Parliament’s out for summer,longer for some than others

“School’s out for summer,school’s out forever,school’s been blown to pieces,” sang rocker and one-time president of the federal parliamentary press galleryAlice Cooper. Well,he could have been,so perfectly did he capture Federal Parliament’s last day of school vibes as MPs and Senators counted down the last day of the sitting week calendar.

But for some,there was more of a sense of finality than others.

After countless denials and an interminable waiting period,Health MinisterGreg Hunt chose the last day of the annual sitting week calendar to announce his retirement from federal politics. As this column noted on Wednesday,his announcement was long predicted - to the point that political insiders have a strong view of what Hunt’s next gig is likely to be:Australia’s next High Commissioner to the UK. Which adds another to the list of diplomats waiting in the wings considering outgoing SenatorScott Ryanis also tipped to be named as Australia’s next High Commissioner to Canada.

But we digress. In Hunt’s electorate of Flinders in Victoria there’s already awell-formed list of potential preselection candidates in the wings.

The same can be said of the Liberal Party’s other very high-profile preselection race in the Western Australia electorate of Pearce which former attorney-generalChristian Porterhas held since 2013.

Former naval officerMiquela Riley has confirmed she’ll enter the preselection race in the electorate north of Perth. But by Thursday afternoon,another well qualified professional name began to circulate as a contender:former NAB and one-time Rio Tinto analystHolly Ransom. The WA born keynote speaker and owner of a strategic advisory firm is studying at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government as a Fulbright Scholar. Sadly,she told CBD she wasn’t interested. Perhaps that’s good news for local mayorTracey Roberts who won Labor’s preselection in September. The Wanneroo mayor has already hit the road campaigning - and hard at that. Early campaign materials show she’s up for a hard-fought battle.

“Voters in Pearce have not forgotten thatScott Morrison and Christian Porter attackedMark McGowan and sided withClive Palmer to open our borders at the height of the pandemic,” Roberts’ campaign materials read. Drums of war indeed.

NEW START

But there are other last day of school events of note. Assistant Industry MinisterTim Wilson has a new chief of staff. Step forward former KPMG directorTim Udorovicwho was appointed to the position this week after serving as a senior strategic adviser at Woolworths and before that,senior adviser roles to then-cities ministerAlan Tudge and Victoria’s Napthine Liberal government.

IN AND OUT

Things have gone from bad to worse inside the Philip Street offices of Aitken Investment Management.

A week after the high-profile funds manager was rocked by news that its chief investment officerCharlie Aitken has started a relationship withHolly Nasser,the wife of AIM director and major investorChris Nasser,thecracks inside the firm have become more prominent. Readers will recall that Nasser has been a director of the fund since its inception butresigned in late November the day after news of the relationship started to spread.

The pubs investor has been silent in the fall out of the personal-meets-professional debacle except for a pointed statement:“While the affair has greatly impacted me and my children,it is a private matter and I do not wish to go into any detail about it.“

And now Nasser has let his money do the talking. He is understood to have withdrawn his family’s investment estimated to be about $7.5 million from AIM’s global high conviction fund,blowing a sizeable hole in the boutique fund’s capital. Nasser’s family,however,remain shareholders in the firm - the value of which is no doubt worth a lot less today than it was a month ago.

Will other fund investors including elusive former Crown chief executiveRob Rankin follow suit? Of course,AIM did not respond to requests for comment on Thursday.

And with news like that to break to investors,who could blame them?

THE LAST WORD

“I’m sorry,” journalistChristian Kerrposted on Facebook on Sunday. “An old iPhone doesn’t do it justice and the light is wrong. But to see the light shining in a sunbeam off the gold of the dome of the Royal Exhibition Building against whatClive Jamesonce described as a crushed sapphire sky and you discover the joy of us currency lads and lasses,we proud children of Australia.”

This typically beautifully crafted post was his last. The former staffer,corporate lobbyist and journalist,who wrote a notorious tell-all political column under a nom de plume once adopted byJames Bond,has died. He was 56.

Kerr had a massive impact as acerbic Canberra columnistHillary Bray in the early days of the independent Crikey website founded byStephen Mayne,who called him a “creative and political genius”. The Canberra press gallery obsessed over his identity and editors commissioned 1000-word features attempting to unmask him.

Bray published a series of leaks in 2002 that eventually brought down his South Australian Democrats senatorNatasha Stott Despoja,whom he nicknamed Impossible Princess.Tony Abbottwas forever known as The Mad Monk.

Kerrlater wrote under his own name and was poached byThe Australian in 2008.

He later had a massive lobbying success after helping run the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria’s campaign underStephen Elderwhich gained billions of extra dollars for the Catholic system,causing massive headaches for then education ministerSimon Birmingham.

Kerr,who editedSpectator Australia’s Flat White blogsince 2016 and counted former federal ministerChristopher Pyneas one of his besties,passed away peacefully in his sleep. He is survived by his two children and former wife.

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