Off The Record: Christopher Pyne roasted by Steven Marshall
Premier Steven Marshall roasts Christopher Pyne, while former Adelaide coach Neil Craig tries to expand English minds and more questions about the South Road tunnel.
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In this week’s Off the Record, Premier Steven Marshall roasts Christopher Pyne, former Adelaide coach Neil Craig tries to expand English minds and questions are raised about the South Road tunnel.
Pyne roasted by Premier
A flurry of drama and intrigue usually surrounds most of Christopher Pyne’s public life – and the launch of his eponymous public affairs business has been no exception.
The latest development was a star-studded event at 2KW.’s rooftop bar this week to unveil Pyne & Partners. Pyne might have thought he’d escaped attacks after a review by Prime Minister’s department chief Martin Parkinson in July found he’d not breached guidelines by taking on an EY consulting job
But the former defence minister and senior SA Liberal was roasted by friends including Premier Steven Marshall and Trade Minister Simon Birmingham.
Birmingham rhetorically asked the crowd about Pyne’s favourite topic. “Himself,” was the near-unanimous response.
Marshall revealed Pyne had been “scabbing drinks off us for years and we’re here to get our drinks back”.
He also threatened to reveal a “slightly saucy story” about Pyne but noted his media and communications director Ashton Hurn would frown upon any indiscretions.
“I’m scared of that woman,” he laughed.
Pyne and his business partner Adam Howard (Pyne’s former long-term political staffer) certainly draw a crowd.
Guests included Port Adelaide football club director and former federal Liberal Cabinet minister Amanda Vanstone, Victorian Liberal powerbroker Michael Kroger, NSW counterpart Michael Photios, Deputy Premier Vickie Chapman, Speaker Vincent Tarzia, Birmo’s wife and Marshall’s COS Courtney Morcombe, Premier’s Department chief Jim McDowell, former defence minister Robert Hill, chief entrepreneur and Nova Systems co-founder Jim Whalley, Education Minister John Gardner, Sturt MP James Stevens, Thomson Geer chief executive partner Adrian Tembel, Evans + Ayers director Mark Balnaves, former senator Sean Edwards, Hickinbotham Homes MD Michael Hickinbotham and design director Ruth Vagnarelli.
Neil Craig’s time behind enemy lines
There probably wasn’t that many tears shed locally when England was smashed by the South Africans in the recent World Cup final.
Still, it was a decent effort for the poms to reach the decider and a crucial cog in it all was former Adelaide Crows coach Neil Craig.
England coach, and ex-Wallabies mentor, Eddie Jones has paid tribute to the skills of Craig in his new book, which was serialised in The Times this week.
“Neil became my observant right-hand man,’’ Jones said.
“His job was to watch closely and advise me where I might improve my interaction with my players and the other coaches. After all, who coaches the coaches?’’
One interesting observation Craig made, according to Jones, was that England’s players “were more comfortable following orders rather than doing anything original’’.
Which given Craig’s best Adelaide teams were known as the “Crowbots’’ because they were so well-drilled could be seen as something of a turnaround.
It also seems English players are more polite than their Australian counterparts.
“They all called Neil boss’,’’ Jones said.
“He would suggest they try something and they’d say “Right, boss” or “Yes, boss.”
Neil was used to Australian players who would never call him boss and always ask him: ‘Why?’’’
Digging a tunnel for ourselves
Some influential “quiet South Australians” are growing nervous that important infrastructure projects will miss out because of pressure for an expensive tunnel to complete Adelaide’s North-South road corridor.
Fixing the final piece of South Rd, between the River Torrens and Darlington, is expected to cost more than $5b for a super tunnel spanning the entire stretch,
This is the option a newly formed group of South Rd traders is pushing for because, understandably, they are worried about disruption and future uncertainty.
But there is increasing concern in other quarters that pumping more than $5 billion into a road upgrade, however necessary, will suck up money desperately needed to fund infrastructure elsewhere.
A key concern is that freeways, no matter how grand, eventually become congested.
Another is that saving commuter time is not necessarily productive infrastructure, because there is not a focus on more efficient freight movement, for example. We suspect this is a minority view.
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Twin Libs
Judging from an Adelaide press conference with Prime Minister Scott Morrison this week, state Transport Minister Stephan Knoll and federal Urban Infrastructure Alan Tudge have more in common than Liberal membership. There’s their shared fashion sense: dark suit, blue tie and white shirt. We also noticed the similar glasses and neatly coiffured hair, even if the part did seem to go the other way. Unfortunately for Tudge, 48, Knoll is about a decade younger.
Love match
It is an unlikely match. Genevieve Lewis was a ministerial adviser to Labor’s Gail Gago and Ian Hunter.
Arman Abrahimzadeh, an up-and-coming Liberal, was elected to the Adelaide City Council last year. Off the Record has learnt the couple tied the knot on Friday, after meeting through work in domestic violence prevention reform.
The guest list contained politicians from both sides, senior police officers, several of Adelaide City Councillors, former Senator Natasha Stott Despoja and husband Ian Smith.
Mates again
Business SA boss Martin Haese’s decision this week to back land tax changes appears to have thawed relations that had become frosty. The organisation received a phone call Thursday saying premier Steven Marshall would like to attend a farewell for three board members held on Friday night. One of those departing is Geoff Rorhsheim, an old friend of the premier.
What was expected to be an in-house event was overrun by MPs. Treasurer Rob Lucas as well as Labor’s Peter Malinauskas, Stephen Mullighan and Zoe Bettison attended.