But while a dinner in honour of the masthead is still postponed,the board,chaired byLachlan Murdoch,will be coming after all. Rupert apparently still has that scheduling conflict,however,meaning his first visit to Australia since 2018 will need to wait a few more months at least.
Rupert Murdoch passed the baton as chairman of News Corp to his first son,Lachlan.Supplied
We’re told the board’s decision to come to Australia is simply a case of them holding a meeting at a different location. The six other directors include former Spanish prime ministerJose Maria Aznar,British PM Rishi Sunak’s old Goldman Sachs palMasroor Siddiquiand News Corp bossRobert Thomson.
What could possibly be keeping the nonagenarian Murdoch so busy? After stepping down from the top jobs at News Corp and Fox Corporation (on a $220 million golden parachute),he promised to keep on walking the floors late at night in his chairman emeritus role.
Whatever business is still occupying Rupert,there’s also the matter of a new-ish romance with Russian-born retired scientist Elena Zhukova.
She’s the erstwhile mother-in-law of Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich,best known as the long-term owner of Chelsea Football Club,until he was effectively forced to sell by the British government when he was sanctioned because of his ties toVladimir Putin.
ANTI-ESTABLISHMENT
Sydney’s newest legal chambers,Omnia,held its official launch last week,with a star-studded soiree atJustin Hemmes′ aptly named Establishment in the CBD.
The shindig attracted the likes of Chief Justice of NSW Andrew Bell, his predecessorTom Bathurst,Attorney-GeneralMichael Daley and CBD favouriteMargaret Beazley,the NSW Governor and former judge.
Omnia,which bills itself as a “modern chambers” that is “supportive and progressive for all”,has 15 founding barristers,includingMichael Hodge KCof Hayne Royal Commission fame.
Jane Buncle is a barrister and a member of the NSW Liberal Party in Warringah.Supplied
But Hodge aside,the majority of barristers at Omnia are women. Among them isJane Buncle,who remarked that the chamber is so diverse it even has a Liberal Party member among them:her.
We’re not sure how rare that is at a barristers’ chambers. Buncle has long held an interest in running for the federal seat of Warringah,but was thwarted byScott Morrison’s attempts to find a “star” candidate in the form of former premiersMike Baird orGladys Berejiklian. When that failed,he installedKatherine Deves. And we all know how that turned out.
In its submission to the electoral commission,the Liberal Party suggested the seat of Warringah be abolished and merged with North Sydney in the upcoming distribution.
Either way,CBD is told Buncle still harbours ambitions to run.
SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER
Corporate Australia had its first major reshuffle for 2024 last week,when National Australia Bank bossRoss McEwanannounced his impending departure,with Group Executive,Business and Private BankingAndrew Irvinetaking the reins from April.
McEwan will have a lot more time on his hands once the transition is done,but in the meantime,he seems to be taking a more relaxed approach to management,which includes responding to correspondence from activist shareholders on a Saturday evening.
Over the weekend,NAB shareholderCraig Caulfield emailed McEwan and Irvine,thanking the outgoing boss for his interactions at the last Annual General Meeting and introducing himself to the new boss.
NAB chief executive Ross McEwan.Peter Rae
Caulfield noted that McEwan’s generosity toward shareholders was “in contrast to ANZ”.
″I know Andrew will be generous with his time after the AGM. It’s a great opportunity to really hear what shareholders are thinking,” McEwan wrote back,in a reply-all email that landed in the inboxes of journalists Caulfield had CC’d in.
Caulfield represents groups called Bank Warriors and Bank Reform,dedicated to calling out bad behaviour by financial institutions. His message for Irvine also included a list of topics they wanted NAB to look at,including artificial intelligence,and “scams as an epidemic”.
CANCEL CULTURE
Irish comedianGraham Linehan once had a high-profile career as the creator of hit sitcomsFather TedandBlack Books,before deciding to devote his life to obsessive anti-transgender activism instead.
So obsessive that Linehan himself admits that his breathless tweeting has come at the cost of his comedy career,friendships and marriage. Notable statements include his rather unsavoury comparison between puberty blockers and Nazi eugenics.
Whatever Linehan has lost over in the United Kingdom,where the culture war over trans issues is all the more heated,he’s clearly got enough support here in Australia,where he’s set to show up on a tour next month.
Linehan’s trip downunder is being organised by a new-ish outfit called the Free Speech Union of Australia,which lists one of its core values as “reclaim[ing] larrikinism”.
We didn’t know it had been taken away. For the sake of Linehan’s fans,we hope his tour goes better thanDonald Trump Jr’s supposed Australian outing. At the time of writing,it had been cancelled three times,with no reschedule in sight.