Still,the latest Waverley Council meeting on Tuesday night takes “ideas above one’s station” to a whole new level,with the Greens moving a motion calling on the Albanese government to withdraw from the AUKUS pact and discontinue plans to build nuclear-powered submarines.
Under the AUKUS pact,Australia will buy several Virginia-class submarines.AFR
In a rather tense comment attached to the original motion,general managerEmily Scott said council “is not aware of any plans in the federal government’s announcements that directly impact the Waverley local government area.”
Undeterred,the Greens’Elaine Keenan moved the motion on Tuesday,slamming AUKUS for its “huge expansion of militarism,with dire consequences for Waverley.
“I don’t often agree withPaul Keating about many things,but on this,he’s right,” she said.
Now,Sydney’s eastern suburbs are hardly notorious as a hotbed of anti-Americanism,and so naturally,Keenan’s motion received little love.
“This motion is a bit of a fruit salad … it’s almost a Greens wish list of things,” Labor’sSteven Lewis said.
Liberal veteranSally Betts expressed her gratitude for Australia having a nuclear industry. Which was,frankly,news to us.
And so the revolution did not begin in Waverley,with the Greens motion defeated eight votes to four.
PROUD JULIAN
There’s a lot separating Opposition Leader Peter Dutton from his erstwhile shadow attorney-generalJulian Leeser,and we’re not just talking about their views on the Voice to parliament referendum.
Dutton’s decision to take the decidedly illiberal approach of stopping his shadow cabinet supporting the Voice left Leeser no choice but to hit the backbench. Leeser still has some respect for the old broad church – he’s got Nationals leaderDavid Littleproud,another Voice opponent,to give theTom Hughes oration,an annual fundraiser in his Berowra electorate.
Littleproud credits his party with having “led the way” in pitting the Coalition against the Voice,so it’s fair to say he and Leeser don’t always see eye to eye. The speech promises to touch on “a major public policy topic,” and we couldn’t imagine anything more pressing for the Libs than the Voice right now.
Although we’d love to hear more about Littleproud’s plan to free your vapes from the government – a stance not dissimilar to the Big Tobacco companies which still fund the Nats.
The speech’s namesake,the former Berowra MP and attorney-general,turns 100 this year,and while we’re not sure where he stands on the Voice,his daughterLucy Turnbulland son-in-lawMalcolm Turnbull are supporters.
AfterKen Wyatt quit the Liberals over their opposition to the Voice,Lucy noted her membership would expire in June,and said she was too progressive for the party.
NAILING THE BIG ISSUES
CBD’s informants spied Environment MinisterTanya Plibersek getting her nails done while getting briefed by staff – the work of a frontbencher never stops – at a salon in Sydney’s Sofitel Wentworth Hotel.
A convenient location,since it’s right across the road from the Commonwealth parliamentary offices at the power tower of One Bligh – but also an amusing location,since the Wentworth is the Liberals’ election night party event of choice.
FOXY FELLAS
Trucking magnateLindsay Fox’s 86th birthday bash at the National Gallery of Victoria was a lunchtime pageant of power,money and blokiness.
Linfox scion Andrew Fox (left) arrived with friend and golfer Greg Norman.Eamon Gallagher
Joining the fella’s festivities were Prime MinisterAnthony Albanese,Victorian PremierDan Andrews,Hollywood heavyweightEric Banaand golf legendGreg Norman.
Opposition LeaderPeter Duttonwas spotted getting fitted for a suit at a nearby Zegna boutique earlier on. Dutton still managed to show up to lunch with his collar hanging loose.
Attendees were asked to wear a kilt,if they could,and you’d have to say that most of the lads were somewhere along the tartan spectrum,from the full rig deployed by Fox’s sonAndrew Fox, to well,Norman and Bana’s more meagre efforts.
Also seen outside the gallery was retailer extraordinaireSolly Lew,Melbourne’s bloke-in-chiefEddie McGuire,Westpac chairJohn McFarlaneand former Australian Olympic Committee presidentJohn Coates.
If there were any women in attendance,they escaped the notice of CBD’s informants at the venue.
PARTY PIPER
Controversial independent senatorLidia Thorpehas been on high rotation in the news all week after the expletive-laden rant she unleashed at a group of men outside a Melbourne strip club in the wee hours of Sunday morning.
But CBD has worried that the other members of the Thorpe party that night have been denied the credit they deserve for their role in the incident.
The run-and-gun video footage shows Victoria’s Naidoc Committee chairStacie Piperin the thick of the action alongside Thorpe,playing a part in the torrent of abuse exchanged between the senator’s party and other patrons out the front of the venue after closing time.
The pair had earlier been celebrating the 50th birthday ofShelley Johnson,sister of Brisbane Lions starChris Johnson.
Johnson was not involved in the altercation,and Piper did not respond to comment requests.
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