Still,you’d think Ellis wouldn’t be all that hard to find because he is certainly well known to many senior people within the Liberal Party.
Rewind to 2022,when Ellis – already the subject of corruption allegations Castle Hill MPRay Williams made under parliamentary privilege – sent around an email spruiking his credentials for a spot on the party’s constitutional standing committee.
Treasurer Matt Kean and Planning Minister Anthony Roberts last year.Brook Mitchell
In his camp,Ellis had plenty of endorsements from across the Liberals’ factional world. Foremost among those was TreasurerMatt Kean,who in a glowing reference called Ellis “a man of strong convictions and a vision for taking our party forward”.
He wasn’t alone.
According to shadow federal treasurer and former energy ministerAngus Taylor,“our party will do well to have people like Christian elected to positions of state council”.
“A torch-bearer in reforming our Constitution,” NSW Planning MinisterAnthony Roberts gushed.
And,fromDamien Tudehope,who recently quit as finance minister over his undisclosed Transurban shares:“Christian has been a servant of the party for many years and is one of the few who can genuinely claim he has the backing of a lot of grassroots members.”
No doubt given the headache Ellis’ disappearance is causing the party just weeks out from an election,they might be reconsidering those words of praise.
Dope Plant
By all accounts,the Australian athletic circuit’s premier event,the Maurie Plant Meet,was a roaring success last week,drawing the biggest crowds in years. Perhaps it was in part due to a change of name – with the old Melbourne Track Meet rebranded afterMaurie Plant,a towering,beloved and larger-than-life figure in the Australian and international athletic communities who died in 2020.
But that hagiographic image left little room for a pesky little incident facilitating doping in the 1980s. A landmark 1989 Senate inquiry into drugs in sport conducted by former Labor senator John Black found that Plant had asked heptathleteJane Flemming to provide a urine sample for javelin throwerSue Howland,fearing the latter would test positive for steroid use.
The Maurie Plant Meet was a success,although the name change raises eyebrows.Getty
According to the report,Plant had agreed with the governing body not to be considered for further managerial positions,but remained a highly influential figure within Australian athletics for decades. When confronted about the incident in a 2013Four Corners,Plant dismissed the findings as a “loose inquiry” that was “very broad brushstrokes” before walking out of the interview.
And it seems like the athletics community concurs with Plant’s own assessments of his wrongdoing. A spokesperson for Athletics Australia,which made Plant a life member in 2006,pointed to his many years of contribution to the sport,and his role in guiding the careers of Olympians such asCathy Freeman.
“Maurie Plant is not defined by any one incident,nearly 40 years ago,” they said.
Pool shark
Anthony Albanese chalks up the victories.John Shakespeare
Prime MinisterAnthony Albanesemight have broken an election promise over changes to superannuation this week,but at least he keeps his promises to the Midwinter Ball.
At last year’s do,former Howard government adviser-turned-Willard Public Affairs lobbyistDavid Miles put up more than $10,000 at the charity auction to win a game of snooker with the PM.
A,we hear Miles backed his snooker game ahead of the showdown at The Lodge on Tuesday night. But Albo clearly had a misspent youth in the booze halls of the pre-gentrification inner west,plus a practice table at his new digs – he comfortably rinsed his opponent 3-0.
No doubt,the PM reckons he’ll have Opposition Leader Peter Dutton similarly snookered. Miles’ wifeTory Maguire,executive editor ofThe Sydney Morning Herald andThe Age,was not in attendance.
Crickey’s high roller
Independent news siteCrikeyfaces a kind of David v Goliath court battle with News Corp executive chairLachlan Murdoch,who claims he was defamed by an article that referred to his family as “unindicted co-conspirators” in the Capitol Riots.
David v Goliath because while Murdoch has the bottomless wells of the family to help fund a legal team fronted by pugilistic barrister andSue Chrysanthou,Crikeyhas turned to GoFundMe to pay the bills.
And the $585,1118 raised at the time of writing included another recent generous donor:reclusive maths whizz and high-stakes gamblerDuncan Turpie. A regular bankroller of the Greens and various progressive causes,Turpie threw a casual $2500Crikey’sway this week.
Still,it was only half the $5000Kevin Rudd andMalcolm Turnbull each chipped in,but beat out the $1000 the publisher received from former News Corp boss Kim Williams,who has no love lost for Murdoch the younger.
Theatregoers rejoice
With the search on for a new Qantas chief executive,Alan Joyce has been appointed Sydney Theatre Company chair,replacing former Commonwealth Bank boss and current Seek CEO Ian Narev who’s stepped down after seven years.
Narev follows fund managerMichaelTriguboffand University of Sydney vice chancellorMark Scottwho both stepped away from the board last year.
Joyce and partnerShane Lloyd are avid theatregoers,having rarely missed an STC production – probably because they’re not relying on Qantas planes to get them there.
They were also among a group of philanthropists,dubbed the 2021 angels,who helped the STC out of its financial crisis precipitated by mass cancellations across its COVID-hit 2020 season.
Other appointments includeToday’s entertainment reporterBrooke Boney.
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