The Matildas celebrate after Australia won the penalty shootout against France in the World Cup quarter-final.Reuters
All except for former deputy prime ministerBarnaby Joyce,who along with a few poor punters at the Commercial Hotel in Walcha,somehow managed to watch the wrong Matildas v France game.
Turns out the pub managed to broadcast a replay of the Tillies’ 1-0 victory over Les Bleues in last month’s pre-tournament friendly,shown on 10.
Nobody in the pub realised anything was amiss until the next morning,when Barnaby told CBD he was surprised to hear everyone else talking about a dramatic penalty shoot-out.
Barnaby was good-natured despite falling victim to an all-time classic stitch up.
“It’s like clapping the training at Flemington not the cup … such is life,” Joyce said. He promised to double-check the pub was playing the correct game when the Matildas take on England in Wednesday’s semi-final.
JIM’S ENTERTAINMENT
Even as treasurers go,Jim Chalmers is particularly wonky.
This is a bloke who spent pretty much his entire pre-parliamentary life as a Labor staffer,except for the time he was doing a PhD on Labor prime ministerPaul Keating. In his downtime,he pens essays on the future of capitalism forThe Monthly.
But clearly Chalmers wants to inject a bit of colour and pizzazz into his soundbites,enlisting the help of ABC golden boy and former head of entertainmentNick Hayden.
After abruptly leaving Aunty in July,CBD hears Hayden will be involved in an entirely new pantomime,joining Chalmers’ office as a speechwriter,with a bit of strategic communications work thrown in,right as the country is expected to slip into an economic downturn.
Hayden’s had a hand in some of the ABC’s most lauded programming,includingThe House withAnnabel Crabb,Spicks and Specks,TonightlywithTom Ballard,Celeste Barber: Challenge Accepted,Julia Zemiro’s Home Delivery,andWTFAQ with Chaser alum Chas Licciardello.
He steps into a void left afterGerard Richardson,formerly ofBill Shorten’soffice,who departed as Chalmers’ speechwriter some months ago.
Maybe,like Geppetto aided Pinocchio,Hayden can make Chalmers less wooden.
Hayden couldn’t be reached,and Chalmers’ office declined to comment.
COOKER CONFERENCE
Australia’s Conservative Political Action Conference is continuing its rightward lurch.
Bearing little resemblance to the small government and low-tax fetishism of classical conservatism,the conference appears aligned with more outlandish segments of the right concerned with trying to storm the US Capitol.
Among CPAC’s gold sponsors this year is US-based Christian crowdfunding website GiveSendGo,who have cultivated a reputation for providing a platform for fundraising for causes that others refuse to.
GiveSendGo has become the go-to platform for far-right groups to funnel money to legal funds after being banned or restrained from other platforms.
They were condemned when they provided a platform for Kenosha shooterKyle Rittenhouse,accused Capitol rioters,MyPillow founderMike Lindell, and the Proud Boys.
Analysis by British anti-disinformation organisation Logically was a “hub for a multimillion-dollar far-right funding network,comprising well-known QAnon supporters,anti-vaccine activists,and the far-right media outlet Project Veritas”.
Others have pointed out that GiveSendGo’s firm devotion to Christianity might conflict with its tacit support of the far-right white nationalist groups it gives a platform to.
We suppose it’s not too surprising.
CPAC is hosting podcasterElijah Schaffer,who was sacked from former Fox News firebrand Glenn Beck’s outletThe Blaze after allegations he indecently assaulted a colleague.
Organised by conservative Australian leaders like Nyunggai Warren Mundine,Andrew Cooper,Howard-era MinisterGary Hardgrave and former MP Ross Cameron,CPAC is hosting a slew of current and former MPs,including former prime ministerTony Abbott,at a series of events in Sydney this weekend.
CPAC co-founder Cooper didn’t respond to CBD’s requests for comment.
NO QUESTIONS
It was positive vibes only whenAnthony Albanese andAlan Joyce spoke at a special event to mark the unveiling of a special logo supporting the Yes campaign on the airline’s planes.
So positive were the vibes that while two of the country’s most powerful men gave speeches,at a room with plenty of journalists,neither took a single question. And we’re sure there were plenty that could’ve been asked:how would more support from wealthy business elites help transform the Yes campaign’s floundering fortunes? Why had the government blocked Qantas competitor Qatar Airways’ push to double its flights to Australia? How did Albo’s 23-year-old son Nathan managed to score a golden ticket to Qantas’ mysterious elite Chairman’s Lounge?
The possibilities are endless.
We’re told it was all a matter of timing – with both men working to a tight schedule,there simply wasn’t time for curly questions. How very convenient.
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