti-trans keyboard warriorKatherine Deves’failed 2022 campaign for Warringah. It’s the first time since 2011 that a moderate hasn’t come first in the veep vote. It also meant the only female candidate,Hawkesbury mayorSarah McMahon,lost out. Make of that what you will.
There’s little chance anyone will stop Harwin taking the presidency,but his wafer-thin win makes the weekend’s victory a pyrrhic one. It’s a sign that,after a decade or so of being the dominant faction within the NSW Liberal Party,the moderates’ power is starting to wane,thanks in part to a more conservative base that has warmed to Opposition LeaderPeter Dutton’sleadership style.
It’s certainly put senior factional figures such as Kean and lobbying supremoMichael Photioson notice,and got any moderates up for preselection ahead of next year’s election feeling a little antsy.
MONTAGUES AND CAPULETS
West End hit&Juliet scored a tepid review inThe Herald,but the all-star crowd that packed out Sydney’s Lyric Theatre for opening night last Thursday seemed swept off their feet.
The musical reimagines Shakespeare’sRomeo&Julietif the female protagonist lived,with a soundtrack of cookie-cutter pop by that master of the genreMax Martin,also known as Taylor Swift and Katy Perry’s ghostwriter.
On Thursday night,CBD spotted more warring clans alike in dignity than the Bard’s Verona. Top defamation silkSue Chrysanthouand her frequent collaboratorRebekah Gilestook a break from attacking this masthead’s journalism to spend a night out with two favourite clients – Olympic boxerHarry Garsideand former commando turned one-time OnlyFans model-cum-motivational speakerHeston Russell.
Last year,Russell won over $400,000 in damages from the ABC over defamatory reports suggesting he was involved in killing an Afghan prisoner. If that caused any awkwardness from the ABC’s managing directorDavid Anderson,and stars includingLeigh SalesandHamish McDonald,they were all smart enough not to show it.
Nine CEO Mike Sneesby.Alex Ellinghausen
Other media types included News Corp Australia bossMichael Miller,Daily TelegrapheditorBen Englishand from Nine (owner of this masthead),chief executiveMike Sneesby.
Among the political set,we spotted former prime ministerMalcolm Turnbulland his wifeLucy Turnbull, federal Arts MinisterTony Burkeand his state counterpartJohn Graham,plus shadow health minister and former treasurerMatt Kean.
No sign ofJohn Barilaro,who therefore couldn’t tend theBara Bar,which the Lyric Theatre impresarioStephen Foundnamed in the ex-deputy premier’s honour.
From the music world, Guy Sebastian andAmy Sharkwere spotted at the Star Casino venue. But the biggest sighting of the night was former Qantas bossAlan Joyce,who’s kept an awfully low profile since his uncharacteristically early departure from the airline last year.
TOWER OF POWER
This masthead on Sunday that despite simmering factional schisms,Victoria’s freemasons had amassed quite the property development portfolio,including cutting a deal with Mirvac to develop.
While Freemasons were given first dibs at buying apartments in the salubrious address,known in their ranks as Melbourne’s “Tower of Power”,CBD’s curious eye was drawn to some of the complex’s other tenants.
Former prime ministerPaul Keatingbought an apartment in the complex for a little over $1 million in May 2016. That same month,Tony Abbott’sex-chief of staff turnedSky NewsfirebreatherPeta Credlinand her husbandBrian Loughnane(a former Liberal Party federal director) also picked up a $5 million pad in the building.
Former Victorian Court of Appeal judgeJoseph Santamaria,son of infamous Labor Party splitterBA Santamaria,bought a $4.5 million apartment in 2016. Past owners in the building have also includedLiberty Sanger,the Victorian County Court judge married to former Labor MPDavid Feeney.
With all that political diversity among the building’s well-heeled inhabitants,CBD was desperate to get word of any interesting corridor interactions. Unfortunately,Keating,the Bankstown boy now well ensconced in Sydney’s eastern suburbs,appears to be using the Melbourne residence as an investment property. We’d expect no less from the man who once described anyone living outside Sydney as “just camping out”.
Neither he nor Credlin wanted to discuss things further.
Credlin,meanwhile,chairs the building’s body corporate,and apparently brings her trademark pugilistic style,honed from years of putting Abbott’s frontbench in their place,to negotiations with Mirvac over building defects. Or perhaps when a former PM doesn’t like the upkeep in the lift wells.
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