WALKLEYS WHINGE
Last Thursday’s Walkley Awards celebrated some of the nation’s finest journalists – but also saw some sulking.
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It all happened when theHerald’sNick McKenzie and investigative journalistChris Masters took home a special Walkley award for media freedom,in honour of their years of reporting on war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith that was vindicated in the Federal Court earlier this year.
The pair received a richly deserved standing ovation from all in the room,except for those on the Seven West media tables,who stayed seated.
Seven’s billionaire boss,Kerry Stokes,has backed Roberts-Smith all the way,helping to fund his failed defamation suit against this masthead,and railing against the “scumbag journalists” who exposed him.
Among those seated were senior Seven figures including top presenterMichael Usher andSpotlight executive producerMark Llewellyn.
Most of the Seven tables departed well before the night was done after their network failed to win anything. We contacted the parties involved:Seven gave us a no comment,while Usher didn’t respond.
STOP THE STEAL!
This weekend’sStar Wars-themed NSW Liberal convention,titled “A New Hope”,was a showcase of a sophisticated modern operation brimming with fresh ideas and new thinking.
On Saturday,state executive memberMichelle Bishopwas booed for acknowledging the traditional owners during a panel session. And on Sunday afternoon,when the time came to elect a new senator to replaceMarise Payne,the online voting system crashed for nearly an hour,no doubt launching a few conspiracy theories in certain dark corners of the party.
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When the technical difficulties were resolved,delegates gave another political life to former MPDave Sharma,who’s famous for losing the once blue-ribbon electorate of Wentworth twice.
Sharma has been written off by many observers,including this column,so his win was described as a bit of aSteven Bradbury moment. Our thoughts and prayers to fellow moderate and presumed front runnerAndrew Constance,who’s now lost two senate preselections this year (not to mention his failed run for the lower house seat of Gilmore in 2022). And toZed Seseljawho moved to Queanbeyan to have a crack,and got all fired up about cancel culture,only to finish third.
Of course,the former NSW upper house MPLou “Who” Amato,who dropped out late last Thursday night after being bullied by CBD,claiming that the election was “already being manipulated,bargained and traded by the men in the backroom”.
QANTAS POINTS
After a busy week lecturing the punters for spending money on haircuts and promising to continue sacrificing battling mortgage holders to the inflation gods,Reserve Bank governorMichele Bullock spent her Friday night at Melbourne’s Crown Palladium attending an event called the Enchanted Ball.
The glitzy event – for charity – was organised by the Financial Markets Foundation for Children,a charity run by the RBA and the heads of all the big banks. The kind of discretionary spending that’s OK,apparently.
For Bullock,it was a lucky one. She took out second prize in the raffle – a $10,000 Qantas travel voucher. She swiftly donated the prize to charity,probably realising the hassles of flight delays were more trouble than the prize was worth.
Plus it’s all a bit trivial when you have taxpayer-funded travel,and Chairman’s Lounge access.