Off The Record: Mystery of the missing $15,000 bookcase, Labor’s family photo drama and Liberals struggle with their moderates
In this week’s Off the Record, mystery shrouds Australia’s most controversial bookcase, Labor’s family photo drama, Alex is back to his antics and new SA Liberal warfare.
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In Off The Record this week, the mystery of the missing $15,000 bookcase, Labor’s family photo dramas, Tom Koutsantonis doesn’t smile and Don Farrell does, as the Liberals continue to struggle with their breakaway “cancer” moderates.
Wong’s new chapter
Mystery shrouds the relocation of arguably the most controversial bookcase in Australia.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has removed a $15,000 library installed by former Attorney-General and Liberal senator George Brandis in 2014 to house his extensive collection of legal tomes.
Brandis, who later became the Australian Higher Commissioner to the United Kingdom, had the bookcase custom-built when he was Leader of the Government in the Senate.
It remained there throughout the Liberals’ time in government – but it has mysteriously vanished after Wong moved in to her new Parliament House office this year.
Hoping to marvel at the bookcase’s grandiosity in person, we made multiple inquiries about its new location with the highest levels of government and Opposition.
But all requests came up empty-handed.
Wong’s spokeswoman told us: “The bookshelf is still in use in other offices at Parliament House”.
“It remains as much a symbol of the Liberal government’s wasteful spending as ever.”
But, using the oldest trick in the book, the spokeswoman conveniently ignored two important questions: where it was moved to and how much its relocation cost taxpayers.
Brandis’ $15,000 bookcase was built because his previous $7000 bookcase purchased in 2010 was too large to move from his old office as the Opposition’s Deputy Leader of the Senate.
That book case remains there and was enjoyed by South Australian senator Don Farrell for a time when he returned to parliament in 2016, taking over Brandis’s old office.
As a sort of perverse gift, Brandis gave Farrell a book on legendary Liberal PM Sir Robert Menzies.
“George was worried that I wasn’t sufficiently well read to have enough books to fill the shelves,” Farrell said.
Labor School
At Off The Record, we love transparency in politics.
And so a big shout-out goes to SA Labor Academy, which posts its resources online for perusal.
Its website says Labor Academy is a volunteer group “designed to add value to the member experience so that you can do more than phone calling, letterboxing and polling day duties”.
Party members – or anyone really – could find exactly what to say when voters asked about a whole range of issues in the lead up to the state and federal elections.
They say Transforming Health was a disaster? You say: Labor is taking a different position now.
They say former Liberal Premier Steven Marshall did a good job managing the pandemic?
You say: There are big challenges in hospitals for the Marshall government, and if ambulance ramping is anything to go by, it’s likely they’re not up to it.
How handy!
The site also includes a list of selected media articles which are circulated each week, as well as a list of media outlets and journalists.
Unfortunately, and we won’t take offence, not one SA-based journalist made the cut.
Other site highlights included ideas and suggestions raised at a “What’s Next?” forum held in August, which included “sub-branch members need to be respected, not treated as servants” and our personal favourite “it is important to provide hospitality, eg, nibbles, pizza and drinks”.
Say cheese
We all know that sorting group family pictures can painfully be like herding cats.
But Labor’s state upper and lower MPs wanted to record history as they gathered on Parliament House steps on Tuesday – minus the member for Giles, Eddie Hughes, who had Covid.
Premier Peter Malinuasksas and his 35 loyal troops smiled like Cheshire cats for the camera except Transport Minister Tom Koutsantonis.
Then later the party’s women MPs posed for a picture, but upper house member Irene Pnevmatikos missed the memo and thus cut from history.
You could understand Kouts’ grumpiness after a torrid 24 hours following the South Road website blunder revealing the government’s plans before he could host a glitzy press briefing.
Kouts, one of the doyens of the right faction and grandfather of the house as the longest serving MP, provided another explanation.
He told us: “It’s a tradition we used to have in the right never to smile in the caucus photo. Just a habit.”
In contrast his right faction colleague, federal Trade Minister Don Farrell always seems to smile for the camera.
Even in serious moments, such as federal Executive Council after the Queen died, the Don flashes his pearly whites for the cameras.
He said: “I’m just an optimist these days. Of course, I love the trade and tourism job, some say I was born for it.”
Antic’s comedy show
One of our favourite politicians has taken his dislike of SA Health to a new benchmark.
When he is not acting like Rambo to his own Liberal party or declaring war on our Fourth Estate colleagues, especially this organ, firebrand Senator Alex Antic rails against Covid-19 mandates.
This week, his frustrations at SA Health and chief public health officer, Nicola Spurrier, boiled over.
On Facebook, he posted a sarcastic video pondering if his lack of replies over almost a year to various letters Professor Spurrier, was down to “supply chain issues”.
To address these issues he posted some printing paper and toner over to Hindmarsh Square, for which he privately paid rather than bill the taxpayer.
Asked about it, Antic said his understanding about Covid jabs and preventing transmission conflicted with Prof Spurrier claiming she didn’t want anyone unvaccinated at her Christmas party.
“Given Professor Spurrier’s important voice in the community, I believe that it is critical that the public understand the basis upon which that statement was made,” he said.
He said there were three reasons for the silence – her email server was “adversely affected by climate change”, SA Health decided to “extend their diversity targets and refuse to allow her to use white printer paper” or she simply was refusing to answer.
“Either way, the only scenario I can assist with is to assume that SA Health has run out of printer paper and toner and to assist, I decided that I would send a ream of paper and a printer cartridge,” he said.
“If this doesn’t elicit a response, I may have consider forwarding a printer.”
While SA Health had no comment, a senior source was a bit more blunt: “What a f***head.”
Meanwhile, best wishes to Prof Spurrier, who injured her shoulder after tripping over her pet dog Daisy at her southeastern suburban home, despite avoiding any serious injury or illness during her admirable 2.5 year Covid fight.
Liberal moderates are a ‘cancer’?
Senator Antic's crusade against the Liberal’s moderate faction has achieved his Conservative goal of holding the party hierarchy’s balance of power.
With newly-minted president Rowan Mumford getting his feet firmly behind the state executive board desk, the Right have wasted no time flexing their new muscles.
Among them is well-known Adelaide accountant Steve Russo, who is now the party’s volunteer treasurer. He replaces corporate lawyer John Kain, who retired after five years.
But it seems the “left” are in open warfare over the breakaway cabal “The SA Movement” after it held a second meeting last Sunday at the eastern suburbs bar Hula Hoop.
It used the password The Bragg Birthday Party – in honour of MP Jack Batty’s birthday, although he did not attend.
Colleague Vincent Tarzia did – MPs are invite-only – during which he posed with apparent organisers, and former staffers, Chelsey Potter and Ingo Block.
Senior moderate sources have condemned it as a “cancer on the Liberal Party”, which threatens the progress from a “good state director, (Alex May), president and a relatively balanced State Council”.
“I am appalled by the behaviour of this small, recalcitrant group of people,” one said.
“These people have never contributed to the betterment of our cause, instead revel in keeping alive the feuds of a bygone era so they can carve out a niche for themselves and feel important.”
But other sources praised it as a “healthy symptom of our party’s strengths”.
“Imagine sitting in Opposition and believing that a smart, switched-on group of professional, progressive Liberals are the enemy? Labor is the enemy,” another said.
“Imagine thinking your own guys – who just want to contribute – are a cancer?
“This is the time for a unified moderate force. It’s time for us to work with reasonable conservatives. No one wants to live and die on the wrong side of the Chamber.”
Tarzia said: “I’m invited to functions from all aspects of the party right across the state and I do my best to attend as many functions as I can.”
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