Off The Record: For your eyes only, James

OFF the Record goes undercover to reveal our journalist Colin James’s hilarious cloak-and-dagger meeting with a man who may be Adelaide’s clumsiest political dirt-digger, and why two controversial public figures are selling their homes.

Adelaide lawyer Ash Bidhendi failed to entice journalist Colin James into a secret meeting.

IT WAS all very cloak and dagger. All very hush-hush.

Initially it was enough to pique the interest of any seasoned reporter with dreams of scandal and front pages. But in the end it was more burst water balloon than Watergate.

In the era of the seasoned political professional this was amateur hour, albeit with a degree of political farce that may indicate just how worried Hartley Liberal MP Vincent Tarzia is about his challenger Nick Xenophon.

It all started when Advertiser opinion editor Colin James was contacted by a lawyer called Ash Bidhendi.

Now James knows most lawyers in town but had never heard of Bidhendi.

Naturally, he asked why he wanted to meet. It was, apparently, too delicate to talk about over the phone. Only a face-to-face meeting would suffice.

James was curious. What did the mysterious Bidhendi have for him?

A meeting was set at Likuid in Topham Mall. How would James recognise the undercover agent? Easy, said Bidhendi he was “6 foot 6 and wearing a tanned check suit’’.

But James quickly realised all was not what it seemed. He was quizzed about Xenophon and whether he had any evidence that the candidate for Hartley had ever referred constituents to lawyers and received kickbacks. If he had ever dug into Xenophon’s ­“secret” wealth.

A bemused James said no to both, he would have written such stories if they existed after all, and asked why he was being asked these questions. Bidhendi replied it was on behalf of a “friend’’. The ever-astute James asked if the friend was Vincent Tarzia. The answer was yes.

Off the Record contacted Bidhendi to ask if he was digging dirt on behalf of Tarzia. “That’s one way of putting it,” he said, denying Tarzia had put him up to anything.

Tarzia also washed his hands of Bidhendi, claiming he had “not asked Mr Bidhendi to speak to anyone about Mr Xenophon and have nothing to do with the matter”.

He declined to answer whether he knew Bidhendi.

IT’S THE DADDY OF ALL MANSION SALES

BUYERS looking to get their hands on Ross Makris’ sprawling Springfield McMansion had better get their skates on, as offers on the hotel-like property close on Thursday.

Ross Makris’ mansion is back on the market. Picture: Brad Griffin Photography.

The five-bedroom Hillside Rd mansion, owned by the son of billionaire property magnate Con Makris, is on the market through Stephanie and John Williams of Harcourts Williams.

Olivia Stratton was previously married to Ross Makris.

While no price guide has been listed, according to CoreLogic it has been listed off and on since June 10, 2015, through Adcorp, where it was advertised with an asking price of $4.8 million to $5.1 million.

The Advertiser reported last April that Makris had defaulted on both a $3.075 million mortgage on the property, and a $988,000 loan on a home he owns at Wootoona Tce, St Georges. Instructions were later given for the properties to be sold to settle a debt of more than $4 million to his father.

Makris split from his wife, former Miss World Australia Olivia Stratton, in 2016. The 1028sqm home is set on a 2209sqm of land and boasts such luxury features as a library, games room, indoor pool, entertainment spaces, tennis court and 18-car garage.

LAST RITES CALLED FOR HOME OF DOCTOR DEATH

IT has served as a corner store, a house, holiday accommodation and a controversial euthanasia clinic, and now Philip Nitschke’s Gilberton home is on the market.

Planning department records show that Nitschke’s wife, Fiona Stewart, purchased the property at 19 Gilbert St, Gilberton, in 2013.

“We lived there for a couple of years when I moved to Adelaide to be with my mother while she was in the last stages of her life,” Nitschke, right, said.

Dr Philip Nitschke at his Gilberton house.

“I had some trouble with the medical board at that stage and decided the site was less attractive than I’d previously thought, so we moved overseas and have decided to sell it because it’s unlikely we’ll be living there now.”

The couple, who now live in Amsterdam, both lived in the home and ran euthanasia information and advocacy organisation Exit International from it for about two years.

“It was never going to be a place or a clinic where people would have actually died,” Nitschke said. “It served as a place where people could come and talk about the issue and talk about the full implications of the issues involved.

The two-storey, three-bedroom circa-1920 home is being sold through Andrew Fox of Fox Real Estate for $1.05 million to $1.15 million.

“Of all the places I’ve lived in around Australia, this would have to be one of the best,” Nitschke said.