So perhaps part of the teal independents’ anti-major parties schtick is a disavowal of such acts of political bloke-face. Climate 200,the indies’ bankroller received two $3300 donations from Heaps Normal,the “brewers” whose zero alcohol “quiet XPA” has almost managed to make booze-free beer somewhat cool.
Heaps Normal wants folks to talk about “the epic stuff you’re doing instead of getting wasted” – which in this case seems to involve hopping aboard the Climate 200 bandwagon.
The rest of the group’s election coffers are being filled by the regular suspects. There’s $3300 each from convenorSimon Holmes a Court and his wifeKatrina,plus $6600 from Bondi-based traderRob Keldoulis,who emerged as one of the movement’s most generous funders and is also throwing money at the Legalise Cannabis Party.
Lisa Barlow,the scion of the 7-Eleven’s Australian dynasty who gave Climate 200 and Kooyong MPMonique Ryan $300,000 all up last year also chipped in $3300 – the limit for a single donation to a third-party entity.
UGLY DELICIOUS
Nobody is saying apologies are easy,but then again,nobody seems terribly impressed by food site delicious.com.au,which has taken its sweet time to issue a mea culpa overthatrestaurant review by veteran critic John Lethlean.
Bite-sized version;Lethlean’s on a Perth eatery that included this gem “the maitre d’/meet and greeter wears an outfit that threatens to expose more than just her inexperience when she bends over to set a table”,sparked a storm of protest in the industry and was promptly taken off the site.
Late last week,nearly a full month after the review was published,“the Delicious team” posted on its site,making a general apology and explaining that it already “reached out” to the restaurant in question with a direct apology over “the inappropriate sentence directed at a staff member”.
Case closed? No hope.Delicious’online post,directing traffic towards its site,has had 360 responses and counting,and it looks like the poor reception is gonna cost more than a bit of grief on the socials.
High-profile chefsChristine Manfield,Mitch Orr andSimon Tooheywere among those commenting negatively on the statement,with dozens unhappy with what they called the “clickbait” approach of directing anyone who wanted to read the apology to the delicious site.
Manfield went further than most,calling for an industry boycott ofDelicious.
“Anyone with any integrity in the hospo industry should be jumping ship ASAP – disassociate to save your credibility,” Manfield wrote.
We askedDelicious editorKerrie McCallum for a comment,again,and she didn’t get back to us. Again.
Lethlean – who has been copping so much over this that he’s shut down his Instagram account – didn’t respond to us on Monday either. But in a now-deleted social media post,he made his feelings,sort of,plain.
“I didn’t apologise,” the critic wrote. “Delicious did.”
Mausoleum to owners past:Camilla Freeman Topper and Lady Sonia McMahon.John Shakespeare
BLEAK HOUSE
The Sydney property market has little room for sentiment,nostalgia,or an appreciation of history.
So when we brought word that fashion designerCamilla Freeman-Topper (of Camilla and Marc fame) was planning a $5.2 million demolition and rebuild of former prime ministerBilly McMahon’s historic Bellevue Hill mansion,we held little optimism about the future of that storied home.
Our worst fears were confirmed last week,when Woollahra Council gave the green light for the Freeman Topper’s house,bought for $16 million in 2019,to become just another of the cookie-cutter Bond villain boxes disfiguring our city’s most picturesque harbourside postcodes.
The 1920s bungalow,where the famously average prime minister and his glamorous socialite wifeLady Sonia McMahon hosted many a soiree,will be replaced by a funereal concrete box described by one local resident in separate media reporting as “like a mausoleum”.
Frankly,we expected better from one of our leading fashionistas.
LOOKING FOR CHARLIE
WhenCharles Perrottet,one of the NSW premier’s many brothers,was called before a parliamentary inquiry into alleged branch-stacking in the Hills district,he pleaded the “Victorian defence”,declining to front up on the basis that he lived in Melbourne.
But those looking for Charles ought to take a glance at LinkedIn,where the general manager,global mining decarbonisation at BP is proudly hiring an insights and value proposition manager.
Candidates with an interest in #renewables,#sustainability and #innovation are urged to apply. Just don’t expect too many insights from Perrottet into the whole branch-stacking kerfuffle – in a letter to the inquiry,which released its report this month,he lashed out at the “partisan,ill-informed,speculative and defamatory commentary” surrounding the whole situation.
Of course,Charles might be a Victorian,but his involvement in the murky,messy and downright mystifying world of Hills District Liberal Party factional warfare goes way back. After spending much time in that world though,we wouldn’t begrudge anyone desperate for a fresh start in the gloomy state.
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