MEDICAL LEAVE

With talk of a COVID inquiry back in the air,sharp-eyed readers might have noticed that OzSage – the pandemic-era group of scientists that brought some of our favourite COVID talking heads such asRaina MacIntyre,Stephen Duckett,Brendan Crabb andNancy Baxter together to take a hard line on lockdowns,masks mandates,the works – has been a little quiet of late.

There’s been silence on the group’s once-prolific socials account and those press releases that drove anti-vaxxers and COVID-deniers over the edge haven’t been seen for many a month either. Sure,high-profile member,ex-federal MP and Medical Association presidentKerryn Phelpsremains,well,vocal on all things COVID,but that appears to be different story altogether.

And the less said about the intervention of another member – University of NSW’s DrDeborah Lupton complaining about blanket coverage of the tragic Hunter Valley bus cash by media that was “ignoring” COVID deaths – the better.

OzSage board member DrAndrew Millermade time between operations on Tuesday to confirm to CBD that yes,the group had cooled its jets on the publicity side of things and had entered a “consolidation phase”,although there were plenty of behind-the-scenes meetings and consultations going on with governments and health authorities.

Miller said we would be hearing from the group again – can’t wait – but for now,he said,it was difficult to get media interested in OzSage’s favourite topic. “Running to your editor with something new on COVID is not usually a good career move for journalists,” the good doctor told CBD.

LOCAL LEAGUE

Dale Dickson is no stranger to adversity. The rugged Melbourne Demons defender was one of those unfortunates trafficked by footy authorities in 1987 to the “Bad News” Brisbane Bears.

But even on footy’s wild frontiers,our man made the best of a bad job,managing 30 games for the Queensland strugglers before jacking footy in for career in local government,taking him to the,ahem,much-written-about Gold Coast Council,where he rose to the rank of chief executive before being ousted a couple of years ago by the GC’s controversial mayorTom Tate.

Now the intrepid Dickson is about to park his behind in one of Victorian local government’s hottest seats,as Stonnington Council’s new chief executive,replacingJacqui Weatherill,who bailed out last December for the safer climes of Greater Dandenong.

Stonnington has become notorious in recent years for its feuding councillors,several of whom went on strike last year,while a mediator brought in a few months earlier to try to settle a toxic dispute between two alderpeople found himself being sued by one of them for his troubles.

Considering the council also has self-appointed “ratepayer” groups Ratepayers Stonnington,Ratepayers Victoria and Council Watch parked on its doorstep in Toorak,Dickson is putting his head in where most players wouldn’t put their boot.

“There could not be a better and more important time to lead the City of Stonnington,” he said on Monday. We believe him.

The new CEO used to bang away,in times of stress,at a drum kit he kept in his office at Gold Coast. We reckon he’s going to need it in his Malvern digs.

FREE FOR ALL

The bosses of Melbourne University are standing firm – well,sort of – in the face of the civil unrest that continues to grip the Parkville and Carlton campuses.

A meeting of the university council on Tuesday went ahead in the face of a determined effort to disrupt it by the National Union of Students,in support of academic staff who were on strike for the second time this year over a pay dispute.

But we expect stern stuff from vice chancellorDunkan Maskell. He’s earning $1.5 million a year,although he reckons university educationshould be free.

We’re also intrigued as to how Maskell and his colleagues intend to get their high-profile new chancellorJane Hansen sworn-in,after the first attempt at Hansen’s inauguration was abandoned in May in the face of protest action from the same loose student-teacher coalition.

Nothing to report on that front,a uni spokesperson told us on Wednesday.

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