It was not enough thatQueen Elizabeth II’s death unleashed an embarrassing display of obsequiousness from our national institutions which culminated in an avowedly republican prime minister heading to London last weekend to pledge his allegiance to a foreign monarch.
Instead,our royal lovers have spent the week getting all lathered up about the ABC’s coverage ofKing Charles III’s coronation.
One of King Charles’ official coronation photographs.Hugo Burnand/Royal Household 2023 via AP
Aunty accompanied its broadcast of Charles’ ostentatious affair with a dose of sceptical commentary about the monarchy,and dared to note that many First Nations Australians find the whole fawning over the royals a bit unpleasant.
Now,Australians for Constitutional Monarchy,run by veteran royal-headDavid Flint,have taken things further,filing a formal complaint with the ABC over its coverage.
Flint’s mob,which has the honour of being the second most prominent monarchist group,claimed the broadcast breached three articles of the ABC’s standards relating to accuracy,impartiality,and harm and offence.
The heart of the complaint centres on the broadcaster’s alleged failure to present alternative views on the role of the crown in Indigenous matters. And while Liberal MPJulian Leeser was the only monarchist on a panel that included ABC everywhere manStan Grant and leading republicanCraig Foster,the broadcaster did reasonably well in the ratings battle for the event.
That didn’t satisfy Flint and Co,who claimed:“A number of Australians were unnecessarily and gratuitously offended,both through the imposition and forcing of and the hostile nature of the imposed programme.”
We reckon there are a few more gratuitously offensive things out there. But hey,each to their own. The ABC declined to comment.
MARKED MAN
On Thursday evening,Mark Latham briefly looked like the loneliest man on Macquarie Street,spotted sitting solo at Martin Place Italian joint Toppi.
But Latham hasn’t been frozen out just yet,despite NSW PremierChris Minns’ promise to never work with the NSW One Nation leader following some deeply unpleasant comments about Sydney MPAlex Greenwich.
Soon,he was joined at the table by his One Nation colleagueRod Roberts and ex-finance ministerDamien Tudehope.
A sign that the Liberals are making good on leaderMark Speakman’s promise to keep on working with Latham. We doubt the party’s former leader would’ve done things differently,becauseDominic Perrottet himself stopped by the table to chat with Latham later.
The former premier had dropped in to Toppi to farewell theHerald’s state political reporterLucy Cormack,who is moving to a different role at the masthead. Minns too dropped in,and in keeping with the bromance that made this year’s election campaign pleasant but dull,the two appeared to have a rather friendly chat.
SOFT LAUNCH
There’s a new power couple in Canberra,and this one crosses party lines.
Labor’s Minister for Industry and ScienceEd Husic is datingFiona Scott,the well-regarded chief of staff to independent ACT senator and former Wallabies captainDavid Pocock.
The two have been friends for a long time – before joining team Pocock,Scott worked for Labor’sMartin Ferguson and Kim Carr. We hear they’re planning a hard launch at the Midwinter Ball next month.
POSTER BANDIT
Speaking of the Midwinter Ball,that annual highlight of the federal parliamentary calendar is fast approaching. While the event doubles as an important fundraiser for local and national charities,raising nearly $5 million,not everyone is a fan.
Tickets for the ball,which is attended by pollies,corporate bigwigs and journos,went on sale last Thursday and as is custom,a couple of dozen posters went up in the corridors of the press gallery spruiking the event on Friday at lunchtime.
Within hours,someone had started pulling many of the expensive posters down without even the good grace to contact the gallery committee first.
When contacted by CBD,Press Gallery president Jane Norman wouldn’t bite at suggestions those noted funsters at the Department of Parliamentary Services may have been responsible.
“It’s disappointing that someone has seen fit to rip down a couple of dozen posters promoting the ball in the press gallery,who are the hosts and organisers of this event,” she said.
NIGELLA FEASTS
CBD’s spies spotted British celebrity chefNigella Lawson out for dinner with author andHerald columnistPeter FitzSimons and his television presenter wifeLisa Wilkinson at Balmoral’s Bathers Pavilion on Saturday night.
We hear Lawson is a close long-term friend of the family. It’s been a big few days for Wilkinson. Last week,ACT prosecutorShane Drumgold admitted he hadn’t warned her over making a Logies acceptance speech aboutBrittany Higgins that caused a trial to be delayed,and unleashed a flurry of media criticism toward the presenter.
After Drumgold’s admission,before an inquiry into handling of that trial undermined the basis for much of the criticism,we’re sure the mood on Saturday was a little celebratory.