In a dubious victory for mankind,complainantJason Lau won his anti-discrimination case and MONA shut the Ladies Lounge,rather than be forced to let blokes in. But the victory proved temporary.

Lounge creatorKirsha Kaechele,spouse of MONA ownerDavid Walsh,was not done yet. Kaechele simply converted some of MONA’s unisex toilets into women’s toilets (perfectly allowable under the Act),and furnished them with the Picassos from the museum’s collection,making them the first documented case of the pioneering cubist’s work adorning a ladies’ loo.

“While the Ladies Lounge undergoes a series of reforms to meet the exemptions required for reopening,I’ve been doing a little redecorating,” Kaechele told CBD. “I thought a few of the bathrooms in the museum could do with an update … Some Cubism in the cubicles.”

The toilets are now rebadged the Ladies Room.

Kaechele labelled the judgment ofRichard Grueber,Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal member,a “fantastic read”.

“We’ll get the Lounge open again as a church/school/boutique glamping accommodation/facilities/etc under Section 26 of the Anti Discrimination Act,but in the meantime,enjoy!” Kaechele wrote breezily to her social media followers.

KEAN STARTER

Within days of former NSW treasurerMatt Keanrevealing his surprise resignation from state politics last week,Prime MinisterAnthony Albanesedid the funniest thing possible by announcing the Liberal’s appointment as the next chair of the Climate Change Authority.

Appointing a pro-renewables,anti-nuclear Liberal was a clear up-yours toPeter Dutton,but hey,at least nobody can accuse the Labor government of giving out “jobs for the boys”.

Just days earlier,deputy Liberal leaderSussan Leyproposed a toast to an absent Kean at the Moderate faction’sBlack Hand dinner. We doubt Kean,the Moderate powerbroker whose blue-green environmentalism has always enraged Coalition conservatives,will be getting too many more of those from his former comrades.

Within hours of the appointment,Barnaby Joycewas onSky Newscalling Kean treacherous,and saying plenty of Kean’s factional opponents want him gone from the party. Will Kean even stay on in the Liberal Party? We asked but he didn’t reply.

All this for a part-time gig that pays a paltry $62,660 a year,even less than the $172,546 he made as a humble opposition MP in NSW,where shadow ministers don’t get a bonus.

But Kean’s presence still looms over his very safe seat of Hornsby.

James Wallace,a corporate lawyer and state Liberal vice-president known in party circles as Kean’s “numbers guy”,recently moved into the area and is favoured to succeed his own factional colleague.

But there’s also a renewed push to get deputy Liberal leaderNatalie Ward into the lower house,and nominating her in Hornsby would certainly help the party’s well-documented women problem.

BROOKY’S BACK

Now,where were we? Observant readers might well have noticed that the livery at the top of this particular column has changed once again and the vibe is distinctlyBack to the Future.

Or,to put it another way,a previous Melbourne correspondent of this journalistic oblong has returned to his former stomping ground.

We could take this opportunity to muse about how in our two-year absence many of the people we write about are looking younger (hello Botox!) and thinner (hello Ozempic!) but seem to have unfortunately run out of time,energy and space. So let’s just say everything old is old again.

Some pundits are already calling it the most arresting comeback sinceKevin Rudd returned to the Lodge,but let’s hope without the same result.

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