The monarchists’ dream pick to counterPeter FitzSimons,Malcolm Turnbull,and the weight of a republican-tinged Labor government,was former prime ministerTony Abbott. But it looks like Abbott was too busy with his other speaking gigs to help out. Yesterday,the Australian Monarchist League unveiled former Tasmanian Liberal SenatorEric Abetz as its chairman.
Eric Abetz and Peter Fitzsimons.John Shakespeare
A veteran social conservative who lost his Senate seat at the last election,Abetz was already advising the League behind the scenes. ThePhilip Benwell-led outfit has called on media to offer Abetz equal airtime to FitzSimons,Assistant Minister for the Republic Matt Thistlethwaite or any other government official. So with any luck,we could still be hearing from the gloomy Tasmanian for years to come.
Fly in Farage
It’s going to be a real spring awakening for Australian fans of right-wing talking heads. On the October long weekend,the Conservative Political Action Conference - our local version of the American right-wing Coachella – returns to Sydney.
After initially promoting Sydney’s Luna Park as the location for the shindig,CPAC has backtracked. Although the organisation was very proud to announce last week that it had secured “a venue” (details undisclosed) in Sydney’s CBD for its “middle Australia talkfest,” despite alleged attempts from “the left-wing cancel culture crowd” to shut it down.
As CBD has reported,the event will bring together a real who’s who of the right-wing intelligentsia. Former prime ministerTony Abbottis the main domestic headliner,along with a posse of conservative Coalition senators – new Country LiberalJacinta Nampijinpa Price,Matt Canavan andAlex Antic.
Alan Jones will be there,as will SBS board member and CPAC chairWarren Mundine,former Queensland LNP senatorAmanda Stoker,Daily Telegraphpolitical editor James Morrow and News Corp cartoonist Johannes Leak.
But,as usual,the biggest foreign drawcard is former United Kingdom Independence Party leaderNigel “Mr Brexit” Farage.
Farage,a real Sky News darling,is making the most of his trip Down Under. He’s set to address a series of events in Sydney,Melbourne and Brisbane ahead of CPAC,and they ain’t cheap either – tickets start from $89,with a $295 VIP meet and greet,$495 backstage pass,and $1250 private dinner also on offer.
The series is put together by a mob called Turning Point Australia,another local spin-off,this time of pro-Trump Turning Point USA,founded by talk hosts hoping to make conservative values cool on college campuses.
The brains behind the local outfit is oneJoel Jammal,a right-wing YouTuber,anti-lockdown protestor andCraig Kellyassociate.
What goes around . . .
The crowd-sourced legal fighting fund established byEric Beecher’s online news siteCrikey to pay for its looming defamation showdown withLachlan Murdoch is hitting its straps with $430,000 raised so far from more than 500 donors.
And there are some prominent names from Murdoch’s past appearing on the GoFundMe page,including Australian TV legendAndrew Denton.
According toBruce Guthrie,former editor of Melbourne tabloidThe Herald Sun,the mere mention of Denton’s name in one of the empire’s papers was enough to earn the ire of Lachlan,after the talk show host took a hard stance against News Limited in the Super League wars of the 1990s.
Also chucking in a few quid - $1000 - to theCrikey cause is former News Limited chief executiveKim Williams,whose efforts to change the company’s brutal culture came to a crashing halt - just 20 months into his tenure - after he made powerful internal enemies including Lachlan himself as well asPaul Whittaker -then the editor of theDaily Telegraph -andChris Mitchell, who was still calling the shots atThe Australian.
CBD brought word on Monday that former prime ministersKevin Rudd andMalcolm Turnbull,who both struggle to keep their issues with the Murdochs to themselves,had each contributed $5000 to the legal fund.
We can’t wait to see who pays up next.
Pickled Tink
Ironic was the only way to describe North Sydney teal independent MP Kylea Tink’s disclosure that she owned shares in two fossil fuel companies – Viva Energy and Beach Energy.
The Climate 200-backed MP,who went to the election on a platform of reducing emissions 60 per cent by 2030,told this masthead she’d bought shares in companies “where she felt shareholder activism may be a way to both better understand the entities involved and potentially exert pressure from within to drive reform”.
So what,exactly,did Tink’s shareholder activism entail? Well Viva Energy told Tink’s local ragThe North Sydney Suntheir board had no contact with Tink,and that she hadn’t asked any questions at their AGM.
A Beach Energy spokesperson told us they didn’t disclose private interactions with their shareholders,and directed us to their AGMs. Surprise,surprise,no questions from Tink at last year’s meeting either.
Change from within,indeed.
Cut through the noise of federal politics with news,views and expert analysis from Jacqueline Maley..