At Saturday’s event,the final stop in departing AFL bossGillon McLachlan’s never-ending farewell tour brought together Prime MinisterAnthony Albanese,and new Victorian PremierJacinta Allan.
Seven bossKerry Stokesand sonRyan Stokesscored spots on the top table.
Of course,such an event is bound to bring together some odd lunch buddies. CBD’s spies noticed Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie among the throng of political high-flyers,in the same room as Qantas chairman and AFL chairmanRichard Goyder.
Earlier that week McKenzie has been grilling Goyder and incoming Qantas chief executiveVanessa Hudson during a Senate inquiry into the government’s decision to reject extra flights from Qatar Airways.
McKenzie said she and Goyder played nice throughout the day,laying down arms and shaking hands in service of footy’s day of days.
“Mr Goyder and I shook hands at the start of grand final day at the North Melbourne breakfast. It was a privilege to be a guest of the AFL celebrating our great code,” McKenzie told CBD on Sunday.
It’s been a tough month for Goyder,who’s faced near-daily calls for his head following the reputational blowtorching that forced former chief executiveAlan Joyceout the door early.
The AFL isn’t much of a safe space for Goyds either – the finals series kicked off with club presidents having discussions about replacing him as chair,such is the odour emanating from Qantas. At least he’ll still have Woodside,where the incredibly busy or incredibly thinly-spread Goyder is also chair!
HAPPY SUNDAY
CBD understands all too well the punish of working on a Sunday,let alone on a steamy beach day right in the middle of a long weekend.
So we sympathise with the poor staffer atChris Minns’ office who sent around the premier’s internal morning media pack to every press gallery journalist.
While the notes were fairly vanilla,the government clearly wasn’t impressed by theHerald’srecent report on Minns lashing Prime Minister Anthony Albanese over housing supply targets,accusing this masthead of publishing a “misleading report”.
“The premier was stating a fact and stating the obvious. The reporting is misleading,” the briefing said.
Maybe that’s why they forwarded us the briefing.
PARTY ANIMALS
Last week was a torrid one for the NSW Liberal Party. As CBD,the party’s presumptive new state directorLuke Dixonpulled out of the job before he could even be ratified,after this column revealed his past social media sledges of.
Some degree of calm was restored at Friday evening’s state executive meeting where Woollahra Mayor and Westpac’s government relations headRichard Shields was ratified as the new state director.
Con Hindi,the former Georges River councillor found by the Independent Commission Against Corruption to have engaged in corrupt conduct,was also suspended from the party,pending an appeal.
The revealed Hindi and two other former Sydney councillors had accepted cash gifts and travel from a Chinese property developer in return for favourable treatment.
Meanwhile,Matt Camenzulicould be back in the fold. The hard right powerbroker was expelled from the party last year after unsuccessfully taking former PM Scott Morrison to the High Court over delayed preselections.
State executive memberBlake Keating,once a staffer to former senatorConcetta Fierravanti-Wells,initially introduced a motion to get Camenzuli reinstated.
The motion notes that while there’s another motion on Camenzuli’s reinstatement due before state council in November,this is likely to cause “considerable conflict within the division”. We can’t wait.
Keating’s motion was ultimately deferred until at least later this month,or November. By then,Chris Stone,the state director who signed off on Camenzuli’s expulsion,will be out the door.
LOUNGING AROUND
CBD continues to help the Australian Public Service improve its transparency. Last week,we reported that Treasury had,after inquiries by this column,disclosed that bossSteve Kennedy and other top brass were members of Qantas’ exclusive Chairman’s Lounge.
Last Monday,we also asked the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet which of their staff had Chairman’s Lounge access,after only one deputy secretary’s membership was restored.
Late on Friday,the department pointed us to an updated gift register,which revealed that PM&C secretaryGlyn Davis,and six deputy secretaries (including incoming ambassador to ChinaScott Dewar) are all members of the Chairman’s Lounge.
Davis,who still lives in Melbourne and as CBD has reported flies into Canberra for work,probably makes most use of the Lounge.
RED WEDDINGS
It was a weekend of wedding bells for Macquarie Street types. Health MinisterRyan Park’s spinnerDaryl Tan tied the knot with his partner,Olympic silver medal-winning swimmer Jess Ashwood.
Despite the wedding’s unfortunate clash with last night’s NRL grand final,Tan’s boss Park was there,as was TreasurerDaniel Mookhey. Fellow OlympiansBlair Evans andTessa Wallace were Ashwood’s bridesmaids.
It must really be the season for Labor types – Deputy PremierPrue Car married her partnerBrad Hulls on Saturday.
Mazel Tov!
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